Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Electricity and Smart Grid (2)
- (-) Materials (28)
- (-) Supercomputing (46)
- Advanced Manufacturing (5)
- Biological Systems (1)
- Biology and Environment (84)
- Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- Clean Energy (81)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computer Science (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (6)
- Isotopes (1)
- Materials for Computing (3)
- National Security (10)
- Neutron Science (9)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (4)
- Quantum information Science (1)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (12)
- (-) Bioenergy (9)
- (-) Composites (3)
- (-) Environment (22)
- (-) Exascale Computing (14)
- (-) Frontier (16)
- (-) Grid (5)
- (-) Molten Salt (1)
- (-) Quantum Computing (12)
- Advanced Reactors (3)
- Artificial Intelligence (25)
- Big Data (14)
- Biology (9)
- Biomedical (9)
- Biotechnology (1)
- Buildings (4)
- Chemical Sciences (14)
- Clean Water (2)
- Climate Change (15)
- Computer Science (54)
- Coronavirus (8)
- Critical Materials (1)
- Cybersecurity (4)
- Decarbonization (5)
- Energy Storage (16)
- Fusion (4)
- High-Performance Computing (27)
- Irradiation (1)
- Isotopes (8)
- ITER (1)
- Machine Learning (9)
- Materials (45)
- Materials Science (33)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Microscopy (14)
- Nanotechnology (19)
- National Security (4)
- Net Zero (1)
- Neutron Science (18)
- Nuclear Energy (13)
- Partnerships (4)
- Physics (18)
- Polymers (6)
- Quantum Science (12)
- Security (3)
- Simulation (12)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Summit (22)
- Sustainable Energy (8)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (9)
Media Contacts
![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.
![From left are Analytics and AI Methods at Scale group leader Feiyi Wang, technical lead Mike Matheson and research scientist Hao Lu.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/2023-P12429_0.jpg?h=55be468c&itok=tajHF4hU)
The team that built Frontier set out to break the exascale barrier, but the supercomputer’s record-breaking didn’t stop there.
![Staff working on construction and facility updates in preparation for the Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/MicrosoftTeams-image_0.png?h=c6980913&itok=_zXnovna)
Making room for the world’s first exascale supercomputer took some supersized renovations.
![Researchers used Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer, to simulate a magnesium system of nearly 75,000 atoms and the National Energy Research Computing Center’s Perlmutter supercomputer to simulate a quasicrystal structure, above, in a ytterbium-cadmium alloy. Credit: Vikram Gavini](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/Gavini_quasiCrystal_0.png?h=c85002af&itok=6QPdbiZo)
Researchers used the world’s first exascale supercomputer to run one of the largest simulations of an alloy ever and achieve near-quantum accuracy.
![Frontier’s exascale power enables the Energy, Exascale and Earth System Model-Multiscale Modeling Framework — or E3SM-MMF — project to run years’ worth of climate simulations at unprecedented speed and scale. Credit: Mark Taylor/Sandia National Laboratories, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/E3SM-MMF.png?h=21f5ce54&itok=UAeMXyqa)
The world’s first exascale supercomputer will help scientists peer into the future of global climate change and open a window into weather patterns that could affect the world a generation from now.
![The sun sets behind the ORNL Visitor Center in this aerial photo from April 2023. Credit: Kase Clapp/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/sunset_visitor-center_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=jLImPT0R)
In fiscal year 2023 — Oct. 1–Sept. 30, 2023 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded more than $8 million in technology maturation funding through the Department of Energy’s Technology Commercialization Fund, or TCF.
![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.
![Members of the Analytics and AI Methods at Scale group in the National Center for Computational Sciences at ORNL developed the mixed-precision performance benchmarking tool OpenMxP. From left are group leader Feiyi Wang, technical lead Mike Matheson and research scientist Hao Lu. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P12429_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=lGABGcYq)
As Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer, was being assembled at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in 2021, understanding its performance on mixed-precision calculations remained a difficult prospect.
![Steven Hamilton, an R&D scientist in the HPC Methods for Nuclear Applications group at ORNL, leads the ExaSMR project. ExaSMR was developed to run on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s exascale-class supercomputer, Frontier. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P00165_1.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=YE6_qVLk)
The Exascale Small Modular Reactor effort, or ExaSMR, is a software stack developed over seven years under the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project to produce the highest-resolution simulations of nuclear reactor systems to date. Now, ExaSMR has been nominated for a 2023 Gordon Bell Prize by the Association for Computing Machinery and is one of six finalists for the annual award, which honors outstanding achievements in high-performance computing from a variety of scientific domains.
![A rendering of the CFM RISE program’s open fan architecture. (bottom) A GE visualization of turbulent flow in the tip region of an open fan blade using the Frontier supercomputer at ORNL. Credit: CFM, GE Research (CFM is a 50–50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines)](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/GEAerospaceEngine_0.jpg?h=435bf7b9&itok=PmNjtECq)
Outside the high-performance computing, or HPC, community, exascale may seem more like fodder for science fiction than a powerful tool for scientific research. Yet, when seen through the lens of real-world applications, exascale computing goes from ethereal concept to tangible reality with exceptional benefits.