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Media Contacts
![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](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-04/Cave_snailREV.jpg?h=c96bab7a&itok=6rjc3NQL)
Sometimes conducting big science means discovering a species not much larger than a grain of sand.
![Kat Royston](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-04/Kat%20Royston%20profile_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=WTyE2n4S)
As a teenager, Kat Royston had a lot of questions. Then an advanced-placement class in physics convinced her all the answers were out there.
![Ilias Belharouak portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/2019-p04178.jpg?h=49ab6177&itok=eRwfvOkx)
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.
![VERA’s tools allow a virtual “window” inside the reactor core, down to a molecular level.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/core.png?h=dc920c3f&itok=BggaFrQA)
A software package, 10 years in the making, that can predict the behavior of nuclear reactors’ cores with stunning accuracy has been licensed commercially for the first time.
![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.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/2019-P16416.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=7rGorkvo)
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?
![Postdoctoral researcher Nischal Kafle positions a component for a portable plasma imaging diagnostic device at ORNL in February. The device, a project for ARPA-E, is built of off-the-shelf parts. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/2020-P00808.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=TGI-lQiS)
The techniques Theodore Biewer and his colleagues are using to measure whether plasma has the right conditions to create fusion have been around awhile.
![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.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/IMG_0356.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=MzK65Bz8)
“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.
![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.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/Paddison200_0.jpg?h=74c6825a&itok=aybwDrH-)
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.
![Scientists created a novel polymer that is as effective as natural proteins in transporting protons through a membrane. Credit: ORNL/Jill Hemman](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/19-G01195_nature_feature_0.png?h=e4fbc3eb&itok=K8czXmTr)
Biological membranes, such as the “walls” of most types of living cells, primarily consist of a double layer of lipids, or “lipid bilayer,” that forms the structure, and a variety of embedded and attached proteins with highly specialized functions, including proteins that rapidly and selectively transport ions and molecules in and out of the cell.
![Nils Stenvig is modeling the nation’s bulk electric system for DOE’s North American Energy Resilience Model to better understand and predict the grid’s behavior.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-02/2020-P01355_0.jpg?h=eea800e5&itok=-Pb6vw3W)
Nils Stenvig has always had an interest in solving big problems. That desire drove his focus on electrical engineering in college and eventually led him to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where today he’s using his expertise to better understand the world’s largest machine—the electrical grid.