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Promethium’s secrets exposed
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Neutrons—Nanosize matters

A team of scientists, led by University of Guelph professor John Dutcher, are using neutrons at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source to unlock the secrets of natural nanoparticles that could be used to improve medicines.

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Neutrons—Gentle strain

Scientists from AK Steel Corporation are using neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source to discover how different manufacturing processes will affect the performance of the company’s new AHSS, or advanced high strength steel, called NEXMET® 1000.
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Computing—Reaching rare earths

Scientists from the Critical Materials Institute used the Titan supercomputer and Eos computing cluster at ORNL to analyze designer molecules that could increase the yield of rare earth elements found in bastnaesite, an important mineral 

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory contributed buildings and structures datasets to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support emergency response following major volcanic eruptions on the Island of Hawaii.

Datasets—Assessing lava flow impacts

Geospatial data from Oak Ridge National Laboratory is supporting emergency response to destructive volcanic activity in Hawaii. Researchers provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency with information on buildings and structures that was rapidly extracted from satellite imagery usi...
Postdoctoral researcher Cory Knoot prepares a sample of blue-green algae for neutron scattering experiment on the Bio-SANS instrument at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. Credit: Kelley Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Neutrons—Making sustainable biofuels

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using neutrons to understand why certain hydrocarbons produced by blue-green algae are important to their biology, so new strains can be engineered to sustainably produce biofuels. Neutron scattering makes it possible to non-destructively see inside living algae at real world temperatures and in real time.
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Neutrons—On the down-low

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led team has observed how a prolific class of antibiotics may be losing its effectiveness as certain bacteria develop drug resistance by acquiring enzymes known as aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Aminoglycosides are commonly used in antibiotics to tre...

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Materials—Polymer theory problem

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have conducted a series of breakthrough experimental and computational studies that cast doubt on a 40-year-old theory describing how polymers in plastic materials behave during processing.

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Nuclear—Simulation scale-up

Nuclear scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are retooling existing software used to simulate radiation transport in small modular reactors, or SMRs, to run more efficiently on next-generation supercomputers. ORNL is working on various aspects of advanced SMR designs through s...

Using neutrons, an ORNL research team studied the protein structure of bacteria-produced enzymes called beta-lactamases by examining one of them to better understand how resistant bacteria behave.

Neutrons—Antibacterial breakdown

New insights into certain catalytic enzymes formed by bacteria to break down antibiotics may lead to the design of drugs better equipped to combat resistant bacteria. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron crystallography at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to st...
An example of a spiking neural network shows how data can be classified using the neuromorphic device. Credit: Catherine Schuman and Margaret Drouhard/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Data—Plug-in learning

For smarter data management and analysis, researchers have developed a low-power neuromorphic device based on spiking neural networks that can quickly and more efficiently analyze and classify data.