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![Heat is typically carried through a material by vibrations known as phonons. In some crystals, however, different atomic motions — known as phasons — carry heat three times faster and farther. This illustration shows phasons made by rearranging atoms, shown by arrows. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/23-G01840_Phason_Manly_proof3_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=3NpjriWi)
Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, ORNL scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material.
![Pm-147](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/2022-P06600_1.jpg?h=99d542f5&itok=X5uWXi2Z)
With larger, purer shipments on a more frequent basis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is moving closer to routine production of promethium-147. That’s thanks in part to the application of some specific research performed a decade ago for a completely different project.
![A new license to U2opia pairs two technologies developed in ORNL’s Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division: Situ and Heartbeat. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/cyber-illo_0_1.png?h=9e499333&itok=Ep_VYWNj)
U2opia Technology, a consortium of technology and administrative executives with extensive experience in both industry and defense, has exclusively licensed two technologies from ORNL that offer a new method for advanced cybersecurity monitoring in real time.
![Jason Gardner, Sandra Davern and Peter Thornton have been elected fellows of AAAS. Credit: Laddy Fields/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/AAAS_2022%20Thumbnail_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=4TftuioC)
Three scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.
![Paul Langan will oversee ORNL's research directorate focused on biological and environmental systems science. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/2019-P15617_0.jpg?h=bf9cb32e&itok=4n50VPVf)
Paul Langan will join ORNL in the spring as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate.
![New manufacturing process produces better, cheaper cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-12/battery.cathode.illust_1.jpg?h=7b747668&itok=LCfeMjz9)
Researchers at ORNL have developed a new method for producing a key component of lithium-ion batteries. The result is a more affordable battery from a faster, less wasteful process that uses less toxic material.
![A team led by Raymond Borges Hink has developed a method using blockchain to protect communications between electronic devices in the electric grid, preventing cyberattacks and cascading blackouts. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-11/Blockchain%20Raymond%20portrait.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=g5Hnz0h2)
Although blockchain is best known for securing digital currency payments, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using it to track a different kind of exchange: It’s the first time blockchain has ever been used to validate communication among devices on the electric grid.
![Michelle Kidder received the lab’s Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology for her decades-long work mentoring students, teachers and early-career staff. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-11/2018-P04785_0.png?h=7a8a8cdf&itok=hysTNqXX)
Laboratory Director Thomas Zacharia presented five Director’s Awards during Saturday night's annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, which manages ORNL for the Department of Energy.
![This diagram demonstrates how a concentrating solar thermal plant could use molten salts to store solar energy that could later be used to generate electricity. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-G02085_Mcfarlane_ReducingSaltsCorrosiveEffect_STFIG_7nj_ForReview_Equipment%20v2_txt_0.jpg?h=995a696e&itok=bT3iWSgL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists recently demonstrated a low-temperature, safe route to purifying molten chloride salts that minimizes their ability to corrode metals. This method could make the salts useful for storing energy generated from the sun’s heat.
![ORNL postdoctoral researcher Runming Tao, pictured with a coin cell battery, led an effort to discover new anode materials for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. Credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-P09174.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=C8xoI7J4)
Researchers at ORNL and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, discovered a key material needed for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. The commercially relevant approach opens a potential pathway to improve charging speeds for electric vehicles.