Research Highlights Archive
Research is our business. With an unwavering focus on our missions, scientists and engineers at PNNL deliver science and technology. We conduct basic research that advances the frontiers of science. We translate discoveries into tools and technologies in science, energy, the environment and national security.
For more than four decades, our experts have teamed with government, industry and academia to tackle some of the toughest problems facing our nation. The result: We’re delivering the science, technology and leadership our customers need to succeed.
To view previously featured research and scientist’s achievements, click on a month.
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January
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Cutting Air Pollution Got Boost from Weather
New research suggests that China's impressive feat of cutting Beijing's pollution up to 50 percent for the 2008 Summer Olympics had some help from Mother Nature. Rain just at the beginning and wind during the Olympics likely contributed about half of the effort needed to clean up the skies, scientists found. The results also suggest emission controls need to be more widely implemented than in 2008 if pollution levels are to be reduced permanently. [ Full Story ]
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Squeezing the Most out of U.S. Natural Gas Reserves
Researchers discovered a method that could dramatically cut the amount of heat needed during the processing of natural gas by at least 10 percent. Currently, natural gas extracted from the nation's coal beds and methane-rich geologic features must first be purged of hydrogen sulfide before it can be used as fuel. [ Full Story ]
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Translating Data into Decisions
A new tool developed by PNNL helps grid operators respond to complex outage predictions more effectively and even predict potential network failures. [ Full Story ]
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MARS on the Move
PNNL adapted the Multi-Sensor Airborne Radiation System (MARS) for first-time deployment on a helicopter. The technology, developed for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, could be used for detecting radiation at distances of up to ten meters. [ Full Story ]
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Cloud Droplets Ready for Primetime
Scientists were looking for promising atmospheric particles that turn into cloud droplets and then plotting their origins. Separating the formed droplets from the inactive particles, they uncovered the chemical structure of those that formed droplets. Results will help solve some of the mystery of clouds and their effects on floods and droughts. [ Full Story ]
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Fingerprinting Uranium
It may become easier to determine if uranium zips through the soil or not. Researchers from PNNL and the University of Texas used x-rays to identify mobile, stationary forms of atomic pollutant. Using this method allows scientists to more accurately predict the atomic pollutant's behavior. [ Full Story ]
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February
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The Great Gas Hydrate Escape
Computer simulations revealing how methane and hydrogen pack into gas hydrates could enlighten alternative fuel production and carbon dioxide storage. Researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound reveals key details of its structure. [ Full Story ]
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Characterizing Protein-Nanoparticle Interactions in Biofluids
PNNL researchers using equipment at EMSL devised an elegant, novel method to characterize blood plasma proteins that attach to nanoparticles. Their work offers new insights into how the human body interacts with nanoparticles and resulted in the largest protein-nanoparticle dataset to date. [ Full Story ]
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Gauging Water's Future—Earth System Model Tested to Estimate Watershed Runoff
Scientists found ways to improve the capabilities of a land model within global and regional Earth system models to estimate water runoff. Accurate runoff predictions can lead to better information for managing sustainable water for personal and industrial consumption. [ Full Story ]
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An About-Face on Electrical Conductivity at the Interface
To improve the electronic devices that keep our modern, hyper-connected world organized, scientists are on the hunt for new semiconductor materials, which control the flow of electricity that powers smart phones and other electronic devices. [ Full Story ]
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New Mass Spec Raises Bar for Mass Accuracy, Resolving Power
A new high-resolution mass spectrometer developed by PNNL researchers using equipment at EMSL now allows the biological research community to identify and map the location of biomolecules on a sample with higher mass accuracy and mass resolving power than ever before. Because biological molecules with very different functions can have almost identical masses, this holistic analysis will open new doors in biological research and offer scientists unique insights into biological systems and how they work [ Full Story ]
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March
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Using Graphene Oxide to Examine Molecules in Living Cells Proves to be Popular
Whether indicating the onset of disease or exposure to toxins, the molecular machinery of cells can provide a wealth of information if scientists can track and examine the molecules. Scientists at PNNL and Tsinghua University in China devised a novel method to track certain molecules inside live cells. [ Full Story ]
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Catalyst Masters Reverse
When it comes to driving hydrogen production, a new catalyst built at PNNL can do what was previously shown to happen only in nature: store energy in hydrogen and release that energy on demand—an essentiality for viable energy alternatives to fossil fuels. This new nickel-based complex drives the reaction, but is not consumed by it. While slow, the catalyst wastes little energy. It turns electrons and protons into hydrogen. [ Full Story ]
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Toppling Raman Shift in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Just as a wine glass vibrates and sometimes breaks when a diva sings the right note, carbon dioxide vibrates when light or heat serenades it. When it does, carbon dioxide exhibits a vibrational puzzle known as Fermi resonance. With that researchers studying geologic carbon storage learned a bit more about the nature of carbon dioxide [ Full Story ]
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Studying Chemistry as It Happens in Catalytic Reactions
While retaining their speed, catalysts have lost some of their secrets, thanks to a new probe built by PNNL to help clarify the steps catalysts take in promoting reactions. Making existing catalysts more effective or devising new ones could reduce costly inefficiencies in current processes, and could enable new commercial processes to generate fuels and chemicals. [ Full Story ]
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When Atoms Collide
A novel technique for materials research is unexpectedly contributing to the nuclear safety efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency. PNNL scientists developed an analytical method for measuring the concentration of oxygen atoms at different depths in solid samples. The technique can be used to detect metal corrosion as well as to validate theoretical models of complex nuclear interactions. [ Full Story ]
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April
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Turning Plants into Biofuels
Known for carrying green leaves as they march through tropical forests, leafcutter ants also cultivate underground gardens of fungi and bacteria. New PNNL research about the roles bacteria play in those gardens could eventually help scientists turn plants into biofuel. [ Full Story ]
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Better Models for Forecasting Extreme Weather
Uncertainty just became more certain. PNNL’s atmospheric and computational researchers used a novel scientific approach called “uncertainty quantification” that allowed better precipitation simulation. They applied a method to select model inputs for precipitation representations, one of the most difficult climate components to simulate. Better atmospheric model simulations give planners the tools to forecast the probability of extreme weather and climate events. [ Full Story ]
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Diatom Biosensor Could Shine Light on Future Nanomaterials
A PNNL biosensor made of fluorescent proteins embedded in the shell of microscopic marine algae called diatoms could someday help us detect chemicals and other substances in water samples. The discovery also could help researchers develop a variety of new, diatom-inspired nanomaterials that could solve problems in sensing, catalysis and environmental remediation. [ Full Story ]
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Making Homes More Energy Efficients
Two research facilities at PNNL will serve as a test bed for studying energy efficient and smart homes. The project—the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest—will be used to test smart and energy-efficient technologies that ultimately may be used in homes in the Northwest and throughout the U.S. [ Full Story ]
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May
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Research Provides Insights to Alzheimer’s Disease
In Alzheimer's disease, brain neurons clog with tangled proteins. Scientists suspect these tangles arise partly due to malfunctions in a little-known regulatory system within cells. Now, researchers have dramatically increased what they know about this particular regulatory system in mice. Such information will help scientists better understand Alzheimer's and other diseases in humans and could eventually provide new targets for therapies. [ Full Story ]
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Save Big on Heating, Cooling Costs with Efficiency Controls
U.S. commercial building owners could save between 28 and 67 percent on their heating and cooling bills if they installed four energy efficiency controls to their rooftop HVAC systems, according to research at PNNL. [ Full Story ]
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Scientists Use New Method to Zero In On Source of Tropical Clouds
PNNL scientists found a technique to identify the clouds' origins. Using several satellite data sources, they identified cloud formation mechanisms that occur in two distinct conditions. Knowing the different formation mechanisms will help scientists predict the amount of water vapor in the upper atmosphere, which affects the balance of warming and cooling that determines the Earth's climate change. [ Full Story ]
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Regional Stakeholder Input Helps Construct Better Models for Climate Change Decisions
PNNL researchers built a modeling structure for policy-making decisions addressing climate change. Their research identified specific regional stakeholder needs, including real-world decisions faced by industry, regional planners, and policy makers. This unique modeling framework will provide decision support for regional climate mitigation and adaptation planning. [ Full Story ]
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