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A broken rib from Scotty, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton discovered, is helping scientists uncover new information about life on Earth 66 million years ago. Using neutron imaging at ORNL, the scientists peered inside the fossilized bone to build 3D views without altering the preserved soft tissue.
ORNL researchers more than doubled the peak power of a low-cost salt water battery by using a bleach-producing side reaction. Developed with Coulomb Technology, the battery avoids critical materials and could support long-duration grid energy storage.
ORNL convened scientists, engineers and technology leaders for the 2026 Southeastern Quantum Conference (SQC), bringing together experts from academia, national laboratories, industry and government to advance quantum information science and strengthen collaborations that support U.S. competitiveness.
ORNL earned a new lab record with 22 R&D 100 Awards in 2026 for technologies that advance energy, manufacturing, computing, biotechnology and other fields. ORNL led 18 of the winning technologies and contributed to four additional award-winning projects led by partner institutions.
ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor offers flexible testing, advanced instrumentation and on-site facilities to accelerate nuclear fuel development. Its capabilities provide critical data needed to qualify new fuels and support advanced reactor deployment.
ORNL researchers have developed a hybrid manufacturing method that combines 3D printing and electroforming to create leak-free HIP cans for advanced nuclear reactor components. The approach could simplify production of complex metal parts, reduce costs and reliance on overseas manufacturing, and strengthen U.S. supply chains for nuclear energy and defense applications.
ORNL and Idaho National Laboratory are collaborating to advance wire arc 3D printing of large pressure vessels and strengthen the domestic nuclear manufacturing supply chain. The labs will combine advanced manufacturing, AI and data science to accelerate the production and qualification of critical nuclear components.
M. Parans Paranthaman was named R&D World’s 2026 Researcher of the Year for turning materials science discoveries into impactful technologies.
The Department of Energy has committed funding to establish UNITY-3, a fusion breeding blanket test facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Kyoto Fusioneering. The facility will test breeding blanket technologies under fusion-like conditions and support research on tritium fuel production, high-energy neutron science and AI-accelerated digital twins.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed a high-throughput microbial QTL mapping platform that combines synthetic biology, AI, automation and gene editing to identify the genetic basis of complex bacterial traits up to 10 times faster than previous methods. The platform enables more precise engineering of microbes for applications including specialty chemicals manufacturing, bioenergy and critical minerals recovery, and is available for licensing.