S6E2: Prasanna Balaprakash: Predicting Earth Systems and Harnessing Swarms for Computing
In the second episode in our series on foundation models for science, we discuss Oak Ridge National Laboratory's work and hear about lessons learned from the recent 1000 Scientists AI Jam, a recent event that brought together researchers from several Department of Energy national laboratories, OpenAI and Anthropic. My guest is Prasanna Balaprakash, ORNL's director of AI programs. We talk about how foundation models could help with climate forecasts and his team's 2024 Gordon Bell finalist research and futuristic work that applies principles of swarm intelligence for managing distributed computing resources. Prasanna Balaprakash has been the director of artificial intelligence programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) since March 2023. Previously he had worked as a postdoctoral researcher and staff computer scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. He was a 2018 recipient of a Department of Energy Early Career Research Program award.
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S6E1 - Ian Foster: Exploring and Evaluating Foundation Models
Large language models aren't just powering chatbots like ChatGPT. This type of computational model is an example of a particular flavor of artificial intelligence known as foundation models, which are trained on vast amounts of data to make inferences in new areas. Although text is one rich data source, science offers many more from biology, chemistry, physics and more. Such models open up a tantalizing new set of research questions. How effective are foundation models for science? How could they be improved? Could they help researchers work on challenging questions? And what might they mean for the future of science? This episode begins a series where we'll explore these questions and more, talking with computational scientists about their work with foundation models and the opportunities and challenges in this exciting, rapidly changing area of research. We'll start by talking with Ian Foster of Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago about AuroraGPT, a foundation model being developed for science and named for Argonne's new exascale computer. You'll meet: Ian Foster is a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory where he directs the data science and learning division. He’s also a professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. He is the co-leader of the data team for Argonne's AuroraGPT project.
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S5E7 - Computational Scientists Discuss 2024 Nobel Prizes
Wrapping up our discussion of the 2024 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, computer scientist Mansi Sakarvadia and computational structural biologist Josh Vermaas talk about the recent prizes and what they mean for science. You'll hear about how the prizes both break down research barriers and introduce concerns about misinformation and public trust. The research honored with the chemistry prize has already changed how researchers study questions that involve understanding proteins' structures. For more on the 2024 Nobel Prizes, check out our recent interview with Anil Ananthaswamy. You'll meet: Mansi Sakarvadia is a Ph.D. student in the computer science department at the University of Chicago and a current Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow. She studies ways to interpret how machine learning models work. Josh Vermaas is an assistant professor at Michigan State University. His research in computational structural biology focuses on understanding photosynthesis and energy transfer processes in plants as part of the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory.
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S5E6 - Anil Ananthaswamy: AI's Nobel Moment
2024 was artificial intelligence’s Nobel Prize year with the physics and chemistry prizes recognizing the underpinnings and application of these algorithms. Science journalist and author Anil Ananthaswamy spent years writing a popular book, Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI, that explores the equations and historical context for this technology. In this conversation, Anil and host Sarah Webb explore that math and history, the significance of these Nobel Prizes for both AI and science, and the challenges that come with this powerful and fast-moving technology. You’ll meet: Anil Ananthaswamy is an award-winning journalist and journalist-in-residence at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously he has worked as a staff writer and editor for New Scientist magazine. He has written four books including Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI (Dutton, 2024).
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S5E5 - Sadie Bartholomew: Patterns in Computing and Art
The annual Supercomputing meeting (SC24) convenes November 17-22 in Atlanta with the theme of HPC creates, and Science in Parallel previews a special display at the meeting: the Art of HPC. Host Sarah Webb interviews Sadie Bartholomew of the United Kingdom's National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the University of Reading about her work as a research software engineer and her passion for creative coding. She submitted several pieces of digital art that will be displayed at SC24. Sadie discussed the many patterns in her work—within weather and climate, in coding and in digital art. She makes her pieces using matplotlib, a visualization tool in Python. She talks about the synergy and fulfillment she finds at the interface of computing and aesthetic pursuits.
Science in Parallel focuses on people in computational science and their work simulating climate and the cosmos, understanding viral infections, building alternative energy strategies and more – using high-performance computing (HPC). Host Sarah Webb interviews researchers about their career paths and motivations. Our conversations cover topics such as artificial intelligence, integrating emerging hardware, the effects of remote work, promoting diversity and inclusion, and the role of creativity in computing.
Our show is for curious, science-oriented listeners who like technology. You don’t need a deep background in science and computing to learn from our guests.
Science in Parallel has been shortlisted for the Publisher Podcast Awards: for 2022 Best Technology Podcast, 2023 Best Science and Medical Podcast and both categories in 2024. It is produced by the Krell Institute and is a media outreach project of the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) program.
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