Government Research Laboratories

Featured Topics in Government Research Laboratories: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (Japan) | Y-12 National Security Complex | NASA (General) | Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) | Naval Surface Warfare Center (DOD) | all topics

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Tiny planet-finding mirrors borrow from Webb Telescope playbook

Tiny planet-finding mirrors borrow from Webb Telescope playbook

NASA’s next flagship mission, the James Webb Space Telescope, will carry the largest primary mirror ever deployed in space. Researchers has borrowed a page from its segmented mirror design to create a similar example just a half-inch in diameter. Strangely, the tiny mirror may one day become the standard for future space telescopes.

Study cracks a secret of methanol production

Study cracks a secret of methanol production

Scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, and Germany have figured out a key part of the industrial process for making methanol. It’s an important step toward improving the process—and eventually realizing the goal of turning a potent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into fuel.

Food, water safety provide new challenges for sensors

Sensors that work flawlessly in laboratory settings may stumble when it comes to performing in real-world conditions, according to researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These shortcomings are important as they relate to safeguarding the nation's food and water supplies.

First direct observation of oriented attachment in nanocrystal growth

First direct observation of oriented attachment in nanocrystal growth

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have reported the first direct observation of nanoparticles undergoing oriented attachment, the critical step in biomineralization and the growth of nanocrystals. A better understanding of oriented attachment in nanoparticles is a key to synthesizing new materials with remarkable structural properties.

Commercial space race gets crowded behind SpaceX

NASA has hired Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, but will eventually add astronauts. And the space agency is hiring other companies, too. Several firms—at least eight—think they can make money in space and are close enough to Musk's company to practically surf in his spaceship's rocket-fueled wake.

New carbon dioxide-removing catalyst can take the heat

New carbon dioxide-removing catalyst can take the heat

The current method of removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the flues of coal-fired power plants uses so much energy that no one bothers to use it. So says Roger Aines, principal investigator for a team that has developed an entirely new catalyst for separating out and capturing carbon dioxide, one that mimics a naturally occurring catalyst operating in our lungs.

Deep underground, LUX lies in wait for WIMPs

Deep underground, LUX lies in wait for WIMPs

Dark matter accounts for at least 80% of the matter in the universe. No one knows what it is, but most scientists would bet on weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. LUX, the Large Underground Xenon detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility nearly a mile below the Black Hills of South Dakota, holds 350 kg of liquid xenon and is a trap set for dark-matter WIMPs.

New model of geological strata may aid in oil extraction

A Sandia National Laboratories modeling study contradicts a long-held belief of geologists that pore sizes and chemical compositions are uniform throughout a given strata, which are horizontal slices of sedimentary rock. By understanding the variety of pore sizes and spatial patterns in strata, geologists can help achieve more production from underground oil reservoirs and water aquifers.

Better, stronger, lighter armor

What makes a piece of armor effective? Sure, it needs to be strong, and it should be lightweight. But what is it about a material's composition that gives it such properties? And can we develop materials that provide even better protection? With decades' worth of investment and preparation, California Institute of Technology engineers are particularly well equipped to address such questions as part of a new Army-funded program to improve protective gear and vehicles for soldiers.

Cassini reveals details about charged nanograins

Cassini reveals details about charged nanograins

In a new study, researchers describe what they found in data from Cassini: a new class of space particles—submicroscopic nanograins of electrically charged dust. Such particles are believed to exist throughout the universe, and this marks the first time researchers have measured and analyzed them.

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At 10, genomics faces reality

At 10, genomics faces reality

In February 2001, the journal Science published two scientific papers that, for the first time, described parts of the newly sequenced human genome. Ten years later, the journal has dedicated the month of February to a special series about one of the most celebrated scientific breakthroughs our time, and why it has and hasn't fulfilled its promise of changing medicine.

Irradiate the monkey

Irradiate the monkey

I’ve long assumed the 1982 Peter Gabriel hit “Shock the Monkey” is an animal rights anthem of sorts. The theme fits in with Gabriel’s darker songs and the music’s association with that mid-1980s Matthew Broderick vehicle “Project X”, which pitted the chimpanzees against an inhumane government.

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Curiosity spins its wheels

Curiosity spins its wheels

Engineers just installed six new wheels on the Curiosity rover, and rotated all six wheels at once on July 9, 2010. This milestone marked the first in a series of "tune ups" to get the rover ready for a drive in the clean room where it is being assembled at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Curiosity is the centerpiece of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is expected to launch in late 2011, and touch down wheels-first in summer 2012.

Superhydrophobic Coatings

Superhydrophobic Coatings

A transparent coating that is not just impermeable to water, but actually makes it bounce off a surface to help prevent corrosion, protect electronic and antiquities, or provide a new, more efficient surface to collect pure water.

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EMSL Installs Chinook Supercomputer

At more than 160 teraFLOPS, the newly installed $21.3 million Chinook supercomputer is over a dozen times faster than its predecessor the EMSL's MPP2.

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Airflow in subways could spread contaminants

As part of a Homeland Security study on the spread of airborne contaminants released in subway systems, Berkeley Lab researchers are measuring the flow of gas throughout tunnels and cars. Subways created significant airflow as they move through tunnels, which could raise risk in the event of a terrorist attack or spill.

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