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Media Contacts
![ORNL is designing a neutronic research engine to evaluate new materials and designs for advanced vehicles using the facilities at the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy, and Southwest Research Institute.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-12/20-G01771_VULCAN_engine_proof1.png?h=e4fbc3eb&itok=f6owlGkE)
In the quest for advanced vehicles with higher energy efficiency and ultra-low emissions, ORNL researchers are accelerating a research engine that gives scientists and engineers an unprecedented view inside the atomic-level workings of combustion engines in real time.
![Distinguished Inventors](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-12/inventors.jpg?h=4631f1c1&itok=xhAGY0kv)
Six scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors, in recognition of obtaining 14 or more patents during their careers at the lab.
![ORNL scientists used new techniques to create long lengths of a composite copper-carbon nanotube material with improved properties for use in electric vehicle traction motors. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/nano_cu_08noLabels_0.jpg?h=4d70cb2a&itok=iFR0YlTM)
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used new techniques to create a composite that increases the electrical current capacity of copper wires, providing a new material that can be scaled for use in ultra-efficient, power-dense electric vehicle traction motors.
![A selfie from the Curiosity rover as it explores the surface of Mars. Like many spacecraft, Curiosity uses a radioisotope power system to help fuel its mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/Curiousity_1.jpg?h=86a9dded&itok=Jo0vD321)
Radioactive isotopes power some of NASA’s best-known spacecraft. But predicting how radiation emitted from these isotopes might affect nearby materials is tricky
![Fuel pellets sometimes degrade to a sandlike consistency and can disperse into the reactor core if a rod’s cladding bursts. ORNL researchers are studying how often this happens and what impact it has, in order to let reactors operate as long as possible without increasing risk.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001338_FuelFragmentation_GraphicUpdate_Bumpus_jnj-02_0.jpg?h=049a2720&itok=mzNfF2cS)
A developing method to gauge the occurrence of a nuclear reactor anomaly has the potential to save millions of dollars.
![VERA’s tools allow a virtual window inside the reactor core, down to a molecular level.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/Godfrey_2d_pin_power.png?h=507248e9&itok=SIcNrXUE)
As CASL ends and transitions to VERA Users Group, ORNL looks at the history of the program and its impact on the nuclear industry.
![Pu-238 pellet drawing](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Plutonium_Illustration_Blur.png?h=b6236d98&itok=wvSAbP64)
After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet’s surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![An organic solvent and water separate and form nanoclusters on the hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections of plant material, driving the efficient deconstruction of biomass. Credit: Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/THF_high_res.gif?h=5a472534&itok=5peedFnF)
Scientists at ORNL used neutron scattering and supercomputing to better understand how an organic solvent and water work together to break down plant biomass, creating a pathway to significantly improve the production of renewable
![The protease protein is both shaped like a heart and functions as one, allowing the virus replicate and spread. Inhibiting the protease would block virus reproduction. Credit: Andrey Kovalevsky/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/protease_dimer_3_1.png?h=aa51a450&itok=sJY7AB8d)
A team of researchers has performed the first room-temperature X-ray measurements on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease — the enzyme that enables the virus to reproduce.
![From left, Peter Jiang, Elijah Martin and Benjamin Sulman have been selected for Early Career Research Program awards from the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/earlycareer20.jpg?h=c1844fec&itok=I3PZIYyU)
The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has selected three Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists for Early Career Research Program awards.