Lack of sleep could be a problem for AIs
Image from SciAm.
One of the distinguishing features of machines is that they don’t need to sleep, unlike humans and any other creature with a central nervous system. Someday though, your toaster might need a nap from time to time, as may your car, fridge and anything else that is revolutionized with artificial intelligence technologies. At least that’s the implication of new research that we are conducting in Los Alamos National Laboratory to understand systems that operate much like the neurons inside living brains. Our realization came about as we worked to develop neural networks that closely approximate how humans and other biological systems learn to see. (Full Story)
Los Alamos examines impact of vaccines
A possible COVID-19 vaccine, photo from the Journal.
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using computer models to study how the timing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines might shape the course of the pandemic – work that may influence policymakers in New Mexico and across the country.
The researchers say wearing masks and taking other steps to limit the spread of the disease will remain critical for months to come, even as the first vaccines reach New Mexico, perhaps next week.
“People don’t realize how much power they have in what’s going on,” mathematical epidemiologist Sara Del Valle said in a Journal interview. “It’s up to us as individuals. Our collective behavior has a great impact on how we fight this disease.” (Full Story)
How long will it take for the COVID-19 vaccine to reach New Mexicans?
New Mexico ordered more than 17,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine which could be authorized next week. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are using a unique type of modeling to figure out when life in New Mexico could start going back to normal.
“To understand how to distribute [sic] vaccine, so that we can measure the impact on the healthcare system and also analyze when we can reopen the schools safely and the overall impact on the population including cases, how we can reduce cases and deaths,” said Mathematical Epidemiologist Sara Del Valle. (Full Story)
State officials provide more details about vaccine distribution plan
Pending FDA approval, 17,550 vaccine doses will come to New Mexico in a little more than a week. Researchers at Los Alamos National Labs are working to map out the path.
"This project is about using mathematical models and computation simulations to understand how to distribute the vaccine,” said Sara Del Valle, a mathematical epidemiologist at LANL. Scientists like Del Valle are working to identify the most effective and efficient way to stop the spread with a vaccine. (Full Story)
Also from the Santa Fe Reporter
Los Alamos National Lab chronicles its multifaceted computing battle against COVID-19
Covid-19, NIH image.
Well before COVID-19 struck New Mexico, New Mexico was striking COVID-19. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) began its research on COVID-19 in late January, one of several national labs to position itself as an early mover in fighting the pandemic research with high-performance computing.
Some LANL researchers, like scientist Dave Osthus, had an easy pivot to COVID-19 thanks to ongoing virus research that preceded the pandemic. Osthus and his colleagues provide weekly infection forecasts during flu season using a model so successful that it had won awards in previous flu seasons. (Full Story)
Breakthrough material makes pathway to hydrogen use for fuel cells under hot, dry conditions
Proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids, LANL graphic.
Acollaborative research team, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Stuttgart (Germany), University of New Mexico, and Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids that maintain high protonic conductivity up to 200 C without water.
They describe the material advance in a paper published this week in Nature Materials. Hydrogen produced from renewable, nuclear, or fossil fuels with carbon capture, utilization, and storage can help to decarbonize industries and provide environmental, energy resilience and flexibility across multiple sectors in the economy. (Full Story)
AI reveals first direct observation of rupture propagation during slow quakes
Using a trained neural network and data from the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey, a research team led by Los Alamos National Laboratory revealed the first direct observation of rupture propagation during a slow earthquake.
“The deep-learning approach we developed makes it possible to automatically detect the small and transient deformation that occurs on faults with unprecedented resolution, paving the way for a systematic study of the interplay between slow and regular earthquakes, at a global scale,” said Bertrand Rouet-Leduc, a geophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and leader of the research team. (Full Story)
‘Let’s talk exascale’: storing and managing exa-class data volumes
Jim Ahrens, LANL photo.
In this new edition of “Let’s Talk Exascale” from the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project, the ECP’s Scott Gibson talks with Jim Ahrens of Los Alamos National Laboratory about the project’s data and visualization portfolio.
As Ahrens said in this interview, “We can compute much faster than we can save and store data these days – specifically, exascale system concurrency is expected to grow by five or six orders of magnitude, yet system memory and IO bandwidth is only expected to grow by one or two orders of magnitude. And this discrepancy is really front and center for us to address. We need to figure out methods to address this issue.” (Full Story)
Breakthrough of the Year finalists: Thin-film perovskite detectors slash imaging dose
Perovskite thin-film X-ray detector, LANL image.
To Wanyi Nie and colleagues at Los Alamos National Laboratory for using thin-film perovskites to create an extremely sensitive X-ray detector. Using a synchrotron beamline to characterize their thin-film perovskite detectors, the researchers found that the X-ray absorption coefficients of the perovskite materials were on average 10 to 40 times higher than that of silicon for higher-energy X-rays. They also demonstrated that the new X-ray detectors are 100 times more sensitive than conventional silicon-based devices. This new type of solid-state X-ray detector could enable medical and dental imaging at extremely low radiation dose, enabling the same quality image to be generated using a much-reduced X-ray dose, making scans safer for patients. (Full Story)
James Owen: From Peñasco to leader of weapons engineering
James Owen, LANL photo.
Growing up in Peñasco, in rural Taos County, Los Alamos seemed like a far-off world to James Owen and his friends. But a school field trip to the Bradbury Science Museum when he was a high school sophomore abruptly changed all that.
“A Los Alamos National Lab staff member presented to us and introduced this concept of implosion and it absolutely caught my attention,” James remembers. “It’s a relatively easy concept to understand now, but as a high school sophomore, I was really perplexed by this idea of implosion versus explosion. I became interested and really enthralled with Los Alamos from that point forward.” (Full Story)
Also from the LA Reporter this week:
Bioscience Division teams up with a New Mexico small business to test antibacterial face masks
Chris Cooper of Green Theme Technologies assesses the treated masks that are ready for distribution, LANL photo.
Around the country scientists and business leaders are thinking creatively about out-of-the-box ways to tackle the coronavirus, but closer to home a former Los Alamos National Laboratory chemist and a Bioscience Division staff member are applying known concepts to the simple face mask.
While seeking to develop a face mask that could not only block, but kill both bacteria and viruses, Gary Selwyn needed to have the antibacterial and antiviral assessments done independently. An NMSBA coordinator connected Selwyn with Laverne Gallegos-Graves of the Bioenergy and Biome Sciences group at Los Alamos to test the antibacterial properties, while staff at University of New Mexico handled the viral work. (Full Story)
LANL Spotlight: Derrick Key … caught In the camera eye
Photo by Derrick Key.
Among the lowrider aficionados enjoying the bright colors and hopping rhythms during a summertime car show in Española, Derrick Key, a fabrication technician at Los Alamos National Laboratory, wanders about the many “low and slow” vehicles on display.
But Key isn’t really at this event to check out the custom cars. A tell-tale camera in his hand, Key is here to take in the people and the lowrider culture that began with Mexican-American youths in the late 1940s and has since spread into other cultures, including African-American hip-hop culture and Japan’s custom-car scene. (Full Story)
To subscribe toLos Alamos Press Highlights, please e-maillistmanager@lanl.govand include the wordssubscribe PressHighlightsin the body of your email message; to unsubscribe, includeunsubscribe PressHighlights.
Please visit us at www.lanl.gov
