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As part of the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic project, scientists use a hydraulic rig to extract soil samples from the frozen soil in Utqiaġvik, Alaska.

Digging into the Arctic tundra, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered new insights into how quickly microorganisms break down organic matter in warming Arctic soil—a process that releases stored carbon as carbon dioxide and methane. The team studied soil extracted...

ORNL inventors Bruce Warmack, left, and Nance Ericson display an early prototype of the DC hotstick. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
North Carolina-based Hotstick USA has exclusively licensed a direct-current detector technology developed by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help emergency responders safely detect high voltages. In emergency situations, first response ...
Assembly of the PROSPECT neutrino detector. (Credit: PROSPECT collaboration / Mara Lavitt)
The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) has completed the installation of a novel antineutrino detector that will probe the possible existence of a new form of matter. PROSPECT, located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Department of Energy...
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For the past six years, some 140 scientists from five institutions have traveled to the Arctic Circle and beyond to gather field data as part of the Department of Energy-sponsored NGEE Arctic project. This article gives insight into how scientists gather the measurements that inform t...

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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...

Christina Forrester

Christina Forrester’s meticulous nature is a plus for her work leading technical testing and analysis of radiological and nuclear detection devices, whether that work takes her to the Desert Southwest or to her own lab outfitted with specialized 

New exascale earth modeling system for energy
A new earth modeling system will use advanced computers and have weather scale resolution to simulate aspects of Earth’s variability and anticipate decadal changes that will critically impact the United States’ energy sector. The Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM, relea...
Neutron interactions revealed the orthorhombic structure of the hybrid perovskite stabilized by the strong hydrogen bonds between the nitrogen substituent of the methylammonium cations and the bromides on the corner-linked PbBr6 octahedra.
Neutron scattering has revealed, in real time, the fundamental mechanisms behind the conversion of sunlight into energy in hybrid perovskite materials. A better understanding of this behavior will enable manufacturers to design solar cells with increased efficiency...
Uppsala University researcher Marvin Seibert is using neutrons to study RuBisCO, an abundant enzyme essential to life on earth.
Plants, algae, and other organisms produce the RuBisCO enzyme to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into energy-rich molecules, like glucose, that form carbohydrates and other organic carbon compounds essential to life on earth. This catalytic process is called “carbon f...
ORNL-designed nuclear fuel cladding is now undergoing tests at Southern Nuclear’s Hatch Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia, with additional tests planned for later this year. Credit: Jason Richards/ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy
A team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a safer cladding for nuclear fuel rods. The new material, an alloy of iron, chromium and aluminum, avoids zirconium. As a result, it should give plant operators s...