Science and Supercomputers Podcasts

Series produced by Jorge Salazar

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Science supported by supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) is part of the University of Texas at Austin. TACC designs and operates some of the world's most powerful computing resources. The center's mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies.

These podcasts feature interviews with scientists and leaders in high performance computing explaining their work in a non-technical and user-friendly way. The podcast producer and host is Jorge Salazar, a science and technology writer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center.


21 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Reaching for the Stormy Cloud with Chameleon
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: The NSF-funded Chameleon cloud testbed has sped development of PortHadoop-R, a portable Hadoop reader for parallel file systems which can integrate data transfer with data analysis., Credit: TACC
Some scientists dream about big data. Computer scientists developed a way for parallel and Hadoop file systems to talk to each other, tailored for ...

  • Added: May 04, 2017
  • Length: 12:34
When Data's Deep, Dark Places Need to be Illuminated
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Supercomputers are being used to help fight human trafficking. Computer scientist Karanjeet Singh (USC)., Credit: TACC
Human trafficking is being fought with the help of a supercomputer in a Defense Department DARPA project.

  • Added: Feb 07, 2017
  • Length: 23:44
How to See Living Machines
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Eva Nogales, UC Berkeley and Ivaylo Ivanov, Georgia State University, make discoveries on one of life's most important 'living machines.'
It sounds like something out of the Borg in Star Trek. Nano-sized robots self-assemble to form biological machines that do the work that keeps one ...

  • Added: Dec 02, 2016
  • Length: 15:10
New Hikari supercomputer starts solar to change data center world
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: New solar-powered supercomputer aims to promote sustainability in data centers., Credit: TACC
First solar-powered HVDC supercomputer in U.S.

  • Added: Sep 16, 2016
  • Length: 11:02
Soybean science blooms with supercomputers
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: It takes a supercomputer to grow a better soybean. Knowledge of the soybean in the U.S. has come a long way since its start in the 1700s., Credit: TACC
It takes a supercomputer to grow a better soybean. A project called the Soybean Knowledge Base, or SoyKB for short, wants to do just that. Scientis...

  • Added: Aug 16, 2016
  • Length: 11:18
Supercomputers Fire Lasers to Shoot Gamma Ray Beam
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: A team of scientists at UT Austin used computer simulations to find a possible new source of gamma rays generated from tabletop lasers. Pictured in front of the Stampede supercomputer left to right: Alex Arefiev, research scientist, Institute for Fusion S, Credit: TACC
Supercomputer simulations have shown scientists a new way to generate controlled beam of gamma rays from lasers. Nearly one million CPU hours on St...

  • Added: Jul 11, 2016
  • Length: 13:11
UT Chancellor William McRaven on TACC supercomputers - "We need to be the best in the world"
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: UT Chancellor Willam McRaven (left) visits the supercomputers at TACC with Executive Director Dan Stanzione (right). , Credit: TACC
University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven spoke of his path to lead the UT System of 14 Institutions, the importance of supercomputers ...

  • Added: Jun 08, 2016
  • Length: 06:44
Austin Zika Hackathon Fights Disease with Big Data
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Austin hackers battled Zika data., Credit: TACC
More than 50 volunteer programmers gathered in Austin on May 15 to use Big Data to fight the spread of Zika.

  • Added: May 24, 2016
  • Length: 07:50
Sudden Collapse: Supercomputing Spotlight on Gels
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Roseanna Zia, Assistant Professor, James C. and Rebecca Q. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University. Credit: Cornell University., Credit: Cornell University
Cornell researcher Roseanna Zia simulates gel behavior with XSEDE, Stampede supercomputer.

  • Added: May 03, 2016
  • Length: 11:18
Docker for Science
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Joe Stubbs, Texas Advanced Computing Center.
Joe Stubbs of the Texas Advanced Computing Center describes potential benefits to scientists of open container platform Docker in supporting reprod...

  • Added: Apr 28, 2016
  • Length: 14:02
Dark Energy of a Million Galaxies
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Piece image
UT Austin astronomer Steven Finkelstein eyes Wrangler supercomputer for HETDEX extragalactic survey

  • Added: Apr 04, 2016
  • Length: 12:14
Human Origins in Fossil Data
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Piece image
Paleoanthropologist Denne Reed of UT Austin connects fossil data of human origins

  • Added: Apr 04, 2016
  • Length: 10:18
Supercomputers Save Money, Save Energy
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Piece image
Computer scientist Joshua New of Oak Ridge National Laboratory optimizes virtual buildings to save real energy.

  • Added: Apr 04, 2016
  • Length: 10:47
Evolution of Monogamy
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Piece image
UT Austin biologist Rebecca Young traces the genes behind monogamous behavior using Wrangler data-intensive supercomputer.

Bought by KRZA


  • Added: Apr 01, 2016
  • Length: 08:10
  • Purchases: 1
Supercomputing Coral's Race to Beat Heat
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Staghorn coral at the Great Barrier Reef., Credit: Ray Berkelmans
Scientists use supercomputer to help save reef-building corals.

  • Added: Oct 07, 2015
  • Length: 08:42
Supercomputers Listen to the Heart
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Volume-rendering of the blood flow velocity field of the heart valve in an elastic artery during a cardiac cycle., Credit: M.-C. Hsu et al.
Supercomputers modeled native and replacement heart valve function to evolve human replacements.

  • Added: Aug 24, 2015
  • Length: 09:39
Supercomputers Surprisingly Link DNA Crosses to Cancer
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Animation shows transition of linear DNA to cruciform state.
Cross-shaped pieces of DNA can cause mutations that lead to cancer, according to new research at the University of Texas at Austin.

Bought by KVNF


  • Added: Jun 17, 2015
  • Length: 09:52
  • Purchases: 1
Earthquakes Reveal Deep Secrets Beneath East Asia
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Rotating 360 degree view of low velocity structures beneath East Asia., Credit: Min Chen, Rice University.
The Tibetan Plateau as never before seen, 3D supercomputer cat scans reveal large rock structures over 500 miles below the 'roof of the world.'

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: May 18, 2015
  • Length: 09:33
  • Purchases: 1
Computer-Designed Rocker Protein World's First to Biomimic Ion Transport
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Rocker protein world's first engineered to transport ions (pink)., Credit: Credit: Andrei N. Lupas Science 2014;346:1455-1456.
For the first time ever, scientists designed completely from scratch a protein molecule that behaves like a slice of life.

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Apr 07, 2015
  • Length: 07:38
  • Purchases: 1
Supercomputers Help Solve Puzzle-Like Bond for Biofuels
From: Jorge Salazar
Series: Science and Supercomputers Podcasts
Caption: Like a Chinese Finger Puzzle Trap, the bond between scaffolding proteins in the cellulosome strengthens when force is exerted on it and becomes one of the strongest found in living systems. , Credit: TACC
One of life's strongest bonds was discovered by biofuels researchers using XSEDE resources Stampede and Blue Waters supercomputers. This podcast fe...

Bought by Radio Newark and KPIP-LP


  • Added: Mar 13, 2015
  • Length: 09:40
  • Purchases: 2