![Sphere that has the top right fourth removed (exposed) Colors from left are orange, dark blue with orange dots, light blue with horizontal lines, then black. Inside the exposure is green and black with boxes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-06/slicer.jpg?h=56311bf6&itok=bCZz09pJ)
Filter News
Area of Research
- Advanced Manufacturing (3)
- Biology and Environment (19)
- Clean Energy (20)
- Fusion and Fission (15)
- Fusion Energy (8)
- Isotopes (9)
- Materials (48)
- Materials Characterization (1)
- Materials Under Extremes (1)
- National Security (4)
- Neutron Science (46)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (11)
- Supercomputing (30)
- Transportation Systems (1)
News Topics
- (-) Climate Change (31)
- (-) Composites (8)
- (-) Frontier (21)
- (-) Fusion (14)
- (-) Isotopes (12)
- (-) Materials Science (36)
- (-) Neutron Science (50)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (38)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (35)
- Advanced Reactors (10)
- Artificial Intelligence (38)
- Big Data (17)
- Bioenergy (31)
- Biology (29)
- Biomedical (12)
- Biotechnology (7)
- Buildings (14)
- Chemical Sciences (24)
- Clean Water (10)
- Computer Science (58)
- Coronavirus (4)
- Critical Materials (6)
- Cybersecurity (14)
- Decarbonization (30)
- Education (3)
- Emergency (1)
- Energy Storage (29)
- Environment (62)
- Exascale Computing (17)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Grid (21)
- High-Performance Computing (33)
- Hydropower (3)
- Irradiation (2)
- Machine Learning (20)
- Materials (59)
- Mathematics (2)
- Mercury (3)
- Microelectronics (2)
- Microscopy (12)
- Molten Salt (2)
- Nanotechnology (13)
- National Security (21)
- Net Zero (5)
- Partnerships (24)
- Physics (20)
- Polymers (6)
- Quantum Computing (12)
- Quantum Science (19)
- Renewable Energy (2)
- Security (5)
- Simulation (29)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (8)
- Summit (18)
- Sustainable Energy (25)
- Transportation (30)
Media Contacts
![The ORNL DAAC gathers, processes, archives and distributes information on key land processes, including the shifting ecological and geomorphological features of the U.S. Atchafalaya and Terrebonne basins gathered by the NASA Delta-X mission shown here. Credit: NASA Delta-X](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/EcoGeomorphicCells_data_browse_2.png?h=b0c6fd8d&itok=1Dtpugqb)
In 1993 as data managers at ORNL began compiling observations from field experiments for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the information fit on compact discs and was mailed to users along with printed manuals.
![The 25th annual National School on Neutron and X-ray Scattering was held August 6–18. Each year, graduate students visit Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories to learn how to use neutrons and X-rays to study energy and materials. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-p10442.jpg?itok=FQ3zJsfW)
In 2023, the National School on X-ray and Neutron Scattering, or NXS, marked its 25th year during its annual program, held August 6–18 at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories.
![Construction is underway at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source. Credit: The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — already the world’s most powerful accelerator-based neutron source — will be on a planned hiatus through June 2024 as crews work to upgrade the facility. Credit: Brett Riffert/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/Construction%20photo%20of%20tunnel%20stub%20work.jpg?h=46a45461&itok=7YoVs-O8)
The Spallation Neutron Source — already the world’s most powerful accelerator-based neutron source — will be on a planned hiatus through June 2024 as crews work to upgrade the facility. Much of the work — part of the facility’s Proton Power Upgrade project — will involve building a connector between the accelerator and the planned Second Target Station.
![Members of the Analytics and AI Methods at Scale group in the National Center for Computational Sciences at ORNL developed the mixed-precision performance benchmarking tool OpenMxP. From left are group leader Feiyi Wang, technical lead Mike Matheson and research scientist Hao Lu. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P12429_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=lGABGcYq)
As Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer, was being assembled at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in 2021, understanding its performance on mixed-precision calculations remained a difficult prospect.
![Connecting wires to the interface of the topological insulator and superconductor enables probing of novel electronic properties. Researchers aim for qubits based on theorized Majorana particles. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P04516.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=BoCZtfwR)
Quantum computers process information using quantum bits, or qubits, based on fragile, short-lived quantum mechanical states. To make qubits robust and tailor them for applications, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory sought to create a new material system.
![Bob Bolton has spent much of his career studying environmental change in Alaska. He recently moved to East Tennessee to join the ORNL-led NGEE Arctic project as deputy for operations. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P10693.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=VZ2Bo1Ia)
Bob Bolton may have moved to a southerly latitude at ORNL, but he is still stewarding scientific exploration in the Arctic, along with a project that helps amplify the voices of Alaskans who reside in a landscape on the front lines of climate change.
![Plutonium oxide is loaded onto a truck for shipping. Adam Parkison/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/PXL_20230620_120836896_0.jpg?h=2848f5af&itok=Nh31DLuy)
In June, ORNL hit a milestone not seen in more than three decades: producing a production-quality amount of plutonium-238
![Researchers used the open-source Community Earth System Model to simulate the effects that extreme climatic conditions have on processes like land carbon storage. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/wildfire_0.jpg?h=175bab9e&itok=sbjoOQiV)
Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Northeastern University modeled how extreme conditions in a changing climate affect the land’s ability to absorb atmospheric carbon — a key process for mitigating human-caused emissions. They found that 88% of Earth’s regions could become carbon emitters by the end of the 21st century.
![Steven Hamilton, an R&D scientist in the HPC Methods for Nuclear Applications group at ORNL, leads the ExaSMR project. ExaSMR was developed to run on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s exascale-class supercomputer, Frontier. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P00165_1.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=YE6_qVLk)
The Exascale Small Modular Reactor effort, or ExaSMR, is a software stack developed over seven years under the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project to produce the highest-resolution simulations of nuclear reactor systems to date. Now, ExaSMR has been nominated for a 2023 Gordon Bell Prize by the Association for Computing Machinery and is one of six finalists for the annual award, which honors outstanding achievements in high-performance computing from a variety of scientific domains.
![Cadet Elyse Wages, Mike Shaffer and Amanda Sandifer pose with a collected sample of air. Credit: Liz Neunsinger/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/20230627_140821.png?h=b6fd9b7a&itok=ESPeHBk1)
Cadet Elyse Wages, a rising junior at the United States Air Force Academy, visited ORNL with one goal in mind: collect air.