Nano-transistors 10 times smaller than conventional ones and being developed at ORNL could change the complexion of the electronics industry. Transistors, which can be used as amplifiers, detectors or switches, are integral parts of computers, telephones and virtually all electronic components. Trad...
Manure from the hundreds of millions of farm animals is a big problem, but it's one that, with some work, could become a strong renewable energy resource. As farm animal production has become more concentrated, handling the manure and run-off have become a serious problem. But animal manure, a valu...
In a project called Metaalicus, researchers at ORNL hope to learn once and for all what happens to fish mercury concentrations when there is a change in the levels of mercury released into the environment. Despite massive amounts of scientific information published on mercury contamination, there re...
Methane hydrate isn't a familiar term to most people, but it's gaining popularity in the energy sector. Researchers believe there may be enough of this resource, which is methane locked in ice-like crystals, to supply energy for perhaps hundreds of years. Methane hydrates, which form at low temperat...
The Department of Energy (DOE) has received a plan designed to provide long-term financial security for DOE's American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE). Submitted by UT-Battelle at DOE's request, the plan also calls for expanding the museum's role in preserving the history of Oak Ridge.Opened in...
Sales of radioisotopes to treat cancer increased significantly this year at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), although overall revenue from radioisotopes declined.Demand for actinium-225, the precursor for bismuth-213, rose 34 percent in fiscal year 2000, from 243 mil...
nLine, a start-up Austin, Texas, company using a technology developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has received an Advanced Technology Program award of $9.4 million. The Department of Commerce award will allow nLine and partners to speed development of a second...
The Superconductivity Materials Group of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is participating in an effort that has earned a Collaboration Success Award from the Council for Chemical Research. The organization selected the Wire Development Group, of which the Oak Ri...
Researchers at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility recently chalked up a physics "first": the simultaneous emission of two protons from an atom's decaying nucleus. The finding, based on preliminary experiments with the Holifield Facility's unique fluorine-17 beam, also represents a new type ...
With water heating consuming about 17 percent of the energy for a typical household, it's a good place to start when cutting costs. ORNL's Building Technology Center is assisting in developing a heat pump water heater as a "drop-in" replacement for a conventional 50- or 80-gallon water heater. It fe...