Data Science in the News

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El Capitan verified as world's fastest supercomputer

Nov. 18, 2024 - 
LLNL, in collaboration with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Hewlett Packard Enterprise and AMD, have officially unveiled El Capitan as the world's most powerful supercomputer and first exascale system dedicated to national security. Verified at 1.742 exaflops (1.742 quintillion calculations per second) on the High Performance Linpack—the standard benchmark used by the...

ICECap looks to use exascale fusion simulations to pioneer digital design

Oct. 17, 2024 - 
A groundbreaking multidisciplinary team of LLNL researchers is combining the power of exascale computing with AI, advanced workflows and graphics processor (GPU)-acceleration to advance scientific innovation and revolutionize digital design. The project, called ICECap (Inertial Confinement on El Capitan), is a transformative approach to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) design optimization...

Measuring attack vulnerability in AI/ML models

Aug. 26, 2024 - 
LLNL is advancing the safety of AI/ML models in materials design, bioresilience, cyber security, stockpile surveillance, and many other areas. A key line of inquiry is model robustness, or how well it defends against adversarial attacks. A paper accepted to the renowned 2024 International Conference on Machine Learning explores this issue in detail. In “Adversarial Robustness Limits via...

International workshop focuses on AI for critical infrastructure

Aug. 12, 2024 - 
On August 4, LLNL researchers Felipe Leno da Silva and Ruben Glatt hosted the AI for Critical Infrastructure workshop at the 33rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) in Jeju, South Korea. Professors Wencong Su (University of Michigan – Dearborn) and Yi Wang (University of Hong Kong) joined them in organizing the workshop focused on exploring AI opportunities and...

Evaluating trust and safety of large language models

Aug. 8, 2024 - 
Accepted to the 2024 International Conference on Machine Learning, two Livermore papers examined trustworthiness—how a model uses data and makes decisions—of large language models, or LLMs. In “TrustLLM: Trustworthiness in Large Language Models,” Bhavya Kailkhura and collaborators from universities and research organizations around the world developed a comprehensive trustworthiness...

Department of Energy announces FASST initiative

July 16, 2024 - 
On July 16, the Department of Energy formally announced the proposed Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security and Technology (FASST) initiative via the web page www.energy.gov/fasst (with accompanying video and fact sheet). As stated on the web page, the speed and scale of the AI landscape are significant motivators for investing in strategic AI capabilities: “Without FASST...

AI, fusion, and national security with Brian Spears (VIDEO)

July 13, 2024 - 
This episode of the Eye on AI podcast delves into the cutting-edge world of AI and high-performance computing with Brian Spears, director of LLNL's AI Innovation Incubator. The episode is presented here as a video with the following description: "Brian shares his experience in driving AI into national security science and managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile. With a PhD in mechanical...

Signal and image science community comes together for annual workshop

June 26, 2024 - 
Nearly 150 members of the signal and image science community recently came together to discuss the latest advances in the field and connect with colleagues, friends, and potential collaborators at the 28th annual Center for Advanced Signal and Image Science (CASIS) workshop. The event featured more than 50 technical contributions across six workshop tracks and a parallel tutorials session...

FAA awards approval for drone swarm testing

May 29, 2024 - 
LLNL’s Autonomous Sensors team has received the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) first and—to date—only certificate of authorization allowing autonomous drone swarming exercises on the Lab main campus. These flights will test swarm controls and sensor payloads used in a variety of national security applications. Autonomous drone swarms differ from those used for entertainment...

Harnessing the power of AI for a safe and secure future (VIDEO)

May 13, 2024 - 
LLNL, alongside the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 17 national labs, is harnessing the transformative potential of AI for a safer, more secure future. In 2022, LLNL made history by achieving fusion ignition, marking a pivotal moment for national security and clean energy. While AI continues to unlock new insights into fusion, through the combination of cutting-edge computer modeling...

Welcome new DSI team members

April 2, 2024 - 
When Data Science Institute (DSI) director Brian Giera and deputy director Cindy Gonzales began planning activities for fiscal year 2024 and beyond, they immediately realized that LLNL’s growth in data science and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) research requires corresponding growth in the DSI’s efforts. “Our field is booming,” Giera states. “The Lab has a stake in the...

WiDS Livermore conference attendees network, share research and absorb wisdom

March 27, 2024 - 
Co-sponsored by the DSI, LLNL on March 13 hosted the 7th annual Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference for data scientists, industry professionals, recent graduates and others interested in the field. As an independent satellite of the global WiDS conference celebrating International Women’s Day, the Livermore hybrid event was held to highlight the work and careers of LLNL and regional data...

Register for WiDS Livermore on March 13

Feb. 8, 2024 - 
The annual Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference returns on Wednesday, March 13. This is the seventh year for WiDS Livermore, which is independently organized by LLNL to be part of the mission to increase participation of women in data science and to feature outstanding women doing outstanding work. The all-day WiDS Livermore event is free and will be presented in a hybrid format. Everyone...

Will it bend? Reinforcement learning optimizes metamaterials

Dec. 13, 2023 - 
Lawrence Livermore staff scientist Xiaoxing Xia collaborated with the Technical University of Denmark to integrate machine learning (ML) and 3D printing techniques. The effort naturally follows Xia’s PhD work in materials science at the California Institute of Technology, where he investigated electrochemically reconfigurable structures. In a paper published in the Journal of Materials...

For better CT images, new deep learning tool helps fill in the blanks

Nov. 17, 2023 - 
At a hospital, an airport, or even an assembly line, computed tomography (CT) allows us to investigate the otherwise inaccessible interiors of objects without laying a finger on them. To perform CT, x-rays first shine through an object, interacting with the different materials and structures inside. Then, the x-rays emerge on the other side, casting a projection of their interactions onto a...

Lab partners with new Space Force Lab

Nov. 14, 2023 - 
LLNL subject matter experts have been selected by the U.S. Space Force to help stand up its newest Tools, Applications, and Processing (TAP) laboratory dedicated to advancing military space domain awareness (SDA). The Livermore team attended the October 26 kickoff in Colorado Springs of the SDA TAP lab’s Project Apollo technology accelerator, designed with an open framework to support and...

LLNL, University of California partner for AI-driven additive manufacturing research

Sept. 27, 2023 - 
Grace Gu, a faculty member in mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative. The initiative is a joint endeavor between LLNL’s Strategic Deterrence Principal Directorate and UC national laboratories at the University of California Office of the President, seeking to foster long-term academic partnerships and...

High-performance computing, AI and cognitive simulation helped LLNL conquer fusion ignition

June 21, 2023 - 
For hundreds of LLNL scientists on the design, experimental, and modeling and simulation teams behind inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility, the results of the now-famous Dec. 5, 2022, ignition shot didn’t come as a complete surprise. The “crystal ball” that gave them increased pre-shot confidence in a breakthrough involved a combination of detailed...

Visionary report unveils ambitious roadmap to harness the power of AI in scientific discovery

June 12, 2023 - 
A new report, the product of a series of workshops held in 2022 under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration, lays out a comprehensive vision for the Office of Science and NNSA to expand their work in scientific use of AI by building on existing strengths in world-leading high performance computing systems and data...

Data science meets fusion (VIDEO)

May 30, 2023 - 
LLNL’s historic fusion ignition achievement on December 5, 2022, was the first experiment to ever achieve net energy gain from nuclear fusion. However, the experiment’s result was not actually that surprising. A team leveraging data science techniques developed and used a landmark system for teaching artificial intelligence (AI) to incorporate and better account for different variables and...