Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Materials (29)
- (-) National Security (9)
- Advanced Manufacturing (3)
- Biology and Environment (53)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Clean Energy (96)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (3)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (7)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Fusion and Fission (2)
- Fusion Energy (1)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials for Computing (8)
- Mathematics (1)
- Neutron Science (28)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (3)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (19)
- Transportation Systems (2)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Big Data (2)
- (-) Biomedical (2)
- (-) Climate Change (1)
- (-) Coronavirus (2)
- (-) Environment (3)
- (-) Grid (3)
- (-) Microscopy (9)
- (-) Nanotechnology (12)
- (-) Neutron Science (6)
- (-) Security (3)
- (-) Sustainable Energy (4)
- (-) Transportation (7)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (7)
- Advanced Reactors (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (2)
- Bioenergy (2)
- Buildings (1)
- Chemical Sciences (6)
- Clean Water (1)
- Composites (4)
- Computer Science (5)
- Critical Materials (5)
- Cybersecurity (5)
- Decarbonization (1)
- Energy Storage (9)
- Fusion (3)
- Isotopes (2)
- Machine Learning (2)
- Materials (15)
- Materials Science (25)
- Molten Salt (1)
- National Security (10)
- Nuclear Energy (6)
- Physics (8)
- Polymers (8)
- Quantum Computing (2)
- Quantum Science (2)
- Space Exploration (1)
- Summit (1)
Media Contacts
![Caption: Jaswinder Sharma makes battery coin cells with a lightweight current collector made of thin layers of aligned carbon fibers in a polymer with carbon nanotubes. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/sharma1_1.jpg?h=f7dae89e&itok=JiSsMewF)
Electric vehicles can drive longer distances if their lithium-ion batteries deliver more energy in a lighter package. A prime weight-loss candidate is the current collector, a component that often adds 10% to the weight of a battery cell without contributing energy.
![A new method to control quantum states in a material is shown. The electric field induces polarization switching of the ferroelectric substrate, resulting in different magnetic and topological states. Credit: Mina Yoon, Fernando Reboredo, Jacquelyn DeMink/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/pnglbernardstorytip.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=NOT32zpa)
An advance in a topological insulator material — whose interior behaves like an electrical insulator but whose surface behaves like a conductor — could revolutionize the fields of next-generation electronics and quantum computing, according to scientists at ORNL.
![ORNL researchers have developed a new pressing method, shown as blue circle on right, that produces a more uniform solid electrolyte than the traditionally processed material with more voids, shown as gray circle on left. The material can be integrated into a battery system, center, for improved stability and rate performance. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/Electrolyte.StoryTip_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=PIYcf5iS)
ORNL scientists found that a small tweak created big performance improvements in a type of solid-state battery, a technology considered vital to broader electric vehicle adoption.
![Yue Yuan, Weinberg Distinguished Staff Fellow at ORNL, is researching ways to create new materials to help the environment. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-04/Yue%20Yuan.2022-P14004_0.jpg?h=b2d9f031&itok=kJRZuKF2)
Growing up in China, Yue Yuan stood beneath the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, built to harness the world’s third-longest river. Her father brought her to Three Gorges Dam every year as it was being constructed across the Yangtze River so she could witness its progress.
![Heat is typically carried through a material by vibrations known as phonons. In some crystals, however, different atomic motions — known as phasons — carry heat three times faster and farther. This illustration shows phasons made by rearranging atoms, shown by arrows. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/23-G01840_Phason_Manly_proof3_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=3NpjriWi)
Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, ORNL scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material.
![When an electron beam drills holes in heated graphene, single-atom vacancies, shown in purple, diffuse until they join with other vacancies to form stationary structures and chains, shown in blue. Credit: Ondrej Dyck/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/variation.jpg?h=bedff801&itok=9S6jmOVH)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers serendipitously discovered when they automated the beam of an electron microscope to precisely drill holes in the atomically thin lattice of graphene, the drilled holes closed up.
![Thomaz Carvalhaes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-P06032_0.jpg?h=252f27fa&itok=A2HrJ-y6)
In human security research, Thomaz Carvalhaes says, there are typically two perspectives: technocentric and human centric. Rather than pick just one for his work, Carvalhaes uses data from both perspectives to understand how technology impacts the lives of people.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory probed the chemistry of radium to gain key insights on advancing cancer treatments using radiation therapy. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/radium_0.jpg?h=dbdf53bf&itok=dMlhyVKO)
Researchers at ORNL explored radium’s chemistry to advance cancer treatments using ionizing radiation.
![A team of researchers used mathematics to predict which areas of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are most likely to mutate. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/covid19_jh_0_0.png?h=252f27fa&itok=c3Qts7j0)
Researchers from ORNL, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Tuskegee University used mathematics to predict which areas of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are most likely to mutate.
![Matt McCarthy uses images collected from the sky to interpret changes to the coastlines and oceans for national security research. Credit: Carlos Jones and Rachel Green/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-08/mccarthy_0.png?h=9d172ced&itok=IRWo-fXz)
When Matt McCarthy saw an opportunity for a young career scientist to influence public policy, he eagerly raised his hand.