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Beach to show impact of a hurricane

A study found that beaches with manmade fortifications recover more slowly from hurricanes than natural beaches, losing more sand and vegetation. The researchers used satellite images and light detection and ranging data, or LIDAR, to measure elevation changes and vegetation coverage. Changes in elevation showed how much sand was depleted during the storm and how much sand returned throughout the following year. 

Weyl semimetal

At ORNL, a group of scientists used neutron scattering techniques to investigate a relatively new functional material called a Weyl semimetal. These Weyl fermions move very quickly in a material and can carry electrical charge at room temperature. Scientists think that Weyl semimetals, if used in future electronics, could allow electricity to flow more efficiently and enable more energy-efficient computers and other electronic devices.

The image depicts a molecule made up of 6 white balls, two smaller red balls and two larger grey balls. This molecule is against a pink, blue and purple background.

A research team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated an effective and reliable new way to identify and quantify polyethylene glycols in various samples. 

Image with a grey and black backdrop - in front is a diamond with two circles coming out from it, showing the insides.

The world’s fastest supercomputer helped researchers simulate synthesizing a material harder and tougher than a diamond — or any other substance on Earth. The study used Frontier to predict the likeliest strategy to synthesize such a material, thought to exist so far only within the interiors of giant exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.

ORNL researchers Phani Marthi and Suman Debnath work on developing and scaling up new EMT simulation software to analyze how power electronics in the electric grid will respond to brief interruptions in power flow. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Power companies and electric grid developers turn to simulation tools as they attempt to understand how modern equipment will be affected by rapidly unfolding events in a complex grid. 

This photo is of a male scientist sitting at a desk working with materials, wearing protective glasses.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partner institutions have launched a project to develop an innovative suite of tools that will employ machine learning algorithms for more effective cybersecurity analysis of the U.S. power grid. 

This is an image of a man sitting at a computer with three screens.

Researchers conduct largest, most accurate molecular dynamics simulations to date of two million correlated electrons using Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer. The simulation, which exceed an exaflop using full double precision, is 1,000 times greater in size and speed than any quantum chemistry simulation of it's kind.

This photo is of four men standing in front of a wall of monitors that are showing a tree looking image.

To better predict long-term flooding risk, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a 3D modeling framework that captures the complex dynamics of water as it flows across the landscape. The framework seeks to provide valuable insights into which communities are most vulnerable as the climate changes, and was developed for a project that’s assessing climate risk and mitigation pathways for an urban area along the Southeast Texas coast.

Power lines to the right, colorful graphs to the left and in the middle is a cord putting out electrical currents.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have opened a new virtual library where visitors can check out waveforms instead of books. So far, more than 350 users worldwide have utilized the library, which provides vital understanding of an increasingly complex grid.

Man in blue button down shirt poses outside for a picture with his arms crossed.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Troy A. Carter director of the Fusion Energy Division in ORNL’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate, or FFESD.