Each year, scientists with the Office of Science, at our national laboratories, and supported by the Office of Science at the nation’s colleges and universities, publish thousands of research findings in the scientific literature. About 200 of these are selected annually by their respective program areas in the Office of Science as publication highlights of special note.
For the archive of past publication highlights, click here.
April 1, 2024
Understanding Charged-Particle Bound States in Periodic Boxes
Finite geometry reveals fundamental properties of charged quantum systems.
March 29, 2024
Creating Quiet Cables for Rare Physics Events
Researchers design ultra-low radiation cables to reduce background noise for highly sensitive nuclear decay and dark matter detectors.
March 27, 2024
Scientists Confirm that Methane-Processing Microbes Produce a Fossil Record
Microorganisms and their metabolisms help silica to mineralize near deep ocean methane seeps.
March 25, 2024
Not-Quite “Magic” Oxygen-28 Observed for the First Time
An almost-bound isotope of oxygen undergoes four-neutron decay that challenges theory.
March 22, 2024
Entanglement Entropies of Nuclear Systems Grow as the Volume of those Systems
Quantum entanglement changes in atomic nuclei in ways that differ from other systems.
March 20, 2024
Yeast Uses Plastic Waste Oils to Make High-Value Chemicals
Yarrowia lipolytica reallocates its production of protein toward energy and lipid metabolism to grow on hydrocarbons and produce high-value chemicals.
March 18, 2024
Teasing Strange Matter from Ordinary
New insights reveal details of how strange matter forms.
March 15, 2024
Searching for the Decay of Nature’s Rarest Isotope: Tantalum-180m
The first results from the MAJORANA experiment dramatically improve current limits on this rare isotope’s decay.
March 13, 2024
Measuring the Thickness of the Neutron Skin with Ultra-Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
Researchers determined the neutron skin of lead-208 from experimental data collected in lead-lead collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.
March 11, 2024
Inverting Fusion Plasmas Improves Performance
Plasmas with negative triangularity show reduced gradients that develop into instabilities, including under conditions relevant to fusion power plants.