Recent News Releases

ORNL's Office of Communications and External Relations works with national, regional, and local media outlets on news stories about the laboratory.

For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our Media Contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov.


Singh, Kreykes named UT-Battelle Corporate Fellows
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Aug. 12, 2009 — UT-Battelle has added two researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to its list of UT-Battelle Corporate Fellows. David J. Singh and Jon A. Kreykes have been recognized for sustained outstanding achievements in their scientific and technical fields.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's David Singh (left) and Jon Kreykes have been named UT-Battelle Corporate Fellows.
Forest response project FACEs the end
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 28, 2009 — After 12 years, an experiment focused on forest growth and climate change comes to an end, and researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are eager to collect and analyze data to see if their predictions match results.

Researchers Joanne Childs and Jeff Warren section off a downed carbon-enriched tree from the FACE experiment. Leaves from the sweetgum will be collected for analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other research institutions.
Spallation Neutron Source sees first target replacement
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 27, 2009 — Having outlasted all expectations of its service life, the original mercury target of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science's record-setting neutron science facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is being replaced for the first time.

Goyal earns World Technology Network honor
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 27, 2009 — Amit Goyal of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Materials Science and Technology Division has been elected fellow of the World Technology Network for his innovative work in the materials science field.

Spring cold snap helps with stream ecosystem research
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 23, 2009 — A rare April freeze in 2007 provided researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory with further evidence that climate change could have negative effects on stream and forest ecosystems.

ORNL advances therapy for Parkinson's, other diseases
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 22, 2009 — By miniaturizing a device that monitors the delivery of healthy cells, researchers at Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing a powerful instrument for physicians to use in treating patients with Parkinson's syndrome, brain tumors and other diseases.

Work begins on first Recovery Act funded demolition project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory    Audio Clip
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 20, 2009 — The Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has begun cleanup and demolition of the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory, a long-vacant facility on the Laboratory's central campus. Contractors expect to employ approximately 30 workers for the project, which is slated for completion by January 2010.

ORNL researchers win eight R&D 100 awards
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 20, 2009 — Researchers and engineers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have won eight R&D 100 Awards, which are presented each year by R&D Magazine in recognition of the year's most significant technological innovations.

Oak Ridge Supercomputers Provide First Simulation of Abrupt Climate Change     Audio Clip
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 16, 2009 — At the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the world's fastest supercomputer for unclassified research is simulating abrupt climate change and shedding light on an enigmatic period of natural global warming in Earth's relatively recent history. The work, led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), is featured in the July 17 issue of the journal Science and provides valuable new data about the causes and effects of global climate change.

ORNL's Blue, Qu, Robinson recognized
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 14, 2009 — Three researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been recognized by national societies for their recent accomplishments in science and engineering.

Craig Blue, Jun Qu and Sharon Robinson have been recognized by national societies for their recent accomplishments in science and engineering.
President cites ORNL's Gary A. Baker as leading early career scientist    Audio Clip
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 10, 2009 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Gary A. Baker has been named to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Baker is one of 12 Department of Energy scientists to receive the presidential award.

Gary A. Baker has been named to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
H.T. Hackney, Knoxville Area Transit team with ORNL, DOT    Audio Clip
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 7, 2009 — Local distributor H.T. Hackney and Knoxville Area Transit have teamed up with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Transportation to help improve national highway safety, energy efficiency and performance of America's medium-class 6 and 7 trucks and transit buses.

ORNL’s Dana Christensen and Gary Capps inspect one of the H.T. Hackney trucks participating with Knoxville Transit Authority buses in an ORNL study.
Power Grid Expert Liu Named Fourth UT-ORNL Governor's Chair
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., July 6, 2009 — Yilu Liu, an expert in the technologies used to monitor power grids and a researcher in ways to create the next generation "smart grid," has been named the fourth University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair.

Keller to lead ORNL's Biological and Environmental Sciences
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., June 29, 2009 — Martin Keller has been named to lead the Biological and Environmental Sciences Directorate (BESD) at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The appointment is effective July 1.