How Serotonin Receptors Can Shape Drug Effects, from LSD to Migraine Medication

May 15, 2013

New findings by researchers carrying out experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source help explain why some drugs that interact with two kinds of human serotonin receptors have had unexpectedly complex and sometimes harmful effects.

X-rays Paint a Picture of Picasso's Pigments

April 30, 2013

Art historians have long supposed that Pablo Picasso employed ordinary house paint, in place of conventional artists' paints, in some of his artwork. A recent collaborative effort between the Art Institute of Chicago and two Argonne National Laboratory research facilities utilized twenty-first century research to demonstrate conclusively that pigment from one of Pablo Picasso's paintings was indeed derived from a common house paint of the era in which he created the art work.

Antibody Evolution Could Guide HIV Vaccine Development

April 25, 2013

Observing the evolution of a particular type of antibody in an HIV-infected patient has provided insights that will enable vaccination strategies that mimic antibody development within the body, thanks to a multi-institution study carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory

Blue Ruthenium Dimer Catalysis for Hydrogen Generation

April 15, 2013

Scientists utilizing a variety of spectroscopic techniques to probe the catalysis process, including x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source, reported progress in revealing previously unknown mechanistic details about blue dimer’s water oxidation reaction, which may result in cost-effect, practical, and sustainable alternative energy sources.

A High-Pressure Nano-imaging Breakthrough

April 11, 2013

A major breakthrough in measuring the structure of nanomaterials under extremely high pressures has been achieved by researchers carrying out experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Their method for avoiding the distortions of high-energy x-ray beams utilized to image the structure of a gold nanocrystal could lead to new nanomaterials created under high pressures and a greater understanding of what happens in planetary interiors.

Protein Structure Could Lead to Better Treatments for HIV, Early Aging

April 9, 2013

A breakthrough that could eventually help researchers develop new treatments for early-aging diseases and redesign AIDS medications to avoid side effects such as diabetes is the result of research was carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

The Superpower behind Iron Oxyfluoride Battery Electrodes

April 2, 2013

Electrodes based on “conversion chemistry” have the potential to double energy storage capacities compared to electrodes in existing lithium-ion batteries, but the electrochemical reactions giving rise to this improved performance remain a mystery. Scientists utilizing the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne investigating the fundamental basis for the performance advantage gained new element-specific insights that represent significant milestones in understanding electrochemical reactions in battery electrodes and in the experimental tools available to investigate such reactions.