Feature Articles

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Oct-2025 21:11 ET (7-Oct-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

New modeling tool advances grid reliability

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new simulation platform for understanding and predicting the behavior of this modern grid. Using a combination of mathematical tools, automation and analysis, the approach provides highly accurate results with less computing time at a lower cost, increasing the reliability of electricity.

New ORNL aluminum alloy to strengthen domestic auto supply chain

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Over the next decade, aluminum auto body scrap will flood salvage systems, much of it too impure for reuse in critical parts. ORNL researchers developed RidgeAlloy, a new aluminum alloy that turns low-value scrap into a reliable, high-value domestic supply for structural automotive manufacturing.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Scientists visualize atomic structures in moiré materials

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have created an innovative method to visualize and analyze atomic structures within specially designed, ultrathin bilayer 2D materials. When precisely aligned at an angle, these materials exhibit unique properties that could lead to advancements in quantum computing, superconductors and ultraefficient electronics.

Journal: Nano Letters

Advanced AI links atomic structure to quantum tech

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A research team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a new method to uncover the atomic origins of unusual material behavior. This approach uses Bayesian deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence that combines probability theory and neural networks to analyze complex datasets with exceptional efficiency.

Journal: npj Computational Materials

AI, molecular simulations get to the root of better plants

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

By combining AI with molecular dynamics simulations, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new tool to more accurately predict how plants and helpful microbes communicate and form partnerships at the most fundamental level.

Journal: Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy

Neutron detector mobilizes muons for nuclear, quantum material

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

In a collaboration showing the power of innovation and teamwork, physicists and engineers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a mobile muon detector that promises to enhance monitoring for spent nuclear fuel and help address a critical challenge for quantum computing.

Christi Johnson puts physics at the wheel

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

When Christi Johnson finishes clocking an eighth of a mile in 4.7 seconds, she jumps out of the dagger-shaped drag racer while its wheels are still smoking, pulls off her helmet… and the next morning, pulls on her lab coat.

As a technical professional at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Johnson has developed, built and tested hardware and software for innovations including a jet blast deflector, an ultrasonic dryer, a sensor system for driver recognition and waveguide inspection tubes for the world’s largest magnetic fusion device. But Johnson, who works in the Multimodal Sensor Analytics Group, said her scientific career really began when she was a little girl eager for her turn in a fast car.

ORNL’s pellet injector enables world record performance in W7-X

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany recently sustained a plasma with a record high triple product for 43 seconds – far surpassing previous performance – in part due to a novel fuel pellet injection system developed by researchers at ORNL.

New DuAlumin-3D alloy enhances high-performance automotive parts

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have advanced the use of DuAlumin-3D, an innovative aluminum alloy, in high-temperature automotive components, significantly expanding the possibilities of additive manufacturing.

Neutron research helps find ways to boost oil recovery

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Research using neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor is helping scientists better understand how to extract oil from unconventional reservoirs, serving to reinforce America’s energy independence.

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