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Researchers discovered the Tennessee cavesnail, Antrorbis tennesseensis, in caves near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The snail measures in at less than 2 millimeters long. Credit: Nathaniel Shoobs and Matthew Niemiller

Sometimes conducting big science means discovering a species not much larger than a grain of sand.

Materials — Molding molecular matter

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a focused beam of electrons to stitch platinum-silicon molecules into graphene, marking the first deliberate insertion of artificial molecules into a graphene host matrix.

Ilias Belharouak portrait

Ilias Belharouak is leading ORNL’s research efforts in investigating new materials for solid-state batteries, which can double the charging capacity of lithium-ion batteries, commonly used today for electronic devices such as cell phones.

Mircea Podar

Mircea Podar, Distinguished Staff Scientist and Leader of the Systems Genetics Group in the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Jitendra Kumar

Jitendra Kumar, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elevated to the grade of senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

ORNL scientists are combining their expertise in environmental science, physics, sensors and additive manufacturing to create model fish for use in testing of hydropower turbine designs. The project supports healthy ecosystems and hydropower—the nation’s largest renewable energy resource. Photo credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Hydropower developers must consider many factors when it comes time to license a new project or renew an existing one: How can environmental impacts be mitigated, including to fish populations?

Singanallur “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan shows students at Northwest Middle School how to make a “hoop glider” as part of ORNL’s Engineers Week activities. Credit: Abby Bower/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

“Engineering is about building things to help others.” Before diving into a longer explanation, that’s how Singanallur “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, an electrical and computer engineer ORNL, described engineering to students at Northwest Middle School.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ramesh Bhave co-invented a process to recover high-purity rare earth elements from scrapped magnets of computer hard drives (shown here) and other post-consumer wastes. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Three technologies and one commercialization program developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have won National Technology Transfer Awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

Joe Paddison a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow, studies how statistical sampling methods can be coupled with neutron scattering experiments of magnetic and other new materials to provide richer information. Image credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Joe Paddison, a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, believes there’s more information to be found in neutron scattering data than scientists like himself might expect.

Polymer self-assembly at the liquid-liquid interface in real time

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 27, 2020 — Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee achieved a rare look at the inner workings of polymer self-assembly at an oil-water interface to advance materials for neuromorphic computing and bio-inspired technologies.