Archived Story Tips for 2000
For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to the resources listed below or to one of our Media Contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov.
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Electronics—New transistor on the block . . .
Nano-transistors 10 times smaller than conventional ones and being developed at ORNL could change the complexion of the electronics industry.
Environment—Manure: The other energy resource . . .
Manure from the hundreds of millions of farm animals is a big problem, but it's one that, with some work, could become a strong renewable energy resource.
Energy—Fuel of the future? . . .
Methane hydrate isn't a familiar term to most people, but it's gaining popularity in the energy sector.
Environment—Solving the mercury mystery . . .
In a project called Metaalicus, researchers at ORNL hope to learn once and for all what happens to fish mercury concentrations when there is a change in the levels of mercury released into the environment.
Energy—Super-efficient water heater . . .
With water heating consuming about 17 percent of the energy for a typical household, it's a good place to start when cutting costs.
Nuclear Energy—Next-generation safe power plants . . .
An ORNL team will receive more than $1.1 million over the next three years to develop technology for reliable and automatic forewarning of failure in critical equipment at next-generation nuclear power plants.
Health—Lifesaver in the battlefield . . .
Many soldiers who die in battle could perhaps be saved if outfitted with a sensor system that could capture and identify noises generated within the chest.
Physics—Two protons at a time . . .
Researchers at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility recently chalked up a physics "first": the simultaneous emission of two protons from an atom's decaying nucleus.
Medical—SeizAlert to the rescue . . .
ORNL researchers are developing a system that would provide an eight- to 50-minute warning before an epileptic seizure, giving a person time to take appropriate action.
Chemistry—Micromixing the easy way . . .
In many of today's chemical applications, efficient mixing is critical to achieve product quality and uniformity, and ORNL engineers have devised a better way to do the mixing.
Mapping—Population distribution a click away . . .
Emergency responders have a new tool developed by ORNL that could save perhaps thousands of lives around the world.
Chemistry—Trapping single atoms . . .
A whole new technology awaits exploration with the discovery of a technique for trapping single atoms, according to scientists at ORNL.
Industry—Drying lumber in a flash . . .
Lumberyards everywhere could revolutionize their businesses with a microwave pretreatment system that reduces from about two months to 10 days the amount of time needed to dry hardwoods.
Automobiles—Fuel cell breakthrough . . .
Low- or zero-emission high-mileage automobiles powered by fuel cells could be just around the curve with the development of a carbon composite bipolar plate developed at ORNL.
Transportation—New hope for diesels . . .
Diesels equipped with a new emission control system could meet Environmental Protection Agency standards scheduled to be phased in beginning in 2004.
Physics—Beyond the stars . . .
Using a beam of fluorine-17 thought to be too difficult to create in sufficient quantities for experiments, ORNL researchers are gaining a better understanding of what happens in stellar explosions.
Computing—Electronic notebook . . .
Paper laboratory notebooks may go the way of the typewriter with the invention of the DOE Electronic Notebook.
Manufacturing—Heating up production . . .
Manufacturers of components made of plastics, polymers and metals may be able to reduce time and energy costs significantly with direct thermal systems developed by researchers in the Metals and Ceramics Division.
Electronics—World's smartest transistor . . .
ORNL researchers have built a "smart" transistor that takes advantage of their recent materials breakthrough in depositing a high-quality film of barium titanate on germanium.
Environment—New sensor is 'Johnny on the spot' . . .
A new breed of chemical sensors is expected to make practical the monitoring of drinking water, groundwater and streams near industrial discharge sites.
Chemistry—Device fights fire with fire . . .
An instrument that can detect tiny (nano) explosions could lead to a hand-held instrument to screen people and luggage at airports or to detect land mines.
Electronics—Affordable flat-screen TVs . . .
Flat-screen, high-definition televisions and flat-panel displays could be more affordable with an emerging ORNL technology that could lower the cost of owning and operating these modern marvels.
Environment—'Green chemistry' . . .
New "green chemistry" technology that substitutes benign carbon dioxide for noxious industrial solvents holds great promise for the $368 billion per year U.S.
Optics—Next-generation telescopes . . .
ORNL and Advanced Optical Systems are developing lightweight mirror technologies that could provide an alternative way to manufacture mirrors for telescopes used for space exploration and military applications.
Climate— Curiosity in China . . .
China's decrease in cloud cover accompanied by increased average nighttime temperatures casts into shadows the generally accepted theory that ties increases in global nighttime temperatures to increased cloud cover.
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