RSS feed source: National Science Foundation

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $20 million grant to expand the NSF CloudBank, an initiative designed to accelerate science and engineering research through access to commercial cloud computing. Building upon the success of a previous pilot award, this expanded phase will significantly increase access to cutting-edge computing, artificial intelligence model access and other commercial cloud services, strengthening the U.S. science and technology workforce, and ensuring the nation remains at the forefront of global innovation.

Led by the San Diego Supercomputer Center and Information Technology Services Division at UC San Diego, in partnership with UC Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society and the University of Washington’s eScience Institute, CloudBank 2.0 will continue its collaboration with major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure and NVIDIA’s DGX Cloud. This will provide seamless access to commercial cloud computing, AI tools and model access, and advanced data processing capabilities.

“CloudBank 2.0 will further our mission to expand the ecosystem of available advanced computing, data and AI services available to the U.S. research community — from leading research universities to smaller institutions,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “By adding commercial cloud resources to NSF’s offerings for researchers, NSF is committing to enhancing partnerships with the private sector. CloudBank 2.0 will leverage industry resources and expertise to strengthen

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RSS feed source: National Science Foundation

Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, scientists have accurately modeled particular cellular changes in Drosophila melanogaster, or the fruit fly, during embryonic development. When certain tissue shrinks dramatically to close a gap during the fruit fly embryo’s growth, the cells remain elastically solid rather than turning into a liquid form as expected. The model created by the researchers shows how this phenomenon happens and may lead to a new form of condensed matter physics with potential applications in neuroscience, biology and artificial intelligence.

The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also revealed a surprising connection to the work that earned the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics.

“During the dorsal closure process, tissue, called amnioserosa, is shrinking like mad, and by all accounts, it should turn into a fluid,” says Andrea Liu, University of Pennsylvania theoretical physicist and author on the research. “But it doesn’t. The cells stay locked in place with their neighbors, and we wanted to understand why.”