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An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led research team used a sophisticated X-ray scattering technique to visualize and quantify the movement of water molecules in space and time, which provides new insights that may open pathways for liquid-based electronics
A novel approach to studying the viscosity of water has revealed new insights about the behavior of water molecules and may open pathways for liquid-based electronics.
ORNL’s Xiaohan Yang led a team who identified a common set of genes that enable different drought-resistant plants to survive in semi-arid conditions. This finding could play a significant role in bioengineering energy crops tolerant to water deficits. Cr

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have identified a common set of genes that enable different drought-resistant plants to survive in semi-arid conditions, which could play a significant role in bioengineering

ORNL’s Larry Allard used high-resolution aberration-corrected electron microscopy methods to image single atoms of rhodium in a zeolite catalyst material, which aided in the development of a breakthrough process that directly converts methane to methanol.
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE – The direct oxidation of methane—found in natural gas—into methanol at low temperatures has long been a holy grail. Now, researchers at Tufts have found a breakthrough way to accomplish the feat using a heterogeneous catalyst and cheap molecular oxygen, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature by a team led by Tufts University chemical engineers.
Lianhong Gu is an environmental scientist in the Ecosystem Science Group at ORNL.
Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes on Earth. Without it the food chain would collapse, and we would lose a primary source of oxygen for all life. Yet it is a process that is still poorly understood outside the laboratory. With the help of an Oak Ridge Nation...
Scientists peer inside materials used to clean automotive exhaust to understand why one works better than the other. Red and blue dots represent positions of copper and aluminum atoms, respectively, for two zeolite catalysts (SSZ-13 and ZSM-5) used in a d

Diesel vehicles today emit far fewer pollutants than older vehicles, thanks to a zeolite (hydrous silicate) catalytic converter that was invented around 10 years ago to reduce pollutants that cause the formation of acid rain and smog. Although many groups have investigated t...

Inspired by the brain’s web of neurons, deep neural networks consist of thousands or millions of simple computational units.

Deep neural networks—a form of artificial intelligence—have demonstrated mastery of tasks once thought uniquely human. Their triumphs have ranged from identifying animals in images, to recognizing human speech, to winning complex strategy games, among other su...

Fidget spinner
One drop of liquid, a cutting-edge laser 3D-printer and a few hours are all it takes to make a fidget spinner smaller than the width of a human hair. The tiny whirligig was created by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences to illustrate the facility’s unique resources and expertise available to scientists across the world.
Default image of ORNL entry sign

Five researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society 

David Womble has been slated to lead ORNL’s artificial intelligence effort.

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has hired high-performance computing leader David Womble to direct its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. Womble began as AI Program Director on October 30. His responsibilities include guiding ORNL’s AI a...

R&D 100 Award winning ACMZ Cast Aluminum Alloys, shown with lead developer Amit Shyam, were developed by a team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory with Fiat Chrysler Automobile U.S. and Nemak U.S.A.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received nine R&D 100 Awards in recognition of their significant advancements in science and technology. The honorees were recognized over the weekend at the 55th annual R&D 100 Confe...