Rotavirus, a major cause of infantile gastroenteritis, is responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 children per year. Although vaccines are available, the virus still circulates, and a fuller understanding of the viral structures is needed. Here, scientists investigate the structure and function of the last unsolved rotavirus structural protein. Read more »
2020 Shirley Award to Honor Miquel Salmeron
By taking surface studies from ultrahigh vacuum to near-ambient pressure, Miquel Salmeron’s work at the ALS has had deep impact on a broad range of scientific questions, revealing the chemical, electronic, and mechanical properties of surfaces and interfaces on the nanometer (and often atomic) scale. Read more »
X-Rays Recount Origin of Oddball Meteorites
Reconstructions of 3D patterns of magnetic orientation imprinted in rare meteorites helped resolve questions about their origins. Known as type IIE iron meteorites, they appear to have originated from a parent body that had a composition featuring both fully melted and unmelted parts—other meteorite types display only one composition. Read more »
COSMIC Probes Evolution of Single-Atom Platinum Catalyst
Researchers synthesized a single-atom platinum catalyst that outperformed, by a factor of 15, conventional platinum-based catalysts, which are used for fuel cells and automotive emissions control. Operando x-ray spectromicroscopy at the ALS’s COSMIC beamline revealed how electronic interactions affect the material’s morphology. Read more »
Battery Breakthrough Gives Boost to Electric Flight and Long-Range Electric Cars
While lithium metal extends an EV’s driving range, it also shortens the battery’s useful life due to lithium dendrites that can cause short circuits. Researchers report a new class of soft, solid electrolytes—made from both polymers and ceramics—that suppress dendrites, before they can propagate and cause the battery to fail. Read more »
In Memoriam: Derrick Crofoot, ALS Senior Material Specialist
The ALS has lost a member of our family. Derrick Crofoot, a senior material specialist, died earlier this month. The Crofoots are a Berkeley Lab family—Derrick’s brother, Garret, also works at Berkeley Lab, and their father, Mike, worked at the Lab until his retirement. Derrick’s warmth and friendly personality played an important role in making the ALS feel like a family. We grieve together. Read more »
Will Hutcheson, Mechanical Engineering Group Leader
Will Hutcheson has been problem solving since childhood—a necessity growing up on a farm. Playing college football cemented his appreciation for cohesive teams, a mindset that has served him well at Berkeley Lab, the home of team science. Learn more about his vision for the ALS. Read more »
Long Chains Stabilize Higher-Efficiency Solar Cells
Perovskite thin films have many attractive properties for use in photovoltaics, but their assembly into practical devices has led to trade-offs between efficiency and stability. The addition of surfactant-type molecules with hydrophobic chains helped produce perovskite solar cells that are both efficient and stable. Read more »
Off the Scales: Fish Armor Both Tough and Flexible
Humans have drawn technological inspiration from fish scales going back to ancient times: Romans, Egyptians, and other civilizations would dress their warriors in scale armor, providing both protection and mobility. Now, scientists have characterized carp scales down to the nanoscale, enabling them to understand how the material is resistant to penetration while retaining flexibility. Read more »
How a Cancer Drug Targets Proteins for Degradation
Protein structures obtained by Novartis researchers helped reveal how a cancer drug promotes the degradation of proteins essential to cell proliferation. A detailed understanding of the drug’s mechanism of action is key to determining whether the protein-degradation system can be reprogrammed to degrade different targets. Read more »
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