Custom software speeds up, stabilizes high-profile ocean model

The illustration depicts ocean surface currents simulated by MPAS-Ocean.
Illustration Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory, E3SM, U.S. Dept. of Energy

On the beach, ocean waves provide soothing white noise. But in scientific laboratories, they play a key role in weather forecasting and climate research. Along with the atmosphere, the ocean is typically one of the largest and most computationally demanding components of Earth system models like the Department of Energy’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM.

Most modern ocean models focus on two categories of waves: a barotropic system, which has a fast wave propagation speed, and a baroclinic system, which has a slow wave propagation speed. To help address the challenge of simulating these two modes simultaneously, a team from DOE’s Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new solver algorithm that reduces the total run time of the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Ocean, or MPAS-Ocean, E3SM’s ocean circulation model, by 45%. 

The researchers tested their software on the Summit supercomputer at ORNL’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, and the Compy supercomputer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They ran their primary simulations on the Cori and Perlmutter supercomputers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, and their results were published in the International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications.

Lightning, camera, gamma ray!

Lightning captured with the highspeed camera at 40,000 frames per second.
Photo Credit: Rasha Abbasi

In September 2021, an unprecedented thunderstorm blew across Utah’s West Desert. Lightning from this storm produced at least six gamma ray flashes that beamed downward to Earth’s surface and activated detectors at the University of Utah-led Telescope Array. The storm was noteworthy on its own—the array usually clocks one or two of the lightning-triggered gamma rays per year—but recent upgrades led to a new observation by the Telescope Array scientists and their lightning collaborators.

For the first time ever, they captured video footage of lightning-triggered downward terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). A special camera running at 40,000 frames per second gave an unprecedented look at how gamma rays burst downwards to the Earth’s surface from cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. They found that not only were multiple gamma rays produced at later lightning stages than previously thought, but the rays were also associated with a pulse of optical light that had never been recorded.

“This is an important step in lightning research that could lead us to the physics producing these downward gamma rays,” said lead author Dr. Rasha Abbasi, now an assistant professor of physics at Loyola University Chicago. Abbasi began the research on TGFs as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Utah.

New study eyes nutrition-rich chia seed for potential to improve human health

Chia seeds.
Photo Credit: Pankaj Jaiswal.

Oregon State University scientists have sequenced the chia genome and in doing so provided a blueprint for future research that capitalizes on the nutritional and human health benefits of the plant.

In the just-published paper, the researchers identified chia genes associated with improving nutrition and sought after properties for pharmaceuticals that could be used to treat everything from cancer to high blood pressure. The seeds of the chia plant have received widespread attention in recent years because of the nutritional punch they pack.

Others have sequenced the chia genome, but this paper provides a more detailed look at the molecular level and the potential of genetic data mining with a keen focus on human health applications.

“This research opens up possibilities for scientists to study chia seed through the lens of improving human health while at the same time continuing to further our knowledge of all the nutritional benefits of chia,” said Pankaj Jaiswal, a professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology in the College or Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State.

Camera traps uncover mysterious lesula monkey’s ‘business’

Camera traps equipped with infrared sensors automatically and non-invasively captured videos of Africa’s lesula monkey in the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without any disturbance to their social groups.

Video Credit: Florida Atlantic University

Strategically placed camera traps have uncovered the mysterious behavior of an elusive species of African monkey – Cercopithecus lomamiensis, commonly known as the “lesula.”

In much the same way that Ring home security cameras capture both mundane and extraordinary events, strategically placed camera traps have uncovered the mysterious behavior of an elusive species of African monkey – Cercopithecus lomamiensis, commonly known as the “lesula.” With its large human-like eyes, golden mane and pink face, this cryptic species was discovered in 2012 in the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Because of the lesula’s mysterious behavior, traditional observational methods in the field are challenging. To date, no behavioral study has been done to evaluate this species’ degree of terrestriality.

To address a lack of comprehensive ecological knowledge on this lineage, Florida Atlantic University researchers were the first to design and employ an intensive camera trap study to document the lesula’s terrestrial movement, daytime activity pattern, birth seasonality, group size and social organization.

Camera traps, equipped with infrared sensors to automatically and non-invasively capture videos, provided the researchers with the best approach to estimate group counts from non-habituated lesula individuals without any disturbance to their social groups.

Tropical ice cores offer deeper insights into Earth’s temperature record

Ice cores recovered from tropical locations act as unique records of Earth's complex climate history.
Huascarán, Huaraz, Perú
Photo Credit: Jean Simón

A new study suggests ice recovered from high tropical mountains can reveal key insights about Earth’s past climate changes.  

Led by scientists at The Ohio State University, the study showed that oxygen-stable isotope records stored in tropical mountain glacier ice cores can be used to provide scientists with a distinct paleoclimate history of the planet’s middle and upper troposphere. By combining ice core proxy records, paleoclimate simulations and modern satellite measurements and comparing the results to those from previous climate models, they found that the temperature in this region of the atmosphere cooled by 7.35 degrees Celsius during the Earth’s glacial period, which for many researchers illuminates new theories about climate dynamics throughout the ages.  

“Typically, you need hundreds of pieces of data to construct a record of global mean temperature,” said Zhengyu Liu, lead author of the study and a professor of geography at The Ohio State University. “It turns out, in that region in the tropics and at that height, you can use just one, and it’s very consistent with many other independent constructions available, which rely primarily on sea surface temperature proxies.” 

Researchers Find Way to Weld Metal Foam Without Melting Its Bubbles

Composite metal foam (CMF) components
Image Credit: Courtesy of North Carolina State University

Researchers at North Carolina State University have now identified a welding technique that can be used to join composite metal foam (CMF) components together without impairing the properties that make CMF desirable. CMFs hold promise for a wide array of applications because the pockets of air they contain make them light, strong and effective at insulating against high temperatures.

CMFs are foams that consist of hollow, metallic spheres – made of materials such as stainless steel or titanium – embedded in a metallic matrix made of steel, titanium, aluminum or other metallic alloys. The resulting material is both lightweight and remarkably strong, with potential applications ranging from aircraft wings to vehicle armor and body armor.

In addition, CMF is better at insulating against high heat than conventional metals and alloys, such as steel. The combination of weight, strength and thermal insulation means that CMF also holds promise for use in storing and transporting nuclear material, hazardous materials, explosives and other heat-sensitive materials.

However, in order to realize many of these applications, manufacturers would need to weld multiple CMF components together. And that has posed a problem.

Quantum batteries break causality

Charging quantum batteries in indefinite causal order.
In the classical world, if you tried to charge a battery using two chargers, you would have to do so in sequence, limiting the available options to just two possible orders. However, leveraging the novel quantum effect called ICO opens the possibility to charge quantum batteries in a distinctively unconventional way. Here, multiple chargers arranged in different orders can exist simultaneously, forming a quantum superposition.
Illustration Credit: ©2023 Chen et al.
CC BY-ND 4.0 DEED

Batteries that exploit quantum phenomena to gain, distribute and store power promise to surpass the abilities and usefulness of conventional chemical batteries in certain low-power applications. For the first time, researchers including those from the University of Tokyo take advantage of an unintuitive quantum process that disregards the conventional notion of causality to improve the performance of so-called quantum batteries, bringing this future technology a little closer to reality.

When you hear the word “quantum,” the physics governing the subatomic world, developments in quantum computers tend to steal the headlines, but there are other upcoming quantum technologies worth paying attention to. One such item is the quantum battery which, though initially puzzling in name, holds unexplored potential for sustainable energy solutions and possible integration into future electric vehicles. Nevertheless, these new devices are poised to find use in various portable and low-power applications, especially when opportunities to recharge are scarce.

Bats declined as Britain felled trees for colonial shipbuilding

A western barbastelle.
Photo Credit: Antton Alberdi

Bat numbers declined as Britain’s trees were felled for shipbuilding in the early colonial period, new research shows.

The study, by the University of Exeter and the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), found Britain’s Western barbastelle bat populations have dropped by 99% over several hundred years.

Animals’ DNA can be analyzed to discover a “signature” of the past, including periods when populations declined, leading to more inbreeding and less genetic diversity.

Scientists used this method to discover the historic decline of Western barbastelles in Britain – and also analyzed modern landscapes to see what helps and harms bats.

They found more genetic diversity among bats in areas rich in broadleaf woodland and diverse habitats.

Artificial light reduced connectivity between populations, probably because bats avoid areas with bright lighting, while rivers and woodlands increased connectivity.

“These bats usually roost in mature oak and beech trees, and move around every few nights – so they benefit from areas with substantial woodland cover,” said Dr Orly Razgour, from the University of Exeter.

Enabling early detection of cancer

With his group’s new method and the use of artificial intelligence, G.V. Shivashankar hopes to improve tumor diagnosis.
Photo Credit: Paul Scherrer Institute/Markus Fischer

Blood cells reveal tumors in the body. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute achieve an advance with the development of a test for early diagnosis of cancer.

The ability to detect a developing tumor at a very early stage and to closely monitor the success or failure of cancer therapy is crucial for a patient’s survival. A breakthrough on both counts has now been achieved by researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. Researchers led by G.V. Shivashankar, head of PSI‘s Laboratory for Nanoscale Biology and professor of Mechano-Genomics at ETH Zurich, were able to prove that changes in the organization of the cell nucleus of some blood cells can provide a reliable indication of a tumor in the body. With their technique – using artificial intelligence – the scientists were able to distinguish between healthy and sick people with an accuracy of around 85 percent. Besides that, they managed to correctly determine the type of tumor disease – melanoma, glioma, or head and neck tumor. “This is the first time anyone, worldwide, has achieved this,” Shivashankar says happily. The researchers have published their results in the journal npj Precision Oncology.

New Insights into Ecosystem Functions

The mastermind behind the new statistical method: mathematician and statistician Anne Chao from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. Here she is in the university forest of the University of Würzburg on an experimental test plot.
Photo Credit: Simon Thorn/JMU

A DFG research group led by the University of Würzburg has developed a method that makes it possible to analyze the relationship between biodiversity within and between ecosystems and the multifunctionality of entire landscapes.

Ecosystems fulfil a number of vital tasks: They store carbon, clean polluted water, pollinate plants and so on. How well an ecosystem can fulfil these tasks depends largely on its biodiversity, i.e. the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms that live in it. Until now, scientists have only been able to understand the exact nature of this relationship at a local level, for example in relation to individual forest areas, meadows and ponds. The DFG (German Research Foundation) research group BETA-FOR, led by the University of Würzburg (JMU), has now succeeded in developing a statistical method that for the first time can also analyze the contributions of biodiversity between local ecosystems to the multifunctionality of entire landscapes.