Quanex has signed a non-exclusive agreement to license a method to produce insulating material from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The low-cost material can be used as an additive to increase thermal insulation performance and improve energy efficiency when applied to a variety of building products.
ORNL story tips: ORNL’s project for VA bridges computing prowess, VA health data to speed up suicide risk screenings for U.S. veterans; ORNL reveals ionic liquid additive lubricates better than additives in commercial gear oil; researchers use neutron scattering to probe colorful new material that could improve sensors, vivid displays; unique 3D printing approach adds more strength, toughness in certain materials.
In collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has expanded a VA-developed predictive computing model to identify veterans at risk of suicide and sped it up to run 300 times faster, a gain that could profoundly affect the VA’s ability to reach susceptible veterans quickly.
Six new nuclear reactor technologies are planned to commercially deploy between 2030 and 2040. ORNL’s Weiju Ren heads a project managing structural materials information. This conversation explores challenges and opportunities in sharing nuclear materials knowledge internationally.
As a researcher at ORNL’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Nanoscience User Facility, Nina Balke explores avenues for fine-tuning materials’ physical properties to solve energy challenges and expands fundamental research opportunities for CNMS users.
Electro-Active Technologies, Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., has exclusively licensed two biorefinery technologies invented and patented by the startup’s co-founders while working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The technologies work as a system that converts organic waste into renewable hydrogen gas for use as a biofuel.
Researchers invented a process to extract rare earth elements from scrap magnets. They patented and scaled up the process in lab demonstrations and are working with a licensee to scale the process further to produce commercial batches of rare earth oxides.
IDEMIA Identity & Security USA has licensed an advanced optical array developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The portable technology can be used to help identify individuals in challenging outdoor conditions.
Seven Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers representing a range of scientific disciplines have received Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Program awards. The Early Career Research Program, now in its tenth year, supports the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and stimulates research careers in the disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science.
ORNL story tips: Training next-generation sensors to “see,” interpret live data; 3D printing tungsten could protect fusion reactor components; detailed study estimated how much more, or less, energy U.S. residents might consume by 2050 based on seasonal weather shifts; astrophysicists used ORNL supercomputer to create highest-ever-resolution galactic wind simulations; new solar-thermal desalination method improves energy efficiency.
Researchers at Iowa State and Ames Laboratory are using neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source to improve the process of metal-flux synthesis used in manufacturing solid-state materials used to make advanced technologies such as renewables and electronics.
Collaborators at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and U.S. universities used neutron scattering and other advanced characterization techniques to study how a prominent catalyst enables the “water-gas shift” reaction to purify and generate hydrogen at industrial scale.
Two researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory--David Cullen and Kate Page--have received a 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, or PECASE.
Profiled is Raphaël Hermann of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who conducts experiments to better understand materials for energy and information applications.
Construction has begun on VENUS, a state-of-the-art neutron imaging instrument, at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This new instrument will provide a platform for studying in real time the makeup and performance of a wide range of functional materials under varying environments.
A team of researchers led by Bill Tang of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University recently tested its Fusion Recurrent Neural Network (FRNN) code, a novel artificial intelligence (AI) resource designed to predict plasma instabilities, on various high-performance computing (HPC) systems. A reliable way to predict and mitigate disruptions could accelerate the adoption of fusion as an environmentally friendly, virtually unlimited source of energy.
A team of scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered the specific gene that controls an important symbiotic relationship between plants and soil fungi, and successfully facilitated the symbiosis in a plant that typically resists it.
Glen Ellis, who worked as a draftsman at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s, drew the plans for NASA’s contingency soil sampler, or “moon scoop,” used to collect lunar soil and rock on the Apollo missions.
Study finds waste soft drinks for carbon capture could help cut carbon dioxide emissions; sharing secret messages using quantum communications just got more practical for better cybersecurity; designed synthetic polymers for better binding in next-generation li-ion batteries; predictive modeling could point to nuclear reactors running longer; scientists to create computers that mimic human brain.
Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to capture new information about DNA and RNA molecules and enable more accurate computer simulations of how they interact with everything from proteins to viruses.
ORNL story tips: New builders’ tool by ORNL assesses design performance before construction begins; new pressure technique to manipulate magnetism in thin films could enhance electronic devices; ORNL outlines quantum sensing advances for better airport scanning, other applications.
American ingenuity is providing radical productivity improvements from advanced materials and robotic systems developed at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Marcel Demarteau as Physics Division Director, effective June 17.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory welcomed seven technology innovators to join the third cohort of Innovation Crossroads, the Southeast’s only entrepreneurial research and development program based at a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory.
Researchers used neutron scattering at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source to investigate the response properties of polymer gels commonly used in products like cosmetics, adhesives, and paints. A better understanding of their behaviors will lead to improved products and potential new medical applications for drug delivery.
The Department of Energy has established the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy program, or INFUSE, to encourage private-public research partnerships for overcoming challenges in fusion energy development.
A team led by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory explored how atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) crystals can grow over 3D objects and how the curvature of those objects can stretch and strain the crystals.
ORNL story tips: Tiny test fuels by ORNL explore new reactor fuels more rapidly; ORNL-developed computing method detects, reports bugs in VA’s healthcare data system; new heat transport study in thermoelectric materials may lead to better heat-to-electricity conversion.
A team led by Ivaylo Ivanov of Georgia State University used the 200-petaflop IBM AC922 Summit system, the world’s smartest and most powerful supercomputer, to develop an integrative model of the transcription preinitiation complex (PIC), a complex of proteins vital to gene expression.
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory studying super-cold states of water discovered a pathway to the unexpected formation of dense, crystalline phases of ice thought to exist beyond Earth’s limits. Their findings, reported in Nature, challenge accepted theories and could lead to better understanding of ice found on other planets, moons and elsewhere in space.
Canadian researchers used neutrons at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source to better understand how tempering affects chocolate's microstructure and how that relationship impacts taste.
Scientists have demonstrated a new bio-inspired material for an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach to recovering uranium from seawater. The low-cost polymer adsorbent could help push past bottlenecks in the cost and efficiency of extracting uranium resources from oceans for sustainable energy production.
Advanced Research Systems has licensed an ORNL technology designed to automatically refill liquid helium used in laboratory equipment for low-temperature scientific experiments, which will reduce downtime, recover more helium and increase overall efficiency.
The new agreement builds upon ORNL and Lincoln Electric’s previous developments by extending additive technology to new materials, leveraging data analytics and enabling rapid manufacture of metal components in excess of 100 pounds per hour.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University teamed up to investigate the complex dynamics of low-water liquids that challenge nuclear waste processing at federal cleanup sites.
Researchers from Xavier University used neutrons at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor to observe how plants communicate via underground networks of fungal hyphae. Insights gained could lead to improved agricultural applications that enable farmers to tactically introduce pesticides into an environment so that unwanted weeds are destroyed while valuable crops remain unharmed.
ORNL story tips: Using ORNL’s Summit supercomputer, scientists created some of the largest virtual universes; plant-based, super-sticky material proves stickier than mussels; method to 3D print big components with metal could promise low-cost, high-quality builds with less waste; simulated small modular reactors on Summit ran more efficiently than expected.
By partnering with ORNL, Eck Industries Inc. is using neutrons at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to develop tailor-made, industrial high-performance aluminum alloys and bringing them to market with remarkable turnaround time.
ORNL used artificial intelligence to analyze data about bullying to reveal potential of broader impacts; flexible sensor wraps around power cables to monitor electrical loads from household appliances; ORNL is evaluating paths for licensing remotely operated microreactors; ORNL used carbon nanotubes to improve process that removes salt from water
To accelerate the process of identifying novel uranium oxide phases, an ORNL team studied 4,600 different potential crystal structures of uranium oxide compositions on Metis, a CADES high-performance computing cluster. An improved understanding of uranium oxides, which fuel the vast majority of the U.S. nuclear power fleet, could lead to the development of improved fuels or waste storage materials.
To function properly, proteins must morph into specific 3D shapes through a biophysical phenomenon called protein folding. Researchers at ORNL are using various deep-learning techniques to study the intermediate protein stages between the initial unfolded state and the final folded state, which are notoriously difficult to characterize. These methods could also help identify factors that cause proteins to “misfold” into dysfunctional shapes, a phenomenon often attributed as a leading factor in the development of diseases including Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disorders, and diabetes.
Profiled is Kevin Field at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who synthesizes and scrutinizes materials for nuclear power systems that must perform safely and efficiently over decades of irradiation.
Direct observations of the structure and catalytic mechanism of a prototypical kinase enzyme—protein kinase A or PKA—will provide researchers and drug developers with significantly enhanced abilities to understand and treat fatal diseases and neurological disorders such as cancer, diabetes, and cystic fibrosis. The discovery was made by an international team of researchers using macromolecular neutron crystallography at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.
A residential and commercial tower under development in Brooklyn that is changing the New York City skyline has its roots in research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The tower’s white precast concrete façade rising from the waterfront site of the former Domino Sugar Factory evokes the form of a sugar crystal – a pattern created from 3D printed molds produced at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL.
An international collaboration including scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory solved a 50-year-old puzzle that explains why beta decays of atomic nuclei are slower than what is expected based on the beta decays of free neutrons. The findings, published in Nature Physics, fill a longstanding gap in physicists’ understanding of beta decay, an important process stars use to create heavier elements, and emphasize the need to include subtle effects—or more realistic physics—when predicting certain nuclear processes.
Neutrons used to study how an antibacterial peptide fights bacteria; decade-long study finds higher CO2 levels caused 30 percent more wood growth in U.S. trees; ultrasonic additive manufacturing to embed fiber optic sensors in heat- and radiation-resistant materials could yield safer reactors; ORNL analyzes “dark spots” where informal neighborhoods may lack power access; new Transportation Energy Data Book released.
Monika Hartl from the European Spallation Source is using neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source to understand how plastic materials interact with the filters used to remove them from water. Through understanding these interactions, scientists can develop improved water filters that are better at purifying water and reducing water contaminants.
A team of researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Health Data Sciences Institute (HDSI) have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to better match cancer patients with clinical trials. The researchers were one of ten teams to develop a digital tool to address complex challenges relevant to medical conditions such as cancer and Lyme disease as part of The Opportunity Project (TOP) Health Sprint, a 14-week effort sponsored by the Census Bureau, coordinated by the Department of Health and Human Services, and led by two Presidential Innovation Fellows.
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Drexel University and their partners have discovered a way to improve the energy density of promising energy-storage materials, conductive two-dimensional ceramics called MXenes.
ReactWell has licensed a novel waste-to-fuel technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve energy conversion methods for cleaner, more efficient oil and gas, chemical and bioenergy production.
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