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Pellissippi State pathway students get a look at lab life
On a recent spring afternoon, six Pellissippi State students toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) isotope facilities. They are the first in the Chemical Radiation Technology Pathway, part of Pellissippi State’s Associate of Applied Science in General Technology degree. This pathway prepares students to work at ORNL and other national labs immediately, whether or not they choose to complete a bachelor’s degree.
May 20, 2024
A waterfall lost and a river found
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) drone and geospatial team has become the first to map the Coca River in the Amazon basin, where erosion and sediment threaten Ecuador’s lands. The geology along Ecuador’s Coca River is moving in fast-forward. In a scientific field where natural wonders form over millennia, but natural disasters occur in minutes, speed is less than desirable.
May 16, 2024
Fine Roots Make the Difference in Metabolomes and Microbiomes
Bacteria and fungi live together on the surface of plant roots, which can promote symbiotic interactions with the plant. Plant roots that are especially fine can support various niches for their microbial proliferations, but traditionally, microbiome studies have not examined fine root systems separately from the rhizosphere. New findings show that the microbiomes in the root surface zone and rhizosphere are distinctive in four different tree species.
May 13, 2024
Science News
Argonne introduces newest class of named postdoctoral fellows
Prestigious fellowships awarded to promising early-career researchers. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has awarded its newest cohort of named fellowships, providing five early-career scientists with additional support as they pursue pivotal discoveries that will make Americans safer and better off and increase our understanding of the universe.
May 15, 2024
New Approach Expands Spatial Resolved Quantification of Nutrient Exchange in Plant Tissues, the Rhizosphere, and Soils
Organic carbon in soil boosts plant growth, enhances subsurface biodiversity, and can sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). However, root processes inject organic carbon into small areas, complicating efforts to quantify it and link it to the diverse microenvironments around plant roots.
May 14, 2024
Peak Water: Do We Have Enough Groundwater to Meet Future Need?
A new study finds that, by mid-century, nearly half the global population could live in areas where groundwater will become so costly as to raise regional food prices and significantly alter the geography of trade and crop production. Nine percent of the world’s water basins appear to have already reached such a state of near depletion. New research from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory indicates that an additional 11.5% could reach this point by 2030, with another 22% joining by mid-century.
May 9, 2024
Winners of Second Phase of Wind Prize Bring Floating Offshore Wind Energy Closer to Fruition
Floating offshore wind energy has huge energy potential—2.8 terawatts in the United States, to be exact. That is more than double current U.S. electricity consumption. The White House aims to begin tapping that potential with its current goal of deploying 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035. In order to meet that goal, developers will need large turbines that can float over high-wind areas of the ocean that are too deep for today’s fixed bottom offshore wind turbines.
May 15, 2024
Carbon-capture batteries developed to store renewable energy, help climate
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing batteries to combat climate change by expanding renewable energy use and capturing carbon dioxide. This type of battery stores the renewable energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines. Utilizing this energy when wind and sunlight are unavailable requires an electrochemical reaction that, in ORNL’s new battery formulation, captures carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and converts it to value-added products.
May 15, 2024
DOE Lands Top Two Spots on List of Fastest Supercomputers
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Aurora supercomputer has officially broken the exascale barrier. Today at the 2024 ISC High Performance conference in Hamburg, Germany, the 63rd edition of the high performance computing Top500 list announced that DOE holds the #1 and #2 positions for most powerful supercomputers in the world. The Top500’s benchmark has long been the world’s measuring stick for large scale supercomputing performance.
May 14, 2024
Student News
Sandia National Laboratories aims to inspire young minds at the Cochiti Pueblo by hosting a day filled with learning and exploration of science, technology, engineering and math. The event is part of the Labs’ ongoing efforts to inspire Native American youth to pursue further education and careers in STEM fields, potentially leading to future opportunities at Sandia. The day will feature a range of activities for elementary and middle school-aged students.
May 14, 2024
Science Careers in Search of Women (SCSW) offers female high school students an extraordinary opportunity to explore STEM professions and areas of interest through interaction with the laboratory’s world-class scientists and engineers. The program strives to inspire young women to pursue careers in science by bringing them into the laboratory for a day of lectures, tours, career booth exhibits, and mentoring.
May 6, 2024
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $16 million in funding for four projects providing classroom training and research opportunities to train the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers needed to deliver scientific discoveries. These programs will train the next generation of scientists and engineers, providing the expertise needed to lead activities supported by the DOE Office of Science.
May 1, 2024
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