July 22, 2025
Feature

Contest Shows Creative Side of Scientists

PNNL-led IDREAM team visualizes how the stars align in science for Department of Energy Art of Science contest entry; public invited to vote by August 5

Science as Art image for the IDREAM

“The Stars Align: Revealing the Earliest Radiation-Driven Reactions in Complex Ion Networks” submission to the Department of Energy Office of Science’s Basic Energy Science-sponsored Art of Science Image contest, shows the complex and collaborative nature of the science behind understanding how radiation affects chemical systems. 

(Composite image by Nathan Johnson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Artistic representations of scientific progress often depict a single genius working alone in a laboratory to make exciting discoveries. But reality features collaboration, with numerous researchers coming together and bringing their distinct expertise to tackle complex questions as a team at large-scale user facilities.

The Ion Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM) Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) is using a team science approach to understand how radiation affects the chemistry and behavior of materials found in legacy radioactive waste.

Now, the IDREAM team is sharing its research in a creative way through the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 2025 Art of Science Image Contest, sponsored biennially by the Office of Science’s Basic Energy Sciences program. 

The contest aims to educate, inspire, and entertain audiences about the extraordinary science, innovation, and people in the DOE’s EFRCs, Energy Innovation Hubs, and Computational Materials and Chemical Sciences programs. 

The public can view IDREAM’s submission and vote for the People’s Choice Award before the DOE contest closes on August 5, 2025. 

A group of scientists in front of computer monitors at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
IDREAM researchers and collaborators at the Linac Coherent Light Source at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. (Photograph courtesy of Linda Young | Argonne National Laboratory)

IDREAM is led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and also includes researchers from Argonne National LaboratoryOak Ridge National LaboratoryGeorgia Institute of TechnologyHunter College of the City University of New Yorkthe University of Notre Damethe University of Utah, and the University of Washington as partner institutions. The IDREAM EFRC, created in 2016, has led to several basic science discoveries in support of legacy waste processing challenges. 

“The way we approach science at IDREAM centers on the power of teaming,” said IDREAM Director and chemist Carolyn Pearce at PNNL. “That’s what our image representsthe collaborative effort required to study complicated processes that can occur as fast as tiny fractions of a second or as slow as decades.”

Teamwork, from lab to design

IDREAM brings together an interdisciplinary group that includes radiation chemists, geochemists, physicists, computational chemists, and chemical engineers. In 2024, after eight years of exploring interfaces, IDREAM refocused its efforts on connecting ultrafast atomic processes to chemistry that occurs over the span of hours to years. 

When thinking of representing IDREAM science as art, the scientists wanted to combine images of their equipment, team, and data. The composite features photographs from light source-based experiments, microscope images of irradiated material, and computed molecular structures.

“Our image focuses on what happens after you expose a mixture of molecules and water to ultrafast irradiation,” said Robert Felsted, a postdoctoral researcher at PNNL and the chair of IDREAM’s Early Career Network. “In our experiments, we precisely irradiate a jet of the mixture and then watch what happens next.”

Post irradiation, clusters begin to form and then turn into larger mineral crystals. The scientists can track the changes caused by radiation, providing essential information for treating the legacy radioactive waste stored in underground tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington State. These changes happen in layers, just like the layers of IDREAM researchers, data, and equipment visible in the image.

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About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle and supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the DOE Office of Science website. For more information on PNNL, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.