Archive of past stories
Unfolding protein folding (August 7, 2009)
Proteins can be unpredictable, kinking into shapes that
help to determine these biological workhorses’
functions – or dysfunctions. A University of
Washington biologist is using high-performance computers
to explore the energy landscape these complex molecules
inhabit to help solve the protein puzzle and come up with
improved designs.
Full story
Clearing up clouds (June 12, 2009)
A team of researchers led by a University of Colorado scientist
is hoping to disperse some of the haze surrounding clouds&Rsquo; behavior
and influence on the atmosphere. The tool: a simulation operating at
an exceptionally fine scale.
Full story
Quiet, please (November 18, 2008)
The "noise" of an operating system's background activity can be a big
distraction for supercomputers. University of New Mexico and Sandia
National Laboratory researchers have ideas for keeping it quiet.
Full story
Plotting plasmas could influence fusion (July 31, 2007)
Computer simulation of the behavior of high-temperature plasmas is
crucial to the development of fusion reactors, a potential source
of clean energy. Russel Caflisch of UCLA and fellow researchers
are using a multiscale mathematics approach to deal with the
huge range of length and time scales that accurate modeling
requires.
Full story
Programming myths, folklore, and recurring bugs (June 18, 2007)
“Urban legends” – mixtures of truth, exaggeration
and falsity – exist within virtually all fields, and software development
is no exception. How such folklore enters the computer programming
culture – and can improve software developer productivity –
is what interests Victor Basili, a computer science professor at the University
of Maryland-College Park.
Full story
Digging up FOSLS (June 4, 2007)
A technique devised by a University of Colorado mathematician unravels
complex equations, letting computers solve them more quickly and
efficiently. He’s applied it to models of blood flow
and pressure in the eye.
Full story
Sniffing out bad code (April 16, 2007)
A program designed to find and fix bad computer codes now is
finding malicious programming and maintaining software on some
of the world’s biggest computers.
Full story
Calculating error pollution (April 16, 2007)
University of Texas researchers are out to make computer
simulations more precise with mathematical methods to estimate
errors. Potential results include smaller, faster
electronics, cures for disease, and other applications.
Full story
