OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE – Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) unveiled Summit as the world’s most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry attended the debut to meet with the ORNL team and see first-hand this monumental supercomputer. With a peak performance of 200,000 trillion… Keep reading →
Pittsburgh, PA – Two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories with energy research expertise are joining forces to pursue research on new ways to use coal to create innovative high-value products. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed today by representatives of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) at… Keep reading →
An artist’s rendition of the tough new plastic. | Photo courtesy of Mark Robbins, Oak Ridge National Lab. Your car’s bumper is probably made of a plastic called ABS, shorthand for its acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene components. Light, strong and tough, ABS is also used to make ventilation pipes, protective headgear, kitchen appliances, Lego bricks and… Keep reading →
It’s rare for a work of science fiction to contain much science fact. But in “The Martian,” a very real technology helps keep a very made-up astronaut alive on the Red Planet. “The Martian” begins with a crew of NASA astronauts on a mission to explore Mars. An unexpected weather event forces the research team… Keep reading →
General Electric (GE), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have created new kinds of fluorescent lighting phosphors that use far less rare-earth elements than current technology. Phosphors are the substances inside fluorescent tube bulbs that make them glow. Rare-earth elements are hard to come by. The United States… Keep reading →
The first U.S. production in nearly 30 years of a specialized fuel to power future deep space missions has been completed by researchers at the Department of Energy‘s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. The production of 50 grams of plutonium-238 –roughly the mass of a golf ball – marks the first demonstration in… Keep reading →
General Electric (GE), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have created new kinds of fluorescent lighting phosphors that use far less rare-earth elements than current technology. Phosphors are the substances inside fluorescent tube bulbs that make them glow. Rare-earth elements are hard to come by. The United States has… Keep reading →
The average car is held together by more than 4,000 welds. To ensure these welds are solid and safe, manufacturers perform what’s known as a “pry-check,” a process that literally means tearing apart samples of welded pieces — about one per shift, on average. But this process is destructive and expensive, resulting in wasted materials… Keep reading →
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Today, the first 24 participants marked the successful completion of the Advanced Manufacturing Internship program, a pilot effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman addressed the interns and attendees at a ceremony at Pellissippi State Community… Keep reading →
