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News Releases

ORNL's Office of Communications 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.

1-25 of 25 Results
 

U.S. scientists celebrate the restart of the Large Hadron Collider
Earlier today, the world's most powerful particle accelerator began its second act. After two years of upgrades and repairs, proton beams once again circulated around the Large Hadron Collider, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.

ORNL part of new project to study how tropical forests worldwide respond to climate change
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 1, 2015—Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory will play key roles in an expansive new project that aims to bring the future of tropical forests and the climate system into much clearer focus by coupling field research with the development of a new ecosystem model.

Regional firms receive ORNL's 2015 Small Business Impact Awards
OAK RIDGE, March 30, 2015 – The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory recognized local and regional companies with annual Small Business Impact Awards on March 27 at the weekly meeting of the East Tennessee Economic Council in Oak Ridge.

The companies were honored in categories emphasizing their specific capabilities.

ORNL-led team demonstrates desalination with nanoporous graphene membrane
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 25, 2015—Less than 1 percent of Earth’s water is drinkable. Removing salt and other minerals from our biggest available source of water—seawater—may help satisfy a growing global population thirsty for fresh water for drinking, farming, transportation, heating, cooling and industry.

ORNL and Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics cooperate on development of salt-cooled reactors
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 17, 2015—Representatives from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) are meeting at ORNL this week as part of an agreement between the two institutions to work together on the advancement of salt-cooled nuclear reactor technologies.

Graphene ‘gateway’ discovery opens possibilities for improved energy technologies
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 17, 2015—Graphene, a strong, lightweight carbon honeycombed structure that’s only one atom thick, holds great promise for energy research and development.

ORNL microscopy directly images problematic lithium dendrites in batteries
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 6, 2015—Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have captured the first real-time nanoscale images of lithium dendrite structures known to degrade lithium-ion batteries. The ORNL team’s electron microscopy could help researchers address long-standing issues related to battery performance and safety.

APLAIR partners with ORNL to commercialize weld inspection technology
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 2, 2015 — With an aim toward automotive applications, Tennessee-based APLAIR Manufacturing Systems has licensed a weld inspection technology developed by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL signs agreement with Whirlpool Corp. to develop new energy-efficient refrigerator
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., February 25, 2015—The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Whirlpool Corporation are collaborating to design a refrigerator that could cut energy use by up to 40 percent compared with current models.

ORNL’s Roberto named MRS Fellow
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., February 11, 2015 – James Roberto, the associate laboratory director for Science and Technology Partnerships at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS).

Fellows of MRS are selected for internationally recognized contributions that advance materials research.

Girl Scouts USA CEO visits ORNL to discuss STEM programs
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 3, 2015 – Girl Scouts of the USA Chief Executive Officer Anna Maria Chavez visited the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to learn about its efforts on behalf of science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM) programs and how they can be incorporated into the Girl Scouts national program.

ORNL researchers tune friction in ionic solids at the nanoscale
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. Jan 27, 2015 – Friction impacts motion, hence the need to control friction forces.

ORNL model explores location of future U.S. population growth
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. Jan. 20, 2015—Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a population distribution model that provides unprecedented county-level predictions of where people will live in the U.S. in the coming decades.

R&K; Cyber Solutions licenses ORNL malware detection technology
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 16, 2015—Washington, D.C.-based R&K Cyber Solutions LLC (R&K) has licensed Hyperion, a cyber security technology from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that can quickly recognize malicious software even if the specific program has not been previously identified as a threat.

American Physical Society honors three from ORNL
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 14, 2015 – Three researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been honored with fellowships from the American Physical Society. Bobby Sumpter, Randy Fishman and Thomas Papenbrock were each recognized for their exceptional contributions to the physical sciences.

3-D printed Shelby Cobra highlights ORNL R&D; at Detroit Auto Show
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 12, 2015—With a 3-D printed twist on an automotive icon, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is showcasing additive manufacturing research at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Paul Langan to lead ORNL's Neutron Sciences Directorate
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 19, 2014 – Paul Langan, a senior scientist and distinguished research staff member at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named ORNL's Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Neutron Sciences.

ORNL microscopy pencils patterns in polymers at the nanoscale
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 17, 2014—Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used advanced microscopy to carve out nanoscale designs on the surface of a new class of ionic polymer materials for the first time.

ORNL researchers Buchanan, Liang, Mayes named AAAS fellows
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. Nov. 24, 2014 – Three staff members from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for scientific contributions that range from administrative leadership to discoveries in the environmental sciences.

Oak Ridge to acquire next generation supercomputer
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 14, 2014—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) has signed a contract with IBM to bring a next-generation supercomputer to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Protopopescu, Kwon receive top honors at UT-Battelle’s 2014 Awards Night
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 7, 2014 – Vladimir A. Protopopescu of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Computational Sciences and Engineering Division has earned the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

ORNL materials researchers get first look at atom-thin boundaries
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 10, 2014—Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have made the first direct observations of a one-dimensional boundary separating two different, atom-thin materials, enabling studies of long-theorized phenomena at these interfaces.

Good vibrations give electrons excitations that rock an insulator to go metallic
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 10, 2014—For more than 50 years, scientists have debated what turns particular oxide insulators, in which electrons barely move, into metals, in which electrons flow freely. Some scientists sided with Nobel Prize–winning physicist Nevill Mott in thinking direct interactions between electrons were the key.

ORNL thermomagnetic processing method provides path to new materials
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 6, 2014 – For much the same reason LCD televisions offer eye-popping performance, a thermomagnetic processing method developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory can advance the performance of polymers.

ORNL technology transfer continues strong upward trend
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Oct. 29, 2014 – New methods are improving connections between private businesses and technology from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with 101 licenses and options executed during the last three years.

 
 
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