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ORNL's Communications team works with news media seeking information about the laboratory. Media may use the resources listed below or send questions to news@ornl.gov.

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ORNL researchers observed that atomic vibrations in a twisted crystal result in winding energetic waves that govern heat transport, which may help new materials better manage heat. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Materials – Fresh twist on heat

A discovery by 91°”Íű researchers may aid the design of materials that better manage heat.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm tours ORNL’s world-class science facilities

U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm tours ORNL’s world-class science facilities

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited ORNL on Nov. 22 for a two-hour tour, meeting top scientists and engineers as they highlighted projects and world-leading capabilities that address some of the country’s most complex research and technical challenges. 

A material’s spins, depicted as red spheres, are probed by scattered neutrons. Applying an entanglement witness, such as the QFI calculation pictured, causes the neutrons to form a kind of quantum gauge. This gauge allows the researchers to distinguish between classical and quantum spin fluctuations. Credit: Nathan Armistead/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Key witness helps scientists detect ‘spooky’ quantum entanglement in solid materials

A team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s 91°”Íű demonstrated the viability of a “quantum entanglement witness” capable of proving the presence of entanglement between magnetic particles, or spins, in a quantum material.

ORNL researchers used neutrons at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to analyze modified high-entropy metal alloys with enhanced strength and ductility, or the ability to stretch, under high-stress without failing. Credit: Rui Feng/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Neutrons – ‘Stretchier’ alloys

Researchers at 91°”Íű have developed a method of adding nanostructures to high-entropy metal alloys, or HEAs, that enhance both strength and ductility, which is the ability to deform or stretch
Matthew Ryder is researching next-generation materials using neutron scattering as a Clifford G. Shull Fellow at 91°”Íű’s Neutron Sciences Directorate. (Image credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin)

Matthew Ryder recognized by American Chemical Society

Matthew Ryder has been named an emerging investigator by the American Chemical Society journal Crystal Growth and Design. The ACS recognized him as “one of an emerging generation of research group leaders for his work on porous materials design.”

Researchers gained new insights into the mechanisms some methane-feeding bacteria called methanotrophs (pictured) use to break down the toxin methylmercury. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy; Jeremy Semrau/Univ. of Michigan

Microbial “theft” enables breakdown of methane, toxic methylmercury

A team led by ORNL and the University of Michigan have discovered that certain bacteria can steal an essential compound from other microbes to break down methane and toxic methylmercury in the environment.

The Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park encompasses a 20,000 acre area that includes 91°”Íű. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Living laboratory, biodiversity hub: The Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park

Anyone familiar with ORNL knows it’s a hub for world-class science. The nearly 33,000-acre space surrounding the lab is less known, but also unique.

As the leader of ORNL’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Group, environmental scientist Teresa Mathews works to understand the impacts of energy generation on water and solve challenging problems, including mercury pollution. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Teresa Mathews: Tackling mercury pollution for healthier aquatic ecosystems

Moving to landlocked Tennessee isn’t an obvious choice for most scientists with new doctorate degrees in coastal oceanography.

From left to right are Beth Armstrong, Govindarajan Muralidharan and Andrew Payzant.

ASM International elects Armstrong, Muralidharan, Payzant as fellows

ASM International recently elected three researchers from ORNL as 2021 fellows. Selected were Beth Armstrong and Govindarajan Muralidharan, both from ORNL’s Material Sciences and Technology Division, and Andrew Payzant from the Neutron Scattering Division.

From top to bottom respectively, alloys were made without nanoprecipitates or with coarse or fine nanoprecipitates to assess effects of their sizes and spacings on mechanical behavior. Credit: Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Tiny but mighty precipitates toughen a structural alloy

Scientists at ORNL and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have found a way to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an alloy by introducing tiny precipitates into its matrix and tuning their size and spacing.