To disseminate technical knowledge, to educate new generations of scientists and engineers, to maintain technical capabilities in the nation's workforce, and to encourage scientific awareness in the general public.

Conducting-insulating materials reveal their secrets

27 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Research by physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory provides new insight into why some materials made of stacks of metallic planes are conductors in the direction of the planes and are insulators in the direction perpendicular to the planes.

Findings may lead to more effective regulations for protecting public health

27 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Using data from one of the most comprehensive U.S. air pollution studies ever conducted, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified specific volatile organic compounds as key sources of excess ozone smog in industrial areas of Houston, Texas, which appear to be different from traditional sources of ozone pollution in typical urban areas around the country.

Mere sight/smell of food spikes levels of brain pleasure chemical

27 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have found that the mere display of food, where food-deprived subjects are allowed to smell and taste their favorite foods without actually eating them, causes a significant elevation in brain dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure and reward.

Material could be used to make better filters, more efficient sensors, and faster catalysts

26 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory For the first time, scientists have created a material with a gradient of gold nanoparticles on a silica covered silicon surface using a molecular template. The material, which was developed at North Carolina State University and tested at the National Synchrotron Light Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, provides the first evidence that nanoparticles, each about one thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, can form a gradient of decreasing concentration along a surface.

More clues about obesity revealed by brain-imaging study

26 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory The idea that obese people eat too much because they find food more palatable than lean people do has gained support from a new brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. The study reveals that the parts of the brain responsible for sensation in the mouth, lips, and tongue are more active in obese people than in normal-weight control subjects.

New insight into origin of superconductivity in magnesium diboride

26 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Oslo in Norway has provided new insight into the superconductivity of magnesium diboride, an unusual superconductor discovered only last year.

New insight into origin of superconductivity in magnesium diboride

26 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Oslo in Norway has provided new insight into the superconductivity of magnesium diboride, an unusual superconductor discovered only last year.

Biological serendipity: Molecular details of cell membrane fusion revealed

25 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory For the first time, scientists have observed the molecular details of biological cells fusing together, a fleeting event never before observed at this scale. Cellular membrane fusion is well known to scientists, and is one of the most common ways for molecules to enter or exit cells, in processes such as fertilization and viral infection, for example.

Structures in molybdenum blue solutions reveal possible new solute state

25 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory For nearly 200 years, scientists have known that the elements molybdenum and oxygen can form various large molecules, which usually impart a unique blue color to aqueous solutions. Only recently have scientists been able to isolate these molecules, but no one was able to explain their supramolecular structure in solution, until now.

Nanoscale crystallography reveals hidden structural details

25 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Understanding the properties of nanoscale materials may allow scientists to manipulate these properties to produce new nanomagnets, nanocatalysts, and composites with better optical properties. But such applications require detailed knowledge of the materials' atomic level structure.

New technique reveals structure of films with high resolution

24 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists have developed and tested a new imaging technique that reveals the atomic structure of thin films with unprecedented resolution. For the first time, the technique has shown very precisely how the atoms of the first layers of a film rearrange under the action of the substrate on which the film is grown.

Scientists identify role of important cancer protein

24 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists working at the National Synchrotron Light Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have unveiled the details of an important cancer protein. Though the protein, called Ski (for Sloan Kettering Institute, where it was identified in the early 1980s), is known to trigger tumor growth, how it does this is still not well understood.

UI study reveals how a virus escapes from host cells and returns to the environment

24 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Your co-worker has a cold. You know it is only a matter of time before the virus spreads to you and other colleagues, causing a spate of missed workdays. The ability to spread from person to person makes viral infections, even those as benign as the common cold, a large public health problem.

Scientists reveal a new way viruses cause cells to self-destruct

23 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and their collaborators have discovered that some viruses can use the most abundant protein in the cells they are infecting to destroy the cells and allow new viruses to escape to infect others.

Molecular film on liquid mercury reveals new properties

23 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Harvard University, and Bar-Ilan University in Israel have grown ultrathin films made of organic molecules on the surface of liquid mercury.

Will allow non-invasive study of neurochemistry, behavior, and disease progression

23 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated that a miniature positron emission tomography scanner, known as microPET, and the chemical markers used in traditional PET scanning are sensitive enough to pick up subtle differences in neurochemistry between known genetic variants of mice.

New insights into superconducting copper-oxide compounds

22 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Working in the field of high-temperature superconductors, researchers from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Princeton University, and several institutions in Japan have determined the upper range of magnetic field at which copper-oxide compounds can be superconducting.

Scientists devise tiny liquid crystal devices for telecommunications

22 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists have built tiny liquid crystal devices on the tips of optical fibers, the plastic or glass cables used to carry high-speed signals from television, computer, telephone and radar, to correct signal distortions in high-speed optical communications. Optical communications form the backbone of the Internet and telephone networks and are envisioned to carry multimedia data in the future.

Overloaded circuits may explain tendency to binge, relapse

22 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals that recently abstinent methamphetamine abusers who reported they avoided harmful situations had higher resting metabolic rates in a part of the brain responsible for making decisions and modifying behaviors than those with low harm-avoidance scores.

Researchers explore unusual properties of low-resistance nanowire systems

21 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Molecular wires are seen by scientists as one key to producing ever-smaller and faster electronic circuits and switches, like those used in computers and complex electronic devices.

Scientists develop technique to determine molecular structure of heterogeneous surfaces

21 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists have refined a technique that uses the very intense light emitted by the National Synchrotron Light Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory to determine the structure of chemically heterogeneous surfaces with a submillimeter resolution.

Brookhaven scientists describe new statistical approach to predicting Raindrop formation

21 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory How do raindrops form? Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have proposed a new theory to explain how drizzle forms in warm rain clouds.

Scientists image soft tissues with new X-Ray technique

20 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers at Rush Medical College, have demonstrated the effectiveness of a novel x-ray imaging technology to visualize soft tissues of the human foot that are not visible with conventional x-rays. The technique, called Diffraction Enhanced Imaging, provides all of the information imparted by conventional x-rays as well as detailed information on soft tissues previously accessible only with additional scanning methods such as ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging.

Dependent channel structure reveals masterpiece responsible for all nerve, muscle activity

20 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists studying the tiny devices, called voltage-dependent ion channels, that are responsible for all nerve and muscle signals in living organisms for 50 years have been working like a bunch of blindfolded art critics.

Could yield biosensors with greater sensitivity, specificity

20 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at Hebrew University, Israel, in collaboration with researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, have devised a way to use gold nanoparticles as tiny electrical wires to plug enzymes into electrodes. The gold “nanoplugs” help align the molecules for optimal binding and provide a conductive pathway for the flow of electrons.

Scientists develop recyclable catalyst for solvent-free reactions

19 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a catalyst that achieves complete conversion of reactants to products and can easily be recovered and reused with no waste.

Findings intensify search for new form of matter

19 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory The latest results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, the world’s most powerful facility for nuclear physics research, strengthen scientists’ confidence that RHIC collisions of gold ions have created unusual conditions and that they are on the right path to discover a form of matter called the quark-gluon plasma, believed to have existed in the first microseconds after the birth of the universe.

Scientists demonstrate new way to control chemical reactions

19 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Using a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope to selectively “tweak” the vibrations of individual molecules, scientists have demonstrated a new way to directly influence the outcome of chemical reactions. The ability to exert such control may one day allow scientists to eliminate unwanted byproducts or selectively produce end products with potential commercial value.

Brookhaven Lab and Argonne Lab scientists invent a plasma valve

19 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory have received U.S. patent number 6,528,948 for a device that shuts off airflow into a vacuum about one million times faster than mechanical valves or shutters that are currently in use. The new device, called a plasma valve, was developed through research funded by DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences in the Office of Science.

Brookhaven Lab & Battelle collaborate on biological research that may lead to novel anti-microbial drugs

19 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory The U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Battelle of Columbus, Ohio, have joined together in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to determine the structures of microbial proteins, research that may lead to the design of novel anti-microbial drugs.

Nanoscale model catalyst paves way toward atomic-level understanding

18 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In an attempt to understand why ruthenium sulfide is so good at removing sulfur impurities from fuels, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have succeeded in making a model of this catalyst, nanoparticles supported on an inert surface, which can be studied under laboratory conditions.

Imaging study reveals effect of smoking on peripheral organs

18 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, who previously found reduced levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase B in the brains of smokers, now provide compelling evidence that MAO in peripheral organs, the kidneys, heart, lungs, and spleen, is also affected by smoking. This crucial enzyme breaks down neurotransmitters and dietary amines, and too much or too little MAO B can adversely affect health and even personality.

Brookhaven Researchers develop counterterror technologies

18 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are developing counterterrorism technologies to help protect the United States from would-be terrorists wielding nuclear weapons, dirty bombs, toxic chemicals, or explosives.

Fabricating 2D molecular gradients with a simple mechanical device

17 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from North Carolina State University and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology have used a silicon elastomer network in conjunction with a simple mechanical stretching device to produce two-dimensional molecular gradients for nanotechnology applications. The structure of these 2D molecular gradients was determined at the National Synchrotron Light Source, located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Coal-eating bacteria may improve methane recovery

17 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are exploring the use of bacteria to increase the recovery of methane, a clean natural gas, from coal beds, and to decontaminate water produced during the methane-recovery process.

Using ions to probe ionic liquids

17 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are using a very small and light ion, the electron, to study the structure and dynamics of ionic liquids and how those properties influence chemical reactivity.

Brookhaven Lab develops ThraxVac to clean up anthrax

16 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a device, dubbed “ThraxVac,” that can collect and kill anthrax and other bacterial spores. The patent-pending device has been licensed to Circle Group Holdings, Inc., a public company based in Mundelein, Illinois.

Results from first clinical trial using GVG to treat addiction

16 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Using an experimental addiction treatment first investigated at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, a team of scientists from Brookhaven, the New York University School of Medicine, and a national addiction treatment center in Mexico report prolonged abstinence and the elimination of drug craving in eight out of 20 hard-core, long-term cocaine addicts who enrolled in the study. This is the first human clinical data showing that gamma vinyl-GABA (GVG, vigabatrin) holds promise as a pharmacological treatment for cocaine addiction.

May have wide applications in fuel cell technology

15 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Devinder Mahajan, a chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, was recently issued U.S. Patent 6,596,423 for his development of a novel, low-temperature process of producing “pure” hydrogen for use in fuel cells. The process may help address one of the most significant difficulties in developing efficient and affordable fuel cells, how to extend the life of the catalysts that make them work.

Brookhaven Lab scientist helps create a new form of the element carbon

15 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A new phase of the element carbon, a superhard compressed graphite, has been identified by a research team that includes a scientist from the National Synchrotron Light Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Unique molecular structure offers insight into nanoscale self-assembly, solution chemistry

15 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Bielefeld, Germany, have discovered a new type of hollow spherical vesicles formed by large-scale, wheel-shaped inorganic molecules.

Fulbright scholar at Brookhaven Lab studies the theory of matter

14 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Michal Praszalowicz, an associate professor of physics at Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, is about midway into his yearlong visit as a Fulbright Scholar at the U.S. Department of Energys Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Scientists at Brookhaven contribute to the development of a better electron accelerator

14 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists working at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a compact linear accelerator that uses laser light to accelerate electrons with better efficiency and energy characteristics than ever before. The experimental device, called Staged Electron Laser Acceleration, is a step forward in accelerator development, and may help electron accelerators become practical tools for applications in industry and medicine, such as radiation therapy for cancer patients.

New g-2 measurement deviates further from standard model

14 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory The latest result from an international collaboration of scientists investigating how the spin of a muon is affected as this type of subatomic particle moves through a magnetic field deviates further than previous measurements from theoretical predictions. The result strengthens the challenge this experiment, known as muon g-2, first posed to the so-called Standard Model of particle physics.

Bright light yields unusual vibes

13 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory By bombarding very thin slices of several copper/oxygen compounds, called cuprates, with very bright, short-lived pulses of light, Ivan Bozovic, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and his collaborators have discovered an unusual property of the materials: After absorbing the light energy, they emit it as long-lived sound waves, as opposed to heat energy.

Physicists see golden needle in a micro-cosmic haystack

13 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory An international team of physicists examining an extremely rare form of subatomic particle decay, a veritable golden needle in a micro-cosmic haystack of 7.8 trillion candidates, has discovered evidence for the highly sought process, which could be an indication of new forces beyond those incorporated in the Standard Model of particle physics.

Physicists see golden needle in a micro-cosmic haystack

13 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory An international team of physicists examining an extremely rare form of subatomic particle decay, a veritable golden needle in a micro-cosmic haystack of 7.8 trillion candidates, has discovered evidence for the highly sought process, which could be an indication of new forces beyond those incorporated in the Standard Model of particle physics.

Another twist in the field of superconductivity

13 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered an interesting type of electronic behavior in a recently discovered class of superconductors known as cobalt oxides, or cobaltates. These materials operate quite differently from other oxide superconductors, namely the copper oxides (or cuprates), which are commonly referred to as high-temperature superconductors.

Scientists investigate the mechanism behind high-temperature superconductivity

13 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Using crystal samples prepared at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, have ruled out two proposed theories for the subatomic mechanisms of superconductivity, a phenomenon in which the electrical resistance of certain materials drops to zero.

Brookhaven Lab helps develop technology to turn dredged material into cement

12 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have helped develop a new technology that converts material dredged from the bottoms of harbors and waterways into a substance that can be made into construction-grade cement. The technology, called Cement-Lock, was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Jersey, and other government and public groups.

Protein folding on a chip

12 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are proposing to use a supercomputer originally developed to simulate elementary particles in high-energy physics to help determine the structures and functions of proteins, including, for example, the 30,000 or so proteins encoded by the human genome. Structural information will help scientists better understand proteins’ role in disease and health, and may lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Carbon nanotubes with big possibilities

12 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, working with colleagues at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, has caused an individual carbon nanotube to emit light for the first time. This step in research on carbon nanotubes may help to materialize many of the proposed applications for carbon nanotubes, such as in electronics and photonics development.

Botulinum toxin structure offers clues for vaccines/treatments

11 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory By deciphering the near atomic-level structure of the catalytic domain of botulinum toxin type E, one of seven neurotoxins that cause botulism, a disease that paralyzes victims by blocking nerve cells’ ability to communicate, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are one step closer to a potential vaccine or treatment.

Finding confirms earlier result using better model for human alcohol abuse

11 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory As a follow up to previous work showing that gene therapy can reduce drinking in rats trained to prefer alcohol, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have used the same technique to cut drinking in rats with a genetic predisposition for heavy alcohol consumption.

New Brookhaven laser facility captures molecules in action

11 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have released results from the first experiment at Brookhaven’s Deep Ultraviolet Free Electron Laser, a facility that produces powerful ultraviolet laser light for research applications. The researchers investigated how gas molecules break apart when they are highly energized by the laser light, research that may offer insight into many fundamental chemical and physical processes that are based on molecule-light interactions, such as photosynthesis, radiation damage, and ozone formation.

Same area of brain affected as seen in drug-addiction studies

11 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have produced new evidence that brain circuits involved in drug addiction are also activated by the desire for food. The mere display of food, smelling and tasting favorite foods without actually eating them, causes increases in metabolism throughout the brain. Increases of metabolism in the right orbitofrontal cortex, a brain region that controls drive and pleasure, also correlate strongly with self-reports of desire for food and hunger.

Why calcium improves a high-temperature superconductor

10 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have found evidence to prove why adding a small amount of calcium to a common high-temperature superconductor significantly increases the amount of electric current the material can carry. This research may be a first step toward developing commercial applications for high-temperature superconducting materials.

Fluid Stripes may be essential for high-temperature superconductivity

10 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom and Tohoku University in Japan, have discovered evidence supporting a possible mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity that had previously appeared incompatible with certain experimental observations.

Useful new tool for emergency responders, national security

10 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have been awarded U.S. patent number 6,608,677 for a portable device that quickly detects and identifies unknown chemical and biological substances from safe distances. The sensor may be useful as a tool to help improve national security and could be used, for example, by emergency personnel or at sensitive locations, such as airports.

New physics law unifies several superconducting compounds

09 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A research group led by a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has discovered a simple relationship that mathematically links the properties of a class of high-temperature superconductors, materials that, below a certain temperature, conduct electricity with no resistance. This new, unexpected law applies to superconductors with very different structures and compositions, and may provide clues to understanding the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.

New research may lead to better catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells

09 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology have taken steps toward understanding how a titanium compound reacts with a hydrogen-storage material to catalyze the release and re-absorption of hydrogen.

First example of location-dependent production of alternate products by single enzymes

09 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists have long thought that individual enzymes have specific, single jobs dependent on their molecular shape. According to this premise, enzymes could only evolve to perform new functions by accumulating several shape-changing mutations, which can take thousands of generations.

Lab develops colorful beryllium detection technology

09 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Detecting beryllium on contaminated surfaces may become as simple as testing the acidity of a swimming pool, thanks to scientists at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

New machine for biology research prevents pollution at Brookhaven Lab

08 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory As part of its Pollution Prevention Program, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory recently invested in a machine used for numerous biology experiments at the Lab, a microwave peptide synthesizer.

Taking charge of molecular wires

08 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Florida have uncovered information that may help “molecular wires” replace silicon in micro-electronic circuits and/or components in solar energy storage systems. The scientists were studying how electric charge is distributed in polymer molecule chains that are several nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in length.

A better catalyst for ammonia production

08 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Research by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory may help lead to a more efficient catalyst for ammonia production, one of the country’s largest industries.

GVG may reduce addictive effects of huffing

07 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A new study by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA or GVG) may block the addictive effects of toluene, a substance found in many household products commonly used as inhalants. These results broaden the promise of GVG as a potential treatment for a variety of addictions.

Finding may lead to new therapies

07 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a key mechanism in the brains of people with human immunodeficiency virus dementia. The study is the first to document decreases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in those with the condition, and may lead to new, more effective therapies. HIV dementia is a type of cognitive decline that is more common in the later stages of HIV infection.

DNA binding to viral enzyme may serve as new target for antiviral drugs

07 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have produced the first molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus enzyme, a step they believe is essential for the virus to cause infection.

New theory on drizzle formation says a few big drops get all the water

07 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In research that could lead to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory say a physical limit on the number of cloud droplets that grow big enough to form drizzle paradoxically makes drizzle form faster. That’s because those few droplets that cross the drizzle “barrier” readily collect enough surrounding droplets to fall, instead of staying stuck in the clouds competing for a limited water supply and never getting quite big enough.

Climate uncertainty with CO2 rise due to uncertainty about aerosols

06 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Climate scientists agree that atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased about 35 percent over the industrial period and that it will continue to rise so that CO2 will reach double its pre-industrial value well before the end of this century. How much this doubled CO2 concentration will raise Earth’s global mean temperature, however, remains quite uncertain and is the subject of intense research, and heated debate.

Research on Holes may unearth causes of superconductivity

06 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered another possible clue to the causes of high-temperature superconductivity, a phenomenon in which the electrical resistance of a material disappears below a certain temperature.

Scientists find evidence that a theoretical phenomenon is real

06 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Recent research by a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and his collaborators may lead to new advances in electronic circuitry and new clues to the causes of high-temperature superconductivity. The researchers found evidence to support the existence of the theoretical “Giant Proximity Effect,” a physical phenomenon in which a thick layer of a conventional metal conducts like a superconductor, that is, with no resistance, when it is placed in contact with a superconducting material.

Scientists grow thermoelectric cobaltate thin films on silicon

05 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Thin films made of so-called thermoelectric materials could be used to convert heat directly into electric energy, or vise versa, for a variety of applications, including micro-chip-based chemical and biological sensors and more-efficient ways to cool computer chips.

Technique may also help assess, improve effectiveness of pain medication following fetal surgery

05 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrate a new way to assess the potentially damaging effects of prenatal drug exposure, a technique that could also be used to monitor a fetus’s response to therapeutic drugs, using sophisticated, non-invasive medical-imaging tools.

New results may lead to advances in nanotechnology, molecular electronics

05 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Bar-Ilan University, and Harvard University have grown ultrathin films of organic chain molecules on the surface of liquid mercury and discovered that the molecules form ordered structures. Similar to sixty years ago when fundamental studies of silicon paved the way to the semiconductor-electronics age, these results help to build a foundation for the development of tiny circuits built using organic molecules, called molecular electronics, a field believed to be the future of many electronic applications.

New Technique may help decipher regulator proteins’ roles in cell differentiation, cancer, and more

05 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Finding out where gene-regulator proteins bind to DNA and identifying the genes they regulate just got a step easier thanks to a new technique developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. The technique could greatly speed the process of unraveling the role these proteins play in turning on and off the genes that establish the very identity of cells, be they brain cells, liver, or blood, as well as what might go awry in certain conditions like cancer.

Physicists trace the hopping of single electrons in magnetic materials

04 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory How much energy does it take for an electron to hop from atom to atom, and how do the magnetic properties of the material influence the rate or ease of hopping? Answers to those questions could help explain why some materials, like those used in a computer hard drive, become conductors only in a magnetic field while they are very strong insulators otherwise.

Catalytic converters that are better at cleaning up auto exhaust

04 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Experiments on ceria (cerium oxide) nanoparticles carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory may lead to catalytic converters that are better at cleaning up auto exhaust, and/or to more-efficient ways of generating hydrogen, a promising zero-emission fuel for the future.

Possible applications for solar cells and other small-scale circuits

04 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Learning how to control the movement of electrons on the molecular and nanometer scales could help scientists devise small-scale circuits for a wide variety of applications, including more efficient ways of storing and using solar energy.

Use of functional imaging to track plant nutrients has many potential applications

03 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have applied some of the same techniques used in medical imaging to track the distribution of nutrients in poplar trees in response to a simulated insect attack. The research provides new insights on a long-debated theory about how plants respond to environmental stress, and shows that radiotracer imaging can be a big help in unraveling plant biochemistry.

Quasiparticle behavior in bose quantum liquids

03 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Quasiparticles carry energy in condensed matter. In the world of quasiparticle physics, understanding when and how these energy carriers fail opens doors to another level of understanding, and can lead the way to many new and important theories. Scientists at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered the failure point for the quasiparticle construct, the standard model of condensed matter physics.

Studies may help identify best materials for variety of future electronics applications

03 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Flexible displays that can be folded up in your pocket? More accurate biological and chemical sensors? Biocompatible electronics? In research that may help determine the best materials for a wide range of future electronics applications.

New state of matter more remarkable than predicted, raising many new questions

02 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory The four detector groups conducting research at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a giant atom “smasher” located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, say they’ve created a new state of hot, dense matter out of the quarks and gluons that are the basic particles of atomic nuclei, but it is a state quite different and even more remarkable than had been predicted.

Astronauts’ children unlikely to inherit cosmic ray-induced genetic defects

02 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Male astronauts exposed to cosmic rays in space are not likely to pass on possible mutations caused by the rays to their offspring, according to a new study by a collaboration that includes a scientist from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Results may inspire new treatments for lead poisoning

02 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have discovered that a member of a well-known protein family is better at detecting lead than any other known substance. Learning more about the protein’s structure and lead-detection mechanism, they say, may lead to new ways to synthesize drugs or to develop treatments for lead poisoning, a worldwide problem that, in the U.S. alone, inflicts irreversible physical damage to half a million children each year.

Building a better virtual raindrop

01 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A new way of mathematically modeling the formation of rain drops in clouds may improve our understanding of Earth’s climate, cloud formation and movement, and the effect that small airborne particles have on rainfall.

Pushing the boundaries of high-temperature superconductors

01 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has revealed a new mechanism that explains why adding calcium to a high-temperature superconductor increases its current-carrying capacity. The findings refute the current explanation and open the door for similar additives with potentially better current-boosting abilities.

Papers describe how efforts to block or modify reward circuits affect drinking in animals

01 May 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory As part of an ongoing effort to understand the biochemical basis of alcohol abuse, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have published two studies on how modulating receptors for dopamine, a chemical “signaler” in the brain’s reward circuits, affects drinking behavior in mice and rats.

Brookhaven Scientists Develop Method to Remove Uranium from Contaminated Steel Surfaces

30 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Center for Environmental and Molecular Sciences, and Stony Brook University have developed a simple, safe method of removing uranium from contaminated metallic surfaces using citric acid formulations so that the materials can be recycled or disposed of as low-level radioactive or nonradioactive waste.

New mobile atmospheric laboratory gathering weather & climate change data on California Coast

30 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists sponsored by the Department of Energy are conducting a six'month atmospheric research campaign at the Point Reyes National Seashore, in Marin County, California. The experiment’s goal is to help researchers understand how aerosols 'small particles such as soot, dust and smoke'influence the structure of marine stratus clouds, and how aerosols are associated with drizzle ' the misty rain regularly produced by these types of clouds.

Brookhaven Scientists create a new nanostructure

30 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have devised a method to create a new, intriguing nanostructure: ultra-thin, ribbon-like 'nanobelts' bound to nanotubes. Their research achieves several 'firsts' in the field of nanoscience, the study of materials on the scale of a billionth of a meter.

Smoking damages key regulatory enzyme in the lung

29 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Smoking appears to reduce a key enzyme in the lungs, possibly contributing to some of smoking’s deleterious health effects, according to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and their collaborators.

A step closer to a Malaria vaccine

29 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory An international team of scientists that includes a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has determined the three-dimensional molecular structure of a promising malaria-vaccine component. This research may help lead to a successful vaccine for the disease, which currently infects approximately 400 million people worldwide and kills about two million people each year, mostly children.

X-rays yield pictures and chemical clues that may help trace contaminants, thwart terrorists

29 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory As part of the search for better ways to track and clean up soil contaminants, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University have developed a new way to 'image' the internal chemistry of bacteria.

Reverse reaction offers way to break carbon-hydrogen bonds

28 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In the annals of chemistry, there are many examples of hydrogen atoms moving from metals to carbon atoms. But no one has ever directly observed the reverse reaction, hydrogen atoms moving from carbon to a metal, until now. Using lasers and time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have captured the bond-breaking and making action.

Scientists study and learn to prevent Nanoparticle Merging

28 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified how billionth-of-a-meter sized metal particles, gold-atom clusters within carbon-atom shells, can mesh together to form larger particles and have also found a way to control this process.

Another brain receptor confirmed to affect alcohol intake; may serve as treatment target

28 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A new set of experiments in mice confirms that a brain receptor associated with the reinforcing effects of marijuana also helps to stimulate the rewarding and pleasurable effects of alcohol.

Filling Nanocontainers with liquid

27 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In research that may help advance many emerging nanotechnologies, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, together with research groups from Harvard University and IBM, have learned how a very thin layer of liquid behaves on a “nanopatterned” silicon surface, that is, a surface etched with an ordered array of cavities, each only 20 nanometers (billionths of a meter) deep.

Unique method used to determine chemical dynamics in combustion

27 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, working with colleagues at Stony Brook University, have developed a unique experimental technique to measure the flow of energy inside a molecule in the process of breaking apart. The chemists’ experiments provide a critical test of theories used in computer models of combustion, which are used, for instance, by combustion engineers to design more fuel-efficient and less polluting machines.

Technique identifies candidate amino acid sites that control protein functions

27 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory With more and more protein sequence data available, scientists are increasingly looking for ways to extract the small subset of information that determines a protein’s function. In addition to sorting out what makes related proteins differ, such information can also help scientists engineer proteins to do new jobs.

Aerosols in many arctic clouds warm up ground surface

26 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Enhanced aerosol concentrations increase the amount of thermal energy emitted by many Arctic clouds, according to scientists supported by the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program.

Common food preservative might provide treatment for Cystic Fibrosis

26 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers led by a University of Cincinnati scientist say they have discovered what might be the “Achilles’ heel” of a dangerous organism that lives in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, a fatal flaw that leaves the organism vulnerable to destruction by a common food preservative.

A Ferroelectric material reveals unexpected, intriguing behavior

26 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In electronics-based technologies, metal-oxide compounds known as “relaxor ferroelectrics” often make up key circuit components due to their unique electrical behavior. They are good insulators and can sustain large electric fields, making them excellent at storing electric charge. They can also turn a mechanical force, like squeezing, into electrical energy.

Brookhaven Scientists study liquid Nanodrops

25 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that drops of liquid with thicknesses of just a few billionths of a meter, or nanometers, are shaped differently than macroscopic liquid drops.

Structure of a molecular-scale circuit component

25 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, researchers have determined the structure of an experimental, organic compound-based circuit component, called a “molecular electronic junction,” that is only a few nanometers (billionths of a meter) in dimension. This study may help scientists understand how the structure of molecular junctions relates to their performance and function and, in the longer term, may help incorporate these and other molecular-scale devices into a new generation of remarkably small electronics-based technologies.

New study questions the effects of cosmic proton radiation on human cells

25 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In deep space, protons are the most abundant type of charged particle. Therefore, before astronauts can safely travel far from Earth for long periods of time, it is important to know how protons affect cells, particularly the cells’ DNA. Now, at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, scientists have found that protons are more damaging to DNA than previously assumed.

Three enzyme structures that may help scientists understand disease processes and develop new drugs

25 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Selection of the centers, slated to receive about $300 million over the next five years, marks the second half of the decade-long initiative funded largely by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Details of protein-cleaving complex key to microbe’s survival may improve drug design

24 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory With the hope of designing more effective treatments for tuberculosis, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborating institutions have published the first detailed reports on the biochemistry and structure of a protein-cleaving complex that is essential to the TB bacterium’s survival.

Genomic tags quickly catalog species, distinguish pathogens from harmless relatives

24 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new, high-throughput technique for identifying the many species of microorganisms living in an unknown “microbial community.”

Protein structure initiative advances to rapid production phase

24 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory With the announcement of 10 new research centers, the Protein Structure Initiative launches the second phase of its national effort to find the three-dimensional shapes of a wide range of proteins. This structural information will help reveal the roles that proteins play in health and disease and will help point the way to designing new medicines.

Freezing magnets with magnets

23 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A “spin liquid” is a very unique, dynamic material in which each spin, the tiny magnetic field carried by an electron, is not frozen into place, producing clearly defined magnetic regions. Instead, the spins are free to change orientation. Because of this, external magnetic fields applied to spin liquids may produce changes that even extreme temperatures and pressures cannot.

Shrinking magnetic storage media down to the nanoscale

23 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In the world of electronic and magnetic devices, the goal is to get smaller. “The smaller space one bit of information can occupy, the more data you can get into a device and the faster it can operate,” says Yimei Zhu, a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

New wrinkle in the mystery of high-tc superconductors

22 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory In the twenty years since the discovery of high-temperature superconductors, scientists have been trying to understand the mechanism by which electrons pair up and move coherently to carry electrical current with no resistance. “We are still at the beginning,” says Tonica Valla, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, who will give a talk on his group’s latest results at the American Physical Society. “If anything,” he adds, “it looks like the story is getting more complicated.”

Malaria mechanism revealed

22 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory By determining the molecular structure of a protein that enables malaria parasites to invade red blood cells, researchers have uncovered valuable clues for rational antimalarial drug design and vaccine development.

Using probes to control chemistry, Molecule by molecule

21 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Using probes originally designed to detect and image topographical features on surfaces, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated the ability to initiate and spatially localize chemical reactions on the submicron scale.

MINOS experiment sheds light on mystery of neutrino disappearance

21 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory An international collaboration of scientists at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced the first results of a new neutrino experiment. Sending a high-intensity beam of muon neutrinos from the lab’s site in Batavia, Illinois, to a particle detector in Soudan, Minnesota, scientists observed the disappearance of a significant fraction of these neutrinos.

New combination method determines physical and electronic structure of individual specimens

20 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory For the first time, researchers have directly measured the electronic structure of individual carbon nanotubes whose physical properties had already been determined. This new study, pioneered by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory working with their colleagues at Columbia University, may help scientists determine the usefulness of carbon nanotubes in various applications, from microelectronics to mechanical, thermal, and photovoltaic devices.

A synthetic peptide that mimics effects of tissue growth factor known as fibroblast growth factor

20 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers from BioSurface Engineering Technologies, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a synthetic peptide that mimics the effects of a tissue growth factor known as fibroblast growth factor, or FGF. FGFs are a family of proteins in the human body responsible for the proliferation, repair, and differentiation of cells in many tissues. BioSET has an exclusive license to develop and market these bioactive analogs.

New X-ray delivery method could improve radiation therapy

19 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and colleagues at Stony Brook University, the IRCCS NEUROMED Medical Center in Italy, and Georgetown University say improvements they have made to an experimental form of radiation therapy that has been under investigation for many years could make the technique more effective and eventually allow its use in hospitals.

Discovery could lead to stronger antibiotics

19 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Collaborating with the McGill team, Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers Marc Allaire and Natalia Moiseeva from the Lab's National Synchrotron Light Source used x-rays to visualize a bacterial membrane protein complex.

Liquid alloy shows solid-like crystal structure at surface

18 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory A substance used in nanotechnology contains unusual structures at its surface, a team of researchers led by Oleg Shpyrko, Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have learned.

Finding suggests new target for treatments aimed at stopping addiction

18 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Ask anyone who has been addicted to drugs and they’ll tell you that the mere sight of someone using their drug of choice, or even people, places, or objects associated with drug use, can trigger an intense desire for the drug. Using sophisticated brain-imaging techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Brookhaven Lab, and the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered the brain chemistry that underlies such “cue-induced” craving in cocaine addicts.

One-two particle punch poses greater risk for Astronauts

17 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory It doesn’t just matter how much radiation an astronaut is exposed to, time and the order in which charged particles strike human cells are important factors as well. That’s the main finding of a study simulating radiation exposure conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. In the study, human cells were three times more likely to develop properties similar to those in the initial stages of cancer when they were exposed to two types of high-energy particles in a short period of time.

New methods for screening nanoparticles

17 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a screening method to examine how newly made nanoparticles, particles with dimensions on the order of billionths of a meter, interact with human cells following exposure for various times and doses. This has led to the visualization of how human cells interact with some specific types of carbon nanoparticles.

Modeling the movement of electrons at the molecular scale

16 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Finding more efficient ways of storing and using energy requires scientists to first look at the particles that set these fundamental processes in motion, the electrons. Controlling the movement of electrons through individual molecules could allow for the development of new technologies such as small-scale circuits to be used for a variety of applications including improved solar cells.

Understanding the chemistry of ionic liquids for nuclear fuel reprocessing

16 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory With the rising cost and dwindling supply of fossil fuels, nuclear power may again be considered a plausible energy option in the U.S. Safety is the public’s major concern, and researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are addressing one important aspect of that issue by investigating materials called ionic liquids. If these liquid salts were to be used in nuclear fuel reprocessing, the chemical removal of reusable nuclear material from spent nuclear reactor fuel, the risk of unintended nuclear chain reactions may be substantially reduced.

Using microbes to fuel the U.S. hydrogen economy

15 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory “If the U.S. is to have a future hydrogen-based economy, we’ll need a way to generate abundant quantities of hydrogen safely and economically,” said Daniel (Niels) van der Lelie, a biologist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

How chemistry has enhanced scientists’ ability to see inside the brain

14 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Molecular imaging using positron emission tomography continues to provide new knowledge about how brain circuits are altered by addictive drugs. Chemist Joanna Fowler, Director of the Center for Translational Neuroimaging at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and a pioneer in the development of radioactively “tagged” molecules used with PET.

Lasers shine light on chemical reactions

14 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have been using a high-resolution laser technique to learn how molecules absorb light and fall apart during photodissociation reactions, chemical decomposition reactions triggered by light. Studying the atomic-level details of such reactions allows scientists to test and refine theories of chemical reactions, and may help them in their quest to use light to control reaction outcomes.

Lasers shine light on chemical reactions

14 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have been using a high-resolution laser technique to learn how molecules absorb light and fall apart during photodissociation reactions, chemical decomposition reactions triggered by light. Studying the atomic-level details of such reactions allows scientists to test and refine theories of chemical reactions, and may help them in their quest to use light to control reaction outcomes.

Contradicts use of transporter levels as diagnostic indicator; suggests need for more study

13 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Results from a brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in collaboration with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York indicate that levels of a brain protein proposed as a diagnostic marker for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are not positively correlated with the disease.

Findings implicate brain circuits involved in drug craving and emotional response to food

13 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have found new clues to how the brain and the stomach interact with emotions to cause overeating and obesity. By looking at how the human brain responds to “fullness” messages sent to the brain by an implanted device that stimulates the stomach, the scientists have identified brain circuits that motivate the desire to overeat in the obese, the same circuits that cause addicted individuals to crave drugs.

Brain-mapping, psychological studies support mechanism for compromised control in drug addiction

12 April 2007 - DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory People addicted