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The Frontier supercomputer simulated magnetic responses inside calcium-48, depicted by red and blue spheres. Insights into the nucleus’s fundamental forces could shed light on supernova dynamics.

Nuclear physicists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently used Frontier, the world’s most powerful supercomputer, to calculate the magnetic properties of calcium-48’s atomic nucleus. 

Tristen Mullins. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Tristen Mullins enjoys the hidden side of computers. As a signals processing engineer for ORNL, she tries to uncover information hidden in components used on the nation’s power grid — information that may be susceptible to cyberattacks.

This image depicts a visualization of an outflow of galactic wind at a single point in time using Cholla. Credit: Evan Schneider/University of Pittsburgh

A trio of new and improved cosmological simulation codes was unveiled in a series of presentations at the annual April Meeting of the American Physical Society in Minneapolis.

Thomaz Carvalhaes. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

In human security research, Thomaz Carvalhaes says, there are typically two perspectives: technocentric and human centric. Rather than pick just one for his work, Carvalhaes uses data from both perspectives to understand how technology impacts the lives of people.

ORNL research scientist Christa Brelsford explained a mathematical framework she developed in 2018, which showed increased availability of infrastructure didn’t necessarily reduce inequality in its access. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Unequal access to modern infrastructure is a feature of growing cities, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The researchers embedded a programmable model into a D-Wave quantum computer chip. Credit: D-Wave

Since the 1930s, scientists have been using particle accelerators to gain insights into the structure of matter and the laws of physics that govern our world.

The hybrid inverter developed by ORNL is an intelligent power electronic inverter platform that can connect locally sited energy resources such as solar panels, energy storage and electric vehicles and interact efficiently with the utility power grid. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept of Energy.

ORNL researchers have developed an intelligent power electronic inverter platform that can connect locally sited energy resources such as solar panels, energy storage and electric vehicles and smoothly interact with the utility power grid.

This simulation of a fusion plasma calculation result shows the interaction of two counter-streaming beams of super-heated gas. Credit: David L. Green/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The prospect of simulating a fusion plasma is a step closer to reality thanks to a new computational tool developed by scientists in fusion physics, computer science and mathematics at ORNL.

ORNL-developed cryogenic memory cell circuit designs fabricated onto these small chips by SeeQC, a superconducting technology company, successfully demonstrated read, write and reset memory functions. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at have experimentally demonstrated a novel cryogenic, or low temperature, memory cell circuit design based on coupled arrays of Josephson junctions, a technology that may be faster and more energy efficient than existing memory devices.

Smart Neighborhood homes

To better determine the potential energy cost savings among connected homes, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a computer simulation to more accurately compare energy use on similar weather days.