While some of us may periodically ponder the universe, most of us don't dedicate our lives to studying its mysteries, including its birth, evolution and fate.

James "Jim" Ang joins PNNL as chief scientist for computing.

Imagine a hollow tube thousands of times smaller than a human hair. Now envision filthy water flowing through an array of such tubes, each designed to capture contaminants on the inside, with clean water emerging at the other end.