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Melton Hill Dam

To further the potential benefits of the nation’s hydropower resources, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed and maintain a comprehensive water energy digital platform called HydroSource.

Sophie Voisin, an ORNL software engineer, was part of a team that won a 2014 R&D 100 Award for work on Intelligent Software for a Personalized Modeling of Expert Opinions, Decisions and Errors in Visual Examination Tasks. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Cameras see the world differently than humans. Resolution, equipment, lighting, distance and atmospheric conditions can impact how a person interprets objects on a photo.

Data from different sources are joined on platforms created by ORNL researchers to offer better information for decision makers. Credit: ORNL/Nathan Armistead

When the COVID-19 pandemic stunned the world in 2020, researchers at ORNL wondered how they could extend their support and help

Magnetic quantum material broadens platform for probing next-gen information technologies

Scientists at ORNL used neutron scattering to determine whether a specific material’s atomic structure could host a novel state of matter called a spiral spin liquid.

Samarthya Bhagia examines a sample of a thermoplastic composite material additively manufactured using poplar wood and polylactic acid. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Chemical and environmental engineer Samarthya Bhagia is focused on achieving carbon neutrality and a circular economy by designing new plant-based materials for a range of applications from energy storage devices and sensors to environmentally friendly bioplastics.

ORNL identity science researcher Nell Barber works on a facial recognition camera. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Though Nell Barber wasn’t sure what her future held after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, she now uses her interest in human behavior to design systems that leverage machine learning algorithms to identify faces in a crowd.

These images show increasing levels of magnification of phytoliths in the leaves of poplar trees, a key biofuel crop, imaged using ORNL’s specialized microscopy-spectroscopy. Credit: Elizabeth Herndon/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are closer to unlocking the secrets to better soil carbon sequestration by studying the tiny, sand-like silicon deposits called phytoliths in plants.

Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy, a nondestructive technique in which the tip of the probe of a microscope scatters pulses of light to generate a picture of a sample, allowed the team to obtain insights into the composition of plant cell walls. Credit: Ali Passian/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

To optimize biomaterials for reliable, cost-effective paper production, building construction, and biofuel development, researchers often study the structure of plant cells using techniques such as freezing plant samples or placing them in a vacuum.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed an invertible neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that mimics the human brain, to improve accuracy in climate-change models and predictions. Credit: Getty Images

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed an invertible neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that mimics the human brain, to improve accuracy in climate-change models and predictions.

ORNL scientists created a geodemographic cluster for the Atlanta metro area that identifies risk factors related to climate impacts. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

A new capability to identify urban neighborhoods, down to the block and building level, that are most vulnerable to climate change could help ensure that mitigation and resilience programs reach the people who need them the most.