January 2023 NS&T Highlights
Highlights for the Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Renewal: Coherent control of spin states in organic electronics – discovery and investigation of complex room-temperature magnetic quantum excitations
In the course of four funding cycles of this project, its research focused on the exploration and understanding of spin-dependent electronic processes in organic semiconductors. It aimed to investigate the potential of harnessing the spin degree of freedom in organic materials for various applications such as spin electronics, quantum information, sensors, and as well as quantum coherent spin phenomena of charge carrier states in organic semiconductors, with the aim to develop room-temperature-based quantum applications. Specifically, the project aimed to: Apply new diagnostic tools, i.e. spin spectroscopy techniques, for paramagnetic charge carrier states in organic semiconductors, based on coherent control with pulsed electron spin resonance to understand spin relaxation and spin mixing mechanisms in organic semiconductor materials and devices such as OLEDs. Explore the nature of charge carrier spin-coupling and pathways for its manipulation to control the physical behaviors of these materials. This involves investigating spin interactions through materials structure, composition, morphological dependencies, isotopic effects, and externally applied electric and magnetic fields, with the goal to manipulate electrical and optical material properties by adjusting spin-orbit, spin-dipolar, spin-exchange, as well as spin-hyperfine interactions to open up this materials class for new applications. Study spin-dependent charge carrier transport and recombination and how these observables are governed by spin-propagation, especially coherent spin propagation as well as collective spin-effects such as the spin-Dicke effect and resonant multi-photon magnetic dipole transitions. The project utilized pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance (pEDMR) and pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance (pODMR) techniques over a wide frequency range. These techniques enabled the observation and quantification of various spin-spin coupling types, including spin-exchange, spin-dipolar, hyperfine, and spin-orbit interactions. The project will leverage low- to mid-frequency pEDMR/pODMR facilities and collaboration with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Alvin Tollestrup (1924-2020): A Life in Science
Alvin Tollestrup was a physicist and engineer of uncommon insight, intuition, and ingenuity who was revered in life for his essential leadership in the development of superconducting magnets for high-energy accelerators. He exhibited a matchless mastery of what he called freshman physics — though his mastery hardly ended there — and an uncanny gift for joining careful measurements with transparent calculations to reveal the essence of a subject. To watch Alvin at work was to learn how a true scientist formulates and solves a problem. He had other gifts: a nose for significant problems in both science and technology, the ability to draw talented people to an important cause, and a mentor's instinct for spotting gifted junior colleagues and helping them to mature as engineers and scientists. He was also good company! Alvin brought his keen vision about what constitutes important science, along with powerful ambition for the institution and for fundamental science, to considerat ions about Fermilab's future. His questions were uniformly probing, his opinions unfailingly interesting, and his appetite for work consistently inspiring. Among Alvin's many contributions to experimental particle physics — in a career that spanned seven decades — the rich achievements of the Collider Detector at Fermilab Collaboration, of which he was a founder and an enduring leader, stand out. The discovery of the top quark in 1995 earned worldwide acclaim. He reaped individual accolades as well, including election to the National Academy of Sciences. The National Medal of Technology, conferred in 1989, recognized Alvin’s leading role in developing superconducting magnets for Fermilab's Tevatron. Universities Research Association created the Tollestrup Award for Postdoctoral Research, commemorating Alvin's avuncular support for young scientists. This volume celebrates Alvin Tollestrup’s career and the rich, fulfilling life he led beyond the laboratory. Contributions from colleagues and family illuminate many facets of this remarka! ble figure. May old friends savor the memory of the Alvin they knew, while discovering less-familiar parts of his history; and may readers who did not have the opportunity to know Alvin firsthand find inspiration in his exemplary life in science.
Palmer, Mark↗
The importance of recruitment and retention in Heliophysics: it’s not just a pipeline problem
A major obstacle in cultivating a robust Heliophysics (and broader scientific) community is the lack of diversity throughout science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. For many years, this has been understood as a “leaky pipeline” analogy, in which predominately minority students initially interested in STEM gradually fall (or are pushed) out of the field on their way to a scientific research position. However, this ignores critical structural and policy issues which drive even later career Ph.D.s out of a career in Heliophysics. We identify here several systemic problems that inhibit many from participating fully in the Heliophysics community, including soft money pressure, lack of accessibility and equity, power imbalances, lack of accountability, friction in collaboration, and difficulties in forming mentorship bonds. We present several recommendations to empower research-supporting organizations to help create a culture of inclusion, openness, and innovative science.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
"Who Has Plots?": Contextualizing Scientific Software, Practice, and Visualizations
We present that software is an integral element of the work of science yet it is not commonly an object of inquiry in studies of scientific infrastructures. This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of a cosmology group's collaborative scientific software production. We demonstrate how these cosmologists use plots to simultaneously test their software and analyze data while interrogating multiple layers of infrastructural components. We broaden perspectives on scientific software development using a sociotechnical, software studies lens to examine this work of scientific discovery as a creative and embodied, yet exacting and methodical, activity that requires a 'human in the loop'. Here, we offer a new reading of scientific software practices to convey how creating scientific software is often really the act of doing science itself--an intervention we believe is necessary to more successfully support scientific software sharing and infrastructure production.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Optimizing the LSST Observing Strategy for Dark Energy Science: DESC Recommendations for the Deep Drilling Fields and other Special Programs
We review the measurements of dark energy enabled by observations of the Deep Drilling Fields and the optimization of survey design for cosmological measurements. This white paper is the result of efforts by the LSST DESC Observing Strategy Task Force (OSTF), which represents the entire collaboration, and aims to make recommendations on observing strategy for the DDFs that will benefit all cosmological analyses with LSST. It is accompanied by the DESC-WFD white paper (Lochner et al.). We argue for altering the nominal deep drilling plan to have $>6$ month seasons, interweaving $gri$ and $zy$ observations every 3 days with 2, 4, 8, 25, 4 visits in $grizy$, respectively. These recommendations are guided by metrics optimizing constraints on dark energy and mitigation of systematic uncertainties, including specific requirements on total number of visits after Y1 and Y10 for photometric redshifts (photo-$z$) and weak lensing systematics. We specify the precise locations for the previously-chosen LSST deep fields (ELAIS-S1, XMM-LSS, CDF-S, and COSMOS) and recommend Akari Deep Field South as the planned fifth deep field in order to synergize with Euclid and WFIRST. Our recommended DDF strategy uses $6.2\%$ of the LSST survey time. We briefly discuss synergy with white papers from other collaborations, as well as additional mini-surveys and Target-of-Opportunity programs that lead to better measurements of dark energy.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Report of the 2026 Workshop on Next-Generation Ecosystems for Scientific Computing: Harnessing Community, Software, and AI for Cross-Disciplinary Team Science
Scientific computing is undergoing rapid transformation as advances in artificial intelligence, heterogeneous computing, automation, and data-intensive research reshape not only computational tools but also the institutions, workforce models, and collaborative practices that support scientific discovery. This report synthesizes insights from the 2026 Workshop on Next-Generation Ecosystems for Scientific Computing, the second in a three-year series focused on strengthening scientific computing ecosystems through socio-technical co-design. Workshop discussions identified four interdependent strategic themes: software ecosystems for AI-enabled scientific discovery; trust, validation, and traceability; human-AI teaming and paradigm shifts; and workforce, pedagogy, and governance. The report translates these themes into eight priorities for community action spanning shared research infrastructure, trust and traceability, user experience, human-AI teaming, workforce development, cross-sector coordination, stewardship and sustainability, and evaluation of scientific value. Together, these priorities outline directions for building scientific computing ecosystems that remain trustworthy, sustainable, innovative, and resilient as AI assumes a growing role in scientific work.
AI↗
Mechanical and Light Activation of Materials for Chemical Production
Abstract Mechanical expansion and contraction of pores within photosynthetic organisms regulate a series of processes that are necessary to manage light absorption, control gas exchange, and regulate water loss. These pores, known as stoma, allow the plant to maximize photosynthetic output depending on environmental conditions such as light intensity, humidity, and temperature by actively changing the size of the stomal opening. Despite advances in artificial photosynthetic systems, little is known about the effect of such mechanical actuation in synthetic materials where chemical reactions occur. It is reported here on a hybrid hydrogel that combines light‐activated supramolecular polymers for superoxide production with thermal mechanical actuation of a covalent polymer. Superoxide production is important in organic synthesis and environmental remediation, and is a potential precursor to hydrogen peroxide liquid fuel. It is shown that the closing of pores in the hybrid hydrogel results in a substantial decrease in photocatalysis, but cycles of swollen and contracted states enhance photocatalysis. The observations motivate the development of biomimetic photosynthetic materials that integrate large scale motion and chemical reactions.
Đorđević, Luka [Department of Chemical Sciences Un↗
Exoplanet Community Report on Direct Infrared Imaging of Exoplanets
Direct infrared imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets will allow for detailed characterization of the atmospheric constituents of more than 200 nearby Earth-like planets, more than is possible with any other method under consideration. A flagship mission based on larger passively cooled infrared telescopes and formation flying technologies would have the highest angular resolution of any concept under consideration. The 2008 Exoplanet Forum committee on Direct Infrared Imaging of Exoplanets recommends: (1) a vigorous technology program including component development, integrated testbeds, and end-to-end modeling in the areas of formation flying and mid-infrared nulling; (2) a probe-scale mission based on a passively cooled structurally connected interferometer to be started within the next two to five years, for exoplanetary system characterization that is not accessible from the ground, and which would provide transformative science and lay the engineering groundwork for the flagship mission with formation flying elements. Such a mission would enable a complete exozodiacal dust survey (<1 solar system zodi) in the habitable zone of all nearby stars. This information will allow for a more efficient strategy of spectral characterization of Earth-sized planets for the flagship missions, and also will allow for optimization of the search strategy of an astrometric mission if such a mission were delayed due to cost or technology reasons. (3) Both the flagship and probe missions should be pursued with international partners if possible. Fruitful collaboration with international partners on mission concepts and relevant technology should be continued. (4) Research and Analysis (R&A) should be supported for the development of preliminary science and mission designs. Ongoing efforts to characterize the the typical level of exozodiacal light around Sun-like stars with ground-based nulling technology should be continued.
Danchi, William C.↗
NASA's EOSDIS Cumulus: Ingesting, Archiving, Managing, and Distributing Earth Science Data from the Commercial Cloud
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been working towards a vision of a cloud-based, highly-flexible, ingest, archive, management, and distribution system for its ever-growing and evolving data holdings. This system, Cumulus, is emerging from its prototyping stages and is poised to make a huge impact on how NASA manages and disseminates its Earth science data. This talk will outline the motivation for this work, present the achievements and hurdles of the past 18 months and will chart a course for the future expansion of the Cumulus expansion. We will explore on not just the technical, but also the socio-technical challenges that we face in evolving a system of this magnitude into the cloud and how we are rising to meet those challenges through open collaboration and intentional stakeholder engagement.
Earth Scienc↗
Constraints on the Parameterization of Convective Cloud Systems from Analyses of ARM Observations and Models
Anthony D. Del Genio has served as principal investigator since the inception of ASR in 2009 as co-chair of the Cloud Lifecycle Working Group (CLWG) and in connection with that as a member of the ASR Science and Infrastructure Steering Committee. In this role he has been intimately involved with oversight of existing and proposed ASR Focus Groups (Vertical Velocity, QUICR, Ice Properties) and thematic interest groups (Mesoscale Organized Convection, Warm Low Clouds, Mixed-Phase Clouds, MJO, Entrainment) whose activities fall under the purview of CLWG. The PI actively participates himself in the Mesoscale Organized Convection and MJO groups, is a Co-Investigator on two successfully implemented IOPs (AMIE, MC3E), and was an unfunded Collaborator on the recently completed FASTER project at BNL under the DOE Modeling Program. The PI has also spent the past three years as a member of the ARM Science Board, which reviews proposals to conduct IOPs at the permanent ARM sites and to deploy the ARM Mobile Facilities. Finally, the PI was a participant in the first ARM-European workshop in 2012 that eventually led to the creation of the SGP supersite concept. This report includes an annotated list of published research results.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Tracking Community Building in Open Science
Open Science is enabled by a vibrant community of researchers who regularly engage with the data, from its production to its organization, curation, archiving, dissemination, analysis, and publication. This presentation will examine community building in open science. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) makes data available to the public following the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. OSDR takes open science further with the OS Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) that facilitate community development and promotion. The primary activity of each AWG is to establish and validate analytical processes to generate higher-order data from data housed in OSDR. There are a number of these groups on various topics, including the Animal AWG, Plant AWG, Microbial AWG, Multi-Omics AWG, AI/ML AWG, and the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) AWG. The international volunteers participating in these AWGs come from academia, citizen science initiatives, industry, and government. They include researchers, principal investigators, professors, trained hobbyists, and students from various domains and disciplines. Anyone may request to join the AWGs, and membership requests are vetted monthly by the group organizers before granting admission. Core to membership is demonstrated expertise through records of training, integrity, work in the professed domain(s), and good community standing. Regular virtual meetings are held for each AWG, with a varying cadence depending on the group's needs and goals. AWG communities share their expertise in research including cutting edge tools, software, frameworks, data formats, and libraries accelerating research collectively. This collaborative approach helps community members cross technology gaps and identify emerging challenges. These diverse communities encompass a wide range of individuals hailing from various sectors within the Science Mission Directorate and beyond. They serve as a means to promote and enhance transparency, accessibility, and inclusion. An annual AWG Symposium brings contributors together in person. Participation in AWGs can be synchronous or asynchronous, with some groups performing most of their work in off hours. Participants gain valuable skills and connections that allow them to add value to their communities and new organizations that they join, resulting in an expanded return on investment for the space life science community. Open science is increasingly a federal mandate and initiatives like NASA's Transform to Open Science and instruments like the Decadal Survey of Biological and Physical Sciences in Space demonstrate the need to carefully consider best practices in this domain. Here, we present greater detail about the makeup and participation metrics of the various AWGs affiliated with OSDR and details of successful peer-reviewed publication campaigns.
Christina M Johnson↗
Tracking Community Building in Open Science
Open Science is enabled by a vibrant community of researchers who regularly engage with the data, from its production to its organization, curation, archiving, dissemination, analysis, and publication. This presentation will examine community building in open science. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) makes data available to the public following the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. OSDR takes open science further with the OS Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) that facilitate community development and promotion. The primary activity of each AWG is to establish and validate analytical processes to generate higher-order data from data housed in OSDR. There are a number of these groups on various topics, including the Animal AWG, Plant AWG, Microbial AWG, Multi-Omics AWG, AI/ML AWG, and the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA) AWG. The international volunteers participating in these AWGs come from academia, citizen science initiatives, industry, and government. They include researchers, principal investigators, professors, trained hobbyists, and students from various domains and disciplines. Anyone may request to join the AWGs, and membership requests are vetted monthly by the group organizers before granting admission. Core to membership is demonstrated expertise through records of training, integrity, work in the professed domain(s), and good community standing. Regular virtual meetings are held for each AWG, with a varying cadence depending on the group's needs and goals. AWG communities share their expertise in research including cutting edge tools, software, frameworks, data formats, and libraries accelerating research collectively. This collaborative approach helps community members cross technology gaps and identify emerging challenges. These diverse communities encompass a wide range of individuals hailing from various sectors within the Science Mission Directorate and beyond. They serve as a means to promote and enhance transparency, accessibility, and inclusion. An annual AWG Symposium brings contributors together in person. Participation in AWGs can be synchronous or asynchronous, with some groups performing most of their work in off hours. Participants gain valuable skills and connections that allow them to add value to their communities and new organizations that they join, resulting in an expanded return on investment for the space life science community. Open science is increasingly a federal mandate and initiatives like NASA's Transform to Open Science and instruments like the Decadal Survey of Biological and Physical Sciences in Space demonstrate the need to carefully consider best practices in this domain. Here, we present greater detail about the makeup and participation metrics of the various AWGs affiliated with OSDR and details of successful peer-reviewed publication campaigns.
Christina M Johnson↗
The Making of a Metric: Co-Producing Decision-Relevant Climate Science
Developing decision-relevant science for adaptation requires the identification of climatic parameters that are both actionable for practitioners as well as tractable for modelers. In many sectors, these decision-relevant climatic metrics and the approaches that enable their identification remain largely unknown. “Co-production” of science with scientists and decision-makers is one potential way to identify these metrics, but there is little research describing specific and successful co-production approaches. This paper examines the negotiations and outcomes from Project Hyperion, wherein scientists and water managers jointly developed decision-relevant climatic metrics for adaptive water management. We identify successful co-production strategies by analyzing the project’s numerous back-and-forth engagements and tracing the evolution of the science during these engagements. We found that effective mediation between scientists and managers needed dedicated “boundary spanners” with significant modeling expertise. Translating practitioners’ information needs into tractable climatic metrics required direct and indirect methods of eliciting knowledge. We identified four indirect methods that were particularly salient for extracting tacitly held knowledge and enabling shared learning: developing a hierarchical framework linking management issues with metrics, starting discussions from the planning challenges, collaboratively exploring the planning relevance of new scientific capabilities, and using analogies of other “good” metrics. The decision-relevant metrics we developed provide insights into advancing adaptation-relevant climate science in the water sector. The co-production strategies we identified can be used to design and implement productive scientist–decision-maker interactions. Overall, the approaches and metrics we developed can help climate science to expand in new and more use-inspired directions.
Planning↗
Methodology for Good Machine Learning with Multi‐Omics Data
In 2020, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started a 4‐year scientific collaboration to approach complex new data modalities and advanced analytics. The scientific question was to find novel radio‐genomics‐based prognostic and predictive factors for HR+/HER− metastatic breast cancer under a Research Collaboration Agreement. This collaboration has been providing valuable insights to help successfully implement future scientific projects, particularly using artificial intelligence and machine learning. This tutorial aims to provide tangible guidelines for a multi‐omics project that includes multidisciplinary expert teams, spanning across different institutions. We cover key ideas, such as “maintaining effective communication” and “following good data science practices,” followed by the four steps of exploratory projects, namely (1) plan, (2) design, (3) develop, and (4) disseminate. We break each step into smaller concepts with strategies for implementation and provide illustrations from our collaboration to further give the readers actionable guidance.
Pharmacology & Pharmacy↗
Achieving the Earth Science Enterprise Vision for the 21st Century: Platform Challenges
The ESE observational architecture of the future vision is dramatically different from that of today. The vision suggests observations from multiple orbits, collaborating space assets, and even seamless integration of space and other assets. Observations from GEO or from Libration points rather than from LEO suggest spacecraft carrying instruments with large deployable apertures. Minimization of launch costs suggests that these large apertures have long life, be extremely mass and volume efficient, and have low life cycle cost. Another significant challenge associated with high latitude orbits is high precision pointing and control. Finally, networks of spacecraft flying in predetermined constellation will be required either to apply complementary assets to an observation or to extend the virtual aperture beyond that attainable with a single spacecraft. These changes dictate development of new technology on several fronts, which are outlined in this paper. A section on high speed communications will outline requirements and approaches now envisioned. Sensorwebs will be developed from the viewpoint of work already begun for both space and for terrestrial networks. Precision guidance, navigation and control will be addressed from the perspective of precision flying for repeat pass interferometry and extreme pointing stability for advanced altimetry. A separate section will address requirements for distributed systems. Large lightweight deployables will be discussed with an emphasis on inflatable technology and its predicted benefits for large aperture instruments. For each technology area listed, current state-of-the-art, technological approaches for future development, and projected levels of performance are outlined.
Lemmerman, Loren↗
NASA Centers and Universities Collaborate Through Smallsat Technology Partnerships
The Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) Program within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate is chartered develop and demonstrate the capabilities that enable small spacecraft to achieve science and exploration missions in "unique" and "more affordable" ways. Specifically, the SST program seeks to enable new mission architectures through the use of small spacecraft, to expand the reach of small spacecraft to new destinations, and to make possible the augmentation existing assets and future missions with supporting small spacecraft. The SST program sponsors smallsat technology development partnerships between universities and NASA Centers in order to engage the unique talents and fresh perspectives of the university community and to share NASA experience and expertise in relevant university projects to develop new technologies and capabilities for small spacecraft. These partnerships also engage NASA personnel in the rapid, agile and cost-conscious small spacecraft approaches that have evolved in the university community, as well as increase support to university efforts and foster a new generation of innovators for NASA and the nation.
Partnerships↗
AIRSAR deployment in Australia, September 1993: Management and objectives
Past co-operation between the NASA Earth Science and Applications Division and the CSIRO and Australian university researchers has led to a number of mutually beneficial activities. These include the deployment of the C-130 aircraft with TIMS, AIS, and NS001 sensors in Australia in 1985; collaboration between scientists from the USA and Australia in soils research which has extended for the past decade; and in the development of imaging spectroscopy where DSIRO and NASA have worked closely together and regularly exchanged visiting scientists. In May this year TIMS was flown in eastern Australia on board a CSIRO-owned aircraft together with a CSIRO-designed CO2 laser spectrometer. The Science Investigation Team for the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIRC-C) Program includes one Australian Principal Investigator and ten Australian co-investigators who will work on nine projects related to studying land and near-shore surfaces after the Shuttle flight scheduled for April 1994. This long-term continued joint collaboration was progressed further with the deployment of AIRSAR downunder in September 1993. During a five week period, the DC-8 aircraft flew in all Australian states and collected data from some 65 individual test sites.
Milne, A. K.↗