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Philip Bingham

Philip Bingham has two pieces of advice for researchers new to Oak Ridge National Laboratory: (1) develop a skill set that can be applied to multiple research areas, and (2) get out and meet folks across the lab. “The favorite part of my work is that I’ve done a lot of very diffe...

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered that communities of microbes living in and around poplar tree roots are ten times more diverse than the human microbiome
Researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered that communities of microbes living in and around poplar tree roots are ten times more diverse than the human microbiome and produce novel molecules that could be useful as antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, or for agricultural applications.
Researchers demonstrated 120 kilowatt wireless power transfer at the National Transportation Research Center, a DOE Office of Science User facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From L-R: ORNL’s Saeed Anwar, Burak Ozpineci, Gui-Jia Su, and David Smith
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a 120-kilowatt wireless charging system for vehicles—providing six times the power of previous ORNL technology and a big step toward charging times that rival the
Infected Poplar

Scientists studying a valuable, but vulnerable, species of poplar have identified the genetic mechanism responsible for the species’ inability to resist a pervasive and deadly disease. Their finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to more successful hybrid poplar varieties for increased biofuels and forestry production and protect native trees against infection.

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Magnets recovered from used computer hard drives found new life in an electric motor in a first-ever demonstration at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A GRIDSMART traffic camera installed at an intersection in Leesburg, Virginia. Photo courtesy of GRIDSMART.

In a project leveraging computer vision, machine learning, and sensors, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists are working with private company GRIDSMART Technologies, Inc. to demonstrate how stop lights can be programmed to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions.

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Vacuum insulation technology called modified atmosphere insulation, or MAI, could be a viable solution for improving the energy performance of buildings, based on a study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and industry partners.

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Biologists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have confirmed that microorganisms called methanogens can transform mercury into the neurotoxin methylmercury with varying efficiency across species.

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Mircea Podar has travelled around the world and to the bottom of the ocean in pursuit of scientific discoveries, but it is the uncharted territory he encounters when working with new microbes that inspires his research at ORNL.

Plants in the warmest of several study areas at the SPRUCE experimental site remained green and functional up to six weeks longer than plants growing at ambient temperatures. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A futuristic experiment simulating warmer environmental conditions has shown that peatland vegetation responds to higher temperatures with an earlier and longer growth period.