Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Clean Energy (117)
- (-) Materials (100)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (18)
- Advanced Manufacturing (8)
- Biology and Environment (68)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (3)
- Computer Science (15)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (25)
- Fusion Energy (13)
- Isotopes (1)
- Materials for Computing (19)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (29)
- Neutron Science (108)
- Quantum information Science (8)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (111)
News Topics
- (-) Clean Water (10)
- (-) Computer Science (38)
- (-) Fusion (15)
- (-) Microscopy (29)
- (-) Molten Salt (7)
- (-) Neutron Science (46)
- (-) Polymers (21)
- (-) Security (7)
- (-) Sustainable Energy (71)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (91)
- Advanced Reactors (17)
- Artificial Intelligence (13)
- Big Data (7)
- Bioenergy (30)
- Biology (12)
- Biomedical (11)
- Biotechnology (4)
- Buildings (36)
- Chemical Sciences (33)
- Climate Change (23)
- Composites (19)
- Coronavirus (15)
- Critical Materials (19)
- Cybersecurity (11)
- Decarbonization (34)
- Energy Storage (86)
- Environment (64)
- Exascale Computing (3)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Frontier (3)
- Grid (41)
- High-Performance Computing (9)
- Hydropower (2)
- Irradiation (1)
- Isotopes (16)
- ITER (1)
- Machine Learning (10)
- Materials (94)
- Materials Science (91)
- Mathematics (3)
- Mercury (3)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Nanotechnology (41)
- National Security (6)
- Net Zero (3)
- Nuclear Energy (53)
- Partnerships (16)
- Physics (31)
- Quantum Computing (3)
- Quantum Science (12)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Simulation (4)
- Space Exploration (9)
- Statistics (1)
- Summit (6)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (6)
- Transportation (69)
Media Contacts
![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.
![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.
![When exposed to radiation, electrons produced within molten zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, can be observed in three distinct singly occupied molecular orbital states, plus a more diffuse, delocalized state. Credit: Hung H. Nguyen/University of Iowa](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/bernard-wide_0.png?h=dba5e3ef&itok=DgnYZ_Vy)
In a finding that helps elucidate how molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors might behave, scientists have shown how electrons interacting with the ions of the molten salt can form three states with different properties. Understanding these states can help predict the impact of radiation on the performance of salt-fueled reactors.
![The OpeN-AM experimental platform, installed at the VULCAN instrument at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source, features a robotic arm that prints layers of molten metal to create complex shapes. This allows scientists to study 3D printed welds microscopically. Credit: Jill Hemman, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/VULCAN_welding_1.png?h=68c90eda&itok=gvwAQCpN)
Using neutrons to see the additive manufacturing process at the atomic level, scientists have shown that they can measure strain in a material as it evolves and track how atoms move in response to stress.
![The 25th annual National School on Neutron and X-ray Scattering was held August 6–18. Each year, graduate students visit Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories to learn how to use neutrons and X-rays to study energy and materials. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-p10442.jpg?itok=FQ3zJsfW)
In 2023, the National School on X-ray and Neutron Scattering, or NXS, marked its 25th year during its annual program, held August 6–18 at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories.
![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](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P09038.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=76hibHXl)
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.
![Chathuddasie Amarasinghe explains her research poster, “Using Microfluidic Mother Machine Devices to Study the Correlated Dynamics of Ribosomes and Chromosomes in Escherichia Coli.” Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P11614_0.jpg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=kjePlpfo)
Speakers, scientific workshops, speed networking, a student poster showcase and more energized the Annual User Meeting of the Department of Energy’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, or CNMS, Aug. 7-10, near Market Square in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee.
![ORNL researchers are demonstrating an automation system for this portable system, currently based in Colorado, for treatment of non-traditional water sources to drinking water standards. Credit: Tzahi Cath/Colorado School of Mines](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/NAWI_comp01_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=I2fCHpSN)
Researchers at ORNL are developing advanced automation techniques for desalination and water treatment plants, enabling them to save energy while providing affordable drinking water to small, parched communities without high-quality water supplies.
![Yarom Polsky studio portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-07/Yarom%20Polsky_0.jpg?h=0e6c7b49&itok=9H4BJ5Wm)
Yarom Polsky, director of the Manufacturing Science Division, or MSD, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or ASME.
![Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/23-G04141_Browning_proof2_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=Tore760r)
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.