Story ideas from Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Story ideas from Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Story ideas from Oak Ridge National Laboratory To arrange for an interview with any of these researchers, please call Ron Walli of Communications and Public Affairs (423) 576-0226

ENERGY -- Sandbox fusion

For years, scientists have been consumed with the challenge of containing the plasma of incredibly hot gases that fuel the fusion process. Now, ORNL researchers think sand could provide keys to taming these unruly deuterium and tritium plasmas. Their theoretical "sand pile" model examines the gravitational forces that cause sand to collapse on itself and applies the analogy to how the tremendous heat and turbulence inside a fusion reactor causes events that sap the plasma's ability to sustain a reaction. [Contact: Ben Carreras or David Newman]

ENVIRONMENT --El Nino vs. global warming

The good news -- El Nino warming and the resulting boost in vegetation growth may actually slow rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. ORNL researchers are using computer modeling to better understand how terrestrial ecosystems influence carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. They have discovered that carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems are sensitive to climate variations such as those caused by El Nino. So in a growing season during an El Nino, terrestrial ecosystems take up as much as 2 billion tonnes of additional carbon. The bad news -- much of that extra biomass may decompose and release carbon later. [Contact: Mac Post]

PHYSICS -- The molecular broom

For every task, there must be a tool, and researchers at ORNL are developing tools to use for the ultimate task: building nanostructures one molecule at a time. Work in this area has been hampered by the difficulty of manipulating individual molecules at room temperature. Now, using a scanning tunneling microscope, they've learned to "sweep" them the way you might with an incredibly tiny broom, but in a quantum way -- hence the name "molecular broom." [Contacts: John Wendelken or Zhenyu Zhang]

ELECTRONICS -- A safer information highway

An ORNL-developed onboard information management system with "plug and play" capability could help tomorrow's drivers get to their destinations more safely than ever. The sophisticated data-routing system will help prevent the signal gridlock and driver overload that is otherwise likely with onboard cellular phones and navigation and collision avoidance systems. A key requirement is that the system be compatible with various computer networks for different makes of cars. ORNL's plug and play system, expected to be tested at the Society of America's Future Transportation Technology Conference in Costa Mesa, Calif., in August, has that capability. [Contact: Phil Spelt]