News

Scientists have developed a new machine learning approach that accurately predicted critical and difficult-to-compute properties of molten salts, materials with diverse nuclear energy applications. 

Stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, carbon fiber is a staple in aerospace and high-performance vehicles — and now, scientists at ORNL have found a way to make it even stronger.

Using the now-decommissioned Summit supercomputer, researchers at ORNL ran the largest and most accurate molecular dynamics simulations yet of the interface between water and air during a chemical reaction. The simulations have uncovered how water controls such chemical reactions by dynamically coupling with the molecules involved in the process. 

Researchers at ORNL have developed an innovative new technique using carbon nanofibers to enhance binding in carbon fiber and other fiber-reinforced polymer composites – an advance likely to improve structural materials for automobiles, airplanes and other applications that require lightweight and strong materials. 

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has promoted Melissa Cregger and Carrie Eckert to serve as chief science officers, advancing the center’s mission of innovations for new domestic biofuels, chemicals and materials.

Van Graves, an engineering manager at ORNL, is celebrating 40 years of dedicated service leading a diverse range of prominent engineering projects at ORNL and internationally. 

ORNL’s Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, or BMAP, is marking 40 years of helping steward the DOE’s 33,476 acres of land on which some of the nation’s most powerful science and technology missions are carried out. 

Using the Frontier supercomputer, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted large-scale calculations to chart the isospin density of a neutron star across a range of conditions. Their work provides new insights into how pressure and density interact within neutron stars, offering important predictions about their inner workings.

Analyzing massive datasets from nuclear physics experiments can take hours or days to process, but researchers are working to radically reduce that time to mere seconds using special software being developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge national laboratories.  

Jesse Labbé aims to leverage biology, computation and engineering to address societal challenges related to energy, national security and health, while enhancing U.S. competitiveness. Labbé emphasizes the importance of translating groundbreaking research into practical applications that have real-world impact.