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Initially, Kevin Gaddis’s adapted HPIC will be used only for the fourth of six separations in actinium-225 processing, but he hopes it will later be used for other separations — and other isotopes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Isotopes – Faster Ac-225 production

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher has invented a version of an isotope-separating device that can withstand extreme environments, including radiation and chemical solvents.

Researchers built optical tools called zero-mode waveguides, illustrated here, used to observe proteins that are implicated in human heart function. Credit: David S. White/University of Wisconsin-Madison

Microscopy – A front-row view

Researchers working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a new method to observe how proteins, at the single-molecule level, bind with other molecules and more accurately pinpoint certain molecular behavior in complex

For the first time in 25 years, scientists will use deuterium and tritium to create a plasma inside the chamber of the Joint European Torus in the United Kingdom to study nuclear fusion. As in the earlier experiments, diagnostics systems developed by ORNL will play a key role in monitoring the plasma. Credit: EUROfusion

Fusion – Helping JET soar

Equipment and expertise from Oak Ridge National Laboratory will allow scientists studying fusion energy and technologies to acquire crucial data during landmark fusion experiments in Europe. 

The REVISE-II modeling tool developed at ORNL supports decision-making for electric vehicle charging infrastructure development along interstate highways in support of intercity travel. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Electric vehicles – Charged-up planning

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a nationwide modeling tool to help infrastructure planners decide where and when to locate electric vehicle charging stations along interstate highways. The goal is to encourage the adoption of EVs for cross-country travel.

An algorithm developed and field-tested by ORNL researchers uses machine learning to maintain homeowners’ preferred temperatures year-round while minimizing energy costs. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Energy – Building a better thermostat

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers designed and field-tested an algorithm that could help homeowners maintain comfortable temperatures year-round while minimizing utility costs.

Benjamin Sulman, a scientist in ORNL’s Environmental Sciences Division, creates Earth system models that simulate how plants, microbes and soils interact and influence the cycling of carbon, water and nutrients in their environment. His work aims to helps researchers across disciplines better understand complex, rapidly changing ecosystems, including coastal wetlands and Arctic permafrost soils. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Benjamin Sulman: Building better Earth system models

As rising global temperatures alter ecosystems worldwide, the need to accurately simulate complex environmental processes under evolving conditions is more urgent than ever.

Balendra Sutharshan

Balendra Sutharshan: Building an organization focused on isotopes, impact

In the mid-1980s, Balendra Sutharshan moved to Canada from the island nation of Sri Lanka. That move set Sutharshan on a path that had him heading continent-spanning collaborations and holding leadership posts at multiple Department of Energy

ORNL and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists studied the formation of amorphous ice like the exotic ice found in interstellar space and on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Neutrons – Space ice, un-Earthly cold

Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory successfully created amorphous ice, similar to ice in interstellar space and on icy worlds in our solar system. They documented that its disordered atomic behavior is unlike any ice on Earth.

Deborah Frincke, one of the nation’s preeminent computer scientists and cybersecurity experts, serves as associate laboratory director of ORNL’s National Security Science Directorate. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Deborah Frincke: The science of protecting communities

Deborah Frincke, one of the nation’s preeminent computer scientists and cybersecurity experts, serves as associate laboratory director of ORNL’s National Security Science Directorate. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Brenda Smith, shown here working with a gas viscometer in her research lab, is one of several people concurrently researching the thermophysical properties of feedstock gas. Their research will support computational researchers who are designing processes to separate isotopes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, US Dept. of Energy

Brenda Smith: New chances to contribute with chemistry

For years Brenda Smith found fulfillment working with nuclear batteries, a topic she’s been researching as a chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.