News By Location

May 2014's story tips include reducing soot; hydropower; understanding driver behavior; and a performance record in high-temperature superconducting wires.

Computational modeling has given materials researchers new insight into the properties of a membrane that purifies saltwater into potable water. The resulting technology could help speed up inefficient desalination processes in use today.

Approximately four decades ago, theoreticians believed that only one of two mechanisms could explain rupture of liquid-crystal thin films. They also believed that these two mechanisms could not coexist. But 10 years ago experiments showed that these two mechanisms in many cases do coexist, according to Trung Nguyen of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who ran unprecedented large-scale molecular dynamics simulations on Titan, America's fastest supercomputer, to model the beginnings of ruptures in thin films.

Thomas Wilbanks and Benjamin Preston, both of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are among the 309 coordinating lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Working Group II report. The report, which was released in Japan on March 31, found that climate change isn't just a problem for future generations, but also impacts humans in the present day.

People who pack their cars and drive like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's 'Vacation' pay a steep penalty when it comes to fuel economy.

This release focuses on: 1) Bridge failure warning. 2) Simulations on Titan could help automobile manufacturers meet fuel economy and emissions standards. 3) New system enables decision-makers to respond swiftly to major power disruptions. 4) Refrigerators featuring 20 percent greater efficiency.