DESI Shares Largest 3D Map of the Universe Yet

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument releases data on 18.7 million galaxies, quasars, and stars — the largest dataset of its kind ever shared. » Read More

More Efficient Fusion

So-called “slow waves” waste energy in fusion reactions. Recent simulations successfully tested a new method to stop their formation. » Read More

NERSC Launches IBM Quantum Innovation Center

NERSC users can now apply to access quantum computing resources through a partnership with IBM. » Read More

AI Shows Promise for Mapping Disease Progression

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Quantum Computing Partnership Extended

After a successful first year punctuated by strong scientific results, NERSC’s partnership with QuEra Computing has been extended. » Read More

National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center

NERSC is the mission scientific computing facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.

Computing at NERSC

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Now Computing

Some of the science now being computed at NERSC

Numbers not changing? Check the center status page for information.

Project	System	Nodes
Lattice QCD search for physics beyond the standard model High Energy Physics PI: Rajan Gupta, Los Alamos National Laboratory	perlmutter	576
A Digital Twin for Spatiotemporal experiments Basic Energy Sciences PI: Subramanian Sankaranarayanan, Argonne National Laboratory	perlmutter	400
The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon High Energy Physics PI: Aida El-Khadra, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	perlmutter	384
Optimization studies of LBNF neutrino beamline and hadron absorber complex ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge PI: Igor Rakhno, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory	perlmutter	256
Extreme Moist Transport Events as a Driver of Arctic Amplification Advanced Scientific Computing Research PI: Nicole Feldl, University of California Santa Cruz	perlmutter	143
Partnership Center for High-fidelity Boundary Plasma Simulation: SciDAC-4 Center Fusion Energy Sciences PI: Choongseok Chang, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)	perlmutter	128

Did You Know?

Lucky Tokens

Man and woman show lucky cat figurine while standing in front of open computer system cabinet.

Yukiko Sekine, Jonathan Carter, and the Hopper system's “lucky cat,” in 2011. (Credit: Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab)

NERSC’s Hopper supercomputer contained 153,216 compute cores, 217 terabytes of memory, 2 petabytes of disk storage—and a cat figurine for luck!

Hopper, named in honor of computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper, had a Japanese "lucky cat" figurine stashed in one cabinet. In April 2011, Yukiko Sekine (NERSC's former Energy Department program manager) presented the cat to Jonathan Carter (currently associate lab director for the Computing Sciences Area).

It’s not the first lucky token to stand guard over NERSC’s large, complex, and well-used scientific supercomputers. Other systems – for reasons known only to NERSC staff – have been protected from ill fate by rubber chickens. (»Visit our interactive timeline to learn more about NERSC history.)