Data Science in the News

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Lab antibody, anti-viral research aids COVID-19 response

March 26, 2020 - 
LLNL scientists are contributing to the global fight against COVID-19 by combining artificial intelligence/machine learning, bioinformatics and supercomputing to help discover candidates for new antibodies and pharmaceutical drugs to combat the disease. Armed with the virus’ predicted 3D structure and a few antibodies known to bind and neutralize SARS, an LLNL team led by Daniel Faissol and...

DSI sponsors LLNL hackathon

Feb. 18, 2020 - 
Since 2012, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) Computing directorate has held hackathons three times a year. These spring, summer, and fall events are scheduled over 24 hours and invite software teams to work on new ideas, programming languages, open-source tools, or project tasks. Exploration and experimentation are highly encouraged, and “It’s OK to fail” is the event mantra...

Deep learning may provide solution for efficient charging, driving of autonomous electric vehicles

Feb. 4, 2020 - 
LLNL computer scientists and software engineers have developed a deep learning-based strategy to maximize electric vehicle (EV) ride-sharing services while reducing carbon emissions and the impact to the electrical grid, emphasizing autonomous EVs capable of offering 24-hour service. Read more at LLNL News.

Lab leads effort to model proteins tied to cancer

Oct. 31, 2019 - 
Computational scientists, biophysicists and statisticians from LLNL and Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL) are leading a massive multi-institutional collaboration that has developed a machine learning-based simulation for next-generation supercomputers capable of modeling protein interactions and mutations that play a role in many forms of cancer. Read more at LLNL News.

Learning about learning: reading group discusses advancements in AI

Oct. 2, 2019 - 
Teams from around Lawrence Livermore conduct research using artificial intelligence, and the Data Science Institute’s (DSI’s) Machine Learning Reading Group serves as a resource for employees to keep one another apprised of developments in this ever-changing field. The group meets weekly to share and discuss new literature on machine learning and deep learning, subsets of artificial...

Cindy Gonzales forges a new career in data science

Sept. 25, 2019 - 
Through LLNL’s Data Science Immersion Program, Gonzales is now among the Lab’s newest data scientists. For two and a half years, she juggled a demanding workload—coordinating Computing’s Scholar Program, interning with data scientists, learning from mentors, supporting LLNL’s Data Science Institute, and attending college part time—while also having her first child. Read more at LLNL Computing...

Collaboration drives data science workshop

Sept. 12, 2019 - 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) Data Science Institute (DSI) hosted its second annual workshop on July 23–24, 2019. Co-sponsored by the University of California (UC) system, the event drew more than 200 participants to Garré Winery in Livermore. A common theme ran throughout both days: Collaboration is always welcome. Indeed, feedback from last year’s workshop inspired a...

Energy Department, Weill Foundation sign MOU to advance AI for biomedicine, health research

Aug. 27, 2019 - 
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Sandy Weill, founder of the Weill Family Foundation, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formally initiate a public-private partnership for artificial intelligence (AI), neurological disorders and related subjects. The MOU will foster collaboration to demonstrate AI-based research breakthroughs that span from basic science focused on a better...

CANDLE illuminates new pathways in fight against cancer

Aug. 16, 2019 - 
As part of the Department of Energy’s role in the fight against cancer, scientists are building tools that use supercomputers to solve problems in entirely new ways. Cancer research provides a complex deep learning challenge that enables DOE to develop new supercomputing capabilities that will, in turn, help scientists address challenges in national security and science. The CANcer...

LLNL Center for Applied Scientific Computing: accelerating scientific discovery (VIDEO)

July 12, 2019 - 
The Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) serves as LLNL’s window to the broader computer science, computational physics, applied mathematics, and data science research communities. Major thrust areas in CASC research include: (1) Increasing simulation fidelity by integrating multi-physics and multi-scale models, increasing resolution through advanced numerical methods and more...

Protecting image classification in artificial intelligence

July 8, 2019 - 
To address vulnerability concerns in image classification, a new subfield of machine learning has emerged called adversarial machine learning, which focuses on the security of machine learning algorithms. Thomas Hogan, a doctoral student of mathematics at UC Davis, spent his summer investigating this new area of research during the National Science Foundation’s Mathematical Sciences Graduate...

NFL comes to Lab to hear latest on TBI research

June 5, 2019 - 
Officials from the National Football League visited LLNL to hear how the Department of Energy’s national laboratories are using high-performance computing and artificial intelligence to advance scientific understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Read more at LLNL News.

Speech generation: siblings collaborate on machine learning hackathon project

May 28, 2019 - 
The first recording that brothers Sam and Joe Eklund, along with their colleague Travis Chambers, played for the audience was a validation. “I endorse Travis as president of the United States of America,” the audio clip played, in a voice resembling Barack Obama’s. The second, in the same voice, was a declaration: “Ice is back, our brand new invention” (from the song “Ice Ice Baby” by...

How machine learning could change science

April 29, 2019 - 
Artificial intelligence tools are revolutionizing scientific research and changing the needs of high-performance computing. LLNL has been exploiting the relationship between simulation and experiments to build predictive codes using machine learning and data analytics techniques. Read more at Data Center Dynamics.

DOE fueled AI is transforming the world as we know it (VIDEO)

April 5, 2019 - 
National Labs are home to some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. These powerful machines they have the potential to unlock artificial intelligence, providing scientists and researchers the ability to quickly analyze massive datasets for answers to the world's most complex problems. Watch on YouTube.

Multi-institutional meeting centers on making the 'impossible' possible in cancer research

March 22, 2019 - 
Computer scientists, biomedical engineers, cancer biologists and bioinformaticians from eight Department of Energy national laboratories, health-related government agencies and universities converged at LLNL March 6-7 to discuss ongoing efforts to advance cancer research through computation, identify existing challenges and brainstorm future multidisciplinary projects. Read more at LLNL News...

CASC research showcased at major data science venues

March 20, 2019 - 
Researchers from LLNL’s Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) are among the Lab’s employees making waves in the data science community, with many prominent accolades, publications, and acceptances in 2018. Data science encompasses some of the hottest technology topics—machine learning (ML), “big data” analysis, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and more—and the Center’s...

Making connections, career development highlight Women in Data Science regional event

March 11, 2019 - 
For the second straight year, the HPC Innovation Center at LLNL played host to a Women in Data Science WiDS) regional event on March 4, drawing in dozens of attendees from LLNL, local universities and other Bay Area national laboratories. Livermore was one of more than 150 regional events held at sites across the globe in conjunction with the Global WiDS conference at Stanford University. Rea...

Going deep: Lab employees get an introduction to world of machine learning, neural networks

Feb. 1, 2019 - 
Deep learning is one of the most popular and widely used machine learning methods due to its success with autonomous vehicles, speech recognition and image classification, to name a few emergent technologies. But what exactly is deep learning, and how can it best be applied to Lab projects? LLNL employees discovered the answers during a recent "Deep Learning 101" course, which introduced the...

Playing video games may help researchers find personalized medical treatment for sepsis

Dec. 18, 2018 - 
A deep learning approach originally designed to teach computers how to play video games better than humans could aid in developing personalized medical treatment for sepsis, a disease that causes about 300,000 deaths per year and for which there is no known cure. LLNL, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Vermont, is exploring how deep reinforcement learning can discover...