How two sets of twin sisters became best friends and found careers through science. | Graphic by Carly Wilkins, Energy Department. Is your sister like a best friend? Is your best friend like a sister? Can she help you with your chem lab? “All of these things,” said Emma and Molly White and Ru-Shyan and… Keep reading →
Radiobiologist Matt Coleman displays a device like the medical diagnosis instrument he helped develop for NASA for use in deep space. | Photo by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In the future, NASA astronauts journeying into deep space may give themselves a health check-up with the aid of a small medical device developed by a team… Keep reading →
The first U.S. production in nearly 30 years of a specialized fuel to power future deep space missions has been completed by researchers at the Department of Energy‘s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. The production of 50 grams of plutonium-238 –roughly the mass of a golf ball – marks the first demonstration in… Keep reading →
With the emergence of open resources and new technologies, Americans today have scads of knowledge at their fingertips. Yet sifting through data is a major barrier for most. By visualizing global trends, however, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found a way to see earth science information rolled out in colorful maps on… Keep reading →
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just accomplished one of the most exciting feats in the history of space exploration. After a 9 1/2-year, 3-billion-mile journey, the mission’s historic flyby of Pluto has provided us with our first-ever closeup views of the frozen world at the edge of the solar system. It’s a remarkable achievement, one that… Keep reading →
This #SpaceWeek post is an update to the 2014 article about Curiosity’s ChemCam, found here. Don’t you hate it when your photos turn out blurry? Scientists at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory do. So when the ultra-precise camera they developed for NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover started going fuzzy, they came up with a solution that not… Keep reading →
Really awful news…a Rail World Inc train carrying crude oil through Quebec derailed this weekend, causing multiple explosions in the middle of the town of Lac Megantic, resulting in multiple fatalities and destroying dozens of buildings. Oil spilled into Lac Megantic itself, and into a nearby river. “The derailment is the latest in a string of railroad… Keep reading →
James Hansen was a NASA scientist for 46 years and a prominent climate change critic credited with being one of the first to speak out about the issue. He recently left his position at the government space agency so he could freely address climate change on a full-time basis.
In this brand new video, he discusses his decision to leave NASA and suggests increasing the price of fossil fuels at the policy level can help accelerate a transition to cleaner energy solutions. Keep reading →
A rare earth mining operation in China’s Jiangsu province
A rare earth metal called vanadium could provide an energy storage solution for some of the challenges renewable energy sources face. The intermittent nature of wind and solar power can make these distributed sources difficult for utilities to manage within the electrical grid. Vanadium flow batteries can accommodate renewable energy by storing massive amounts of electricity and releasing it into the grid as needed when demand increases. Keep reading →
