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.

Researchers used cryo-EM (left) to discover how a chamber in human cells (right) directs protein folding. 

A pom-pom like object with curly tangles in purple and blue shades and yellow tangles at center, reminiscent of a zinnia blossom.
Chi-Chang Kao has decided to return to research after serving 10 years as director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He will continue in the lab director role until a replacement is found.
Chi-Chang Kao

Powerful X-rays from SLAC’s synchrotron reveal that our immune system’s primary wiring seems to be no match for a brutal SARS-CoV-2 protein.

SARS-CoV-2-NEMO
A new study has found that “diamond rain,” a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously thought.  In an earlier experiment, researchers mimicked the extreme temperatures and pressures found deep inside ice...
Diamond rain formation

The facility, LCLS-II, will soon sharpen our view of how nature works on ultrasmall, ultrafast scales, impacting everything from quantum devices to clean energy.

LCLS-II cooldown

The work sheds light on the web of hydrogen bonds that gives water its strange properties, which play a vital role in many chemical and biological processes.

UED Water

They discover a short-lived state that could lead to faster and more energy-efficient computing devices.

ultrafast switching

The latest advance from a research collaboration with industry could dramatically accelerate the development of sturdier batteries for fast-charging electric vehicles.

Studies of electrode nanoparticles for batteries.

Adding polymers and fireproofing to a battery’s current collectors makes it lighter, safer and about 20% more efficient.

Conceptual illustration of advantages of redesigned current collector.

FACET-II will pave the way for a future generation of particle colliders and powerful light sources, opening avenues in high-energy physics, medicine, and materials, biological and energy science.

FACET-II