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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Bio-distribution and deposition of wildfire smoke chemicals into olfactory bulb and brain of rats after intranasal instillation

Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest wildfire smoke is a potential contributor to neurological dysfunction and associated with neuroinflammation. Using doses comparable to those encountered during intense wildfire events (200-300 μg/m 3 ), we explore the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME) and pharmacokinetics of representative members of major chemical classes (acid, phenol, PAH, aldehyde) in inhaled wood smoke condensates. Male Sprague Dawley rats were intranasally instilled with smoldering eucalyptus woodsmoke extract (WSE) reconstituted in saline spiked with 14 C-labeled palmitic acid (PA), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), catechol (CAT) or benzaldehyde (BZ). Serum was collected from 5 min to 2 weeks after exposure and tissues were collected at 0.5, 2, 4, 24 h and 2 weeks after exposure. Urine was collected over the 24 h exposure. Tissues were collected, rinsed in PBS and analyzed by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for 14C-labeled chemicals. PA and B[a]P entered circulation slowly, reached maximum concentration (C max ) near 15 ng/mL at 2 h, and had circulating concentrations near 1/3 C max 24 h after exposure. CAT and BZ rapidly entered circulation and were mostly cleared at 2 h. Excess 14 C from all four chemicals was detected in olfactory bulb and brain over the first 24 h but only PA (or its metabolites) was retained in olfactory bulb, brain and kidney at 2 weeks post exposure. All excess 14 C was cleared from the lung at 2 weeks. Metabolite analysis of urine (CAT, BZ and B(a)P) dosed samples did not detect any parent compound. CAT and BZ were rapidly cleared. The slower uptake and clearance of PA or B[a]P or their reactive metabolites when dosed with WSE in brain and olfactory bulb potentially provide greater opportunity for inflammatory response. This study suggests that wildfire smoke chemicals can enter the brain directly from the nasal cavity to the olfactory bulb and via systemic circulation.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Beneath the surface: Unsolved questions in soil virus ecology

Soil virus ecology is an exciting but still nascent field of research in soil microbiology. While there has been a recent surge in soil virus research studies, many fundamental questions remain unanswered, and a range of technical and bioinformatic challenges need to be overcome. In this perspective article, we present a series of key questions that highlight fruitful research areas for ongoing and future efforts. These include describing the challenges involved in understanding soil viral abundance and activity, spatiotemporal dynamics, life strategy prevalence, virus-mediated biogeochemical impacts, viral protein function, host prediction, and soil RNA virus discovery. In the near term, combining approaches (e.g., cultivation-based, meta-omics, biogeochemical, experimental, and bioinformatic) will be key to assessing the ecological and biogeochemical impacts of soil viruses from the microscopic to the field and global scales. Still, we stress that results must be tempered by current methodological limitations and highlight knowledge gaps that are most pressing to fill via new methods or measurements, such as the prevalence of different viral replication strategies across soils, the fate of microbial necromass carbon after viral lysis, the frequency of virus-host encounters that do not lead to successful infections yet could be bioinformatically mistaken as infections, and the diversity and ecological impacts of RNA viruses in soil.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Integrated Systems-to-Atoms (S2A) Framework for Designing Resilient and Efficient Hydrogen Infrastructure Solutions

The success of a future clean hydrogen infrastructure will depend on technology performance, operating conditions, and system configuration, which will be integrated to meet specific end-use requirements. We introduce a Systems-to-Atoms framework to cosimulate material, device, and system design for clean hydrogen storage and transport. Here we present a demonstration scenario in which hydrogen is distributed using a liquid organic hydrogen carrier to 700 bar refueling stations. Cross-scale analysis on hydrogen release at the refueling station reveals that while a high reaction pressure (up to 100 bar) may not enhance the catalyst performance, it can lead to system-level cost savings (up to 5% of total refueling station cost) due to savings in downstream gas compression. Further, a typically low-performing dehydrogenation catalyst material (e.g., copper) may be preferred over a high-performing catalyst (e.g., palladium) at different operating conditions when considering overall system affordability and supply chain resilience.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Benchmarking Concentration and Extraction Methods for Wastewater-Based Surveillance of Eight Human Respiratory Viruses: Implications for Rapid Application to Novel Pathogens

To provide early warning and support a rapid response to a novel virus through wastewater surveillance, it would be ideal to understand in advance which concentration and extraction methods are likely to be effective for dPCR-based methods, depending on virus characteristics. In this study, we spiked raw wastewater samples with eight human respiratory viruses and processed them with four methods that concentrate and/or extract nucleic acids from both liquid and solid fractions (Promega, Nanotrap, and InnovaPrep) or only the solid fraction of wastewater (Solids). Our findings provide encouraging evidence that all four methods combined with dPCR could detect an emerging virus in wastewater, although they differed in sensitivity. The pattern of recovery efficiency for adenoviruses, coronaviruses, and influenza A viruses was consistent across methods, with Promega producing higher median recovery efficiencies, while distinct patterns were observed for coxsackieviruses. We also normalized the concentration data with two endogenous fecal indicators, PMMoV and Carjivirus (formerly crAssphage). We found that normalization could reduce method-associated differences if the indicator exhibited a recovery pattern similar to that of the target virus. These findings can guide the selection of concentration and extraction methods for wastewater monitoring based on the properties of target viruses, thus enhancing pandemic preparedness.

Biological and medical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Predictive Chemical Kinetic Modeling: Where We Succeed, Where We Struggle, and What Comes Next

Chemical kinetic modeling plays a foundational role in fields ranging from energy to environmental science, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials. The past two decades have seen remarkable progress, particularly in modeling gas-phase reactions for thermochemical processes, leading to impactful industrial applications such as steam cracking and air quality management. However, new challenges are emerging. The successful development of systematic methodologies for the description of gas-phase kinetics opens the possibility to apply the same approach to the study of more challenging systems. Here, we review recent advances, including ab initio transition state theory-based master equation estimation of elementary rates, automated mechanism generation, machine-learning-assisted kinetics, and uncertainty quantification, and discuss the advances needed to apply the same methodological approach in areas such as heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemistry, liquid-phase and solid-state reactivity, and multiscale model integration. We advocate for the development of targeted tools, especially methods that go beyond empirical tuning toward first-principles-based predictions. We highlight the need for accessible software and AIaugmented workflows to democratize modeling for industry and academia alike. In this perspective, we call attention to not only what has worked but also what remains unsolved, advocating to avoid overemphasizing successes in scientific works at the expense of realism. The next decade should focus on predictive capability, physical accuracy, and community infrastructure (e.g., databases and services) to enable innovation across diverse fields. We argue that kinetic modeling, properly equipped, can accelerate discovery far beyond its traditional domains.

ab initio calculations↗
DOE OSTI2025

Contemporary income inequality outweighs historic redlining in shaping intra-urban heat disparities in Los Angeles

The roots of intra-urban heat disparity in the U.S. often trace back to historical discriminatory practices, such as redlining, which categorized neighborhoods by race or ethnicity. In this study, we compare the relative impacts of historic redlining and current income inequality on thermal disparities in Los Angeles. A key innovation of our work is the use of land surface temperature data from the ECOSTRESS instrument aboard the International Space Station, enabling us to capture diurnal trends in urban thermal disparities. Our findings reveal that present-day income inequality is a stronger predictor of heat burden than the legacy of redlining. Additionally, land surface temperature disparities exhibit a seasonal hysteresis effect, intensifying during extreme heat events by 5−7 °C. Sociodemographic analysis highlights that African-American and Hispanic populations in historically and economically disadvantaged areas are often the most vulnerable. Our findings suggest that while the legacy of redlining may persist, the present-day heat disparities are not necessarily an immutable inheritance, where targeted investments and interventions can pave the way for a more thermally just future for these communities.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Population ecology and biogeochemical implications of ssDNA and dsDNA viruses along a permafrost thaw gradient

Anthropogenic-driven climate change is accelerating permafrost thaw, threatening to release vast carbon stores through increased microbial activity. While microbial roles are increasingly studied, the contributions of viruses remain largely unexplored, in part due to soil-associated technical challenges that have hindered their detection and characterization. Here, we applied an optimized virion enrichment workflow along a permafrost thaw gradient, identifying 9,963 viral populations (vOTUs), including single- and double-stranded DNA viruses, with 99.9% novelty compared to other soils. Hosts were predicted for 38% of vOTUs, spanning nine archaeal, and 36 bacterial phyla, 22% of which were linked to metagenome-assembled genomes, including key carbon-cycling taxa. Genomic analyses revealed 811 putative auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) from 658 vOTUs, nearly half involved in carbon processing. These included 59 glycoside hydrolases (GH) across nine GH families, 45 for monosaccharide degradation, and seven involved in short-chain fatty acid and C1 metabolism, linking viruses to both early and late stages of carbon turnover. Additionally, six vOTUs carried racD, which may stabilize microbial necromass and promote long-term carbon storage. Viral and AMG functional diversity increased with thaw stage, indicating that viruses might participate in a broadening range of microbial metabolic processes as permafrost thaws. These findings expand our understanding of virus contributions in microbial carbon processing and suggest their important role in deciphering soil carbon fate under changing climate conditions.

Biological and medical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of drought on global food security by 2050

Drought is a major driver of crop production loss, threatening global food security as the population rises toward 9 billion by 2050. Using a process-based crop model within an Earth system model, we assess drought-related impacts on maize, soybean, rice, and wheat production at global and country levels. We then develop a food insecurity index combining drought impacts with socio-economic factors. Our results indicate that by 2050, globally averaged drought losses for combined maize, soybean, rice, and wheat production are <2%, though soybean losses reach 3.6%. Despite these small average changes at the global scale, 62 countries experience maximum production losses over 10%, and 24 countries over 20%. Our index identifies regions at greatest risk, including large parts of South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. These results illustrate the need for drought adaptation to mitigate future drought impacts on crop production.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fine-scale contemporary recombination variation and its fitness consequences in adaptively diverging stickleback fish

Despite deep evolutionary conservation, recombination rates vary greatly across the genome and among individuals, sexes and populations. Yet the impact of this variation on adaptively diverging populations is not well understood. Here we characterized fine-scale recombination landscapes in an adaptively divergent pair of marine and freshwater populations of threespine stickleback from River Tyne, Scotland. Through whole-genome sequencing of large nuclear families, we identified the genomic locations of almost 50,000 crossovers and built recombination maps for marine, freshwater and hybrid individuals at a resolution of 3.8 kb. We used these maps to quantify the factors driving variation in recombination rates. We found strong heterochiasmy between sexes but also differences in recombination rates among ecotypes. Hybrids showed evidence of significant recombination suppression in overall map length and in individual loci. Recombination rates were lower not only within individual marine–freshwater-adaptive loci, but also between loci on the same chromosome, suggesting selection on linked gene ‘cassettes’. Through temporal sampling along a natural hybrid zone, we found that recombinants showed traits associated with reduced fitness. Our results support predictions that divergence in cis-acting recombination modifiers, whose functions are disrupted in hybrids, may play an important role in maintaining differences among adaptively diverging populations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Mobile genetic elements shape microbial diversity and functions in thawing permafrost soils

Ecosystems are shaped by communities of microorganisms whose niches and impacts depend on functional profiles influenced by gene gains and losses. Culture-based experiments demonstrate that mobile genetic elements (MGEs) can mediate gene flux, but quantitative understanding of these dynamics in natural systems remains limited. Here we develop and apply a systematic, meta-omic framework to investigate MGEs in a complex natural system using an 8-year soil time series collected at Stordalen Mire, in Sweden’s thawing permafrost margin. In this climate-critical peatland, we identify ~2.1 million MGE recombinases across 89 microbial phyla and assess ecological distributions, affected functions, past mobility and current activity. This revealed an active mobilome that shapes natural genetic diversity via differential impacts on major phyla and affects a wide range of functions, including metabolic genes involved in carbon flux and nutrient cycling. These findings and this analytic framework suggest avenues towards a better understanding of MGE diversity, activity, mobility and impacts across ecosystems.

Biological and medical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Author Correction: A map of the rubisco biochemical landscape

Correction to: Naturehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08455-0 Published online 22 January 2025. In the version of the article initially published, the affiliations of Hana A. Chang (Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA) and Ron Milo (Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel) were incorrect and have now been amended in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mixed and membrane-separated culturing of synthetic cyanobacteria-yeast consortia reveals metabolic cross-talk mimicking natural cyanolichens

Metabolite exchange mediates crucial interactions in microbial communities, significantly impacting global carbon and nitrogen cycling. Understanding these chemically-mediated interactions is essential for elucidating natural community functions and developing engineered synthetic communities. This study investigated membrane-separated bioreactors (mBRs) as a novel tool to identify transient metabolites and their producers/consumers in mixed microbial communities. We compared three co-culture methods (direct mixed, 2-chamber mBR, and 3-chamber mBR) to grow a synthetic binary community of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 and the fungus Rhodotorula toruloides NBRC 0880, as well as axenic S. elongatus. Despite not being natural lichen constituents, these organisms exhibited interactions resembling those in cyanolichens. S. elongatus fixed CO 2 into sugars as the primary shared metabolite, while R. toruloides secreted various biochemicals, predominantly sugar alcohols, mirroring the metabolite exchange observed in natural lichens. The mBR systems successfully captured metabolite gradients and revealed rapidly consumed compounds, including TCA cycle intermediates and amino acids. Our approach demonstrated that the 2-chamber mBR optimally balanced metabolite exchange and growth dynamics. This study provides insights into cross-species metabolic interactions and presents a valuable tool for investigating and engineering synthetic microbial communities with potential applications in biotechnology and environmental science.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Floods of Egypt’s Nile in the 21st century

Extreme precipitation and flooding events are rising globally, necessitating a thorough understanding and sustainable management of water resources. One such setting is the Nile River’s source areas, where high precipitation has led to the filling of Lake Nasser (LN) twice (1998–2003; 2019–2022) in the last two decades and the diversion of overflow to depressions west of the Nile, where it is lost mainly to evaporation. Using temporal satellite-based data, climate models, and continuous rainfall-runoff models, we identified the primary contributor to increased runoff that reached LN in the past two decades and assessed the impact of climate change on the LN’s runoff throughout the twenty-first century. Findings include: (1) the Blue Nile subbasin (BNS) is the primary contributor to increased downstream runoff, (2) the BNS runoff was simulated in the twenty-first century using a calibrated (1965–1992) rainfall-runoff model with global circulation models (GCMs), CCSM4, HadGEM3, and GFDL-CM4.0, projections as model inputs, (3) the extreme value analysis for projected runoff driven by GCMs’ output indicates extreme floods are more severe in the twenty-first century, (4) one adaptation for the projected twenty-first century increase in precipitation (25–39%) and flood (2%-20%) extremes is to recharge Egypt’s fossil aquifers during high flood years.

Climate change↗
DOE OSTI2025

Incorporating long-range dependence and fractal features in turbulence spectra

We introduce an advanced turbulence spectrum model developed from mathematical foundations from a covariance function class and empirically validated using extensive field data. This model captures the complex dynamics of long-range dependence, and fractal characteristics prevalent in riverine and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flows that are ignored by classical spectrum models, such as IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) von Kármán and Kaimal model. The model delineates scaling behaviors across distinct frequency bands and offers substantial flexibility through five well-defined parameters each characterizing a distinct physical aspect of the velocity time series. A detailed procedure for obtaining each parameter from time series data is outlined. The comprehensive validations with field data from tidal currents and ABL flows substantiate the model’s fidelity in accurately replicating observed phenomena. This validation establishes the reliability of the proposed model and, when incorporated into stochastic full-field simulators such as TurbSim, demonstrates its potential to advance the predictive modeling and analysis of turbulent flows in environmental science and engineering contexts.

Cheng, Shyuan [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champai↗
DOE OSTI2025

Projected changes in cross-equatorial northerly surges and their hydrological impacts in the near future

Recent decades have witnessed unprecedented extreme precipitation and catastrophic flooding in some of the most populated regions in Southeast Asia during boreal winter. These extreme events are often influenced by the cross-equatorial northerly surge (CENS), characterized by a strengthening of northerly moist monsoon winds south of the equator in the western Maritime Continent. However, the potential future changes in CENS and its hydrological impacts remain underexplored. Here, using an ensemble of high-resolution climate model simulations (CMIP6 HighResMIP), we show that the regional impacts of CENS on the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events are projected to significantly increase in the near future (2030–2050), particularly over the adjacent coastal regions of southern Indonesia and northwestern Australia. More specifically, the risk of CENS-related extreme precipitation is projected to increase by up to 39 ± 1.2% relative to the seasonal probability, despite no apparent changes in the CENS characteristics in the near future. Such stronger impact is attributed to the enhanced moistening efficiency and moist static instability due to a more humid and warmer environment, which leads to more intense CENS convection. Our results suggest the need for effective monitoring and disaster managements to respond to the increasing severity of such events in the near future.

Climate sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fallowed agricultural lands dominate anthropogenic dust sources in California

Air pollution remains a major problem in many parts of California, significantly impacting public health and regional climate. However, the contribution of anthropogenic dust from agricultural sources, among major pollutants in California’s semi-arid Central Valley, remains largely unclear. Here, we used the Cropland Data Layer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify crop types and land use/cover and leveraged satellite-derived estimates of major dust events between 2008 and 2022 over California. We identified fallowed land—an unplanted agricultural land parcel—as a key anthropogenic dust source in California. Specifically, we find that the Central Valley accounts for about 77% of total fallowed land areas in California, where they are associated with about 88% of major anthropogenic dust events. We also find that the geographic coverage of these fallowed lands expanded between 2008 and 2022 with associated increasing anthropogenic dust activities. Additionally, these anthropogenic dust activities are sensitive to the drought severity over the fallowed lands, with potential cumulative effects on downstream dust burden during prolonged multi-year drought conditions. Overall, our results have important implications for public health, including increased risk for Valley fever and for regional climates, such as increases in extreme precipitation and snowmelt over the Sierra Nevada.

Climate sciences↗