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Caption: Participants gather for a group photo after discussing securing AI systems for critical national security data and applications.  Photo by Liz Neunsinger/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory met recently at an AI Summit to better understand threats surrounding artificial intelligence. The event was part of ORNL’s mission to shape the future of safe and secure AI systems charged with our nation’s most precious data. 

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used Frontier to explore training strategies for one of the largest artificial intelligence models to date. Credit: Getty Images

A team led by researchers at ORNL explored training strategies for one of the largest artificial intelligence models to date with help from the world’s fastest supercomputer. The findings could help guide training for a new generation of AI models for scientific research.
 

Frontier supercomputer sets new standard in molecular simulation

When scientists pushed the world’s fastest supercomputer to its limits, they found those limits stretched beyond even their biggest expectations. In the latest milestone, a team of engineers and scientists used Frontier to simulate a system of nearly half a trillion atoms — the largest system ever modeled and more than 400 times the size of the closest competition.

Chapman recognized for work as peer reviewer

Joseph Chapman, a research scientist in quantum communications at ORNL, was given the Physical Review Applied Reviewer Excellence 2024 award for his work as a peer reviewer for the journal Physical Review Applied.

From left, J.D. Rice, Trevor Michelson and Chris Seck look at a monitor in Seck’s lab. The three are wearing safety glasses to protect against the laser beams used by the scanning vibrometer, which is helping Seck quantify vibration of an appliance in his lab. Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL scientists are working on a project to engineer and develop a cryogenic ion trap apparatus to simulate quantum spin liquids, a key research area in materials science and neutron scattering studies.

Mohamad Zineddin

Mohamad Zineddin hopes to establish an interdisciplinary center of excellence for nuclear security at ORNL, combining critical infrastructure assessment and protection, risk mitigation, leadership in nuclear security, education and training, nuclear security culture and resilience strategies and techniques.

Jiafu Mao, left, and Yaoping Wang discuss their analysis of urban and rural vegetation resilience across the United States in the EVEREST visualization lab at ORNL. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at ORNL completed a study of how well vegetation survived extreme heat events in both urban and rural communities across the country in recent years. The analysis informs pathways for climate mitigation, including ways to reduce the effect of urban heat islands.

ORNL researcher Felicia Gilliland loads experiment samples into position for the newly installed UR5E robotic arm at the BIO-SANS instrument. The industrial-grade robot changes samples automatically, reducing the need for human assistance and improving sample throughput. Credit: Jeremy Rumsey/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The BIO-SANS instrument, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, is the latest neutron scattering instrument to be retrofitted with state-of-the-art robotics and custom software. The sophisticated upgrade quadruples the number of samples the instrument can measure automatically and significantly reduces the need for human assistance.

The Linac Coherent Light Source at DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California reveals the structural dynamics of atoms and molecules through X-ray snapshots at ultrafast timescales. Pictured here is the LCLS-II tunnel. Credit: Jim Gensheimer/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Plans to unite the capabilities of two cutting-edge technological facilities funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science promise to usher in a new era of dynamic structural biology. Through DOE’s Integrated Research Infrastructure, or IRI, initiative, the facilities will complement each other’s technologies in the pursuit of science despite being nearly 2,500 miles apart.

The AI for Energy Report provides a framework for using AI to accelerate decarbonization of the U.S. economy. Credit: Argonne National Laboratory

Groundbreaking report provides ambitious framework for accelerating clean energy deployment while minimizing risks and costs in the face of climate change.