• U.S. Nuclear Testing Moratorium Launched a Supercomputing Revolution

    On 23 September 1992 the U.S. conducted its 1,054th – and last — nuclear weapons test. After the test, and with the Soviet Union gone, the U.S. government issued what was meant to be a short-term moratorium on testing, but the moratorium has lasted to this day. This moratorium came with an unexpected benefit: no longer testing nuclear weapons ushered in a revolution in high-performance computing.

  • Scientific Discovery for Stockpile Stewardship

    Following the U.S. last nuclear test in September 1992, the Department of Energy’s national labs convened to develop a strategy and map out an R&D effort that would come to be known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP). Its mission was ensuring the readiness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent force without nuclear tests.

  • A New Way to Predict Droughts

    Scientists looking at the meteorological impacts of climate change have typically looked at increases in severe weather and hurricanes. Now, they are studying another consequence of global warming that will have significant economic ramifications: drought. And advanced computing gives new window into “flash droughts.”

  • Propelling Wind Energy Innovation

    Motivated by the need to eliminate expensive rare-earth magnets in utility-scale direct-drive wind turbines, Sandia National Laboratories researchers developed a fundamentally new type of rotary electrical contact. The novel rotary electrical contact eliminates reliance on rare-earth magnets for large-scale wind turbines.

  • Hundreds of Hospitals on Atlantic and Gulf Coasts at Risk of Flooding from Hurricanes

    Researchers identified 682 acute care hospitals in 78 metropolitan statistical areas located within 10 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, covering a population just under 85 million people, or about 1 in 4 Americans. They found that 25 of the 78 metro areas studied have half or more of their hospitals at risk of flooding from a Category 2 storm.

  • Charging Cars at Home at Night Is Not the Way to Go: Study

    The move to electric vehicles will result in large costs for generating, transmitting, and storing more power. Shifting current EV charging from home to work and night to day could cut costs and help the grid, according to a new Stanford study.

  • Cobalt-Free Cathode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

    Researchers have devised a way to make lithium-ion battery cathodes without using cobalt, a mineral plagued by price volatility and geopolitical complications. The innovation could lead to safer, longer-lasting power storage for electric vehicles and devices.

  • Lithium-Ion Battery Material Improves Charging Speed, Storage Capacity

    Researchers discovered a key material needed for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. The commercially relevant approach opens a potential pathway to improve charging speeds for electric vehicles.

  • To Out-Innovate Global Competitors, the United States Should Embrace Immigrant Talent

    Immigration barriers for entrepreneurs and U.S.-educated STEM graduates hurt American innovation.

  • What Many Progressives Misunderstand About Fighting Climate Change

    We have gotten used to thinking that fighting for the environment must mean fighting against corporations. Indeed, some environmental activists openly say that the energy transition is an opportunity to remake society and usher in a new social order. Alec Stapp writes that such ideas “raise a question: What is the real goal here—stopping climate change or abolishing capitalism?” He adds: “In reality, the false solution to climate change isn’t geoengineering or nuclear energy—it’s the belief that we can decarbonize the economy only by upending our economic system, categorically rejecting certain technologies, and spurning private investment.”

  • Simple Process Extracts Valuable Magnesium Salt from Seawater

    Magnesium has emerging sustainability-related applications, including in carbon capture, low-carbon cement, and potential next-generation batteries. These applications are bringing renewed attention to domestic magnesium production. A new flow-based method harvests a magnesium salt from Sequim seawater.

  • New Wave Energy Technology Gets Its Sea Legs

    Clothing that charges your smart watch as you walk, buildings that vibrate in the wind and power your lights, a road that extracts energy from the friction created by moving cars, and flexible structures that change shape in ocean waves to generate clean electricity: New technology could generate electricity from ocean waves – and many other sources.

  • Thinking Like a Cyberattacker to Protect User Data

    A component of computer processors that connects different parts of the chip can be exploited by malicious agents who seek to steal secret information from programs running on the computer. Researchers develop defense mechanisms against attacks targeting interconnection of chips in computers.

  • Can We Really Deflect an Asteroid by Crashing into It? Nobody Knows, but We Are Excited to Try

    Nasa’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) spacecraft is designed to be a one hit wonder. It will end its days by crashing into an asteroid at 24,000 kilometers per hour on 26 September. Launched from Earth in November 2021, Dart is about the size of a bus and was created to test and prove our ability to defend the Earth from a dangerous asteroid.

  • Burying Short Sections of Power Lines Could Drastically Reduce Hurricanes' Impact on Coastal Residents

    As Earth warms, people living near the coasts not only face a higher risk of major hurricanes but are also more likely to experience heat waves while grappling with widespread power outages. Strategically burying just 5% of power lines — specifically those near main distribution points — would almost halve the number of affected residents.