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Media Contacts
![Frances Pleasonton seals a vacuum chamber in 1951.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/Pleasonton20616_16x9_1678989753589_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=s-itGaqM)
The old photos show her casually writing data in a logbook with stacks of lead bricks nearby, or sealing a vacuum chamber with a wrench. ORNL researcher Frances Pleasonton was instrumental in some of the earliest explorations of the properties of the neutron as the X-10 Site was finding its postwar footing as a research lab.
![Vincente Guiseppe, co-spokesperson of the Majorana Collaboration and a research staff member at ORNL, in front of the Majorana Demonstrator shield on the 4850 Level of SURF. Credit: Nick Hubbard/Sanford Underground Research Facility](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/2-MJD-Guiseppe%20in%20front%20of%20shield_4.jpeg?h=a141e9ea&itok=URbl8Trd)
For nearly six years, the Majorana Demonstrator quietly listened to the universe. Nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, or SURF, in Lead, South Dakota, the experiment collected data that could answer one of the most perplexing questions in physics: Why is the universe filled with something instead of nothing?
![Students from UC Merced collect water samples at Guadalupe Reservoir in Santa Clara County, California. Credit: UC Merced](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-03/UCMercedPhoto1_FieldSampling.jpg?h=9f905945&itok=n8jRlaGi)
Environmental scientists at ORNL have recently expanded collaborations with minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities across the nation to broaden the experiences and skills of student scientists while bringing fresh insights to the national lab’s missions.
![Quantum information scientists at ORNL hope to harness beams of light, or photons, as qubits for quantum networking. Credit: ORNL/Carlos Jones](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/Photonics.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=cxI95w07)
ORNL’s next major computing achievement could open a new universe of scientific possibilities accelerated by the primal forces at the heart of matter and energy.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory materials scientist Zhili Feng, left, looks on as senior technician Doug Kyle operates a welding robot inside a robotic welding cell. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/2022-P02510.png?h=73ad5f11&itok=fvydYheR)
The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense teamed up to create a series of weld filler materials that could dramatically improve high-strength steel repair in vehicles, bridges and pipelines.
![Philipe Ambrozio Dias. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-11/2022-P09862.jpg?h=4a7d1ed4&itok=CblZ5Rj4)
Having lived on three continents spanning the world’s four hemispheres, Philipe Ambrozio Dias understands the difficulties of moving to a new place.
![ORNL will use its land surface modeling tools to determine Baltimore’s climate risk and analyze green infrastructure improvements that can help mitigate impacts on underserved communities as part of a DOE Urban Integrated Field Laboratory project. Source: Google Earth, accessed Sept. 12, 2022](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/baltimore_google_earth_0.png?h=252f27fa&itok=ZR6CzNnw)
ORNL researchers are deploying their broad expertise in climate data and modeling to create science-based mitigation strategies for cities stressed by climate change as part of two U.S. Department of Energy Urban Integrated Field Laboratory projects.
![Thomaz Carvalhaes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-P06032_0.jpg?h=252f27fa&itok=A2HrJ-y6)
In human security research, Thomaz Carvalhaes says, there are typically two perspectives: technocentric and human centric. Rather than pick just one for his work, Carvalhaes uses data from both perspectives to understand how technology impacts the lives of people.
![Sophie Voisin, an ORNL software engineer, was part of a team that won a 2014 R&D 100 Award for work on Intelligent Software for a Personalized Modeling of Expert Opinions, Decisions and Errors in Visual Examination Tasks. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-08/algo-crop2.jpg?h=384d27f0&itok=qfe3b2Fx)
Cameras see the world differently than humans. Resolution, equipment, lighting, distance and atmospheric conditions can impact how a person interprets objects on a photo.
![Data from different sources are joined on platforms created by ORNL researchers to offer better information for decision makers. Credit: ORNL/Nathan Armistead](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-07/COVID%20dashboards%20story%20graphic_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=ubNOO2W4)
When the COVID-19 pandemic stunned the world in 2020, researchers at ORNL wondered how they could extend their support and help