![A beam of excited sodium-32 nuclei implants in the FRIB Decay Station initiator is used to detect decay signatures of isotopes. Credit: Gary Hollenhead, Toby King and Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/render_03_0.jpg?h=8f74817f&itok=AZQPthBf)
Timothy Gray of ORNL led a study that may have revealed an unexpected change in the shape of an atomic nucleus. The surprise finding could affect our understanding of what holds nuclei together, how protons and neutrons interact and how elements form.
![Bryan Maldonado, a researcher in the Buildings and Transportation Science Division at ORNL, will receive the 2023 Most Promising Engineer Award from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievements Awards Conference. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/2023-P00405_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=SPEjXVNj)
Bryan Maldonado, a dynamic systems and controls researcher at ORNL, has been recognized by the 2023 Hispanic Engineer National Achievements Awards Conference, or HENAAC, with the Most Promising Engineer Award.
![Neutron experiments helped reveal the one-carbon enzymatic mechanism that synthesizes vital food sources for cancer cells that depend on vitamin B6, providing key insights into designing novel drugs to slow the spread of aggressive cancers. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/23-G04841_Cancer_Kovalevsky_zdh_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=3NAoJh26)
After a highly lauded research campaign that successfully redesigned a hepatitis C drug into one of the leading drug treatments for COVID-19, scientists at ORNL are now turning their drug design approach toward cancer.
![Entrepreneur-fellows in Innovation Crossroads will complete the Spark Cleantech Accelerator, a 12-week program offered by the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park. Credit: UT Research Park](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/UTRP-aerial_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=66BJ9Llv)
Entrepreneur-fellows in Innovation Crossroads will complete the Spark Cleantech Accelerator, a 12-week program offered by the Spark Innovation Center at the UT Research Park.
![ORNL’s Jack Cahill, Eugene Dumitrescu, Dan Lu, Takaaki Koyanagi and Matthew Brahlek have been selected to receive Department of Energy Early Career Research awards. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/ECAawardees_0.png?h=8f9cfe54&itok=cdabW3Qe)
Since its inception in 2010, the program bolsters national scientific discovery by supporting early career researchers in fields pertaining to the Office of Science.
![Innovation Crossroads cohort 7](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/IC-cohort7-1000px.png?h=b6717701&itok=dHzO-FYD)
Seven entrepreneurs will embark on a two-year fellowship as the seventh cohort of Innovation Crossroads kicks off this month at ORNL. Representing a range of transformative energy technologies, Cohort 7 is a diverse class of innovators with promising new companies.
![ORNL’s Fernanda Santos examines a soil sample at an NGEE Arctic field site in the Alaskan tundra in June 2022. Credit: Amy Breen, University of Alaska Fairbanks.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/Fernanda_Nome_June2022.jpg?h=06de31ac&itok=VGxKV_uY)
Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. At ORNL, scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.
![Stephen K. Streiffer named director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Headshot of Streiffer outside with background of green grass and trees](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-07/Stephen%20Streiffer%20%28credit%20Mark%20Lopez%29_0.jpg?h=3dbd9eac&itok=c1OYTLQj)
UT-Battelle has appointed Stephen K. Streiffer to be the next director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, joining the lab in October.
![Upgrades to the particle accelerator enabling the record 1.7-megawatt beam power at the Spallation Neutron Source included adding 28 high-power radio-frequency klystrons (red tubes) to provide higher power for the accelerator. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-07/Klystrons1_0.jpg?h=6de9c450&itok=PbSmDYuy)
The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory set a world record when its particle accelerator beam operating power reached 1.7 megawatts, substantially improving on the facility’s original design capability.
![Aerial shot of ORNL's campus. Credit: Kase Clapp/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/aerialshot_2.png?h=c6980913&itok=10byvLeh)
Four firms doing business with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory received ORNL Small Business Awards during an awards ceremony on June 29.