Art of Science 2012

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Kandinksy's Gone Nuclear (One)

Nuclear reactors are usually cooled by a fluid; the flow is usually highly turbulent and chaotic - so much so that scientists are only now starting to uncover the complex underlying flow physics. The different colors in this picture represent different velocity intensities in a scaled-down facility representing a small nuclear reactor. The cylinders in the picture represent the fuel rods, which contain uranium. Simulations like this help us deepen our understanding of how nuclear reactors work in order to design safer and more efficient reactors. Researcher: Elia Merzari

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Kandinksy's Gone Nuclear (One)
Nuclear reactors are usually cooled by a fluid; the flow is usually highly turbulent and chaotic - so much so that scientists are only now starting to uncover the complex underlying flow physics. The different colors in this picture represent different velocity intensities in a scaled-down facility representing a small nuclear reactor. The cylinders in the picture represent the fuel rods, which contain uranium. Simulations like this help us deepen our understanding of how nuclear reactors work in order to design safer and more efficient reactors. Researcher: Elia Merzari
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Carbon Snowflakes
Graphene is a layer of carbon just a single atom thick. Scientists have many ideas for how it could be useful: in circuits, solar cells and removing salt from seawater, among other ideas. Here it forms crystals when grown on copper. This “snowflake” is about 75 microns in size—about the diameter of a single human hair. Researchers: Dean Miller (MSD) and Chia-hao Tu (MSD)
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Indium Fireball
This “fireball” is a droplet of liquid indium in contact with a nanowire made up of many tangled strands of silica. Silica is a transparent material found in nature as sand and quartz. It is very different from indium, which is a soft silvery metal. The entire structure is about a thousand times thinner than a human hair and even smaller than a single red blood cell. In this experiment, scientists found that they could guide the growth of the nanowire by bombarding it with ions. These nanowires could be useful in building next-generation batteries and solar cells. This high-resolution SEM photograph depicts a free-standing and self-aligned silica nanowire. Development of free-standing nanowire arrays is of technological interest for future energy conversion and energy storage devices. This silica nanowire is made of many individual silica strands or fibers and possesses an indium droplets at its tip. Energetic ion bombardment and the unique growth energetics affect its final appearance. Mediated by a droplet of liquid indium, this nanowire emerges and grows several microns tall. The droplet intercepts silicon atoms emitted from a nearby source. Water vapor added to the growth environment reacts with silicon dissolved in the indium droplet, precipitating a stranded silica nanowire from the droplet surface. The wire grows and aligns itself normal to the substrate as a result of normal incidence ion bombardment during processing. Without this ion bombardment, the nanowire orientation would be random, demonstrating that stranded silica nanowires are very responsive to energetic ion irradiation – a largely unknown property of nanowires. (The original black/white SEM image was re-colored in Photoshop 6.0.) Researchers: Martin Bettge (CSE) and Daniel Abraham (CSE) Argonne National Laboratory Scott MacLaren, Steve Burdin, Richard T Haasch, Ivan Petrov, Min-Feng Yu and Ernie Sammann University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Bettge et al. in Nanotechnol. 2012. (Discussion of the content can also be found in Bettge et al. in Nanotechnol. 2009 and J. Mater. Res. 2011).
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Carbon Galaxy
Scientists sometimes see the very largest parts of the universe echoed in the smallest. These “planets” are actually made of carbon, prepared at high temperature and pressure from plastic waste. The spherical carbon particles are just a few microns across—smaller than the diameter of a human hair. An artist overlaid color to mimic the solar system. The particles are being studied as electrodes for lithium-ion batteries, the kind in your cell phone and laptop, and as an additive to reduce friction and wear in gasoline engines. Researchers: Vilas Pol (CSE), Michael Thackeray (CSE) and Dean Miller (MSD) Artist: Michele Nelson (CEPA)
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Eruption
While it resembles lava erupting down the sides of a volcano, this image is actually nanoparticles just nanometers across—on the scale of the diameter of a human hair. The nanoparticles, made of polystyrene and magnetite, assemble themselves into these mountains and ridges. The research studies how to assemble nanoparticles into structures such as photonic crystals (found naturally in opals) which could be used in future optics and circuits. More technically, this is a dark field optical microscopic image of self-assembled polystyrene nanoparticles (130 nm in diamater) in ferrofluids in between two glass substrates without external magnetic field. Researcher: Yongxing Hu
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A Tight Squeeze
Argonne scientists are interested in what happens when they squeeze nanoparticles that are very, very small – on the scale of a thousand times smaller than a red blood cell. In a computer simulation, a silicon nanoparticle (blue atoms) is being squeezed by a sea of argon (green) atoms. These calculations, along with experiments, both show changes in the way light is emitted when a silicon nanoparticle is squeezed. MORE DETAILS » Silicon nanoparticles undergo interesting electronic and structural changes when placed under hydrostatic pressure. This image shows the view from inside a silicon nanoparticle which is being compressed using an inert gas in a molecular dynamics simulation. Gas atoms (green), Silicon atoms (grey). Artist: Rees Rankin (CNM) Researchers: Daniel Hannah (Northwestern), Maria Chan (CNM), George Schatz (Northwestern), Rich Schaller (CNM)
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Lantern Festival at Dusk
These colorful “lanterns” are really tiny carbon spheres, each just a few microns across—smaller than the diameter of a single strand of spider silk. They could be useful when added to engines to reduce wear and tear or as parts in lithium-ion batteries. Researchers: Vilas G. Pol and Michael Thackeray
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The Collapse of the Empire of Gold
This image could be interpreted as a dramatic clash between pre-Hispanic civilizations and the Spanish conquerors. Pottery and gold pieces are shattered, breaking apart in all directions; a moment of conflict and destruction is forever frozen in time and space. In reality, it is a scanning electron microscope image of crushed niobium oxide particles (with color added). Niobium oxide is being studied as a component of optical glass, which is used in camera lenses, telescopes and eyeglasses. Researcher: Vilas G. Pol
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Celestial Carbon Spheres
This scanning electron microscope image of connected carbon spheres looks like the landscape of the planets; in reality, each one is just three to four microns in diameter—smaller than a single bacterium! These spherical particles are being studied in lithium-ion batteries and as additives to reduce friction and wear in gasoline-powered engines. Researchers: Vilas Pol, Michael Thackeray, Dean Miller and Michele Nelson
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Deep Sea Forest
This image seems to portray a lush forest of plants at the depths of an emerald sea. Light trickles down from above, coloring the plants with a bright green hue. Small air bubbles escape toward the water's surface above, but the ocean plants remain strongly rooted, the permanent residents of the ocean floor. Actually, it's a scanning electron micrograph of gold nanodendrites grown on aluminium foil. Researchers: Vilas Pol, Mary Koelbl and Natalia Fitzgerald
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Trellis Islands
This is a scanning electron microscope image (magnification magnified 5000x5,000 times) of the surface of a wing scale of a Juniper Hairstreak butterfly found in North America, showing nanocrystals beneath a trellis network of longitudinal ridges and horizontal ribs. These nanocrystals selectively reflect green light, giving rise to shimmering colors. These clues from nature can one day lead to greener and more efficient paints, fiber optics and solar cells. Butterflies over millions of years of evolution have apparently perfected the manufacture of these crystals at nanometer length-scales using a process similar to modern engineering technologies, but with relative ease. Researcher: Vinod Saranathan Published: Saranathan et al. 2010 PNAS 107, 11676-81. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0909616107
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Tree
These tin crystals, stimulated by electricity, are growing on a copper surface. As the crystals grow, scientists take snapshots with a scanning electron microscope to understand how different conditions affect the final shape. This is part of research that looks into making better electrodes for next-generation lithium-ion batteries that will be light and powerful enough to take cars hundreds of miles on a single charge. The total size of this image is less than the thickness of a human hair. Researcher: Lynn Trahey
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Smoke
This is a two-dimensional slice of copper foam captured by a process known as X-ray tomography, which is a bit like a medical CAT scan. Instead of brains, it lets researchers look at both the inside and outside of materials to understand how they work. The scientists are researching new materials for batteries that will power the next generation of electric vehicles. The actual foam sample is smaller than a dime. X-ray tomography was performed at the Advanced Photon Source. Researchers: Fikile Brushett, Xianghui Xiao, Lynn Trahey
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Silica Mangroves
These silica nanowires, shown above in a scanning electron microscope photograph, form tree-like structures when they are bombarded with energetic ions. Supported by a silicon wafer and sporting small indium droplets at their tips, these nanowires emerge and grow several microns tall. Free-standing silicon nanowire arrays could lead to the development of new energy storage devices, such as batteries. More technically: This edge-on SEM photograph depicts a “mangrove forest” of free-standing and self-aligned silica nanowires. Development of free-standing nanowire arrays is of technological interest for future energy conversion and energy storage devices. The silica nanowires are here supported by a silicon wafer and still possess small indium droplets at their tips. Energetic ion bombardment and the unique growth energetics render the final appearance of the silica nanowires “mangrove-like." Mediated by droplets of liquid indium, these nanowires emerge and grow several microns tall. The droplets intercept silicon atoms emitted from a nearby source. Water vapor added to the growth environment reacts with silicon dissolved in the indium droplets, precipitating silica nanowires from the droplet surfaces. The wires grow and align themselves normal to the substrate as a result of normal incidence ion bombardment during processing. Without this ion bombardment, nanowire orientations are completely disordered, demonstrating that stranded silica nanowires are responsive to energetic ion irradiation – a largely unknown property of nanowires. Researchers: Martin Bettge and Daniel Abraham Argonne National Laboratory Scott MacLaren, Steve Burdin, Richard T Haasch, Ivan Petrov, Min-Feng Yu, Ernie Sammann (all UIUC) (The original SEM image was re-colored in Photoshop 6.0. The edge of the silicon wafer received a water-like appearance by using a smoothened mirror-image of the wire bottoms, slightly rich in blue tones.) Bettge et al. in Nanotechnol. 2012. (Discussion of the content can also be found in Bettge et al. in Nanotechnol. 2009 and J. Mater. Res. 2011).
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Caged Perspective
This computer simulation looks out from inside a carbon-60 buckyball on a copper-111 surface. The C-60 molecules arrange themselves in a repeating surface to form a pinwheel structure. Being able to view molecules with this degree of complexity is essential to understanding the geometry of and forming new catalysts. More technically: A view is presented from inside of a C60 (buckyball) on a copper {Cu(111)} surface. The C60 molecules arrange in a repeating periodic structure on the surface connected by pentacene molecules to form a chiral pinwheel structure. In this image, the apparent curvature of the surface is visually forced from the wide angle perspective viewed. Copper atoms: orange, Carbon atoms: grey, Hydrogen atoms: white. The structure's geometry is calculated using Density Functional Theory with Van der Waal's corrections. Artist: Rees Rankin, Argonne Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) Researchers: Rees Rankin (CNM) / Joe Smerdon / Jeff Greeley (CNM) / Jeff Guest (CNM)
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Aurora
While it looks like the aurora borealis (northern lights) dancing in a crystal ball, this image was actually created by assembling plastic nanoparticles within a micro-sized droplet surrounded by transparent silicon oil. The fluorescent bluish and greenish glow come from the reflection and scattering of the light within the microsphere. By using microscale structures to confine light, scientists may discover potential applications in optical switches and interconnects, sensors and displays. More technically: Dark field optical microscopic image of a photonic microsphere by self-assembly of polystyrene nanoparticles (130 nm) in a emulsion droplet in between two glass substrates. Researcher: Yongxing Hu
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Morse Code in Blue
Each of these scales from the top surface of the wings of a Ulysses butterfly contains hundreds of thousands of extremely tiny air spaces that selectively reflect blue wavelengths of light. These clues from nature can one day lead to environmentally friendly and more efficient paints, fiber optics and solar cells. Like shingles on a roof, countless scales (modified hairs) with a pointillistic blue pattern, reminiscent of Morse code or the data bits etched on a CD, cover the top surface of the wings of an Ulysses butterfly found in Australasia. Each scale contains hundreds of thousands of extremely tiny air spaces repeating in a brick-and-mortar pattern that selectively reflect blue wavelengths of light giving rise to the vivid colors. In addition, the surface of the scales is pockmarked with depressions in order to ensure the same wavelengths of blue light are reflected in multiple directions (Magnification 20x). Researcher: Vinod Saranathan
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Kandinksy's Gone Nuclear (Two)
Nuclear reactors are usually cooled by a fluid; the flow tends to be highly turbulent and chaotic - so much so that scientists are only now starting to uncover the complex underlying flow physics. The different colors in this picture represent different velocity intensities in a scaled-down facility representing a small nuclear reactor. The cylinders in the picture represent the fuel rods, which contain uranium. Simulations like this help us deepen our understanding of how nuclear reactors work in order to design safer and more efficient reactors. Researcher: Elia Merzari
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Bright Blue Sea
Catalysts are materials that accelerate chemical reactions and are used in many key biological, chemical and energy-related reactions. Water is sometimes used as an electrolyte in these reactions. This figure shows the interface between a platinum (blue-grey) surface and water bilayer (hydrogen atoms in white, oxygen in red). Argonne scientists use simulations like these to make better catalysts that will improve batteries, reduce costs and make manufacturing more sustainable. The interface between a platinum (Pt{111}) surface and the proposed ice-like water bilayer is shown in a side-on perspective just above the platinum surface top layer. The density functional theory optimized/calculated structure shown in this figure is used as the initial input to first-principles molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the stability of this interfacial structure as a function of temperature. Platinum atoms shown in bright bluish-grey, Oxygen atoms shown in red, hydrogen atoms shown in white. Very high-level details of the structure can be seen through the rendering of H2O molecules with transparency and reflection to help guide the eye. Artist: Rees Rankin (CNM) Researchers: Rees Rankin and Jeff Greeley (CNM)
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Mira
Mira, the third-fastest computer in the world, stretches into the distance in this traditional hand-processed black and white photograph. Researcher: Ed Holohan Argonne Leadership Computing Facility
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Brain Network in Fall Colors
Nanoscientists at Argonne are working on a technique to attack brain cancer cells using coin-shaped nanoparticles. These lab-grown brain cancer cells have been stained with fluorescent dyes to check for DNA damage from the experimental treatments. You can see the distribution of DNA (large green spots with yellow speckles) and RNA (bright orange spots) inside the cells. The long "tails" let cells communicate with each other. Researchers: Elina A. Vitol (Materials Science Division), Elena A. Rozhkova (Center for Nanoscale Materials), Valentyn Novosad (Materials Science Division)
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Currency of Nanobiotechnology - Coins Accepted for Cancer Treatment
Nanoscientists at Argonne are working on a technique to attack brain cancer cells using these coin-shaped magnetic disks. Antibodies on the surface of the disks latch onto cancerous cells. Then, when a weak magnetic field is applied, the disks begin to oscillate, killing the cancer cells. The disks are just a single micron across – about 10 times smaller than the diameter of a single red blood cell. Though the technique is still in early stages of testing, it shows promise. Researchers: Elina A. Vitol (Materials Science Division), Elena A. Rozhkova (Center for Nanoscale Materials), Valentyn Novosad (Materials Science Division)
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Science Rocks
These are crystals of a type of chemical called a platinum complex, viewed under an electron microscope. This type of platinum is called "cancer penicillin" since it is effective against many different types of cancer, but it often comes with toxic side effects. Nanoscientists at Argonne are using special nanoparticles to help send platinum complexes directly to the cancer cells so that they can release the drug in a controlled manner, which would reduce the toxic side effects. Researchers: Elina A. Vitol (Materials Science Division), Elena A. Rozhkova (Center for Nanoscale Materials), Valentyn Novosad (Materials Science Division)
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The Beauty of a Beast
Fluorescent dyes reveal the DNA (bright green spots) inside lab-grown brain cancer cells that have been treated with a new nanotechnology-based approach to destroy brain tumors. The entire field of view is about 300 microns across—about half the size of a period at the end of this sentence. Researchers: Elina A. Vitol (Materials Science Division), Elena A. Rozhkova (Center for Nanoscale Materials), Valentyn Novosad (Materials Science Division)
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Stylish Accessories for Women Scientists - Face Powder Box
Nanoscientists are getting so good at their craft that they can fabricate "nano-accessories" of virtually any size, composition and geometry. The image of gold-covered magnetic particles of various fun shapes was captured using an electron microscope. Researchers: Elina A. Vitol (Materials Science Division), Elena A. Rozhkova (Center for Nanoscale Materials), Valentyn Novosad (Materials Science Division).
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Exploring Secrets of the Dark Universe
Zoom-in of the matter density field showing the complexity of cosmological structure formation as resolved in a 68-billion-particle simulation carried out on the early access Blue Gene/Q system at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. The simulation is based around the new HACC (Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code) framework aimed at exploiting emerging supercomputer architectures such as the Blue Gene/Q. Visualization: Mark Hereld, Joseph A. Insley, Michael E. Papka, Thomas Uram, Venkatram Vishwanath Argonne National Laboratory Science: Hal Finkel, Salman Habib, Katrin Heitmann, Kalyan Kumaran, Vitali Morozov, Tom Peterka, Adrian Pope, Tim Williams Argonne National Laboratory David Daniel, Patricia Fasel, Nicholas Frontiere Los Alamos National Laboratory Zarija Lukic Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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Vertebrae Fossil
These orderly crystals are made out of tin deposited onto copper. Scientists catch snapshots of the tin as it forms shapes on the copper to understand how it grows. This research is part of a quest to make the next generation of lithium-ion batteries—the ones in your cell phone and laptop—safer, lighter and more powerful. The total image size is less than the thickness of a single human hair. More technically: Unaltered image of tin metal electrodeposited onto copper as part of research on next generation lithium-ion battery electrodes. By imaging the tin during different stages of the deposition, the growth dominance of certain crystal faces over others is observed. This is evidenced by a collection of protruding, jagged, smooth, and stunted 3-dimensional features. Researcher: Lynn Trahey
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Docking Spaceship
These tin crystals, stimulated by electricity, are growing on a copper surface. As the crystals grow, scientists take snapshots with a scanning electron microscope to understand how different conditions affect the final shape. This is part of research that looks into making better electrodes for next-generation lithium-ion batteries that will be light and powerful enough to take cars hundreds of miles on a single charge. The total size of this image is less than the thickness of a human hair. More technically: Unaltered image of tin metal electrodeposited onto copper as part of research on next generation lithium-ion battery electrodes. By imaging the tin during different stages of the deposition, the growth dominance of certain crystal faces over others is observed. This is evidenced by a collection of protruding, jagged, smooth, and stunted 3-dimensional features. Researcher: Lynn Trahey
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Colors and Cables One
Colors and Cables: Electrical Resistance Tomography in an Annular Centrifugal Contactor Snapshot of "oil-water" mixing (aqueous phase has been dyed blue) in a unique mixer-centrifuge used for nuclear fuel recycling called an annular centrifugal contactor. This unit has been customized with over 160 electrodes for measurements using a technique called electrical resistance tomography to provide data for validation of advanced multiphase computational fluid dynamics simulations. Researcher: Kent E. Wardle
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Fluorescent Foam
3-D X-ray image of copper foam used in lithium-ion battery research of next generation anode materials for electric vehicles. X-ray tomography was performed at the Advanced Photon Source. Actual copper foam is smaller than a dime. Researchers: Fikile Brushett, Xianghui Xiao, Lynn Trahey
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Blue Velvet
Like shingles on a roof, countless shimmering blue scales (modified hairs) cover the top surface of the wing of a Morpho butterfly found in South America. The exterior of each scale is sculpted into extremely tiny foldings that resemble a row of overlapping "Christmas trees" seen from the side. This structure selectively reflects blue colors giving rise to the vivid glitter. Did you know? The colors of Morpho have inspired a range of cosmetics by L'Oreal and even a new fabric, Morphotex, that work by mimicking the same mechanism by which light is reflected by these butterfly nanostructures, which have been magnified 10 times. Researcher: Vinod Saranathan
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Blue School
Like shingles on a roof, countless scales (modified hairs), arranged like a school of blue fish, cover the abdomen of a bee found in Australasia. Each scale contains countless extremely tiny (invisible to the naked eye) air spaces that selectively reflect blue wavelengths of light giving rise to the vivid blue color. (Magnification 40x). Researcher: Vinod Saranathan
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Coating Keeps Metal Particle Active
Catalysts play an extremely important role in modern industry; they help speed up chemical reactions by lowering the energy you need to get one started. This is a catalyst made up of a palladium nanoparticle (blue atoms) with a hydroxylated aluminum oxide “overcoat” (the aluminum atoms are pink, the oxygen atoms are red and the hydrogen atoms are white), with a carbon monoxide molecule (carbon atom is green, oxygen atom is red). Argonne scientists are using molecular simulations to study and improve nanoscale catalysts, which are used for getting energy from renewable sources. Transition metal catalyst nanoparticles with a layer of oxide overcoat prepared by the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) method show not only just improved stablity, but in some circumstances, enhanced catalytic properties as well. The presented image shows a palladium (blue) nanoparticle enclosed by a thin layer of hydroxylated aluminum oxide (Al: pink; O: red; H: white sticks). During the high temperature annealing at 800 K in first-principles molecular dynamics simulations , new openings appear (the visually bright-highlighted area) in the overcoat, exposing parts of the palladium particle surface for chemical reactions (e.g. CO chemisorption. C: green, O:red). Researchers: Rees Rankin (CNM) and Bin Liu (CNM)
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Reactivity of Octyne (Two)
Reactivity of Octyne and How it is Affected by Amine Presence A 4-octyne molecule surrounded by five octylamine molecules on the surface of a Pt35 cluster. The system is visualized in real-time inside the CAVE2 virtual reality environment which allows viewers to see the visualization in stereoscopic 3D at a resolution of 72 Megapixels. Artists: Khairi Reda (MCS), Aaron Knoll (Texas Advanced Computing Center) Researchers: Aslihan Sumer (CSE), Julius Jellinek (CSE)
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Kandinksy's Gone Nuclear (Three)
Nuclear reactors are usually cooled by a fluid; the flow is usually highly turbulent and chaotic - so much so that scientists are only now starting to uncover the complex underlying flow physics. The different colors in this picture represent a simulation of different velocity intensities in a small nuclear reactor. The cylinders in the picture represent the fuel rods, which contain uranium. Simulations like this help us deepen our understanding of how nuclear reactors work in order to design safer and more efficient reactors. Researcher: Elia Merzari
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Reactivity of Octyne (One)
A 4-octyne molecule surrounded by five octylamine molecules on the surface of a Pt35 cluster. The "clouds" are the total electronic densities of the molecules. The project investigates the use of capping ligands (octylamine in this case) as selectivity switchers in hydrogenation of alkynes (4-octyne). Background triangle: Atomic cluster (platinum atoms) platinum is used as a catalyst (promotes reactions) 15 atoms, but there are 35 total. The reactant is called 4-octyne (diff color, is actually in center). 5 other molecules, octylamines, role is to affect the catalytic functionality of the platinum. Part of the catalyst. The addition changes the catalyst. The little clouds diffused represent electronic density around the 4-octyne, and the modifers (the octylamines) they modify the catalytic function. It was an experiment that we modeled computationally, which clarified WHY the role of the modifiers. Help understand experimental effect, the reason for the observed effect. Platinum nanoparticle. Overall reaction is selective hydrogenation of octynes. 4-octyne is one of many possible octynes. Goal was selective hydrogenation (desired) -- this selectivity is achieved with modifiers. (A step in an overall catalytic pathway.) There are competing reaction pathways and you want to learn how to control them. Artists: Khairi Reda (MCS), Aaron Knoll (Texas Advanced Computing Center) Researchers: Aslihan Sumer (CSE), Julius Jellinek (CSE)
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Liquid-Liquid-Air in Annular Mixer
There is a lot of energy left over in nuclear waste, and we could significantly reduce its impact if we recycled it. This is a simulation for improving techniques to recycle nuclear fuel. Mixing immiscible liquids—like oil and water—is a key part of the process, which spins liquid containing dissolved fuel in cylinders to separate out different components. Simulations to model the complex physics involved can help make the process safer and more cost-effective. Snapshot from a hybrid multiphase CFD simulation immiscible liquid-liquid mixing (water=blue, oil=red) in an annular mixer open to air. Left image shows view from the side while right shows cross-section. The inner cylinder is rotating at 3600RPM and the outer is stationary. Snapshot is 0.29s after startup and shows the liquid-air free surface and start of dispersion between the two liquids. The ability to co-capture free-surface and dispersed flows between multiple phases is unique to the solver developed at Argonne using the open-source CFD toolkit OpenFOAM. Simulation mesh has 2.4 million hexahedral cells and was run on 320 cores. Researchers: Kent E. Wardle
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Cosmological Reionization: Field Comparison: Ionization Fraction
The light from early galaxies had a dramatic impact on the gases filling the universe. The stars in these galaxies gave off radiation that ionized the gas (stripping away an electron). This is a supercomputer simulation of this event, called the “epoch of reionization,” which shows where the ionization due to light overwhelms that due to gravity alone. This visualization highlights the spatial structure of the early galaxies' light's effect, by comparing the ionization fraction from two simulations: one with a self-consistent radiation field (radiative), and one without (non-radiative). The yellow and red regions show where the gas has been ionized in the radiative simulation, while at the center of these blobs are small blue regions where the ionized gas from the non-radiative is concentrated. The purple illustrates the boundary at the advancing edge of the ionization, where the two simulations are the same. Visualization: Mark Hereld, Joseph A. Insley, Michael E. Papka, Thomas Uram, Venkatram Vishwanath (Argonne National Laboratory) Science: Robert Harkness, Michael L. Norman, Rick Wagner (San Diego Supercomputer Center) Daniel R. Reynolds (Southern Methodist University)
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Cosmological Reionization: Field Comparison: Density
The light from early galaxies had a dramatic impact on the gases filling the universe. The stars in these galaxies gave off radiation that ionized the gas (stripping away an electron). This is a supercomputer simulation of this event, called the “epoch of reionization.” The coral-like blobs are created by comparing the gas density in this simulation to one without the light from early stars. This visualization highlights the spatial structure of the effect of the light from early galaxies, by comparing the density field from two simulations: one with a self-consistent radiation field (radiative), and one without (non-radiative). The coral-like blobs are regions where light has radiated out, heating the gas, and raising the pressure. The red regions show where the density is much higher in the radiative simulation, while the yellow regions are where the non-radiative has more density. This is the first known visualization of a process known as Jeans smoothing. Visualization: Mark Hereld, Joseph A. Insley, Michael E. Papka, Thomas Uram, Venkatram Vishwanath Argonne National Laboratory Science: Robert Harkness, Michael L. Norman, Rick Wagner San Diego Supercomputer Center Daniel R. Reynolds, Southern Methodist University
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The bridge of nanocrystal superlattices
At the nano level, scientists often discover beautiful shapes and odd patterns. These are cadmium selenide nanocrystals that assembled themsleves on top of a silicon wafer. The entire image, which was taken with a scanning electron microscope and had color added, is just 350 microns across—half the size of a period at the end of a sentence. Each hexagon is just 45 microns across. (Superlattices of prolate and spherical CdSe nanocrystals on silicon wafer.) Researchers: Arnaud Demortiere and Elena Shevchenko
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Green Superlattices
When scientists peer all the way down into the nanoscale, they often discover beautiful shapes and odd landscapes. These are cadmium selenide nanocrystals that assembled themselves on top of a silicon wafer. Studying how nanocrystals form can help scientists tailor materials to make them more useful for batteries, solar cells or medical applications. (Superlattices of prolate and spherical CdSe nanocrystals on silicon wafer.) Researchers: Arnaud Demortiere and Elena Shevchenko
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Nanocrystal Superlattices on the Steps
This field of cadmium selenide crystals is what scientists discovered when they aimed a scanning electron microscope on one of their experiments to look at the nanoscale level. The entire field of view is just 500 microns across—the size of a period at the end of a sentence. Studying formations at the nanoscale helps scientists discover new materials for technologies like computer memory and solar cells. (Superlattices of prolate CdSe nanocrystals on silicon wafer.) Researchers: Arnaud Demortiere and Elena Shevchenko
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Colors and Cables Two
Colors and Cables: Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) in an Annular Centrifugal Contactor Snapshot of "oil-water" mixing (aqueous phase has been dyed blue) in a unique mixer-centrifuge used for nuclear fuel recylcing called an annular centrifugal contactor. This unit has been customized with over 160 electrodes for measurements using a technique called electrical resistance tomography (ERT) to provide data for validation of advanced multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Researcher: Kent E. Wardle
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Invasion of Nanocrystal Superlattices
This hexagonal “stop sign” is about 17,000 times smaller than one you might see on the road! Scientists found these when they zoomed in on cadmium selenide nanocrystals that assembled themselves on top of a silicon wafer. The image, which has color added, is part of Argonne research into new materials that could lead to breakthroughs in technologies like computer memory and solar cells. (Superlattices of prolate and spherical CdSe nanocrystals on silicon wafer. ) Researchers: Arnaud Demortiere and Elena Shevchenko
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Hydrophobic Galaxy 3TSB
This is a computer model of the structure of a region of a protein taken from Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium responsible for causing anthrax infections. 3tsb is a 2 chain structure with sequence from Bacillus anthracis. Submitted by: Michelle Radford Research by: Kim Y, Makowska-Grzykska M, Hasseman J, Joachimiak A. You can find out more about this structure at the RCSB Protein Data Bank. Crystal Structure of Inosine-5'-monophosphate Dehydrogenase from Bacillus anthracis str. Ames PDB: 3TSB www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=3TSB
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Schizophyta
This colorful ribbon diagram reveals the structure of HetR, a protein that serves as an essential regulator in the cellular development of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria, also called “blue-green algae," are unique creatures that can photosynthesize energy from sunlight. Scientists think that long-ago cyanobacteria colonies tipped the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere towards oxygen, allowing all kinds of life to blossom, including us. HetR is an essential regulator of heterocyst development in cyanobacteria, initiating a cascade that ultimately is responsible for the activation of more than a thousand genes It binds to a 17-base pair DNA palindrome upstream of the hetP gene.The protein is a dimer comprised of a central DNA-binding unit containing the N-terminal regions of the two subunits organized with two HTH motifs; two globular flaps extending in opposite directions; and a hood over the central core formed from the C-terminal subdomains. Submitted by: Michelle Radford Research by: Youngchang Kim, Grazyna Joachimiak, T. Andrew Binkowski, Rongguang Zhang, Andrzej Joachimiak (Argonne) Zi Ye, Robert Haselkorn, Piotr Gornicki (University of Chicago) Wolfgang Hess (University of Freiburg) Sean Callahan (University of Hawaii) Previously published. Kim Y, Joachimiak G, Ye Z, Binkowski TA, Zhang R, Gornicki P, Callahan SM, Hess WR, Haselkorn R, Joachimiak A. (2011) Structure of transcription factor HetR required for heterocyst differentiation in cyanobacteria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. , Jun 21;108(25), 10109-14
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Shimmering Shingles
Like shingles on a roof, countless shimmering green scales cover the top surface of the wings of an emerald-patched Cattleheart butterfly (magnified 20 times). These scales contain thousands of extremely tiny crystals that selectively reflect green colors, giving rise to the vivid glitter. Clues gained from the examination of these wings can one day lead to “greener” and more efficient paints, fiber optics and solar cells. Butterflies over millions of years of evolution have apparently perfected the manufacture of these crystals at the nanometer length-scale using a process similar to modern engineering technologies, but with relative ease. Researcher: Vinod Saranathan
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P Before Q
In this hand-processed black-and-white photograph, an IBM Blue Gene/Q compute node on the left dwarfs its predecessor, an IBM Blue Gene/P compute node. Argonne’s new IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer, Mira, contains 49,152 individual nodes and can perform 10 quadrillion calculations per second. Researcher: Ed Holohan Argonne Leadership Computing Facility
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Q Atop P
In this hand-processed black-and-white photograph, an IBM Blue Gene/Q Input-Output Node (ION) sits atop its predecessor, an IBM Blue Gene/P ION. A single Blue Gene/Q ION is theoretically capable of transferring an entire DVD movie in only two seconds! Scientists use these IONs to rapidly transfer enormous quantities of data generated in complex simulations. Researcher: Ed Holohan Argonne Leadership Computing Facility
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When Li meets Si - the Wedding Cake
Silicon (here shown in grey) is a promising next-generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries, capable of holding 10 times as many lithium ions (shown in pink) as currently-used anodes. This image shows the large volume expansion that silicon undergoes as it soaks up lithium like a sponge. Artist: Rees Rankin (CNM) Researchers: Maria Chan (CNM), Chris Wolverton (Northwestern University), Jeff Greeley (CNM)
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Kandinksy's Gone Nuclear (Four)
Nuclear reactors are usually cooled by a fluid; the flow is usually highly turbulent and chaotic - so much so that scientists are only now starting to uncover the complex underlying flow physics. The different colors in this picture represent different velocity intensities in a scaled-down facility representing a small nuclear reactor. The cylinders in the picture represent the fuel rods, which contain uranium. Simulations like this help us deepen our understanding of how nuclear reactors work in order to design safer and more efficient reactors. Researcher: Elia Merzari
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Flow in the MATiS-H experiment one
In nuclear reactors, the heat is transferred from fuel pins containing uranium (or other fissionable materials) to a fluid coolant. The pins are usually arranged in bundles. The prediction of fluid flow and heat transfer in such pin bundles is important for evaluating the safety characteristics of a nuclear reactor. It is also a complex task, due to the complicated geometry involved. In fact, the pins are separated by spacers and often turbulence generators are added to the arrangement to improve the performance. The flow field generated can give rise to extraordinarily beautiful, almost flower-like, patterns like the ones shown here. Researcher: Elia Merzari (NE)
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Flow in the MATiS-H experiment two
In nuclear reactors, the heat is transferred from fuel pins containing uranium (or other fissionable materials) to a fluid coolant. The pins are usually arranged in bundles. The prediction of fluid flow and heat transfer in such pin bundles is important for evaluating the safety characteristics of a nuclear reactor. It is also a complex task, due to the complicated geometry involved. In fact, the pins are separated by spacers and often turbulence generators are added to the arrangement to improve the performance. The flow field generated can give rise to extraordinarily beautiful, almost flower-like, patterns like the ones shown here. Researcher: Elia Merzari (NE)
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Flow in the MATiS-H experiment three
In nuclear reactors, the heat is transferred from fuel pins containing uranium (or other fissionable materials) to a fluid coolant. The pins are usually arranged in bundles. The prediction of fluid flow and heat transfer in such pin bundles is important for evaluating the safety characteristics of a nuclear reactor. It is also a complex task, due to the complicated geometry involved. In fact, the pins are separated by spacers and often turbulence generators are added to the arrangement to improve the performance. The flow field generated can give rise to extraordinarily beautiful, almost flower-like, patterns like the ones shown here. Researcher: Elia Merzari (NE)
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Flow in the MATiS-H experiment (Four)
In nuclear reactors, the heat is transferred from fuel pins containing uranium to a fluid that cools the pins. Predicting fluid flow and heat transfer in the pins is important for evaluating the safety characteristics of a nuclear reactor. Argonne researchers are using computers to simulate the highly complex—and beautiful—geometry involved. In fact, the pins are separated by spacers and often turbulence generators are added to the arrangement to improve the performance, further complicating the simulations. Researcher: Elia Merzari (NE)
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Density Layer Mixing in Supernova Simulation (II)
When a star explodes, it’s called a supernova. One type, called Type Ia supernovae, result from white dwarf stars, and can be used to calculate the distance between the star and Earth. When scientists began measuring these distances, they realized that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, which led to the discovery of dark energy. This supercomputer simulation of a supernova is part of a program to determine the properties of dark energy. MORE DETAILS The image depicts simulations of SNe Ia to determine the properties of dark energy using FLASH, a multiscale multiphysics code developed by the FLASH center for Computational Science at The University of Chicago. Visualization: Nick Leaf and Kwan-Liu Ma (University of California, Davis) Thomas Uram (Argonne National Laboratory) Joe Insley (MCS), Venkatatram Vishwanath (MCS), Mark Hereld (MCS) and Mike Papka (CELS) Argonne National Laboratory Simulation: George Jordan, Carlo Graziani and Don Lamb University of Chicago