Feature Articles

As emergency managers work to prepare communities for natural or human-made disasters, understanding how critical infrastructure interconnects is key for maintaining the availability of vital goods and services. researchers at Idaho National Laboratory are using machine learning to teach computers to recognize critical infrastructure from satellite imagery.

Research by Idaho National Laboratory scientists could help the nation accommodate more electric vehicles, while lessening the impact of vehicle charging on the electrical grid system.

Many high-performance technologies like nuclear reactors or spacecraft require advanced materials. In the past, these materials were typically manufactured from a process called hot pressing, which results in excess waste and contributes to high costs. The costs have limited the widespread use of advanced materials in everyday items such as automobiles. More recently, engineers have developed a cost-saving process called spark plasma sintering (SPS), and now, INL has developed capabilities to help industry design efficient SPS manufacturing processes.

New research from Idaho National Laboratory suggests that potato wastewater might serve well as a low-cost food source for a special bacterium that could be used to recycle high tech devices, industrial catalysts and other sources of rare earth elements.

Five Idaho National Laboratory researchers and their partners at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) took 'Best Paper' honors at the International Resilience Week conference in mid-October. The researchers examined how hydropower's flexibility can provide stability and resilience in the face of events such as rolling blackouts, hurricanes and earthquakes.

In light of growing challenges and opportunities, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) aims to make the recycling of lithium-ion batteries easier, more efficient, and potentially greener. Encouraging results of these efforts recently appeared in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling.