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Interpreting the results of collision induced dissociation (CID) experiments, simulations on Titan predict the formation of an unusually bonded uranium-nitrosyl molecule. Credit: J. Am. Chem. Society. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b02420
Radioactive materials have long been a part of American history—from the Manhattan Project to the development of nuclear power. The materials central to these innovations are actinides, or elements 89–103 on the periodic table that release large amounts of energy when atoms are spli...
Sturgeon

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are taking a closer look at how sturgeon, a prehistoric — and now imperiled — group of fish species may better be helped to get around the dams that block their migrations. Hydropower is a major renewable ener...

In unbound calyx[4]pyrrole, two pyrrole “petals” are flipped up and two, down.

Atomic charges in chemical solutions are like Switzerland—they strive for neutrality. The tendency to balance charges drives dynamics when charged atoms or molecules, called ions, are present in solutions. Recently, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laborat...

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Lipid molecules have split personalities—one part loves water, whereas the other avoids it at all costs. Lipids make up cell membranes, the frontline defense in preventing cellular access to bacterial and viral invaders. Many researchers believe that the membrane is not just a scaf...
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Frank Loeffler, University of Tennessee (UT)-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair for Microbiology and Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers made a molecule that could selectively bind to metals in the middle of the lanthanide series.

Rare earth elements are metals used in technologies from wind turbines and magnetic resonance imaging agents to industrial catalysts and high-definition televisions. Most are lanthanides, elements with atomic number from 57 to 71, lanthanum to lutetium, in the periodic table. The la...

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Brian Davison and David DePaoli of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The fellowship is AIChE’s highest grade of membership and honors senior members who hav...
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers re-evaluated used nuclear fuel rods from a commercial reactor and reduced data uncertainties by an order of magnitude compared with previous measurements taken at a different lab.

Nearly 100 commercial nuclear reactors supply one-fifth of America’s energy. For each fuel rod in a reactor assembly, only 5 percent of its energy is consumed before fission can no longer be sustained efficiently for power production and the fuel assembly must be replaced. Power plan...

ORNL’s Jim Keiser and Mike Stephens (on stepladder) prepare to install samples in a Keiser rig, a furnace for exposing materials to corrosive gases, crushing pressures and calamitous heat. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy;
The global marketplace demands constant improvements in performance and efficiency of aircraft engines, power turbines and other modern mainstays of energy technology. This progress requires advanced structural materials, such as ceramic composites and metal alloys with higher-t...
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A study led by the University of Tennessee and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory could soon pay dividends in the development of materials with energy-related applications. Three UT researchers—Maik Lang, assistant professor