Features & Highlights

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ORNL's Communications team works with national, regional, and local media outlets on news stories about the laboratory.

For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our Media Contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov.


Transformers
Neutron scattering charts moves of memory-shape alloys that change structure in response to environmental cues
May 8, 2012 — Shape-memory alloys (SMAs) are an engineer's dream, able to shape-shift spontaneously to accommodate changing operating conditions. A research team from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the University of Central Florida is studying the internal mechanisms of these real-life "Transformers" at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with an eye toward increasing their use in everyday scenarios.

 NASA scientists Santo Padula (left) and Othmane Benafan (right) and Central Florida University student Doug Nicholson are using the VULCAN instrument at SNS to study the atomic-level structure and behavior of shape-memory alloys such as nickel titanium. Their aim is to create more robust SMAs that can be commercialized for aerospace and other uses.
ORNL biologist 'looks for life in all the wrong places'
April 26, 2012 — A scientist finds himself two miles below ground in a gold mine in Africa carrying 40 pounds of equipment and extremely precious bacteria samples. There's a rumble from above and debris trickles off the walls.

 Tommy Phelps looks for bacteria samples at Yellowstone National Park.
Half-century of science
Holifield Facility user program closes out in style
April 18, 2012 — Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) operations have ended in style, with researchers scurrying to complete three exciting experiments before the program's last day on April 15. The final day was initially scheduled for April 1, but the user program received a two-week "reprieve" to finish the three experiments.

 The Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has ceased operations after a half-century of science.
Energy development at U.S. dams could power more than 4 million homes
ORNL researchers help assess potential of hydropower
April 18, 2012 — In a study of the energy-producing potential of untapped U.S. dams, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers found that 54,000 dams not currently used to generate power have the capacity to generate more than 12 gigawatts, enough to power more than 4 million homes.

ORNL found that hydropower energy is available in areas that are not rich in solar power, such as the Ohio River Valley and the Southeast.
Carbon dioxide caused global warming at Ice Age's end, pioneering simulation shows
Groundbreaking demo proves model to predict climate's future can reproduce its past
April 4, 2012 — Climate science has an equivalent to the "what came first—the chicken or the egg?" question: What came first, greenhouse gases or global warming? A multi-institutional team led by researchers at Harvard, Oregon State University, and the University of Wisconsin used a global dataset of paleoclimate records and the Jaguar supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to find the answer (spoiler alert: carbon dioxide drives warming). The results, published in the April 5 issue of Nature, analyze 15,000 years of climate history. Scientists hope amassing knowledge of the causes of natural global climate change will aid understanding of human-caused climate change.

Global temperature mirrored and generally lagged behind rising carbon dioxide during Ice Age's deglaciation, pointing to carbon dioxide as the major driver of global warming.
'Cow-laboration'
Neutron scattering tests models for casein micelles, a key protein in milk
April 2, 2012 — Martha, a cow placidly grazing in a field in The Netherlands, became an important collaborator with researchers who successfully analyzed and characterized the internal protein structure and the composite particles of her milk using small-angle neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).

 The original Martha of the study is no more, but her daughter of the same name is shown on the de Kruif family farm in The Netherlands.
'Bridging the Gap'
Partnerships Directorate initiative paying dividends for ORNL, partners
March 28, 2012 — With a dozen licenses and cooperative research and development agreements since Oct. 1, business is flourishing in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Science and Technology Partnerships Directorate. One of the forces behind the bustle is Bridging the Gap, which kicked off just one year ago with a two-day conference that attracted 65 attendees.

Five ORNL teams target new technologies for societal impact
Lab initiative takes inspiration from private sector
March 23, 2012 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory has selected five projects for its inaugural Launch Initiative, a competitive program that challenges scientists to pursue high-risk cutting-edge innovations with the potential for significant societal impact. Each project team will receive $200,000 to develop high impact innovations and work with private sector partners to transfer technology outside of the lab.

NanoFermentation: Low-Cost Nanomaterials for PV Devices combines natural bacteria with sugars and salts to produce nanoparticles that have semiconducting properties.