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ORNL’s Yun Liu stands before one of the 10 laser comb-based beam diagnostics stations at the Spallation Neutron Source. The laser comb solves the longstanding problem of measuring changes in the beam across time. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

When opportunity meets talent, great things happen. The laser comb developed at ORNL serves as such an example.

Experts at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility worked with Magotteaux-Pulaski to develop a more durable composition and new 3D-printing process for abrasion-resistant materials. Credit: Magotteaux

For more than 100 years, Magotteaux has provided grinding materials and castings for the mining, cement and aggregates industries. The company, based in Belgium, began its international expansion in 1968. Its second international plant has been a critical part of the Pulaski, Tennessee, economy since 1972.

ORNL researchers, from left, Yang Liu, Xiaohan Yang and Torik Islam, collaborated on the development of a new capability to insert multiple genes simultaneously for fast, efficient transformation of plants into better bioenergy feedstocks. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

In a discovery aimed at accelerating the development of process-advantaged crops for jet biofuels, scientists at ORNL developed a capability to insert multiple genes into plants in a single step.

Jun Qu of ORNL shows stainless-steel disks

Scientists at ORNL have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving parts, from vehicle drive trains to wind

Radu Custelcean's sustainable chemistry for capturing carbon dioxide from air has been licensed to Holocene. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

An innovative and sustainable chemistry developed at ORNL for capturing carbon dioxide has been licensed to Holocene, a Knoxville-based startup focused on designing and building plants that remove carbon dioxide

Jerry Parks leads the Molecular Biophysics group at ORNL, leveraging his expertise in computational chemistry and bioinformatics to unlock the inner workings of proteins—molecules that govern cellular structure and function and are essential to life. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

When reading the novel Jurassic Park as a teenager, Jerry Parks found the passages about gene sequencing and supercomputers fascinating, but never imagined he might someday pursue such futuristic-sounding science.

Researchers Melissa Cregger, left, and Xiaohan Yang examine plants in an ORNL greenhouse where biosensors are installed to accelerate plant transformations. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Nature-based solutions are an effective tool to combat climate change triggered by rising carbon emissions, whether it’s by clearing the skies with bio-based aviation fuels or boosting natural carbon sinks.

Steven Hamilton. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL.

As renewable sources of energy such as wind and sun power are being increasingly added to the country’s electrical grid, old-fashioned nuclear energy is also being primed for a resurgence.

Neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source revealed how the dynamics between copper and oxygen make a special type of enzyme excel at breaking down biomass. Insights could lead to lowering the cost of biofuel production. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Nonfood, plant-based biofuels have potential as a green alternative to fossil fuels, but the enzymes required for production are too inefficient and costly to produce. However, new research is shining a light on enzymes from fungi that could make biofuels economically viable.

Carinata, pictured in full bloom at a producer’s field in Georgia, is a winter cover crop of interest as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. Credit: Southeast Partnership for Advanced Renewables from Carinata

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists led the development of a supply chain model revealing the optimal places to site farms, biorefineries, pipelines and other infrastructure for sustainable aviation fuel production.