US Department of Energy

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have developed a new nanoparticle-based material that promises to improve the efficiency of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants with its ability to absorb and convert over 90 percent of the sunlight it captures into heat.

Researchers have created a dye-sensitized solar cell that stores its own power by "breathing" air to decompose and re-form lithium peroxide. Its creators believe the device, which effectively combines a battery and a solar cell in one, could reduce renewable energy costs by 25 percent.

The US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a smartphone attachment, that turns the phone into a 1,000x microscope. What's more, it's made from less than one dollar's worth of material.

Using high-powered laser interferometers to determine if space-time is a quantum system made up of countless tiny bits of information, Fermilab scientists are conducting an experiment to see if the universe is "real" or a holographic 3-D illusion.

There may soon be a new use for discarded tires. Researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have devised a method of harvesting the carbon black from them, and using it to make anodes for better-performing lithium-ion batteries.

A team of researchers is seeking to challenge the theory that the anode, cathode and electrolyte of a battery can only work independently, experimenting with a dual functioning electrolyte that supplements the cathode, resulting in a significant improvement of the battery's capacity and lifespan.

For the past 26 years, the US Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the North American auto industry, has sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTCs). This year, teams are tasked with updating the iconic Chevrolet Camaro muscle car into a hybrid-electric vehicle.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the US Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute have engineered a bacterium that could yield a new source of high-energy hydrocarbon fuel for rocketry and other aerospace uses.

The best advice for surviving a nuclear bomb is to be somewhere else when it goes off. If that doesn't work out for you, though, a recent study carried out at the USDOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provides some simple guidance for maximizing your chances of survival.

An inexpensive, high capacity, organic battery has been developed at Harvard. The technology, which uses carbon-based materials as electrolytes rather than metals, stands to improve the reliability and uptake of renewable energy.

Engineers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have created a continuous process that produces useful crude oil minutes after harvested algae is introduced. The final product of this process can be refined into aviation fuel, diesel, or gasoline.

A team of scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has demonstrated a robotic muscle with 1,000 times more power than that of a human's, and which has the ability to catapult items 50 times its own weight.