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Neutron scattering experiments show electric charges, shown in red, blue and grey, in the SARS-CoV-2 main protease site where telaprevir binds to the structure. The experiments provide critical data for the design of small-molecule drugs to treat COVID-19. Credit: Jill Hemman and Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists have found new, unexpected behaviors when SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – encounters drugs known as inhibitors, which bind to certain components of the virus and block its ability to reproduce.  

Ken Andersen

Ken Andersen has been named associate laboratory director for the Neutron Sciences Directorate, or NScD, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The pressure cell uses two gem-quality synthetic opposing diamonds to exert extreme pressures on materials, providing fundamental insights into materials that only neutrons can reveal. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source have developed a diamond anvil pressure cell that will enable high-pressure science currently not possible at any other neutron source in the world.

Martin Wissink of ORNL’s Buildings and Transportation Science Division applies neutrons and other diagnostic tools at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in pursuit of cleaner, sustainable and more flexible transportation technologies. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy

For a researcher who started out in mechanical engineering with a focus on engine combustion, Martin Wissink has learned a lot about neutrons on the job

Small, 3D-printed neutron collimators, designed by ORNL’s Jamie Molaison, yield reduced costs and manufacturing times and could enable new types of experiments. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The ExOne Company, the global leader in industrial sand and metal 3D printers using binder jetting technology, announced it has reached a commercial license agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to 3D print parts in aluminum-infiltrated boron carbide.

SCGSR Awardee Jacob Zettlemoyer, Indiana University Bloomington, led data analysis and worked with ORNL’s Mike Febbraro on coatings, shown under blue light, to shift argon light to visible wavelengths to boost detection. Credit: Rex Tayloe/Indiana University

The COHERENT particle physics experiment at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has firmly established the existence of a new kind of neutrino interaction.

Brenda Pracheil and Bryan Chakoumakos examine the structure of an otolith under a microscope.
Scientific discovery can come from anywhere, but few researchers can say the answers to their questions would come from the pea-sized bones in the head of a six-foot-long, 200-pound prehistoric freshwater fish. In a unique pairing of biology and neutron science, researchers from...
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The recently discovered element 117 has been officially named "tennessine" in recognition of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery, including the efforts of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Tennessee collaborators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee.
Pressure Synthesis
Unexpected results from a neutron scattering experiment at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could open a new pathway for the synthesis of novel materials and also help explain the formation of complex organic structures observed in interstellar space. I...
A team from ORNL, Indiana University and Max Planck Institute in Germany has implemented a technique with Wollaston prisms to expand the capabilities currently available at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor instrument HB-1.
For the first time since 2011, scientific users of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor were able to take advantage of a seventh cycle, allowing for 25 extra days of neutron production and available time for new experiments on HFIR’s 12 beam lines in fiscal ye...