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Media Contacts
![DOE national laboratory scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed the first tree dataset of its kind, bridging molecular information about the poplar tree microbiome to ecosystem-level processes. Credit: Andy Sproles, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-04/plantTreeMicrobe04%20%281%29.jpg?h=55e40f5b&itok=OkZsQvEv)
A first-ever dataset bridging molecular information about the poplar tree microbiome to ecosystem-level processes has been released by a team of DOE scientists led by ORNL. The project aims to inform research regarding how natural systems function, their vulnerability to a changing climate and ultimately how plants might be engineered for better performance as sources of bioenergy and natural carbon storage.
![Alyssa Carrell is an ORNL ecologist studying how plant-microbe relationships can build resilience in natural ecosystems vulnerable to climate change. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-03/2024-P03733%20%281%29.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=K7bCoVjK)
Alyssa Carrell started her science career studying the tallest inhabitants in the forest, but today is focused on some of its smallest — the microbial organisms that play an outsized role in plant health.
![Intern Noah Miller, left, and his mentor, Joe McVeigh, stand with their poster at the American Glovebox Society conference in 2023.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-03/McVeigh%20Miller%20AGS%20Conference%202023.png?h=15f04f21&itok=9hgw4GXI)
College intern Noah Miller is on his 3rd consecutive internship at ORNL, currently working on developing an automated pellet inspection system for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Plutonium-238 Supply Program. Along with his success at ORNL, Miller is also focusing on becoming a mentor for kids, giving back to the place where he discovered his passion and developed his skills.
The United States could triple its current bioeconomy by producing more than 1 billion tons per year of plant-based biomass for renewable fuels, while meeting projected demands for food, feed, fiber, conventional forest products and exports, according to the DOE’s latest Billion-Ton Report led by ORNL.
![Instantaneous solution quantities shown for a static Mach 1.4 solution on a mesh consisting of 33 billion elements using 33,880 GPUs, or 90% of Frontier. From left to right, contours show the mass fractions of the hydroxyl radical and H2O, the temperature in Kelvin, and the local Mach number. Credit: Gabriel Nastac/NASA](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-02/static_fine.png?h=f3b6c815&itok=4rgMEnKZ)
Since 2019, a team of NASA scientists and their partners have been using NASA’s FUN3D software on supercomputers located at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility to conduct computational fluid dynamics simulations of a human-scale Mars lander. The team’s ongoing research project is a first step in determining how to safely land a vehicle with humans onboard onto the surface of Mars.
![In a win for chemistry, inventors at ORNL have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-02/dawns_0.jpg?h=00b3f45e&itok=oXQXV0h7)
In a win for chemistry, inventors at ORNL have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials.
![: ORNL climate modeling expertise contributed to an AI-backed model that assesses global emissions of ammonia from croplands now and in a warmer future, while identifying mitigation strategies. This map highlights croplands around the world. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-02/global_croplands_usgs_globe-4g_1.png?h=4016a495&itok=rb8eHyvK)
ORNL climate modeling expertise contributed to a project that assessed global emissions of ammonia from croplands now and in a warmer future, while also identifying solutions tuned to local growing conditions.
![ORNL’s Tomás Rush examines a culture as part of his research into the plant-fungus relationship that can help or hinder ecosystem health. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/2022-p09834_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=iHPtg7RM)
New computational framework speeds discovery of fungal metabolites, key to plant health and used in drug therapies and for other uses.
![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](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2024-01/sharma1_1.jpg?h=f7dae89e&itok=JiSsMewF)
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.
![Alex May, pictured above, is the first and only full-time data curator at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. Credit: Carlos Jones and Wikimedia Commons, background/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/2023-P18433%20%281%29_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=DQKdmnrN)