Secretary Ernest Moniz can name all of the Energy Department's National Laboratories.

Secretary Ernest Moniz can name all of the Energy Department's National Laboratories. Energy Department file photo

How Many National Laboratories Can You Name?

It's harder than you think.

The Energy Department operates national laboratories that house researchers in everything from nuclear fusion projects to biosciences to photon science to environmental science and work on renewable energy . The 17 facilities employ tens of thousands of federal employees and have multi-million dollar allotments in the federal budget , but are largely unknown.

The system of national laboratories grew out of a need for central technological and scientific research centers during World War II. The most famous is probably Los Alamos, thanks to its key role in the Manhattan Project .

Recently, the Energy Department put together a video asking people to name as many National Labs as they can in 60 seconds and putting them up against Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Check it out and learn more about the facilities in the Storify below the video.