Research at NERSC spans a wide range of topics, from subatomic particles to the formation of the cosmos, and from alternative energy sources to the behavior of proteins. This year’s Research News presents a sampling of important investigations and discoveries made using NERSC’s computational resources.

Global warming and energy issues were frequently in the news this past year. The article “Delayed reactions” describes three investigations into the dynamics and results of global warming; they conclude that climate change is no longer avoidable. “Burning questions” and “Combustion up close” report on breakthrough studies of the basic processes of combustion; studies such as these contribute to the scientific understanding needed if we are to improve the efficiency of our energy use. “Hailstones in hell” discusses an important issue in the design of fusion reactors, a long-anticipated alternative source of energy that is moving closer to realization.

Computational studies of matter and its behavior cover the widest possible range of scales, from subatomic to molecular to nanoscale to cosmic. “A perfect liquid” reports on the remarkable newly created state of quark-gluon matter. “Whispers from underground” relates how ghostly geoneutrinos hint at Earth’s inner secrets. “Breaking up is hard to calculate” tells of the first complete numerical solution of the fragmentation of a system with four charged particles. At the nanoscale, “Talent scouting” and “Surface charge” discuss important discoveries about catalysts. And at the cosmic scale, “Magnetic disks in space” explores the origins of instability in accretion disks.

Finally, computing is becoming an indispensable tool for biology and medicine. The article “Proteins in motion” tells how biochemists are systematically simulating the unfolding pathways of all known protein folds, hoping to discover the general principles of protein folding, one of the basic mechanisms of life.