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Credit: NAIC Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF; (INSET) Michelle Negron, National Science Foundation

For more than half a century, the 1,000-foot-diameter spherical reflector dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was the largest radio telescope in the world. Completed in 1963, the dish was built in a natural sinkhole, with the telescope’s feed antenna suspended 500 feet above the dish on a 1.8-million-pound steel platform. Three concrete towers and more than 4 miles of steel cables supported the platform.

ORNL’s Travis Humble, Quantum Science Center director, addresses students during a working lunch. Credit: Teresa Hurt/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Quantum computing sits on the cutting edge of scientific discovery. Given its novelty, the next generation of researchers will contribute significantly to the advancement of the field. However, this new crop of scientists must first be cultivated.

Innovation Crossroads cohort 7

Seven entrepreneurs will embark on a two-year fellowship as the seventh cohort of Innovation Crossroads kicks off this month at ORNL. Representing a range of transformative energy technologies, Cohort 7 is a diverse class of innovators with promising new companies.

Yarom Polsky studio portrait

Yarom Polsky, director of the Manufacturing Science Division, or MSD, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or ASME.

Upgrades to the particle accelerator enabling the record 1.7-megawatt beam power at the Spallation Neutron Source included adding 28 high-power radio-frequency klystrons (red tubes) to provide higher power for the accelerator. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory set a world record when its particle accelerator beam operating power reached 1.7 megawatts, substantially improving on the facility’s original design capability.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.

HFIR

Creating energy the way the sun and stars do — through nuclear fusion — is one of the grand challenges facing science and technology. What’s easy for the sun and its billions of relatives turns out to be particularly difficult on Earth.

Herwig shared the impacts of neutron science with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm during a tour of SNS in November 2021. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Ken Herwig's scientific drive crystallized in his youth when he solved a tough algebra word problem in his head while tossing newspapers from his bicycle. He said the joy he felt in that moment as a teenager fueled his determination to conquer mathematical mysteries. And he did.

TIP graphic

Scientist-inventors from ORNL will present seven new technologies during the Technology Innovation Showcase on Friday, July 14, from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences on ORNL’s campus.

A new method to control quantum states in a material is shown. The electric field induces polarization switching of the ferroelectric substrate, resulting in different magnetic and topological states. Credit: Mina Yoon, Fernando Reboredo, Jacquelyn DeMink/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

An advance in a topological insulator material — whose interior behaves like an electrical insulator but whose surface behaves like a conductor — could revolutionize the fields of next-generation electronics and quantum computing, according to scientists at ORNL.