Filter News
Area of Research
- Advanced Manufacturing (5)
- Biology and Environment (81)
- Clean Energy (103)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computer Science (2)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (2)
- Fusion and Fission (7)
- Fusion Energy (2)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials (109)
- Materials Characterization (1)
- Materials for Computing (20)
- Materials Under Extremes (1)
- National Security (18)
- Neutron Science (33)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (3)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (36)
- Transportation Systems (1)
News Topics
- (-) Biology (98)
- (-) Energy Storage (108)
- (-) Materials Science (137)
- (-) Polymers (32)
- (-) Security (24)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (119)
- Advanced Reactors (34)
- Artificial Intelligence (91)
- Big Data (51)
- Bioenergy (91)
- Biomedical (58)
- Biotechnology (22)
- Buildings (56)
- Chemical Sciences (62)
- Clean Water (29)
- Climate Change (98)
- Composites (25)
- Computer Science (185)
- Coronavirus (46)
- Critical Materials (25)
- Cybersecurity (35)
- Decarbonization (78)
- Education (4)
- Element Discovery (1)
- Emergency (2)
- Environment (194)
- Exascale Computing (37)
- Fossil Energy (5)
- Frontier (42)
- Fusion (53)
- Grid (61)
- High-Performance Computing (84)
- Hydropower (11)
- Irradiation (3)
- Isotopes (51)
- ITER (7)
- Machine Learning (47)
- Materials (142)
- Mathematics (7)
- Mercury (12)
- Microelectronics (2)
- Microscopy (51)
- Molten Salt (8)
- Nanotechnology (60)
- National Security (60)
- Net Zero (13)
- Neutron Science (130)
- Nuclear Energy (105)
- Partnerships (41)
- Physics (59)
- Quantum Computing (31)
- Quantum Science (66)
- Renewable Energy (2)
- Simulation (45)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (25)
- Statistics (3)
- Summit (57)
- Sustainable Energy (124)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (7)
- Transportation (95)
Media Contacts
![Three team members looking at plants stand in front of a mountain scene, two are in orange safety vests.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-06/IMG_6533.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=27R2TL42)
When the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory science mission takes staff off-campus, the lab’s safety principles follow. That’s true even in the high mountain passes of Washington and Oregon, where ORNL scientists are tracking a tree species — and where wildfires have become more frequent and widespread.
![Two green oak leaves with other matter in two circles above them. To the right, a yellow blob. To the left, a brown material inside a bowl.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-06/Tan%20background%20-%20no%20words%20%281%29.png?h=a9a76387&itok=z1mNs7GY)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists ingeniously created a sustainable, soft material by combining rubber with woody reinforcements and incorporating “smart” linkages between the components that unlock on demand.
![Man in blue shirt and grey pants holds laptop and poses next to a green plant in a lab.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-06/2024-P09065.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=szEF_SdO)
John Lagergren, a staff scientist in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Plant Systems Biology group, is using his expertise in applied math and machine learning to develop neural networks to quickly analyze the vast amounts of data on plant traits amassed at ORNL’s Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory.
![Red background fading into black from top to bottom. Over top the background are 20 individual rectangles lined up in three rows horizontally with a red and blue line moving through it.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/cover_image.jpg?h=f61ad192&itok=-DQxXWM_)
ORNL scientists develop a sample holder that tumbles powdered photochemical materials within a neutron beamline — exposing more of the material to light for increased photo-activation and better photochemistry data capture.
![A tan and black cylinder that is made up of three long tubes vertically with a black line horizontally going across the bottom and the top. There is a piece laying on the floor that says ORNL.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/0N4A1403.jpg?h=193fc484&itok=LG0sANT8)
ORNL researchers used electron-beam additive manufacturing to 3D-print the first complex, defect-free tungsten parts with complex geometries.
![Man in a beard holding tweezers, showing a bead if space glass closer to the screen.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/SpaceGlass_pp02.jpg?h=e5aec6c8&itok=xSv_KLxF)
Researchers set a new benchmark for future experiments making materials in space rather than for space. They discovered that many kinds of glass have similar atomic structure and arrangements and can successfully be made in space. Scientists from nine institutions in government, academia and industry participated in this 5-year study.
![Caption: The Na-CO2 battery developed at ORNL, consisting of two electrodes in a saltwater solution, pulls atmospheric carbon dioxide into its electrochemical reaction, and releases only valuable biproducts. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/co2Battery.thumbnail.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=uMN_gH1r)
Researchers at ORNL are developing battery technologies to fight climate change in two ways, by expanding the use of renewable energy and capturing airborne carbon dioxide.
![Mohamad Zineddin](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-05/Dr%20Z.png?h=2a35d14f&itok=2ZMLdTMr)
Mohamad Zineddin hopes to establish an interdisciplinary center of excellence for nuclear security at ORNL, combining critical infrastructure assessment and protection, risk mitigation, leadership in nuclear security, education and training, nuclear security culture and resilience strategies and techniques.
![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.