ELECTRONICS -- Affordable flat-screen TVs . . .
Flat-screen, high-definition televisions and flat-panel displays could be more affordable with an emerging ORNL technology that could lower the cost of owning and operating these modern marvels. The technology involves the use of tiny particles that serve as "cages" for atoms that are intentionally added to emit light of different colors. This technology could make possible flat-panel displays that are sharper and use less power than laptop computer screens, extending the life of batteries for these units. It could also lead to higher-resolution detectors of gamma rays, X-rays and other ionizing radiation as well as those of fluorescent tags on DNA fragments. Highly efficient laser diodes for optical circuits may also be made using this technology. [Contact: Thomas Thundat]
ENVIRONMENT -- 'Green chemistry' . . .
New "green chemistry" technology that substitutes benign carbon dioxide for noxious industrial solvents holds great promise for the $368 billion per year U.S. chemical industry. The chemical industry plays a vital role in the nation's economy, representing 10 percent of all manufacturing and employing more than 1 million Americans. The industry uses about 3.8 million tons of solvents per year, most of which are potentially hazardous to health, safety and the environment. Solvents are necessary as media for chemical reactions, chemical separations and cleaning. A new approach utilizes newly developed chemicals, called surfactants, to disperse insoluble substances in carbon dioxide. The technique is being pioneered by ORNL, the University of North Carolina, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Texas. [Contact: Hank Cochran]
OPTICS -- Next-generation telescopes . . .
ORNL and Advanced Optical Systems are developing lightweight mirror technologies that could provide an alternative way to manufacture mirrors for telescopes used for space exploration and military applications. The key is in using existing technologies such as casting, nickel plating and precision machining to produce lightweight aluminum-silicon alloy mirrors. The process is less expensive than approaches that use exotic materials such as beryllium or composite materials yet yields surfaces with similar stiffness-to-weight ratios. NASA needs lightweight mirror technologies to increase launch capacities, provide easier steering of the mirrors and make possible more portable ground-based applications. These low-cost telescope mirrors also have military benefits of extremely low image distortion and low scattering of light. [Contact: Boyd Evans]
CLIMATE -- Curiosity in China. . .
China's decrease in cloud cover accompanied by increased average nighttime temperatures casts into shadows the generally accepted theory that ties increases in global nighttime temperatures to increased cloud cover. The time series analysis by ORNL's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) shows a significant decrease in both daytime and nighttime cloud cover in China from 1954 through 1996, with an especially large drop-off beginning in 1978. Raw cloud amount data were provided by the China Meteorological Administration to CDIAC. The study, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, raises many questions and may prompt additional research into atmospheric circulation patterns over China since the 1950s. [Contact: Dale Kaiser]