Feature Stories
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Sep-2025 01:11 ET (20-Sep-2025 05:11 GMT/UTC)
18-Aug-2025
Exascale simulations underpin quake-resistant infrastructure designs
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at Berkeley Lab used the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the most advanced simulations to date for studying earthquake dynamics. The simulations reveal in stunning new detail how geological conditions influence earthquake intensity — and, in turn, how those complex ground motions directly impact buildings and infrastructure. The data is already being shared with the broader earthquake science and engineering communities to deepen understanding of seismic behavior and to guide the designs of earthquake-resistant infrastructure and improved emergency response.
12-Aug-2025
Innovation Crossroads supports composite entrepreneur-Fellow Vinit Chaudhary
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Vinit Chaudhary, founder of Elemental Composites and a member of Cohort 2024 in the Innovation Crossroads program, comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has long been interested in business. Supported by Innovation Crossroads — a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Chaudhary is developing natural fiber composites that are strong, lightweight, and biodegradable. This innovative approach is designed to reduce waste, create new markets for farmers and expand the use of alternative materials across industries such as transportation, automotive, marine infrastructure and sporting goods.
12-Aug-2025
TAIGR: Testing the limits of AI on the power grid
DOE/Idaho National LaboratoryArtificial intelligence (AI) is becoming widely adopted across multiple industries, including the critical field of grid operations. The integration of AI into grid systems promises enhanced efficiency and reliability, but it also brings a host of new challenges.
4-Aug-2025
Medium-voltage circuit breaker unlocks electricity abundance, savings
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are breaking technical barriers with faster circuit breakers to enable and protect the modern electric grid. The ORNL team developed medium-voltage circuit breakers capable of handling increasing levels of direct current at a lower cost, an advance that can help reduce future electricity costs and expand capacity in an overburdened U.S. grid.
30-Jul-2025
Two-factor authentication just got easier
DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have announced a more efficient way to generate and send temporary security codes.
30-Jul-2025
Asteroid hunting using heliostats?
DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
While heliostats are used in the day, a scientist may have found a way to use them at night.
29-Jul-2025
MARVEL milestone: Microreactor project completes coolant system testing
DOE/Idaho National LaboratoryIn the spring of 2020, a team of engineers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) embarked on a groundbreaking project to design a microreactor test facility that could transform the world’s energy future.
28-Jul-2025
Kevin Roccapriore: The quantum leap of startup AtomQ
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
From the world of research papers and cubicles, Kevin Roccapriore has made a leap into the entrepreneurial arena with Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that provides support for startups like Roccapriore’s AtomQ.
24-Jul-2025
3D printing reshapes construction for nuclear energy
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
In a bold step toward transforming how nuclear infrastructure is built, the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Kairos Power and Barnard Construction, has successfully developed and validated large-scale, 3D-printed polymer composite forms for casting complex, high-precision concrete structures that would be technically challenging and costly to produce using conventional methods.