Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Electricity and Smart Grid (3)
- (-) Materials (82)
- (-) National Security (47)
- (-) Neutron Science (36)
- Advanced Manufacturing (5)
- Biological Systems (1)
- Biology and Environment (117)
- Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- Building Technologies (1)
- Clean Energy (127)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (5)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computational Engineering (3)
- Computer Science (15)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (32)
- Fusion Energy (11)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (27)
- Materials for Computing (13)
- Mathematics (1)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (40)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (8)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (120)
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (18)
- (-) Computer Science (40)
- (-) Cybersecurity (21)
- (-) Environment (26)
- (-) Grid (13)
- (-) Isotopes (13)
- (-) Machine Learning (18)
- (-) Microscopy (27)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (22)
- (-) Space Exploration (5)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (29)
- Advanced Reactors (6)
- Artificial Intelligence (24)
- Big Data (8)
- Bioenergy (18)
- Biology (12)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (6)
- Chemical Sciences (33)
- Clean Water (4)
- Climate Change (9)
- Composites (9)
- Coronavirus (13)
- Critical Materials (13)
- Decarbonization (11)
- Energy Storage (39)
- Exascale Computing (2)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Frontier (4)
- Fusion (9)
- High-Performance Computing (10)
- Irradiation (1)
- ITER (1)
- Materials (81)
- Materials Science (87)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Molten Salt (3)
- Nanotechnology (43)
- National Security (34)
- Net Zero (1)
- Neutron Science (106)
- Partnerships (14)
- Physics (31)
- Polymers (18)
- Quantum Computing (4)
- Quantum Science (16)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (12)
- Simulation (2)
- Summit (7)
- Sustainable Energy (16)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (21)
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.
![ORNL researchers are establishing a digital thread of data, algorithms and workflows to produce a continuously updated model of earth systems.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%2823%29_0.png?h=c6980913&itok=cK99Pg3y)
Digital twins are exactly what they sound like: virtual models of physical reality that continuously update to reflect changes in the real world.
![A small droplet of water is suspended in midair via an electrostatic levitator that lifts charged particles using an electric field that counteracts gravity. Credit: Iowa State University/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/droplet.png?h=ddb1ad0c&itok=3nblnUcm)
How do you get water to float in midair? With a WAND2, of course. But it’s hardly magic. In fact, it’s a scientific device used by scientists to study matter.
![ORNL researcher Anne Campbell will present a paper in Korea next year on materials support of carbon-free nuclear energy. Credit: Adam Malin, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/nuclear-future-72dpi_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=HCXlz2mw)
Anne Campbell, a researcher at ORNL, recently won the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, or TMS, and has been chosen as the first recipient of the Young Leaders International Scholar Program award from TMS and the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, or KIM.
![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.
![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.
![Sam Hollifield displays a prototype of the Secure Hijack, Intrusion and Exploit Layered Detector, or SHIELD, the device monitoring the cybersecurity of the semi-truck. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/holifield_0.jpg?h=b831e800&itok=CqXSXu3l)
As vehicles gain technological capabilities, car manufacturers are using an increasing number of computers and sensors to improve situational awareness and enhance the driving experience.
![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.
![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.
![Photo collage with text that reads " A New era of discovery"](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/LRP%20Image_0.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=m-0J8hDE)
ORNL, a bastion of nuclear physics research for the past 80 years, is poised to strengthen its programs and service to the United States over the next decade if national recommendations of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, or NSAC, are enacted.