Welcome to ASCR Discovery, a webzine about the research that powers computational science – the use of computers to gain insight and understanding of scientific questions.

The Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research in the Department of Energy Office of Science supports the projects described here. ASCR’s portfolio includes projects at DOE laboratories and many public and private universities. Such research may take years to reach fruition, but has profound impact on science and, ultimately, the way we live.

We hope you find ASCR Discovery enlightening, and we encourage your comments.

Girding the grid - new
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are developing computational tools to improve the interconnected grids that power homes and businesses and to avoid major failures like the 2003 Northeast blackout. Researchers are modeling the system’s state in real time and finding ways to ensure such models are valid.

One-sided story 
Communication bottlenecks often slow supercomputers, as thousands of processors randomly read and write data in parallel. One group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers is out to break the logjam with UPC, a code that cuts communication to one direction.

Catching rays
Free electron lasers generate power-
ful X-rays that can probe matter directly at the atomic level and hold the potential to address a host of research challenges in physics, chemistry and material and biological sciences. But before these tricky, costly lasers are built, a team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is enlisting supercomputing to shed light on optimal designs.

Like clockwork - new
Using genetic engineering and computer modeling, University of California, San Diego researchers have built a genetic “clock,” in which bacteria use chemical signals to generate synchronized waves of activity. Their work has been published in a recent issue of the journal Nature.

Slick solution - new
Soap isn’t simple. The surfactants in detergents, shampoos and other oil-removing and grease-lifting substances are difficult-to-design molecular concoctions. That’s why industry and academic researchers are using computer simulations to test them and find possible ways to reduce chemical waste.

An explosive past
Combustion simulation traces its roots to the Cold War and first found expression in the literature of astrophysics. In the past few decades, computation has become so critical that combustion experimentation through simulation has become the only game in town.

Conquering unfriendly skies
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Cecilia Aragon overcame discrimination and crippling shyness to become a rising star in computer science and visualization, work that led this year to a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She also is
a world-class aviator.

(Hubble Space Telescope image, Space Telescope Science Institute)

Notable covers developments in the scientific computing field, including work that has gained recognition and researchers who are moving up or moving on.