PRESS RELEASE
ASPEN Award 2024
Euplectella Aspergillum: a sponge to build ships, skyscrapers and airplanes
The award ceremony is scheduled for 5:30pm, June 18, at the Aspen headquarters at Piazza Navona 114, and will be preceded by the panel discussion “Supercomputing as a strategic resource”
Rome, June 11, 2024 – “Extreme flow simulations reveal skeletal adaptations of deep-sea sponges”. This multidisciplinary study at the frontiers of physics, biology, IT and engineering has won the 2024 Aspen Institute Italia Award for Scientific Research and Cooperation between Italy and the United States, now in its ninth year. The study’s main participants included the University of Rome at Tor Vergata, New York University – whose researchers contributed much to the understanding of the biological implications of super simulations – and Harvard University, where two of the authors worked on the super simulation timeframes. The researchers used the Marconi 100 supercomputer at Bologna’s CINECA to perform the simulations, which were based on billions of grid points. Furthermore, the project applied the Lattice Boltzmann method, in an exemplary fashion. Sauro Succi, of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), is internationally recognized as one of the founders of this method.
The study, published by the scientific journal Nature, analyzes the interaction between the geometry of sponges and surrounding fluids, and could have significant implications for the engineering design of low-resistance structures capable of adapting to air or water pressure. Possible applications are being studied for use in the construction of ships and airplane fuselages and even avant-garde skyscrapers.
Journalists who wish to participate can obtain credentials to attend in person (https://www.aspeninstitute.it/accredito-evento/) or via streaming (https://aspeninstituteitalia.zoom.us/webinar/register/3417173993116/WN_rfjmzK1cQkKR-NB-LhG-uQ).
The seven scientists to receive the award are: Giacomo Falcucci, “Mario Lucertini” Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome at Tor Vergata; Department of Physics, Harvard University; Maurizio Porfiri, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Center for Urban Science and Progress, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University; Sauro Succi, Center for the Life Nano- and Neuro Science, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome; Department of Physics, Harvard University; “Mauro Picone” Institute for Applied Mathematics (IAC), CNR Rome; Giorgio Amati, High Performance Computing Department, CINECA, Rome; Pierluigi Fanelli, Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization (DEIM), University of the Tuscia, Viterbo; Vesselin K. Krastev, “Mario Lucertini” Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome at Tor Vergata; Giovanni Polverino, Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth.
In addition to the prize winners, participants in the June 18 event – open to the press – will include Giulio Tremonti, Chairman, Aspen Institute Italia; Angelo Maria Petroni, Secretary General, Aspen Institute Italia; Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the La Sapienza University of Rome; Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, The Edgar L. and Harold H. Buttner Chair of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA; Patrizio Bianchi, Professor Emeritus of Economics, UNESCO Chair in Education, Growth and Equality, University of Ferrara; Alfonso Fuggetta, CEO and Scientific Director, CEFRIEL; Luciano Maiani, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics, La Sapienza University of Rome.
The prize-winning study, which will be presented during the award ceremony, opens the door to new research adopting supercomputing resources on the relationships between fluid mechanics, the biology of living organisms and ecology. Such research will have a significant impact on future structural design and engineering applications. The winning study of the 2024 Aspen Prize focuses on the Euplectella Aspergillum, also known as the Venus Flower Basket. This sponge lives in the depths of the Pacific Ocean and around the continent of Antarctica, and has exceptional structural properties, including a skeleton composed of silica, an element that the sponge extracts from sea water and transforms into extremely fine glass fibers, hence its nickname “glass sponge”.
Although apparently fragile, the sponge displays surprising mechanical resilience owing to its unusual structure and optimal material distribution. Based on these clues, the scientists performed a series of hydrodynamic simulations to show how Venus Flower Baskets adapt to undersea currents. They used the Marconi 100 supercomputer at Bologna’s CINECA to achieve a computational speed of approximately 10 Petaflops, which yielded data in four dimensions (three spatial and one temporal).
These deep-sea sponge studies have widened the path to innovative technological applications. Research is already underway to create new and more efficient chemical reactors and air-treatment systems based on the sponge’s internal flow physics; or innovative civil engineering structures such as avant-garde skyscrapers that, while sleeker, are also more resilient than any that already exist or that are currently under construction. Such innovations could also render ships and airplanes more resilient and efficient.
Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States
The Aspen Institute Italia Award for Scientific Research and Collaboration between the United States and Italy was established in December 2015 as a component in the Institute’s continuing commitment to the internationalization of leadership and to transatlantic relations. The prize is awarded each year to a study within the realm of the natural, theoretical or applied sciences, and that is the fruit of collaboration between Italian and U.S. scientists and/or research organizations. Valued at €40,000, the award is emblematic of the Institute’s commitment to the generation of initiatives and encounter on topics associated with scientific practice and technological innovation, with specific reference to their relevance to Italy.
All information regarding the winning study, competition announcement, award regulation and application to participate are published on the Institute’s dedicated website section: www.aspeninstitute.it/premio-aspen-institute-italia-la-ricerca-e-la-collaborazione-scientifica-tra-italia-e-stati-uniti
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