Archived Features for 2013

For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to the resources listed below or to one of our Media Contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov.

 
New family of tiny crystals glow bright in LED lights
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 23, 2013 — Minuscule crystals that glow different colors may be the missing ingredient for white LED lighting that illuminates homes and offices as effectively as natural sunlight.

BioEnergy Science Center reaches 500th publication
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 17, 2013 — Researchers with the BioEnergy Science Center led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have charted 500 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals in the center's five and half years of operation.

Project with ORNL helps Hardin Valley senior earn Boy Scouts award
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 10, 2013 — Through a project with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Hardin Valley Academy's Noah Kaye has earned the Boy Scouts of America's Hornaday Award and redbreast sunfish have some new hangouts.

Science Saturdays attract hundreds of students for lectures, tours
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 6, 2013 — Hundreds of science-minded students bypassed Saturday morning cartoons this semester, opting instead to participate in the first year of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Science Saturdays program.

Virtual Office Community and Computing Lab
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 30, 2013 — The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, the Department of Energy's first Innovation Hub, has enlisted top scientists and engineers from around the U.S. to improve the nuclear reactors that provide about 20 percent of the nation's electricity.

ORNL analysis predicts losses from extreme weather damage could double by 2050
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 26, 2013 — U.S. economic losses from extreme weather could at least double by 2050, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory analysis published this month in the online edition of the journal Global Environmental Change.

Oak Ridge National Lab-led BioEnergy Science Center Celebrates First Five Years, Renewal of Research Funding
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 4, 2013 — The Department of Energy has announced renewed funding for bioenergy research toward liquid biofuels that add an affordable, sustainable, domestically produced option to the nation's energy supply.

Local FIRST robotics teams dominate regionals, advance to world championship
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 1, 2013 — Frisbee-flinging robots took over the Knoxville Convention Center March 28-30, as thousands of high school students, mentors and volunteers gathered for the third annual FIRST robotics Smoky Mountains regional competition in Knoxville, TN.

Energy Department Launches New Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 26, 2013 — As part of the Obama Administration's commitment to revitalizing America's manufacturing sector, today the Energy Department launched the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), a new Department initiative focused on growing American manufacturing of clean energy products and boosting U.S. competitiveness through major improvements in manufacturing energy productivity. The initiative includes private sector partnerships, new funding from the Department, and enhanced analysis of the clean energy manufacturing supply chain that will guide the Department's future funding decisions.

Hands-on CNMS school delivers '10 years of literature in four days'
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 12, 2013 — Twenty-four participants in an Oak Ridge National Laboratory workshop held March 4-7 received a crash course in the latest scanning probe microscopy techniques -- skills that researchers will use to study materials for batteries, fuel cells, sensors, photovoltaics and more.

Shull Fellowships a step toward interesting and fulfilling careers
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 11, 2013 — The Clifford C. Shull Fellowship, a two-year research appointment, attracts new scientific talent to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and makes it possible for outstanding early career scientists to launch their careers. Research areas that use neutron scattering include condensed matter physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering, and biology.

Protecting the homeland
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 28, 2013 — Michael Gresalfi's long list of awards and recognitions is noteworthy, but what he cares about the most is protecting against nuclear, chemical or biological weapons attacks on U.S. soil.

Doubts melt
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 28, 2013 — Glaciers thrice as tall as the Empire State building calve, crumble, and careen into the sea during Chasing Ice, a film in which National Geographic photographer James Balog chronicles the rapid disappearance of Arctic ice as Earth's average temperature rises.

ORNL's RABiTS technology enables record-setting performance with iron-based superconducting wires
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 16, 2013 — A technology invented at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for manufacturing copper-oxide based high-temperature superconducting materials has been used to make an iron-based superconducting wire capable of carrying very high electrical currents under exceptionally high magnetic fields.

ORNL helps kick off 2013 FIRST robotics season in East Tennessee
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 7, 2013 — Students from dozens of area high schools piled into Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Jan. 5 to get a sense of the obstacles they will be battling over the next six weeks. Hundreds of students, parents and mentors attended the kickoff event for the 2013 FIRST robotics competition, a nationwide event in which students design and build complex robots that can tackle the challenges of a specially designed game.