BSC-CNS Newsletter September 2023

A study led by BSC highlights that the risk of hot and dry extremes will significantly increase in the coming decades in many regions of the world. The results point toward the need for more urgent strategies for reducing the impacts of global warming and encourage particular attention from governments to implement suitable adaptation measures and put into practice strong mitigation policies to limit the increases of such extreme events.

In 2023 we have an unprecedented summer: simultaneous heat waves in various parts of the northern hemisphere, marine heat waves and the hottest month in history. At the BSC's Earth Sciences department we are working, among other things, to make climate predictions and models that help us to combat climate change and adapt better to its consequences.

In collaboration with Argentinian institutions, researchers at BSC have produced a two-stage forecasting approach that computes the probability of outbreaks ahead of their occurrence. The research aimed to evaluate the value of using hydrometeorological indicators to predict leptospirosis outbreaks in northeastern Argentina. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with a high burden in Latin America, where flooding events linked to El Niño are associated with bacterial disease outbreaks.

14 new institutions have joined Quantum Spain, a project promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through SEDIA and coordinated by BSC. The institutions joining the consortium will contribute to the project by developing and testing new quantum algorithms and their applications. They will also play a key role in the dissemination of results and the generation of educational content.

Inno4scale programme will fund the development of new algorithms for pre-exascale and exascale systems. Coordinated by BSC, this programme aims to identify the most innovative proposals and provide them with the necessary funding for their development. The aim is to support European research groups that promote innovative proposals in this field to maximise the exploitation of Europe's new supercomputers.

Rosa M. Badia has been appointed as a new member of the Science and Technology Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC). The IEC brings together people with professional and academic profiles from all fields of knowledge, highly qualified specialists. Badia says that "this appointment is a great honour for me and I am very excited to be able to contribute to this institution that covers so many fields of scientific research in all areas of Catalan culture".