Archived Story Tips for 2005
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Computing—Bandwidth challenge champs . . .
UltraScience Net transferred 164 terabytes of data -- the equivalent of 10 to 20 times the Library of Congress -- in 24 hours and helped the team led by Caltech take top honors in the bandwidth challenge at Supercomputing 2005 in Seattle.
Wireless—Pushing the boundaries . . .
Government agencies and private companies are turning to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for modeling, simulation and fine-tuning of their wireless sensor networks.
Environment—Operation cleaner fuels . . .
Ships powered with low-sulfur diesel fuels may have cleaner emissions and actually perform better than when powered with other diesel fuels, according to findings by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Navy.
Environment—Carbon and climate . . .
Climate change can have a significant impact on the amount of carbon stored in cropland soils around the nation, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Energy—Better buildings . . .
Steel-faced structural insulated panels being developed with partners at Oak Ridge National Laboratory offer superior energy efficiency, durability and resistance to fire, wind and termites.
Environment—Eliminating kudzu . . .
Controlling kudzu to keep it from displacing and destroying natural vegetation on the Oak Ridge Reservation is a task being supervised by Oak Ridge National Laboratory environmental analyst Harry Quarles.
Medical—First aid for CPR . . .
By applying mathematical techniques and electrical circuit basics to CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Vladimir Protopopescu and Suzanne Lenhart believe they can help save lives.
Military—Simple sampler . . .
Soldiers encountering potentially toxic compounds in Iraq will soon be able to identify the substance in mere minutes because of a probe developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Nanoscience—Nanoscience Center Open for business . . .
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, the first of the DOE Office of Science's nanoscience centers, is now open.
Transportation—Truck of the future . . .
Research into gaining better understanding of the characteristics of heavy trucks operating on Interstate highways, and how those characteristics may be improved in future engineering of trucks is the focus of a program involving Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories.
Energy—Modular marvel . . .
Hospitals, college campuses and factories are among likely customers for the Modular Integrated Energy System, which boasts 80 percent to 90 percent efficiency compared to the national average of 32 percent.
Energy—The hydrogen juggle . . .
Discovering the ideal material for reversible storage of hydrogen could become a less daunting task because of work by a team led by David Singh of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Condensed Matter Sciences Division.
Environment—-Nativespecies restoration . . .
Non-native invasive plant species, such as kudzu, fescue and Japanese honeysuckle, have caused overgrowth problems for many land areas throughout the Southeast, literally choking off plant species native to the region and reducing diversity of plant habitats.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory environmental sciences researchers have been experimenting with methods to reduce non-native species in specific areas of the laboratory's 20,000-acre environmental research park by converting them to areas more conducive to the growth of native plant species.
Security—Seal of approval . . .
Anywhere that special nuclear material is stored, the container must bear a seal that serves as a tamper indicating device.
Military—-Soldier'sbest friend . . .
Soldiers equipped with Oak Ridge National Laboratory's TRI-NAV system will know their precise location regardless of foliage, terrain, buildings and attempts by the enemy to jam global positioning system signals, says Steve Smith, lead researcher for the project and a member of ORNL's Engineering Science & Technology Division.
Environment—Sinking CO2 . . .
Carbon sequestration in the ocean could become far more feasible with a system being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Energy—Pure, efficient power . . .
Grocery stores, schools, hotels and hospitals are likely candidates for a high-efficiency system that provides heating, cooling and electric power.
Biology—Single-cell analysis . . .
Detection and treatment of human diseases could be greatly enhanced by the Nanobiosensor for Single-Cell Analysis, a device developed by a team led by Tuan Vo-Dinh of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Life Sciences Division.
Electronics—Slick surveillance system . . .
Technology similar to that found in a CD player is at the heart of a system that could make homes and the nation safer.
Defense—Real war games . . .
Dan Tufano spends a lot of time in his Ballistic Missile Defense System mode, thinking about human behavior, decision-making and how people interact with screens and machines.
Instrumentation—Stressed out . . .
Quick, accurate location and measurement of potential failure points in materials is the focus of a second-generation neutron residual stress mapping instrument jointly developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.
Astrophysics—Connecting the dots . . .
Nuclear physics laboratory results and simulations of exploding stars come together with a big bang in a program developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Michael Smith.
Environment—Potent protein probes . . .
New probes with greatly enhanced protein activity are making life better for scientists studying environmental contaminants.
Materials—Fiber diet . . .
Automated spraying of carbon or glass fiber could soon provide the most economical way to create preforms in the manufacture of body panels for automobiles, heavy vehicles and other machinery.
Technology Transfer—Reaching new heights . . .
A recently launched NASA satellite, XSS-11, features a component made of a brand new material: a radiator made of PocoFoam.
Environment—Cropland CO2 emissions . . .
Net carbon dioxide emissions from the application of agricultural lime in the United States may be about half of what has been assumed, according to research by Tris West of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Environmental Sciences Division.
Security—The super cask . . .
A method for making super-tough, lower-cost containers to transport, protect and store spent nuclear reactor fuel rods has been patented by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers Charles Forsberg, Nuclear Science and Technology, and Vinod Sikka, Metals and Ceramics.
Environment—Nitrate's worst nightmare . . .
A newly isolated group of microbes holds great promise for removing nitrate and immobilizing uranium in contaminated groundwater and soil.
Instrumentation—Symposium slated May 8-12 . . .
Some of the world's leading experts in sensors, instrumentation and measurement techniques will be at the Hilton Hotel in Knoxville May 8-12 for the 51st International Instrumentation Symposium.
Biology—Microbial sleuth . . .
Biologists trying to identify microorganisms dominating various communities in environmental samples have a new tool called a community genome array.
Environment—Lower emissions . . .
Research in high-efficiency clean combustion technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory may lead to alternatives to traditional diesel and spark ignition engine combustion processes that would result in cleaner emissions and improve engine efficiency more than 50 percent.
Physics—Stirring the Big Bang soup . . .
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are setting up for some cataclysmic number crunching.
Chemistry—Molecules in jail . . .
By devising a method to confine molecules within individual pores of silicon dioxide, A.C.
Energy—Heat pumps and more . . .
Advanced heat pumps and refrigeration units for residential, commercial and industrial users will be among the technologies showcased at the 8th International Energy Agency Heat Pump Conference May 30 through June 2 at Caesars Palace.
Energy—Nuclear fuel study . . .
High-resolution three-dimensional images gained with a new specialized instrument will provide insight into the relationship between materials microstructure, processing conditions and nuclear fuel performance.
Environment—Tracking truck emissions . . .
Stricter federal diesel emissions standards to take effect in 2007 will require a more accurate reading of the chemical makeup of truck exhaust and emissions.
Transportation—Securing Russian railcars . . .
Engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are helping Russia build railcars to provide better protection and more secure transport of nuclear material.
Materials—Cooling it with magnetism . . .
A new method of processing ferrous materials such as steel, developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, promises to produce a new class of materials with novel microstructures and superior properties.
Automobiles—Silicon carbide power . . .
Powerful new inverters incorporating silicon carbide transistors and diodes could help speed the development of hybrid electric vehicles and lead to advances in a number of other areas.
Computing—Maximizing computational power . . .
Advances in material science, biology, climate modeling and other areas hinge on efficient utilization of massive computing power, and that's part of the focus of a project headed by Jeff Vetter of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Materials—A layer at a time . . .
Through several refinements to the tried and true method of pulsed laser deposition, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have a new way to synthesize materials and conduct basic studies vital to creating new ones.
Homeland Security—Safe harbors . . .
Ports in the United States and around the world could be protected with a threat vulnerability analysis system being developed by a team led by Robert Patton of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Geography—Case closed . . .
"Cold case files" takes on new meaning for geochemists like Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Steven Turgeon, co-author of a Science paper that might explain a 248-million-year-old event that killed 90 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrae species.
Genetics—Biosystems approach to skull disorder . . .
Abnormalities of the face and skull rank among the most common birth defects in humans.
Forensics—The telltale tree . . .
Logs confiscated by police at a Texas murder scene and the work of a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory may help put a killer behind bars.
Materials—Next-generation steel . . .
New products made of stronger components that are lighter in weight, more energy efficient and have an extended use life may be possible through a technology that can alter the characteristics of steel and other materials.
Nanoscience—On a butterfly's wings . . .
Microscopic images that are now achievable at single-nanometer scales usually depict advanced materials or other ordered, inorganic substances.
Sensors—Advanced fuel cells . . .
Miniature optical sensors developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could speed the development of fuel cells to power vehicles, buildings and machines.
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