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  Scientists applied a simple approach for growing hBN films on the surface of ubiquitous steels and other metal alloys to “armor” them and thus increase their capabilities. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers demonstrated that stainless steel and other metal alloys coated with hexagonal boron nitride, or hBN, exhibit non-stick or low-friction qualities along with improved long-term protection against harsh corrosion and high-temperature.

Caption: Jaswinder Sharma makes battery coin cells with a lightweight current collector made of thin layers of aligned carbon fibers in a polymer with carbon nanotubes. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Electric vehicles can drive longer distances if their lithium-ion batteries deliver more energy in a lighter package. A prime weight-loss candidate is the current collector, a component that often adds 10% to the weight of a battery cell without contributing energy.

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By frequently changing the Internet addresses of protected servers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Craig Shue has created a technology that thwarts attacks with just minor changes in infrastructure. The system, dubbed Choreographer, makes it difficult for hackers to guess the server’s address whi...

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Improving welds of heavy and light armored fighting vehicles is the target of a collaboration among Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, and ArcelorMittal USA. While military vehicle designs use high-strength steels, hydrogen-in...

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Federal employees and select personnel from national laboratories will gather at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in February for a two-day training session in nuclear forensics. The event, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov/about-domestic-nuclear-detection-office), ...

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Using an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology, inspectors of containers of nuclear material will be able to know with unprecedented confidence whether an intruder has tampered with a seal. The system uses a light source of entangled photons to verify the continuity of a fiber-based seal, accor...

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Less expensive, lighter and more efficient inverters could put hybrid electric vehicles on the highway to improved viability. While batteries receive a lot of attention, Oak Ridge National Laboratory inventor Gui-Jia Su noted that inverters, which convert direct current into alter...
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Improving efficiency and performance of tiny engines like those used in remote-controlled planes is the focus of a report that may thrust the technology into this century. These single-cylinder engines, which have potential for unmanned aerial systems and portable power, can be im...
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Analyzing vast amounts of information to identify suspicious activities could become easier with EAGLE, a technology developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Rangan Sukumar. The software that scales on Cray’s Urika allows users to retrieve and visualize massive r...
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Using a scanning tunneling microscope tip, scientists at the University of Rostock, Germany, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have accomplished something thought to be virtually impossible. “We devised an approach to change electronic properties of one-dimensional systems without...