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Among the ORNL's January 2012 story tips are articles about how carbon trapped in permafrost soils could be released a lot faster than previously thought; the Coast Guard going green; and tracking cell death protein.

To better understand the fundamental behavior of molecules at surfaces, researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are combining the powers of neutron scattering with chemical analysis.

The prospect of electronics at the nanoscale may be even more promising with the first observation of metallic conductance in ferroelectric nanodomains by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Alejandro Lopez-Bezanilla at Oak Ridge National Laboratory studies a proposed graphene substrate: boron nitride. Graphene, which is carbon in the form of freestanding 1-atom-thick sheets, is a natural for next-generation computer chips, communications equipment, and solar energy devices. Electrons flow through the material at an astonishing 1 million meters per second. To live up to its potential, however, graphene needs support. On its own, its edges wrinkle, tear, or roll up.

Armed with a new ability to find retinal anomalies at the cellular level, neurobiologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have made a discovery they hope will ultimately lead to a treatment for cancer of the retina.

Using statistical analysis methods to examine rainfall extremes in India, a team of researchers has made a discovery that resolves an ongoing debate in published findings and offers new insights.

Jack Wells spoke about collaborative opportunities in high-performance computing at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. He highlighted pathways by which industrial users can gain access to supercomputers. Approximately 60 percent of time available on Jaguar, America's fastest supercomputer, is allocated through the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, whereas 30 percent is allocated through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge and 10 percent through Director's Discretion.

1) Computer hackers could lose a huge advantage. 2) Solar and wind energy could become more viable. 3) Something odd happens when you expose the element gadolinium to a strong magnetic field. 4) Carefully combining materials that shrink when heated with materials that expand creates a material unaffected by extreme temperature.