US top of supercomputing charts
“The US has pushed Japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with IBM’s prototype Blue Gene/L machine.
IBM test results show that Blue Gene/L has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. The previous top machine, Japan’s NEC Earth Simulator, clocked up 35.86.
Once completed in 2005, Blue Gene/L will be more powerful than its current prototype. “Next year with the final Blue Gene, four times what it is this year, it is going to be a real step up and will be hard to beat,” said Erich Strohmaier, one of the co-founders of the Top500 list.
It will help scientists work out the safety, security and reliability requirements for the US’s nuclear weapons stockpile, without the need for underground nuclear testing. It will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power, a big problem for supercomputers.”
(Thanks Eon)
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