Filter News
Area of Research
News Topics
- (-) Biology (24)
- (-) Clean Water (3)
- (-) Environment (35)
- (-) Isotopes (3)
- (-) Materials Science (9)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (4)
- (-) Polymers (4)
- (-) Summit (2)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (6)
- Advanced Reactors (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (3)
- Big Data (5)
- Bioenergy (18)
- Biomedical (3)
- Biotechnology (5)
- Buildings (3)
- Chemical Sciences (17)
- Climate Change (18)
- Composites (3)
- Computer Science (8)
- Coronavirus (4)
- Critical Materials (4)
- Decarbonization (13)
- Energy Storage (6)
- Exascale Computing (2)
- Frontier (2)
- Fusion (2)
- Grid (3)
- High-Performance Computing (10)
- Hydropower (3)
- Irradiation (1)
- Machine Learning (3)
- Materials (41)
- Mathematics (2)
- Mercury (2)
- Microscopy (5)
- Molten Salt (1)
- Nanotechnology (4)
- National Security (2)
- Net Zero (2)
- Neutron Science (8)
- Partnerships (7)
- Physics (10)
- Quantum Computing (2)
- Quantum Science (1)
- Renewable Energy (2)
- Simulation (13)
- Sustainable Energy (11)
- Transportation (3)
Media Contacts
![Environmental Sciences Division Director Eric Pierce presented the organization’s 2023 Distinguished Achievement awards at a December 7 all-hands meeting. From left: Megan Johnson, Michael Jones, Maria Colberg, Rachel Pilla, Eric Pierce, Rocio Uria-Martinez, Gbadebo Oladosu and Paul Leiby. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/ESA%20Awards%202023_2023-P19191_plaqueblur_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=4BwW5XAY)
ORNL Environmental Sciences Division Director Eric Pierce presented the division’s 2023 Distinguished Achievement Awards at the organization’s December all-hands meeting.
![2023 Battelle Distinguished Inventors](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/23-G07641-Battelle-Distinguished-Inventor-graphic-pcg_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=uhmqAKgT)
Four scientists affiliated with ORNL were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors during the lab’s annual Innovation Awards on Dec. 1 in recognition of being granted 14 or more United States patents.
![Conceptual art depicts machine learning finding an ideal material for capacitive energy storage. Its carbon framework (black) has functional groups with oxygen (pink) and nitrogen (turquoise). Credit: Tao Wang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/Press%20release%20image_0.jpg?h=706c9a24&itok=zX1lC5ud)
Guided by machine learning, chemists at ORNL designed a record-setting carbonaceous supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material.
![Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory contributed to several chapters of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, providing expertise in complex ecosystem processes, energy systems, human dynamics, computational science and Earth-scale modeling. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/EarthSystem_2023NCA5.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=r043oHRM)
Scientists at ORNL used their knowledge of complex ecosystem processes, energy systems, human dynamics, computational science and Earth-scale modeling to inform the nation’s latest National Climate Assessment, which draws attention to vulnerabilities and resilience opportunities in every region of the country.
![Christian Salvador is studying natural and manmade aerosols at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve our understanding of how atmospheric pollutants affect ecosystems and the Earth’s climate. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/2023-P15089.jpg?h=fb74aedc&itok=wWNrlG0z)
While completing his undergraduate studies in the Philippines, atmospheric chemist Christian Salvador caught a glimpse of the horizon. What he saw concerned him: a thin, black line hovering above the city.
![ORNL researcher Anne Campbell will present a paper in Korea next year on materials support of carbon-free nuclear energy. Credit: Adam Malin, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/nuclear-future-72dpi_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=HCXlz2mw)
Anne Campbell, a researcher at ORNL, recently won the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, or TMS, and has been chosen as the first recipient of the Young Leaders International Scholar Program award from TMS and the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, or KIM.
![ORNL scientists developed a method that improves the accuracy of the CRISPR Cas9 gene editing tool used to modify microbes for renewable fuels and chemicals production. This research draws on the lab’s expertise in quantum biology, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology. Credit: Philip Gray/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/CRISPR%20Quantum%20AI_2_23-G07105-DOE-BER-BESSD-comms-graphic-pcg_2.jpg?h=847b7ff0&itok=WD2dBsAC)
Scientists at ORNL used their expertise in quantum biology, artificial intelligence and bioengineering to improve how CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools work on organisms like microbes that can be modified to produce renewable fuels and chemicals.
![Group image](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2023-P11446_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=bk8wRZSk)
In response to a renewed international interest in molten salt reactors, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel technique to visualize molten salt intrusion in graphite.
![red and green sphagnum moss](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2022-P05000_0.jpg?h=971886de&itok=7xwMranw)
A type of peat moss has surprised scientists with its climate resilience: Sphagnum divinum is actively speciating in response to hot, dry conditions.
![ORNL’s organocatalyst deconstructs mixed plastics at different temperatures, which facilitates recovering their individual monomers separately, in reusable form. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/23-G05683_MixedPlasticRecycling_proof2_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=jjYga9GD)
Little of the mixed consumer plastics thrown away or placed in recycle bins actually ends up being recycled. Nearly 90% is buried in landfills or incinerated at commercial facilities that generate greenhouse gases and airborne toxins. Neither outcome is ideal for the environment.