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Researchers used neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source to investigate bizarre magnetic behavior, believed to be a possible quantum spin liquid rarely found in a three-dimensional material. QSLs are exotic states of matter where magnetism continues to fluctuate at low temperatures instead of “freezing” into aligned north and south poles as with traditional magnets.

Natalie Griffiths kneading in watershed at ORNL

Growing up, Natalie Griffiths dreamed of playing shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays. With a stint on the Canadian national women’s baseball team under her belt, Griffiths has retired her glove and now fields scientific questions about carbon and nutrient cycling and water quality ...

Joseph Lukens, Raphael Pooser, and Nick Peters (from left) of ORNL’s Quantum Information Science Group developed and tested a new interferometer made from highly nonlinear fiber in pursuit of improved sensitivity at the quantum scale. Credit: Carlos Jones

By analyzing a pattern formed by the intersection of two beams of light, researchers can capture elusive details regarding the behavior of mysterious phenomena such as gravitational waves. Creating and precisely measuring these interference patterns would not be possible without instruments called interferometers.

This section of a serpentine channel reactor shows the parallel reactor and feeder channels separated by a nanoporous membrane. At left is a single nanopore viewed from the side; at right is a diagram of metabolite exchange across the membrane.
Lives of soldiers and others injured in remote locations could be saved with a cell-free protein synthesis system developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The device, a creation of a team led by Andrea Timm and Scott Retterer of the ...
By producing 50 grams of plutonium-238, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have demonstrated the nation’s ability to provide a valuable energy source for deep space missions.

With the production of 50 grams of plutonium-238, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have restored a U.S. capability dormant for nearly 30 years and set the course to provide power for NASA and other missions.

In situ neutron diffraction visualizes the synthesis mechanism, involving multi-phase evolutions, of garnet-type fast lithium-ion solid conductors. The neutron diffraction determines the lithium vacancy distribution in the garnet lattice, and reveals the
Although they don’t currently have as much conductivity, solid-state electrolytes designed for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are emerging as a safer alternative to their more prevalent—sometimes flammable—liquid-electrolyte counterparts. However, a new study conducted at Oak Ridg...
The Roane State Community College associates are (from left) Jeff Manning, Chris Zerr, Bruce Lester, Joe Pyle, Darrell Roddy and Rusty Dryman.

Bruce Lester has had a lot of jobs: fisherman, horse trainer, “professional stair builder.” He last worked for a real estate company, surveying land using geographic software. “When the bottom fell out of the construction industry and the company downsized, I got laid off,” 

Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Sheng Dai of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named to a list of the most highly cited researchers in the world. Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers is an annual list that recognizes some of the world’s leading 

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An ultra-high-resolution technique used for the first time to study polymer fibers that trap uranium in seawater may cause researchers to rethink the best methods to harvest this potential fuel for nuclear reactors. The work of a team led by Carter Abney, a W...
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The International Council for Science's World Data System (WDS) has selected geospatial information scientist Yaxing Wei of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to receive the WDS Data Stewardship Award for 2015. Wei, a researcher in ORNL’s Di...