While others predicted when oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico might reach beaches, ocean modelers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research asked when gushing oil might exit the Gulf, where it would go and how diluted it’d be, up to a year later.
A long view of Gulf oil spill Read Post
National Center for Atmospheric Research oceanographer Synte Peacock studies “the distribution of various tracers – something that tags a water
Tracing CFCs and greenhouse gases Read Post
Thousands of tiny systems called atomic nuclei – specific combinations of protons and neutrons – prove extremely difficult to study but have big implications for nuclear stockpile stewardship. To describe all of the nuclei and the reactions between them, a nationwide collaboration is devising powerful algorithms that run on high-performance computers.
Pounding out atomic nuclei Read Post
Density functional theory (DFT) can be used to determine densities of protons and neutrons making up a nucleus. “If we
Cranking up the speed of DFT Read Post
Sandia National Laboratories computer scientist Ronald Minnich calls the desktop-extension supercomputing project a large effort with a small team. “To
Small team carries large load Read Post
A small team led by Sandia National Laboratories is attempting to virtually put the world’s most powerful supercomputers on a user’s own desktop or laptop.
Laptop supercomputing Read Post
The first large-scale simulation of blood flow in coronary arteries enlists a realistic description of the vessels’ geometries. Researchers reported on the simulation today at the SC10 supercomputing conference in New Orleans.
If FASTER can be considered a jet that speeds global climate modelers to analyze fast physics processes, its wings are
The wings that fly FASTER Read Post
Armed with computing power from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers are detailing the nature of dark matter surrounding a galaxy much like our own Milky Way.
Seeing the invisible Read Post
Collisions in dark matter “clumps” should produce gamma rays, but a satellite looking for them has come up empty so far.
Dark matter predictions put to test Read Post
A detector suggested dark matter collisions, but no other test has seen similar signs.
Parsing particle experiments Read Post
Paul Fischer can’t remember a time when he wasn’t interested in aeronautical and mechanical engineering. His passion for solving seemingly
Winding path leads to fluid career Read Post
Argonne National Laboratory applies mathematics and computation to engineer the next generation of nuclear reactors.
A quantum curiosity called the Casimir force gums up micro- and nanomachines. Work at MIT led by a newly minted alumnus of the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship suggests uses for the force – and ways around it.
A PNNL team enlists new algorithms and powerful computers to quickly analyze which combinations of failures most threaten the power grid.
Getting a grip on the grid Read Post
A supercomputer’s unusual qualities make it a good fit with electric system problems.
Grids grasp at multiple threads to block blackouts Read Post
The ceremony in the East Room of the White House, where President Obama bestowed the National Medal of Science on
A well-placed plug for the humble algorithm Read Post
Berni Alder’s Monte Carlo methods have solved problems across the scientific spectrum. Yet the Livermore-based National Medal of Science-recipient still has questions.
The master of Monte Carlo Read Post
It takes a big computer to model very small things. And, like its namesake state, New York Blue is big.
Going big to study small Read Post
Computation and experimentation combine to improve and speed design of useful compounds.
Putting catalysts on track Read Post
What Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are learning could help make ethanol from cellulose a viable fuel alternative – and help the United States replace foreign oil with a green, renewable resource.
Breaking the biomass barrier Read Post
Just how does prolonged exposure to nuclear radiation change a material’s properties? How do those changes alter the way a weapon performs? A Los Alamos team quantifies these and other uncertainties.
Extending the stockpile’s lifespan Read Post
Image searches typically rely on tags – text humans have attached to the pictures to identify objects or people they
Program may mean cutting the tags Read Post
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers say their algorithms can analyze millions of video frames, pluck out the faces and quantify them to create searchable databases for facial identification.
The U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal must withstand attack and successfully strike their targets. Sandia scientists must figure out how.
Invoking pharaoh’s name Read Post
