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Media Contacts
![ORNL researcher Felicia Gilliland loads experiment samples into position for the newly installed UR5E robotic arm at the BIO-SANS instrument. The industrial-grade robot changes samples automatically, reducing the need for human assistance and improving sample throughput. Credit: Jeremy Rumsey/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/Picture3.jpg?h=d83e8acc&itok=toBATwfl)
The BIO-SANS instrument, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, is the latest neutron scattering instrument to be retrofitted with state-of-the-art robotics and custom software. The sophisticated upgrade quadruples the number of samples the instrument can measure automatically and significantly reduces the need for human assistance.
![A newly completed tunnel section will provide the turning and connecting point for the Spallation Neutron Source particle accelerator and the planned Second Target Station. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/thumbnail_Tunnel%20extension%20for%20main%20image--needs%20cropping.jpg?h=e5aec6c8&itok=keUV4vqa)
The new section of tunnel will provide the turning and connecting point for the accelerator beamline between the existing particle accelerator at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source and the planned Second Target Station, or STS. When complete, the PPU project will increase accelerator power up to 2.8 megawatts from its current record-breaking 1.7 megawatts of beam power.
![Testing with ORNL tribology equipment found that new ionic liquid-based lubricant additives developed for water turbines significantly reduced friction and equipment wear. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%286%29.png?h=c6980913&itok=aecfEFxo)
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed lubricant additives that protect both water turbine equipment and the surrounding environment.
![The EPA approved the registration and use of a renewable gasoline blendstock developed by Vertimass LLC and Oak Ridge National Laboratory that can significantly reduce vehicle emissions when added to conventional fuels. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/Seay_Vertimass-fuel-publication-v3%20copy.jpg?h=e5aec6c8&itok=0-KjrdzO)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the registration and use of a renewable gasoline blendstock developed by Vertimass LLC and ORNL that can significantly reduce the emissions profile of vehicles when added to conventional fuels.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Sachin Nimbalkar, left, and Thomas Wenning guide energy-saving training activities for industry during Energy Bootcamps, hosted by DOE’s Better Plants program. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/2023-P00604.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=2Tua3DfU)
Helping hundreds of manufacturing industries and water-power facilities across the U.S. increase energy efficiency requires a balance of teaching and training, blended with scientific guidance and technical expertise. It’s a formula for success that ORNL researchers have been providing to DOE’s Better Plants Program for more than a decade.
![New research predicts peak groundwater extraction for key basins around the globe by the year 2050. The map indicates groundwater storage trends for Earth’s 37 largest aquifers using data from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory GRACE satellite. Credit: NASA.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/GroundwaterGRACE%20%281%29.jpg?h=3c857b1a&itok=g_tWUVHW)
Groundwater withdrawals are expected to peak in about one-third of the world’s basins by 2050, potentially triggering significant trade and agriculture shifts, a new analysis finds.
![As a chemical engineer focusing on low-carbon energy sources like hydrogen, Cheekatamarla’s research at ORNL supports the deployment of clean energy technologies in buildings and industries. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/2023-P16585.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=5yBrwn_3)
Cheekatamarla is a researcher in the Multifunctional Equipment Integration group with previous experience in product deployment. He is researching alternative energy sources such as hydrogen for cookstoves and his research supports the decarbonization of building technologies.
![This graphic shows an unconventional approach to making widely used composite materials stronger and tougher. Thermoplastic fibers are deposited like cobwebs on top of rigid fibers to chemically form a supportive network with a surrounding matrix, or binder substance. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/purple%20chain.jpg?h=c6cb2754&itok=8dl7FgTZ)
Scientists at ORNL have developed a method that demonstrates how fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials used in the automotive, aerospace and renewable energy industries can be made stronger and tougher to better withstand mechanical or structural stresses over time.
![ORNL’s Erin Webb is co-leading a new Circular Bioeconomy Systems Convergent Research Initiative focused on advancing production and use of renewable carbon from Tennessee to meet societal needs. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/Erin%20Webb%202022-P09128.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=pCWWVGaU)
ORNL’s Erin Webb is co-leading a new Circular Bioeconomy Systems Convergent Research Initiative focused on advancing production and use of renewable carbon from Tennessee to meet societal needs.
![Shift Thermal co-founders Mitchell Ishamel, left, and Levon Atoyan stand in front of one of the company’s ice thermal energy storage modules, which will be submitted to independent measurement and validation testing in May. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/shift1.jpg?h=10d202d3&itok=a-cyO6Ev)
Shift Thermal, a member of Innovation Crossroads’ first cohort of fellows, is commercializing advanced ice thermal energy storage for HVAC, shifting the cooling process to be more sustainable, cost-effective and resilient. Shift Thermal wants to enable a lower-cost, more-efficient thermal energy storage method to provide long-duration resilient cooling when the electric grid is down.