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Tristen Mullins. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Tristen Mullins enjoys the hidden side of computers. As a signals processing engineer for ORNL, she tries to uncover information hidden in components used on the nation’s power grid — information that may be susceptible to cyberattacks.

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Scientist-inventors from ORNL will present seven new technologies during the Technology Innovation Showcase on Friday, July 14, from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences on ORNL’s campus.

ORNL researchers have enabled standard raised pavement markers to transmit GPS information that helps autonomous driving features function better in remote areas or in bad weather. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Working with Western Michigan University and other partners, ORNL engineers are placing low-powered sensors in the reflective raised pavement markers that are already used to help drivers identify lanes. Microchips inside the markers transmit information to passing cars about the road shape to help autonomous driving features function even when vehicle cameras or remote laser sensing, called LiDAR, are unreliable because of fog, snow, glare or other obstructions.

CFM’s RISE open fan engine architecture. Image: GE Aerospace

To support the development of a revolutionary new open fan engine architecture for the future of flight, GE Aerospace has run simulations using the world’s fastest supercomputer capable of crunching data in excess of exascale speed, or more than a quintillion calculations per second.

ORNL researchers, from left, Yang Liu, Xiaohan Yang and Torik Islam, collaborated on the development of a new capability to insert multiple genes simultaneously for fast, efficient transformation of plants into better bioenergy feedstocks. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

In a discovery aimed at accelerating the development of process-advantaged crops for jet biofuels, scientists at ORNL developed a capability to insert multiple genes into plants in a single step.

ORNL researchers have developed a new pressing method, shown as blue circle on right, that produces a more uniform solid electrolyte than the traditionally processed material with more voids, shown as gray circle on left. The material can be integrated into a battery system, center, for improved stability and rate performance. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL scientists found that a small tweak created big performance improvements in a type of solid-state battery, a technology considered vital to broader electric vehicle adoption.

Jerry Parks leads the Molecular Biophysics group at ORNL, leveraging his expertise in computational chemistry and bioinformatics to unlock the inner workings of proteins—molecules that govern cellular structure and function and are essential to life. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

When reading the novel Jurassic Park as a teenager, Jerry Parks found the passages about gene sequencing and supercomputers fascinating, but never imagined he might someday pursue such futuristic-sounding science.

ORNL researchers Michael Smith, Steven Pain and Kelly Chipps use JENSA, a unique gas jet system, for laboratory studies of nuclear reactions that also occur in neutron stars in binary systems. Credit: Steven Pain/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Led by Kelly Chipps of ORNL, scientists working in the lab have produced a signature nuclear reaction that occurs on the surface of a neutron star gobbling mass from a companion star. Their achievement improves understanding of stellar processes generating diverse nuclear isotopes.

Researchers Melissa Cregger, left, and Xiaohan Yang examine plants in an ORNL greenhouse where biosensors are installed to accelerate plant transformations. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Nature-based solutions are an effective tool to combat climate change triggered by rising carbon emissions, whether it’s by clearing the skies with bio-based aviation fuels or boosting natural carbon sinks.

Kelly Chipps of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been appointed to the Nuclear Sciences Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Kelly Chipps, a nuclear astrophysicist at ORNL, has been appointed to the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, or NSAC. The committee provides official advice to DOE and the National Science Foundation, or NSF, about issues relating to the national program for basic nuclear science research.