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A multidirectorate group from ORNL attended AGU23 and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science

ORNL scientists and researchers attended the annual American Geophysical Union meeting and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science. 

This CyberShake Study 22.12 seismic hazard model shows the Southern California regions (in reds and yellows) expected to experience strong ground motions at least once in the next 2,500 years. Image Credit: Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC).

Researchers at the Statewide California Earthquake Center are unraveling the mysteries of earthquakes by using physics-based computational models running on high-performance computing systems at ORNL. The team’s findings will provide a better understanding of seismic hazards in the Golden State. 

Rigoberto Advincula is a UT-ORNL Governor's Chair and leads the lab's Macromolecular Nanomaterials group. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

ORNL’s Tomás Rush examines a culture as part of his research into the plant-fungus relationship that can help or hinder ecosystem health. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

New computational framework speeds discovery of fungal metabolites, key to plant health and used in drug therapies and for other uses. 
 

2023 Top Science Achievements at SNS & HFIR

The 2023 top science achievements from HFIR and SNS feature a broad range of materials research published in high impact journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials.

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a 2023 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, or NAI.

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a 2023 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Advincula has been recognized for his 14 patents and 21 published filings related to nanomaterials, smart coatings and films, solid-state device fabrication and chemical additives.

The illustration depicts ocean surface currents simulated by MPAS-Ocean. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory, E3SM, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A team from DOE’s Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new solver algorithm that reduces the total run time of the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Ocean, or MPAS-Ocean, E3SM’s ocean circulation model, by 45%. 

QSC Director Travis Humble, who gave a lunchtime talk on transitioning good ideas to device development, learns about one of the many quantum research efforts featured at the poster session. Credit: Alonda Hines/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

On Nov. 1, about 250 employees at Oak Ridge National Laboratory gathered in person and online for Quantum on the Quad, an event designed to collect input for a quantum roadmap currently in development. This document will guide the laboratory's efforts in quantum science and technology, including strategies for expanding its expertise to all facets of the field.

ORNL researchers contributed biomass resources analysis to a new report that says carbon dioxide removal targets can be reached by 2050 using existing technology. Source: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists from more than a dozen institutions have completed a first-of-its-kind high-resolution assessment of carbon dioxide removal potential in the United States, charting a path to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas economy by 2050.

Naval Academy midshipmen look at tiny particle fuels while touring ORNL. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Nuclear engineering students from the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy are working with researchers at ORNL to complete design concepts for a nuclear propulsion rocket to go to space in 2027 as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DRACO program.