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Media Contacts
![ORNL intern Jack Orebaugh holds the drone used in his research to help locate human remains. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/jack.jpg?h=0261ddcd&itok=yZ9N5dAh)
Jack Orebaugh, a forensic anthropology major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has a big heart for families with missing loved ones. When someone disappears in an area of dense vegetation, search and recovery efforts can be difficult, especially when a missing person’s last location is unknown. Recognizing the agony of not knowing what happened to a family or friend, Orebaugh decided to use his internship at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to find better ways to search for lost and deceased people using cameras and drones.
![Tristen Mullins. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/mullins_0.jpg?h=dab30fcb&itok=dsFGJyMz)
Tristen Mullins enjoys the hidden side of computers. As a signals processing engineer for ORNL, she tries to uncover information hidden in components used on the nation’s power grid — information that may be susceptible to cyberattacks.
![ORNL seismic researcher Chengping Chai placed seismic sensors on the ground at various distances from an ORNL nuclear reactor to learn whether they could detect its operating state. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2023-P03398.jpg?h=3e43625b&itok=TXK8tthh)
Like most scientists, Chengping Chai is not content with the surface of things: He wants to probe beyond to learn what’s really going on. But in his case, he is literally building a map of the world beneath, using seismic and acoustic data that reveal when and where the earth moves.
![Neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source revealed how the dynamics between copper and oxygen make a special type of enzyme excel at breaking down biomass. Insights could lead to lowering the cost of biofuel production. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/23-G02576_Meilleur_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=jPIOwV6b)
Nonfood, plant-based biofuels have potential as a green alternative to fossil fuels, but the enzymes required for production are too inefficient and costly to produce. However, new research is shining a light on enzymes from fungi that could make biofuels economically viable.
The Autonomous Systems group at ORNL is in high demand as it incorporates remote sensing into projects needing a bird’s-eye perspective.
![ORNL’s award-winning ultraclean condensing high-efficiency natural gas furnace features an affordable add-on technology that can remove more than 99.9% of acidic gases and other emissions. The technology can also be added to other natural gas-driven equipment. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/furnace_thumb.png?h=4de03b89&itok=reXZ-C6r)
Natural gas furnaces not only heat your home, they also produce a lot of pollution. Even modern high-efficiency condensing furnaces produce significant amounts of corrosive acidic condensation and unhealthy levels of nitrogen oxides
![State and Local Economic Development Award](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/FLCAward3_thumbnail.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=FKj_T8JY)
A partnership of ORNL, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee and TVA that aims to attract nuclear energy-related firms to Oak Ridge has been recognized with a state and local economic development award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.
![Paul Langan will oversee ORNL's research directorate focused on biological and environmental systems science. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/2019-P15617_0.jpg?h=bf9cb32e&itok=4n50VPVf)
Paul Langan will join ORNL in the spring as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate.
![A team led by Raymond Borges Hink has developed a method using blockchain to protect communications between electronic devices in the electric grid, preventing cyberattacks and cascading blackouts. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-11/Blockchain%20Raymond%20portrait.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=g5Hnz0h2)
Although blockchain is best known for securing digital currency payments, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using it to track a different kind of exchange: It’s the first time blockchain has ever been used to validate communication among devices on the electric grid.
![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.