Feature Articles

On Sept. 28, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joined leadership and top scientists and engineers online at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a two-hour whirlwind tour. At 14 stops, researchers highlighted the lab’s world-class facilities and projects that enable leading-edge scientific discoveries and innovations that address some of the nation’s most compelling scientific and technical challenges.

A team of experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is taking aim at one of the biggest challenges facing the international ITER fusion facility: turning cold gas into wine-cork-sized, solid pellets to help keep ITER’s plasma in check.

A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Michigan has discovered that certain bacteria can steal an essential compound from other microbes to break down methane and toxic methylmercury in the environment.

Department of Energy art contest entry illuminates how IDREAM scientists pivoted during pandemic to accomplish critical nuclear research.

Fast charging could recharge an electric vehicle battery in minutes rather than hours, but doing so can rapidly age a battery. The key word, though, is “can.” Batteries react differently to fast charging because of design, material and manufacturing variations. Early detection and classification of battery aging during fast charging would benefit researchers studying how to improve batteries, battery makers, and eventually the public by helping to ensure batteries last and improving battery safety. Now, a new technique developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) researchers makes it easier to spot possible battery troubles earlier than ever before.

A team of atmospheric scientists from around the nation is descending on the Houston, Texas, area for the next 14 months to seek answers to a vexing question: Do tiny specks of soot, dust, smoke, and other particles suspended in Earth’s atmosphere help determine the severity of thunderstorms? The knowledge gained may make weather forecasts more accurate and provide crucial data for improving predictions about how aerosols may affect Earth’s future climate. It will also give scientists a unique opportunity to explore the effects of industry, vehicle emissions, and the built environment on weather and climate.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and their collaborators have developed a new membrane, whose structure was inspired by a protein from algae, for electrodialysis that could be used to provide fresh water for farming and energy production.

Atmospheric scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have deployed a unique method of collecting climate data in cities, aiming to address infrastructure and energy needs across the Nation. Rather than relying on stationary instruments, researchers at Brookhaven’s Center for Multiscale Applied Sensing (CMAS) have integrated sophisticated research tools into a pickup truck, creating a mobile observatory that captures precise, local data on wind, temperature, rain, and clouds across entire cities.

Accelerator scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility have developed a model for a cheaper and easier preparation method for getting better performance from particle accelerators. Preliminary tests show the model may soon provide scientists the ability to predict the best material preparation method for specific performance goals. The results were recently published in Applied Physics Letters.

Theoretical and computational physicist Greg Hammett, a leader in advancing understanding of the complex turbulence that controls the performance of fusion plasmas and a dedicated educator, has been named a 2021 Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the DOE’s Office of Science.