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Profiled is Vera Bocharova at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who investigates the structure and dynamics of soft materials -- polymer nanocomposites, polymer electrolytes and biological macromolecules -- to advance materials and technologies for energy, medicine and other applications. She explores the chemistry and physics of soft materials on the scale of nanometers, or billionths of a meter. This scale is small but powerful, determining the optical, conductive and mechanical properties of bulk materials.

While studying the genes in poplar trees that control callus formation, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered genetic networks at the root of tumor formation in several human cancers.

A team of researchers used the Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer at ORNL's HFIR to explore a novel porous metal hydride, which could lead to improved gas-separation techniques and more effective ways to store gaseous hydrogen.

Profiled is Jon Poplawsky, a materials scientist at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory who develops and links advanced characterization techniques that improve our ability to see and understand atomic-scale features of diverse materials for energy and information technologies.

Researchers from Lund University and ORNL are using neutrons to study cleaner approaches to using biomass by investigating how biomasses degrade as they are exposed to extreme temperatures, and how the biomass byproducts could potentially be used in alternative applications.