Feature Articles

Physicists have been studying the question of how supernova explosions occur for more than 60 years. Thanks to the increasing power of supercomputing resources such as those at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, they're moving ever closer to an answer.

Finding a way to end the coronavirus pandemic has required a global response from thousands of people across scientific, medical, academic, and political entities. Among them are scientists working at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center and the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory LCLS, who teamed up to capture images of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and leverage the superfacility model for real-time data analysis.

To address PPE shortages during the pandemic, scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley are developing a rechargeable, reusable, anti-COVID N95 mask and a 3D-printable silicon-cast mask mold.

Berkeley Lab has a long history of participating in neutrino experiments and discoveries in locations ranging from a site 1.3 miles deep at a nickel mine in Ontario, Canada, to an underground research site near a nuclear power complex northeast of Hong Kong, and a neutrino observatory buried in ice near the South Pole.

Since April 2020, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), located at Berkeley Lab, has allotted 2.5 million node hours on its Cori supercomputer and has provided dedicated HPC staff liaisons and other resources to support COVID-19 research.

In this Q&A, Sinéad Griffin, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and Molecular Foundry, shares her thoughts on her search for light dark matter, the ultimate materials design challenge, and Berkeley Lab's collaborative "team science" culture.