From advancing X-rays to unlocking exascale: Argonne highlights from 2024

In 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory delivered breakthroughs — in artificial intelligence, high performance computing, X-ray science, energy and environment, quantum information science, and industry partnerships. With these advancements, the lab is fulfilling its mission to drive discovery and innovation for U.S. prosperity and security.

Check out a few of Argonne’s impactful innovations from 2024:

Aurora supercomputer breaks exascale barrier

Argonne’s Aurora supercomputer achieved a significant milestone by breaking the exascale barrier, establishing it as one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, capable of performing over a quintillion calculations per second. Located in the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), the system also earned the No. 1 ranking in a benchmark that measures AI performance. Aurora’s exascale capabilities will advance research in many fields such as climate science and cancer research, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in discovery and innovation. The ALCF is a DOE Office of Science user facility.

Milestones in X-ray capabilities at the upgraded Advanced Photon Source

Argonne achieved significant milestones in the upgrade of its Advanced Photon Source (APS), further solidifying the laboratory’s status as a leader in photon science. The APS is a DOE Office of Science user facility. The APS is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade and has just emerged from a yearlong shutdown, delivering its first upgraded X-ray light for scientific research in June 2024. The new electron storage ring produces X-ray beams up to 500 times brighter than before. Additionally, the APS set a world record for electron beam emittance, which measures how tightly packed the electrons are in the beam. Lower emittance results in brighter X-rays, enhancing research potential across many scientific fields. The APS achieved a horizontal emittance measurement of just 45 picometer radians, far surpassing the previous world record.

Argonne leads national energy storage hub

DOE selected Argonne to lead a new national energy storage hub, the Energy Storage Research Alliance, or ESRA. This energy innovation hub unites top researchers from three national labs and 11 universities to address pressing batteries" target="_blank">battery challenges. ESRA will lay the scientific groundwork for next-generation energy storage solutions that enhance energy security, use inexpensive and abundant materials, and contribute to a clean-energy future.

Public transit’s vital role in Chicago

An Argonne-led study, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, revealed the critical impact of public transportation in the Chicago area. Without public transit, the region would face a 30% increase in car ownership, significant economic losses and disproportionate hardship on low-income communities. Using the POLARIS tool, the study showed that public transit reduces travel times and greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizing its role in economic growth and public health.

New tool for electric vehicle savings

Argonne developed a free, public tool that helps electric-vehicle drivers estimate their personalized fuel savings. By calculating costs for over 5,000 vehicle models, the tool empowers users to make informed decisions about energy consumption and emissions reductions, reinforcing Argonne’s leadership in advancing sustainable, low-carbon transportation solutions.

Insect populations thrive in solar energy habitats

A study conducted by Argonne demonstrated that restored habitats surrounding solar-energy facilities can support thriving insect populations. This research highlights how renewable-energy projects can coexist with biodiversity conservation, enhancing Argonne’s role in promoting sustainable energy solutions while protecting ecosystems.

Cooling down nuclear reactors without power or operators

Argonne’s Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) successfully simulated nuclear reactor cooling without relying on power or human operators. This latest demonstration of passive safety systems could lead to safer and more efficient reactor designs, reinforcing Argonne’s commitment to advancing nuclear technology and ensuring energy security.

Quantum computing advancements awarded funding by DOE

Three Argonne scientists received funding to demonstrate quantum computing​’s capability for solving scientific research problems. Their work is advancing the field of quantum software and algorithms, positioning Argonne at the forefront of research that could revolutionize computing, medicine, national security and energy.

Chain Reaction Innovations drives startup success

Argonne’s Chain Reaction Innovations program is helping startups turn their scientific discoveries into successful businesses. Through mentorship and resources, the program fosters innovation and economic growth, supporting entrepreneurs in tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and AI-driven research

Argonne made significant strides in advancing science with artificial intelligence in multiple areas in 2024. Argonne developed an innovative AI model for weather prediction, improving the accuracy and speed of forecasts by integrating real-time data, and explored the use of AI to enhance safety diagnostics in nuclear plants. In the energy sector, Argonne applied AI to optimize grid maintenance, enhancing the resilience and efficiency of U.S. infrastructure, and issued a report on how AI can address grand challenges in energy. Argonne’s ALCF AI Testbed provides researchers with access to cutting-edge systems from AI startup companies such as Cerebras and SambaNova, accelerating research in diverse fields including drug discovery and experimental data analysis. The Testbed also contributes to the National AI Research Resource pilot, supporting projects on climate impact, trustworthy AI and simulation speed.

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility provides supercomputing capabilities to the scientific and engineering community to advance fundamental discovery and understanding in a broad range of disciplines. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, the ALCF is one of two DOE Leadership Computing Facilities in the nation dedicated to open science.

About the Advanced Photon Source

The U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world’s most productive X-ray light source facilities. The APS provides high-brightness X-ray beams to a diverse community of researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. These X-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation’s economic, technological, and physical well-being. Each year, more than 5,000 researchers use the APS to produce over 2,000 publications detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other X-ray light source research facility. APS scientists and engineers innovate technology that is at the heart of advancing accelerator and light-source operations. This includes the insertion devices that produce extreme-brightness X-rays prized by researchers, lenses that focus the X-rays down to a few nanometers, instrumentation that maximizes the way the X-rays interact with samples being studied, and software that gathers and manages the massive quantity of data resulting from discovery research at the APS.

This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://​ener​gy​.gov/​s​c​ience.