How Things Break—and Why Scientists Want to KnowBreaking things helps answer elemental questions
Thu, 06/23/2016 - 16:10
Humans spend a lot of time creating things, and these activities drive a huge amount of our lives, economically and personally. We’re always in a fight to keep our creations from breaking down. Houses, roads, cars. Power lines and bridges. Solar… Engine Design Takes a Major Leap ForwardSupercomputer speeds up simulations
Mon, 04/25/2016 - 13:46
The search for a truly revolutionary engine design that can make dramatic gains in efficiency requires deep scientific understanding and tools. Lots and lots of tools.
In the past, tools were needed to make prototypes, requiring repeated testing… 50-Year-Old Assumptions About Strength Muscled AsideX-ray diffraction reveals that muscle force is generated in multiple directions
Tue, 07/16/2013 - 13:40
Doctors have a new way of thinking about how to treat heart and skeletal muscle diseases. Body builders have a new way of thinking about how they maximize their power. Both owe their new insight to high-energy X-rays, cloud computing, and a moth.… Nanofluids Improve Performance of Vehicle ComponentsHeat is carried away 15 percent more effectively than with conventional fluids
Tue, 04/10/2012 - 11:37
Argonne researchers are working with two industrial partners to create nanofluids that improve the cooling of power electronics in hybrid electric vehicles.
These new coolants can lessen the need for heat exchangers, which could result in smaller… RAST to the RescueIdentifying a virulent strain of <em>E. coli</em> with Rapid Annotation using Subsystems Technology
Mon, 10/24/2011 - 10:54
When a nasty strain of E. coli flooded hospitals in Germany this summer, it struck its victims with life-threatening complications far more often than most strains—and the search for an explanation began.
During a feverish weekend after the… Engineer Helps Quest for Lost Leonardo da Vinci PaintingWhat curiosity, inspiration, and gamma rays discovered
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 13:10
Perhaps one of Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest paintings has never been reprinted in books of his art. Known as the Battle of Anghiari, it was abandoned and then lost—until a determined Italian engineer gave the art world hope that it still existed… X-ray Laser LCLS Comes OnlineX-ray free-electron laser helps scientists understand fundamental properties of atoms and materials
Mon, 09/20/2010 - 08:33
The recently opened Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory (SNAL) provides scientists around the world with a brilliant new tool to understand fundamental properties of…
