Feature Articles
Kenneth Madsen
Six centers aim to make unprecedented progress in understanding the unusual: quantum materials...
Mohamadamin Makarem
Scientists at three centers discuss how they are learning her secrets...
Chiung-Wei Huang
At a workshop, scientists crawled inside the programs to learn...
Natasha Pence
Meet three new directors working to bring solar panels and energy storage into the spotlight...
Emily Sahadeo
Making a solid-state battery requires a good team, good luck, and a way to create an unusually shaped lasagna of atoms...
Ryan Greer
His work is dangerous, difficult, and confusing, but that’s exactly what he likes about it.
Amanda Filie
It started in Cardiff with a malfunctioning bit of equipment and led to his own lab at Harvard...
Patricia Huestis, Daniel J. Pope
Sometimes, a unique problem can only be studied by thinking outside of the box...
Research Highlights
Tape’s sticky side is often made from petroleum-derived chemicals. But what if the adhesive could be made from something else? Turning to the paper industry...
America is in the midst of a revolution: shale gas, a source of natural gas locked inside shale rocks, could rewrite the country's energy. Scientists are teasing out the principles underlying promising filters...
Breathing in air laced with sulfur dioxide gas can cause health problems. But what if there was a way to catch the noxious gas before it left the smokestacks? New research into a copper-based compound...
Cars are now on the market that are powered entirely by bonding together hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The reaction works well, but they could be better. That's where new catalysts come in...
Interviews
Editor’s Note
Writing about science isn’t a slow, steady, plodding endeavor. It’s more like a rollercoaster. The slow, steady climb up to find the perfect story idea, the heart-stopping feeling when you’re not sure if you’ll meet the deadline, and the thrill of grabbing the perfect analogy (hint, it’s often pasta in this issue) make communicating science far from a dull, quiet pursuit. This issue is brought to you by a baker’s dozen of early career scientists who willingly jumped onboard. They all have busy lives. Jobs. Sports. Hobbies. Several are starting or finishing up doctoral degrees. Others are balancing a variety of family demands. And they all jumped on for the wild ride that’s communicating science. I just wanted to take a moment to say “thank you” to all of them and hope you’ll enjoy this issue. If you do, feel free to let our board know. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.
Editorial Board
- Andrea Bruck, Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties (m2mt)
- Amanda Filie, Integrated Mesoscale Architectures for Sustainable Catalysis (IMASC)
- James Furness, Center for Complex Materials from First Principles (CCM)
- Ryan Greer, Center for Actinide Science and Technology (CAST)
- Chiung-Wei Huang, Alliance for Molecular Photoelectrode Design for Solar Fuels (AMPED)
- Patricia Huestis, Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM)
- Kenneth Madsen, Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES)
- Amin Makarem, Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)
- Angela Norton, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI)
- Natasha Pence, Biological Electron Transfer and Catalysis (BETCy)
- Emily Sahadeo, Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES)
- Hannah Sayre, Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC)
- Rahul Sujanani, Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET)
Disclaimer: The opinions in this newsletter are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views or position of the Department of Energy.