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Postdoctoral researcher Nischal Kafle positions a component for a portable plasma imaging diagnostic device at ORNL in February. The device, a project for ARPA-E, is built of off-the-shelf parts. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL

The techniques Theodore Biewer and his colleagues are using to measure whether plasma has the right conditions to create fusion have been around awhile.

Singanallur “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan shows students at Northwest Middle School how to make a “hoop glider” as part of ORNL’s Engineers Week activities. Credit: Abby Bower/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

“Engineering is about building things to help others.” Before diving into a longer explanation, that’s how Singanallur “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, an electrical and computer engineer ORNL, described engineering to students at Northwest Middle School.

Short-leafed spring beauties are among the Oak Ridge Reservation flora than can be spotted on this season’s Nature Walks. Photo: Trent Jett

On the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), located in East Tennessee, more than 1100 vascular plants, 72 fish, 34 mammals and over 200 bird species have been observed.

Coronavirus research

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used Summit, the world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputer, to identify 77 small-molecule drug compounds that might warrant further study in the fight

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ramesh Bhave co-invented a process to recover high-purity rare earth elements from scrapped magnets of computer hard drives (shown here) and other post-consumer wastes. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Three technologies and one commercialization program developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have won National Technology Transfer Awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

ORNL researcher Bryan Chakoumakos has been named a fellow of the Neutron Scattering Society of America.

Four staff members from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named fellows of the Neutron Scattering Society of America.

A team of scientists may have discovered a new family of antidotes for certain poisons that can mitigate their effects more efficiently compared with existing remedies. Credit: Andrey Kovalevsky/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

In the most comprehensive, structure-based approach to date, a team of scientists may have discovered a new family of antidotes for certain poisons that can mitigate their effects more efficiently compared with existing remedies.

A preliminary study by ORNL and GRIDSMART shows promise of a new system to keep trucks moving through intersections and reduce fuel consumption. Credit: Thomas Karnowski/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Large trucks lumbering through congested cities could become more fuel efficient simply by not having to stop at so many traffic lights.

ORNL’s modeling tool simulates the energy efficiency of buildings by automating data received from satellite images. The tool was tested on buildings in the Chattanooga area. Credit: Joshua New/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a modeling tool that identifies cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities in existing buildings across the United States.

Joe Paddison a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow, studies how statistical sampling methods can be coupled with neutron scattering experiments of magnetic and other new materials to provide richer information. Image credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Joe Paddison, a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, believes there’s more information to be found in neutron scattering data than scientists like himself might expect.