![Sphere that has the top right fourth removed (exposed) Colors from left are orange, dark blue with orange dots, light blue with horizontal lines, then black. Inside the exposure is green and black with boxes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-06/slicer.jpg?h=56311bf6&itok=bCZz09pJ)
Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Neutron Science (11)
- (-) Supercomputing (22)
- Biological Systems (1)
- Biology and Environment (19)
- Clean Energy (46)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computational Engineering (1)
- Computer Science (2)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (3)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (3)
- Isotopes (5)
- Materials (12)
- Materials for Computing (2)
- National Security (8)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (2)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (25)
- (-) Grid (5)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (10)
- Advanced Reactors (2)
- Artificial Intelligence (39)
- Big Data (20)
- Bioenergy (13)
- Biology (14)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (4)
- Chemical Sciences (6)
- Clean Water (2)
- Climate Change (17)
- Composites (1)
- Computer Science (98)
- Coronavirus (17)
- Critical Materials (3)
- Cybersecurity (9)
- Decarbonization (7)
- Energy Storage (14)
- Environment (28)
- Exascale Computing (22)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Frontier (29)
- Fusion (2)
- High-Performance Computing (39)
- Isotopes (1)
- Machine Learning (16)
- Materials (28)
- Materials Science (33)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microscopy (8)
- Molten Salt (1)
- Nanotechnology (19)
- National Security (8)
- Net Zero (1)
- Neutron Science (101)
- Nuclear Energy (7)
- Partnerships (1)
- Physics (16)
- Polymers (3)
- Quantum Computing (19)
- Quantum Science (29)
- Security (6)
- Simulation (14)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (5)
- Summit (42)
- Sustainable Energy (11)
- Transportation (10)
Media Contacts
![Neutron scattering experiments show electric charges, shown in red, blue and grey, in the SARS-CoV-2 main protease site where telaprevir binds to the structure. The experiments provide critical data for the design of small-molecule drugs to treat COVID-19. Credit: Jill Hemman and Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-03/after_transprent_background-wFill.png?h=c71d0c67&itok=jGFt_Ggj)
Scientists have found new, unexpected behaviors when SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – encounters drugs known as inhibitors, which bind to certain components of the virus and block its ability to reproduce.
![Frontier supercomputer](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/frontier_0.jpg?h=a1e1a043&itok=J3IM_Xeh)
A multi-institutional team, led by a group of investigators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been studying various SARS-CoV-2 protein targets, including the virus’s main protease. The feat has earned the team a finalist nomination for the Association of Computing Machinery, or ACM, Gordon Bell Special Prize for High Performance Computing-Based COVID-19 Research.
![ORNL assisted in investigating proteins called porins, one shown in red, which are found in the protective outer membrane of certain disease-causing bacteria and tether the membrane to the cell wall. Credit: Hyea (Sunny) Hwang/Georgia Tech and ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-11/Biology-gram-negative_0.jpg?h=ced0ee1c&itok=mTOudglI)
Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory used high-performance computing to create protein models that helped reveal how the outer membrane is tethered to the cell membrane in certain bacteria.
![The first neutron structure of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease enzyme revealed unexpected electrical charges in the amino acids cysteine (negative) and histidine (positive), providing key data about the virus’s replication. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/20-G01620_Protease_PR_proof2_0.jpg?h=3e3883a3&itok=XB_ZEDFQ)
To better understand how the novel coronavirus behaves and how it can be stopped, scientists have completed a three-dimensional map that reveals the location of every atom in an enzyme molecule critical to SARS-CoV-2 reproduction.
![Enzyme activity during organophosphate poisoning](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/anecdote1_0.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=wpYYilBI)
Pick your poison. It can be deadly for good reasons such as protecting crops from harmful insects or fighting parasite infection as medicine — or for evil as a weapon for bioterrorism. Or, in extremely diluted amounts, it can be used to enhance beauty.
![The hybrid inverter developed by ORNL is an intelligent power electronic inverter platform that can connect locally sited energy resources such as solar panels, energy storage and electric vehicles and interact efficiently with the utility power grid. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept of Energy.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/2020-P09169.jpg?h=42d56c10&itok=Yb1_gWYE)
ORNL researchers have developed an intelligent power electronic inverter platform that can connect locally sited energy resources such as solar panels, energy storage and electric vehicles and smoothly interact with the utility power grid.
![Analyses of lung fluid cells from COVID-19 patients conducted on the nation’s fastest supercomputer point to gene expression patterns that may explain the runaway symptoms produced by the body’s response to SARS-CoV-2. Credit: Jason B. Smith/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/cells%20200%5B1%5D.png?h=b95f6d72&itok=V2OxqL5l)
A team led by Dan Jacobson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory used the Summit supercomputer at ORNL to analyze genes from cells in the lung fluid of nine COVID-19 patients compared with 40 control patients.
![The protease protein is both shaped like a heart and functions as one, allowing the virus replicate and spread. Inhibiting the protease would block virus reproduction. Credit: Andrey Kovalevsky/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/protease_dimer_3_1.png?h=aa51a450&itok=sJY7AB8d)
A team of researchers has performed the first room-temperature X-ray measurements on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease — the enzyme that enables the virus to reproduce.
![Computing – Mining for COVID-19 connections](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/pubmedconnections-covid-19-2_0.png?h=3dbd9eac&itok=NPdQ3tCD)
Scientists have tapped the immense power of the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to comb through millions of medical journal articles to identify potential vaccines, drugs and effective measures that could suppress or stop the
![Before the demonstration, the team prepared QKD equipment (pictured) at ORNL. Image credit: Genevieve Martin/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/2020-P01652_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=qHZPZfd6)
For the second year in a row, a team from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories led a demonstration hosted by EPB, a community-based utility and telecommunications company serving Chattanooga, Tennessee.