Category: Science News

A years-long study involving scientists and experiments at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley concludes that an odd assortment of particles found in beach sands in Japan are most likely fallout debris from the 1945 Hiroshima A-bomb blast. The ALS was used to help conduct measurements for this study. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2019/05/13/study-concludes-glassy-menagerie-of-particles-in-beach-sands-near-hiroshima-is-fallout-debris-from-a-bomb-blast/

Based on a study (posted in the journal Peer J) using real-time data from last year’s Camp Fire, EESA researcher Jeff Chambers has proposed the creation of an app that would pull together weather satellite data to help California quickly detect wildfire hot spots and alert emergency responders. https://eesa.lbl.gov/could-there-be-an-app-for-detecting-wildfires/

After more than five years of supporting ground-breaking science, NERSC’s Edison supercomputer retired on Monday, May 13. Since coming online in January 2014, Edison has been a mainstay for the DOE’s Office of Science computational workload. https://www.nersc.gov/news-publications/nersc-news/nersc-center-news/2019/edison-supercomputer-to-retire-after-five-years-of-service/

SARS and MERS are serious, often deadly, respiratory diseases. Using the ALS, researchers learned how antibodies inhibit the viruses from attaching to host cells, as well as how one antibody mimics its natural counterpart to effectively deactivate the SARS virus’s cell-invasion machinery. https://als.lbl.gov/antibody-uses-mimicry-to-block-sars-coronavirus

By homing in on a particular type of distortion in the universe’s oldest light, known as the cosmic microwave background, researchers have opened a clearer view of the distribution of all matter in space. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2019/05/08/new-filter-better-map-dark-universe/

Researchers at the Molecular Foundry have created thin platelets of cesium lead halide perovskites that direct emitted light outward, making them a promising material for efficient LEDs. http://foundry.lbl.gov/#/news/2019-05-03_B.html

In a recent Nature article, EESA researcher Charles Koven co-authored a commentary on how the Arctic permafrost is thawing much more quickly than models have predicted. The researchers warn this might double the warming from greenhouse gases released from tundra. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01313-4