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Media Contacts
![2023 Top Science Achievements at SNS & HFIR](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/23-G08001-SNS-Top-Story-Image-pcg.jpg?h=1f0bc3a8&itok=3_ZyuAAO)
The 2023 top science achievements from HFIR and SNS feature a broad range of materials research published in high impact journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials.
![Alexey Serov researches ways to improve hydrogen fuel cells and materials and the electrolysis process. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P14038.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=JCWAG0sI)
It would be a challenge for any scientist to match Alexey Serov’s rate of inventions related to green hydrogen fuel. But this researcher at ORNL has 84 patents with at least 35 more under review, so his electrifying pace is unlikely to slow down any time soon.
![ORNL scientist Zhijia Du, white coat, former ORNL scientist Jianlin Li, blue coat, and Ateios CEO Rajan Kumar inspect battery components during a pilot production run. Credit: Kurt Weiss/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Kumar.2023-P12479.jpg?h=22d8bc0e&itok=SexbmLnB)
Ateios Systems licensed an ORNL technology for solvent-free battery component production using electron curing. Through Innovation Crossroads, Ateios continues to work with ORNL to enable readiness for production-quality battery components.
A team from DOE’s Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new solver algorithm that reduces the total run time of the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Ocean, or MPAS-Ocean, E3SM’s ocean circulation model, by 45%.
![Domenick Leto poses near assessment equipment for nuclear materials. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Picture2.jpg?h=3d9c8217&itok=tvYQSavn)
Drawing from his experience during the pandemic, Domenick Leto recognizes the need for the United States to have inexpensive, reliable capabilities to combat any type of disruption to national security, including nationwide medical emergencies. Leto and colleagues received a patent for a simple, inexpensive way to sterilize masks, plastic, and medical equipment from the COVID-19 virus.
![ORNL retiree Duane Starr and his wife, Nancy, pose with the critical frequencies demo unit Duane designed, built and donated to the laboratory to support nuclear workshops. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P06566.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=tIETe2jc)
For years, Duane Starr led workshops at ORNL to help others from across the U.S. government understand uranium processing technologies. After his retirement, Starr donated a 5-foot-tall working model, built in his garage, that demonstrates vibration harmonics, consistent with operation of a super critical gas centrifuge rotor, a valuable resource to ongoing ORNL-led workshops.
![Alex May, pictured above, is the first and only full-time data curator at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. Credit: Carlos Jones and Wikimedia Commons, background/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P18433%20%281%29_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=DQKdmnrN)
![Debjani Pal’s photo “Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids” won the Director’s Choice Award in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Art of Science photo competition. It will be displayed at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Credit: Debjani Pal/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/ArtofSci23_1700166411096.png?h=a06d9019&itok=lbq0KEuH)
![Naval Academy midshipmen look at tiny particle fuels while touring ORNL. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Picture1_0.jpg?h=4a7d1ed4&itok=wl4e6Nd3)
Nuclear engineering students from the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy are working with researchers at ORNL to complete design concepts for a nuclear propulsion rocket to go to space in 2027 as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DRACO program.
![In a proposed carbon-capture method, magnesium oxide crystals on the ground bind to carbon dioxide molecules from the surrounding air, triggering the formation of magnesium carbonate. The magnesium carbonate is then heated to convert it back to magnesium oxide and release the carbon dioxide for placement underground, or sequestration. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Graphic-DAC-magnesium-oxide_0.jpg?h=1254d433&itok=otlbgWaQ)
Magnesium oxide is a promising material for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and injecting it deep underground to limit the effects of climate change. ORNL scientists are exploring ways to overcome an obstacle to making the technology economical.