Most criminals know about robots armed with cameras and shotguns, but there's a new law enforcement weapon on the horizon. Actually, the weapon is a micro-robot about the size of a june bug, so it's only on the horizon if you're at floor level. And that's the idea, according to developers in ORNL's ...
ORNL researchers are saving key industries of the future hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs with a process that starts by simply taking a look around. The DOE program, called BestPractices, encourages industries to examine their most energy-intensive plant utility systems and make impr...
According to popular culture, survival depends on rugged individualism, ruthless cunning and athletic prowess. In practice, however, real-world survivors more often exhibit benevolent leadership, personal sacrifice and endurance born of sheer will, says Jerry Dobson, a geographer at ORNL and directo...
Turning the drab brownish-gray zebrafish green isn't a St. Patrick's Day stunt for researchers at ORNL. Actually, the research is helping scientists study the effects of contamination on fish and relates the effects back to other wildlife and people. Of particular interest are chemicals such as pest...
Like the Visible Man and Visible Woman, the Digital Pig could serve as an important model in cardiovascular and pulmonary studies as well as other areas of biomedical research. Researchers at ORNL, Walter Reed Army Institute Research and the University of South Florida envision the digital pig as be...
While Greg Maddux's curveball might break 19 inches at Atlanta's Turner Field, conditions at Denver's Coors Field can cut the amount of break by 10 percent, according to some groundbreaking research performed at ORNL. The fluid mechanics research, which aims to precisely quantify the interaction bet...
Power market restructuring in California has focused the nation's attention on the problems, but they can be fixed as the market is allowed to adjust. Brendan Kirby of the lab's Power Systems Research program notes that deregulation of the telephone industry caused a temporary uproar but consumers a...
Genetically, mice are similar to humans, so the discovery of a fat gene in mice at ORNL could lead to a better understanding of why some people have more problems than others keeping their weight under control. Even though researchers had these particular mice on a low-fat diet since they were born,...
Tomorrow's ground combat system will bear little semblance to today's tank. It's likely to be smaller, lighter and more versatile than today's 67-ton M1A2 Abrams tank. That will allow it to be shipped quickly anywhere a conflict erupts. It's also likely to rely on speed, advanced weapons and flexibi...
Drivers bombarded with phone calls, e-mails and other distractions are more likely to make mistakes. That's no big surprise, but it's been confirmed by an ORNL study in which several drivers missed turns, ran stop signs and sometimes crashed while using in-vehicle information systems and devices. Fo...