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Photo of glowing, pink diamond-shaped figure. This is illuminated with light, encircled with a wreath of around 70 blue tube-like shapes.
Promethium’s secrets exposed
Male student wearing clear safety goggles peering through a 3D-printed item.
tnAchieves students learn about lab careers
Photo of a man in a black jacket suit with a blue shirt crossing his arms outside. He is smiling.
Wagner receives ASME Medal

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2023 Battelle Distinguished Inventors

Four scientists receive Battelle Distinguished Inventor recognition

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.

Karen White

ORNL engineer Karen White honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Karen White, who works in ORNL’s Neutron Science Directorate, has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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

ORNL scientists contribute Earth system expertise to Fifth National Climate Assessment

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.

An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, can be triggered by a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere or by an electromagnetic generator in a vehicle or aircraft. Here’s the chain of reactions it could cause to harm electrical equipment on the ground. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Study probes risks to power plants from electromagnetic pulse

Researchers at ORNL have been leading a project to understand how a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, could threaten power plants.

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

Scientists use quantum biology, AI to sharpen genome editing tool

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.

red and green sphagnum moss

Researchers develop new method to analyze proteins in ecologically significant moss

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 Ben Sulman and Shannon Jones at a mangrove habitat in Port Aransas, Texas

Firsthand fieldwork: Getting mangroves into coastal models for better climate prediction

To better understand important dynamics at play in flood-prone coastal areas, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists working on simulations of Earth’s carbon and nutrient cycles paid a visit to experimentalists gathering data in a Texas wetland.

Steve Nolan, left, who manages many ORNL facilities for United Cleanup Oak Ridge, and Carl Dukes worked closely together to accommodate bringing members of the public into the Oak Ridge Reservation to collect distant images from overhead for the BRIAR biometric recognition project. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

‘The answer could be yes’

Carl Dukes’ career as an adept communicator got off to a slow start: He was about 5 years old when he spoke for the first time. “I’ve been making up for lost time ever since,” joked Dukes, a technical professional at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Madhavi Martin portrait image

Madhavi Martin: Shedding light on natural processes

Madhavi Martin brings a physicist’s tools and perspective to biological and environmental research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supporting advances in bioenergy, soil carbon storage and environmental monitoring, and even helping solve a murder mystery.

ZEISS Head of Additive Manufacturing Technology Claus Hermannstaedter, left, and ORNL Interim Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology Rick Raines sign a licensing agreement that allows ORNL’s machine-learning algorithm, Simurgh, to be used for rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components with industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT. Using machine learning in CT scanning is expected to reduce the time and cost of inspections of 3D-printed parts by more than ten times.

ZEISS, ORNL sign licensing agreement for inspection of 3D-printed parts

A licensing agreement between the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and research partner ZEISS will enable industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT, to perform rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components using ORNL’s machine