Category Archives: Science

ORNL part of administration’s beat-cancer program

supercomputingpicOak Ridge National Laboratory is part of the Obama administration’s sweeping program to defeat cancer, joining with other labs and the National Cancer Institute on pilot projects that use supercomputers to analyze data on how cancer develops and to accelerate development of promising therapies.

The Cancer Moonshot program, led by Vice President Joe Biden, hosted a summit Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to draw attention to projects around the country that involve hundreds of researchers, oncologists and technologies of many types. Continue reading →

Talking science like it’s 1994

27559145850_2834636c68_kIt was April 29, 1994, and Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary was taking a tour of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She’s shown here listening to a presentation at ORNL’s High Temperature Materials Laboratory. O’Leary, who’s holding some research product in her hands, seems to be the only one who’s paying attention — and that may be marginal. From left, KNS reporter Frank Munger, ORNL Director Al Trivelpiece, O’Leary, and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Lloyd. (DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

Liang accepts leadership role at Pacific Northwest Lab

liang2Liyuan Liang, a celebrated chemist and emerging science administrator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named director of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory in Washington state. The lab is a research user facility at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Liang has performed multiple roles at ORNL, including a tenure as director of the lab’s Office of Institutional Planning. She also headed a scientific team that tackled many of the perplexing issues about mercury in the environment — including how mercury is transformed into methylmercury, its most toxic form.

Allison Campbell, an associate director at Pacific Northwest, said in a statement: Continue reading →

DelCul wins Seaborg Award

delcul Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Bill DelCul has received the Glenn T. Seaborg Award at the 40th Actinide Separations Conference.

He was honored for his long and extraordinary career in nuclear science and engineering with research on “actinide separations, processing of used nuclear fuel, high temperature molten salts, technical support of enrichment activities and national security-related research.” Continue reading →

Protest on ORISE contract

oriseDepartment of Energy spokeswoman Claire Sinclair said the $1.4 billion contract to manage DOE’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education “is operating as intended with its new scope.” This is despite a protest that was filed by the losing bidder, the Desert Research Institute, with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

“The protest is under seal,” Sinclair said. “Nothing to add.” Continue reading →

Vanderbilt’s contribution to Tennessine

hamiltonI’ve known Vanderbilt Physics Professor Joe Hamilton since the 1990s, when he served on the steering panel for a series of studies that assessed the health impacts of environmental releases from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge facilities.

He wrote today to express his disappointment with my story earlier this week about Element 117, a new element that has been provisionally named “Tennessine.” He said Vanderbilt University didn’t receive proper credit, and he explained why.

Here’s the text of his message about Vanderbilt’s role in the discovery and confirmation: Continue reading →

Sen. Alexander comments on ‘Tennessine’

alexandersummitSen. Lamar Alexander’s office this afternoon released a statement on the proposal to name a new element — Element 117 on the periodic chart — as “Tennessine” to recognize the contributions to the discovery by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University.

Here’s an excerpt from Alexander’s comments: Continue reading →

New element to be called Tennessine; recognizes work of ORNL, as well as UT and Vandy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which played a key role in the 2010 discovery and later confirmation of a series of new super-heavy elements, has been rewarded with the naming of one of the elements “Tennessine.”element

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announced the “provisional recommendation” that Element 117 be called Tennessine. Its symbol on the periodic table will be Ts. The provisional name will now undergo a five-month public review before final approval.

The name also recognizes the contributions of the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University. The discovery team for three of the elements included 72 scientists from 16 institutions around the world. Continue reading →

Gu elected fellow of Geological Society

guBaohua Gu, a distinguished senior scientist in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Environmental Sciences Division, has been elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

Gu, who earned a doctorate in environmental chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley, holds a joint appointment as a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research areas include biogeochemical transformation and transport of environmental pollutants, soil carbon–mineral interfacial interactions, spectroscopic studies and environmental applications. Continue reading →