Going Nuclear
Did DOE or someone else accidentally create the element plutonium?
DOE (1940 - LBNL)
Did DOE or someone else make the rules about how efficient your refrigerator has to be?
DOE (ENERGY STAR labels? That's DOE)
Did DOE or someone else invent the LED light bulb?
NOT DOE (Japanese company Nichia, but DOE made standards that made it mainstream)
Did DOE or someone else run America's nuclear power plants?
NOT DOE (Private companies run them; DOE just makes the rules)
Did DOE or someone else create the element Seaborgium?
DOE (They made a brand new element named after scientist Glenn Seaborg)
Did DOE or someone else invent the microwave oven?
NOT DOE (Raytheon engineer)
Did DOE or someone else decide your car has to hit a certain miles-per-gallon number?
DOE (They set CAFE standards for how fuel-efficient cars must be)
Does DOE or someone else run Oak Ridge National Laboratory?
DOE (Tennessee)
Did DOE or someone else power the Mars rovers with a special battery?
DOE (They make radioactive batteries that keep those rovers alive and running)
Did DOE or someone else invent duct tape?
NOT DOE (3M made it in 1943, but DOE probably buys more than anyone)
Did DOE or someone else recreate the sun's power on Earth?
DOE (December 2022 at LLNL - nuclear fusion)
Did DOE or someone else phase out the old-school (incandescent) light bulbs?
DOE (Efficiency standards)
Did DOE or someone else build giant machines that smash atoms together?
DOE (Particle accelerators at Fermilab - basically giant atom bumper cars)
Did DOE or someone else invent Velcro?
NOT DOE (Swiss guy in 1941 got inspired by burrs on his hunting clothes)
Did DOE or someone else create the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
DOE (They built and manage America's oil bunker)
Did DOE or someone else discover radioactivity?
NOT DOE (Marie Curie in 1898, but DOE uses it every day)
Did DOE or someone else regulate how much water your dishwasher uses?
NOT DOE (EPA sets water efficiency - though DOE sets energy standards for the same machines)
Did DOE or someone else invent the rechargeable battery in your phone?
NOT DOE (Sony made it in 1991 - but DOE funds battery research for EVs now)
Did DOE or someone else build the world's fastest supercomputer?
DOE (Frontier at Oak Ridge - does a quintillion math problems per second)
Did DOE or someone else set efficiency standards for video game consoles?
DOE (They regulate how much power your PlayStation or Xbox can use even when you're not playing)
Did DOE or someone else build the first nuclear bomb?
DOE (Was technically Manhattan Project, 1945)
Did DOE or someone else decide your water heater has to meet certain energy standards?
DOE (Energy standards for water heaters? Yep, DOE. They're everywhere in your house)
Did DOE or someone else own more land than any private company in America?
DOE (17 national labs spread across the country - massive footprint)
Did DOE or someone else invent the heat pump replacing furnaces in homes?
NOT DOE (European companies invented it, but DOE funded research to make it cheap enough for America)
Did DOE or someone else invest billions to make EV batteries 90% cheaper?
DOE (Thank you to DOE for making EVs slightly more affordable!)