News archive

Browse the full collection of SLAC press releases and news features and stay up to date on the latest scientific advancements at the laboratory.

Scientists working at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) have improved an innovative solar-energy device to be about 100 times more efficient than its previous design in converting the sun's light and heat into electricity.

Photo - Nick Melosh and Jared Schwede

The ultrafast, ultrabright X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) have enabled unprecedented views of a catalyst in action, an important step in the effort to develop cleaner and more efficient energy sources.

Artist rendition: molecules react with the surface of a catalyst in real time

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) announced today that Dr. Steven M. Kahn will assume the role of Director of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project effective July 1, 2013.

Photo of Steven M. Kahn

Blue-glowing diamond crystals hold promise for expanding the research capacity of SLAC's X-ray laser by divvying up its pulses for use in separate, simultaneous experiments.

Image - A superthin diamond glows blue during a beam-sharing experiment at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser. (Credit: Diling Zhu, SLAC)

The founding father of DNA nanotechnology – a field that forges tiny geometric building blocks from DNA strands – recently came to SLAC to get a new view of these creations using powerful X-ray laser pulses.

Image - Six-sided structure formed by DNA strands.

Since 2009, SLAC scientist John Bargar has led a team using synchrotron-based X-ray techniques to study bacteria that help clean uranium from groundwater in a process called bioremediation.

Photo - Sam Webb, John Bargar and Juan Lezama-Pacheco...

In less than a decade, SLAC has built up an impressive array of dozens of laser systems – and a team of laser scientists and engineers – with capabilities that make it one of the most cutting-edge national laboratories under...

Photo - Two laser specialists wearing goggles, adjust...

With SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser, timing is everything. Its pulses are designed to explore atomic-scale processes that are measured in femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second.

Image - Artist's rendering of two laser beams strikin...

Menlo Park, Calif. — Opening a new window on the way plants generate the oxygen we breathe, researchers used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to simultaneously look at the structure and chemical...

Microscope image of photosystem crystals

A new study confirms what scientists have long suspected: Cosmic rays – energetic particles that pelt Earth from all directions – are born in the violent aftermath of supernovas, exploding stars throughout the galaxy.

Artist's rendition of a supernova shock wave

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