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Researchers used the open-source Community Earth System Model to simulate the effects that extreme climatic conditions have on processes like land carbon storage. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Northeastern University modeled how extreme conditions in a changing climate affect the land’s ability to absorb atmospheric carbon — a key process for mitigating human-caused emissions. They found that 88% of Earth’s regions could become carbon emitters by the end of the 21st century. 

ORNL researcher Zhijia Du inserts a newly developed liquid electrolyte material into a battery pouch cell. The formulation extends the life of extreme-fast-charging batteries like those used in electric vehicles. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are taking fast charging for electric vehicles, or EVs, to new extremes. A team of battery scientists recently developed a lithium-ion battery material that not only recharges 80% of its capacity in 10

Steven Hamilton, an R&D scientist in the HPC Methods for Nuclear Applications group at ORNL, leads the ExaSMR project. ExaSMR was developed to run on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s exascale-class supercomputer, Frontier. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The Exascale Small Modular Reactor effort, or ExaSMR, is a software stack developed over seven years under the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project to produce the highest-resolution simulations of nuclear reactor systems to date. Now, ExaSMR has been nominated for a 2023 Gordon Bell Prize by the Association for Computing Machinery and is one of six finalists for the annual award, which honors outstanding achievements in high-performance computing from a variety of scientific domains.  

Michelle Kidder is the recipient of the 2023 American Chemical Society’s Mid-Career Award. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Michelle Kidder, a senior R&D staff scientist at ORNL, has received the American Chemical Society’s Energy and Fuels Division’s Mid-Career Award for sustained and distinguished contributions to the field of energy and fuel chemistry.

ZEISS Head of Additive Manufacturing Technology Claus Hermannstaedter, left, and ORNL Interim Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology Rick Raines sign a licensing agreement that allows ORNL’s machine-learning algorithm, Simurgh, to be used for rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components with industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT. Using machine learning in CT scanning is expected to reduce the time and cost of inspections of 3D-printed parts by more than ten times.

A licensing agreement between the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and research partner ZEISS will enable industrial X-ray computed tomography, or CT, to perform rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components using ORNL’s machine

Cody Lloyd stands in front of images of historical nuclear field testing. The green and red dots are the machine learning algorithm recognizing features in the image. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Cody Lloyd became a nuclear engineer because of his interest in the Manhattan Project, the United States’ mission to advance nuclear science to end World War II. As a research associate in nuclear forensics at ORNL, Lloyd now teaches computers to interpret data from imagery of nuclear weapons tests from the 1950s and early 1960s, bringing his childhood fascination into his career

ORNL-developed software tools for identifying and quantifying energy efficiency will be demonstrated to participants during an Energy Bootcamp sponsored by DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL researchers have developed a training camp to help manufacturing industries reduce energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and improve cost savings.

Jonathan Harter, a technical professional in ORNL’s Engineering Science and Technology Directorate, uses a robot and other automated methods to disassemble electric vehicle batteries for recycling or reuse in the electric grid. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

After being stabilized in an ambulance as he struggled to breathe, Jonathan Harter hit a low point. It was 2020, he was very sick with COVID-19, and his job as a lab technician at ORNL was ending along with his research funding.

ORNL will collaborate with Fairbanks Morse Defense on decarbonization efforts to develop alternative fuel technologies for marine engines. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL, the Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, and Fairbanks Morse Defense, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the development and integration of alternative fuel technologies aimed at reducing the marine engine’s reliance on fossil fuels. 

Group of attendees at the Quantum Computing User Forum

Hosted by the Quantum Computing Institute and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the fourth annual event brought together over 100 attendees to discuss the latest developments in quantum computing and to learn about results from projects supported by the OLCF’s Quantum Computing User Program.