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Media Contacts
![Edge computing is both dependent on and greatly influencing a host of promising technologies including (clockwise from top left): quantum computing; high-performance computing; neuromorphic computing; and carbon nanotubes.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-02/Jones%20image%202-12-20.png?h=2e876d46&itok=fT3y4uz9)
We have a data problem. Humanity is now generating more data than it can handle; more sensors, smartphones, and devices of all types are coming online every day and contributing to the ever-growing global dataset.
![This simulation of a fusion plasma calculation result shows the interaction of two counter-streaming beams of super-heated gas. Credit: David L. Green/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-02/Fusion_plasma_simulation.jpg?h=d0852d1e&itok=CDWgjLPL)
The prospect of simulating a fusion plasma is a step closer to reality thanks to a new computational tool developed by scientists in fusion physics, computer science and mathematics at ORNL.
![Researchers in ORNL’s Quantum Information Science group summarized their significant contributions to quantum networking and quantum computing in a special issue of Optics & Photonics News. Image credit: Christopher Tison and Michael Fanto/Air Force Research Laboratory.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-01/DSC02403_0.jpg?h=da4d8213&itok=o3kOwP6p)
A team from the ORNL has conducted a series of experiments to gain a better understanding of quantum mechanics and pursue advances in quantum networking and quantum computing, which could lead to practical applications in cybersecurity and other areas.
![Argon pellet injection text](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-11/13966_Ar_20degree_enhanced_0.jpg?h=8450e950&itok=tmff0GX_)
As scientists study approaches to best sustain a fusion reactor, a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory investigated injecting shattered argon pellets into a super-hot plasma, when needed, to protect the reactor’s interior wall from high-energy runaway electrons.
![Fusion—Heating the core](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-10/Laser_alignment_inside_Proto-MPEX_ORNL.jpg?h=bc1495f5&itok=9Pf5qxXy)
In a recent study, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed experiments in a prototype fusion reactor materials testing facility to develop a method that uses microwaves to raise the plasma’s temperature closer to the extreme values
![Tungsten tiles for fusion](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-07/EBM-tungsten_tiles_ORNL.png?h=0c890573&itok=XgIsl0tA)
Using additive manufacturing, scientists experimenting with tungsten at Oak Ridge National Laboratory hope to unlock new potential of the high-performance heat-transferring material used to protect components from the plasma inside a fusion reactor. Fusion requires hydrogen isotopes to reach millions of degrees.
![Small modular reactor computer simulation](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-04/Nuclear_simulation_scale-up.jpg?h=5992a83f&itok=A0oscIPL)
In a step toward advancing small modular nuclear reactor designs, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have run reactor simulations on ORNL supercomputer Summit with greater-than-expected computational efficiency.
![ORNL staff members (from left) Ashley Shields, Michael Galloway, Ketan Maheshwari and Andrew Miskowiec are collaborating on a project focused on predicting and analyzing crystal structures of new uranium oxide phases. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/teamphotoforhighlight_0.jpg?h=a00326b7&itok=O4yDtVj6)
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working to understand both the complex nature of uranium and the various oxide forms it can take during processing steps that might occur throughout the nuclear fuel cycle.
![An ORNL-developed graphite foam, which could be used in plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, performed well during testing at the Wendlestein 7-X stellarator in Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/W7-XPlasmaExposure_0.jpg?h=d5d04e3b&itok=uKiauhdF)
Scientists have tested a novel heat-shielding graphite foam, originally created at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator with promising results for use in plasma-facing components of fusion reactors.
![Joseph Lukens, Raphael Pooser, and Nick Peters (from left) of ORNL’s Quantum Information Science Group developed and tested a new interferometer made from highly nonlinear fiber in pursuit of improved sensitivity at the quantum scale. Credit: Carlos Jones](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/news/images/2018-P09674%5B4%5D.jpg?h=1d98ccbd&itok=ztuyXqpm)
By analyzing a pattern formed by the intersection of two beams of light, researchers can capture elusive details regarding the behavior of mysterious phenomena such as gravitational waves. Creating and precisely measuring these interference patterns would not be possible without instruments called interferometers.