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3 October 2022
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The Early Career Research Program provides financial support that is foundational to early career investigators, enabling them to define and direct independent research in areas important to Department of Energy (DOE) missions. The Early Career Award Winner series provides awardees with an opportunity to explain the results of their research in their own words.
The Department of Energy Early Career Research Award was instrumental in helping me launch my scientific career. This award allowed me to explore new and exciting directions in the development of scalable algorithms and software for optimization problems under uncertainty that arise in energy infrastructures.
Learn more about how the Early Career award supported Victor Zavala’s computing research.
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Dark Matter: In ultra-diffuse galaxies, the gas and stars are much more spread out than in typical galaxies. Researchers at University of California, Riverside and University of California, Irvine have found that the halos of dark matter around these types of galaxies are much smaller than typical galaxies. This result raises questions about how galaxies form in the universe. |
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COVID-19’s Bradykinin Storm: A new study from DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory adds evidence to the idea of a “bradykinin storm” caused by COVID-19. Two years ago, Oak Ridge scientists predicted that COVID patients’ bodies were producing too much bradykinin, the compound that dilates blood vessels and makes them permeable. This new study found the potential mechanism by which the virus could trigger such a “storm.” |
Solid-State Batteries: Solid-state batteries have the potential to charge faster, have longer range, and last longer than current batteries for electric vehicles. But they’re prone to failure. Researchers from Princeton University, Vanderbilt University, DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory tracked very small changes in the batteries as they charged and discharged. Engineers could use this information to make the batteries more reliable. |
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Gene Sequences: A research team at the University of Louisville has developed a structural model that will allow scientists to study longer genetic sequences known as G4 quadruplexes. The sequences are most likely key locations for the source of changes that mutate healthy cells into cancerous ones. This technique could help scientists develop potential cancer treatments. |
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The Office of Science posted five new highlights between 9/20/22 and 10/3/22.
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Combining Deep Learning with Data to Understand Watersheds: Subsurface permeability – how well liquids flow through rocks and solids below the ground – has a major impact on how water moves in watersheds. But it’s very hard to measure at the scale and resolution that scientists need for computer simulations of watersheds. Scientists at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used deep learning (an artificial intelligence technique) to analyze data about stream flow. This analysis allowed scientists to estimate the subsurface permeability more accurately than traditional methods. |
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A New Way to Predict Droughts
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Researchers at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new method to assess the likelihood of extreme drought conditions in several different regions of the United States over the rest of the century. They based their method on highly detailed regional climate models. The assessment shows that climate change is likely to exacerbate droughts, especially in regions like the Midwest, Northwestern U.S., and California’s Central Valley. In particular, this new technique helps scientists understand “flash droughts” that happen very quickly because of high temperatures and evaporation rates. The study used the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, both of which are DOE Office of Science user facilities. |
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ESnet Unveiling Its Next-Generation Network
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The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is a DOE Office of Science user facility and DOE’s dedicated scientific network. The traffic that travels over ESnet on a daily basis contains data from tens of thousands of researchers – data that could lead to the next major discovery or scientific breakthrough.
ESnet6 is ESnet's next-generation network, designed to help the DOE research community navigate the oncoming "data deluge." This new network will give them more bandwidth, greater flexibility, and faster data transfer capabilities.
ESnet and DOE’s Berkeley Lab will hold a formal unveiling ceremony for ESnet6 on October 11, 2022. Open to the public, the program features keynote talks from Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Ian Foster, director of DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory Data Science and Learning Division. Register for the event ahead of time or stream it on the day-of.
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CommUnique provides a review of recent Office of Science Communications and Public Affairs stories and features. This is only a sample of our recent work promoting research done at universities, national labs, and user facilities throughout the country.
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