BS: faster computer

Subject: BS: faster computer
From: beardedbruce
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 12:48 PM

Government unveils world's fastest computer

Story Highlights
Computer is capable of sustaining 1,000 trillion operations per second

It will be used to help maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile

The machine is named Roadrunner



   
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scientists at the Los Alamos government weapons lab have built the world's fastest computer, capable of sustaining 1,000 trillion operations per second.

Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM worked on the computer for years.

The Energy Department and IBM Corp. announced the breakthrough Monday.

The computer will be used to help maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the new computer, named Roadrunner, also will be used to help solve global energy problems and "open new windows of knowledge" in basic research.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and IBM worked for six years to achieve the world record computer speed.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 01:29 PM

So...how long will the speed record last?

Ain't technology grand!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 01:44 PM

Does it make a noise...like 'MEEP MEEP'

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 01:54 PM

Next thing ya know, they'll have a computer so fast it'll answer a question an hour before anyone asks it.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:01 PM

That's ridiculous. The nations nuclear stockpile? Maintain? What does this include that requires that kind of teraflops? They tracking individual gamma rays or sompn? Can any one explainn this glaring discrepancy?



A

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: beardedbruce
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:03 PM

Amos,

Basic theory- if one can model the weapons accurately, then one does not need to test them ( rather, one tests the models). This means the next generation can be developed without actually blowing anything up, provided the models have been vetted against real-world data.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:08 PM

I rather suspect tying it to "the nations nuclear stockpile" in the announcement is intended to fend off objections or questions. Most likely it's actually intended for stuff like enabling Big Brother to keep an eye on what everyone is getting up to...

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:26 PM

If they meant "simulate prototypes of nuclear weapons under development", Bruce, why do you suppose they claimed it was useful in "maintaining the stockpile"? Or is there some overlap there I am not aware of? DO they mean "maintain the stockpile by developing new weapons to add to it as older ones are retired?". Because if that is what they actually mean, it makes sense, but they sure left it ambiguous. WHat they are actually meaning to say, then, is "replace and renew" the stockpile, which would of course push buttons amongst the anti-nuke tree-hugging crowd, I guess.


A

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:28 PM

Reuters UK says it more ccurately:

"




US Energy Dept says new computer world's fastest
Reuters UK - 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A computer designed to run virtual tests of US nuclear weapons will be the world's fastest, making 1000 trillion calculations per second, the US Department of Energy said on Monday.
"

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: beardedbruce
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:33 PM

Amos,

point of information: Tritium (H with a weight of 3) has a short halflife, and weapons which use it ( ie, fusion devices) age and have to be "remanufactured" with new or recycled tritium. By use of computer models, the more efficient use of the limited and shrinking stockpile of material can be accomplished.

I really do NOT want the production lines for NEW nuclear materials to be brought back on line- the less of the stuff around, the better for all of us.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Don Firth
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 02:56 PM

A surgeon, an architect, and a computer engineer were arguing over whose profession is the oldest.

The surgeon said, "God took a rib from Adam and constructed an entire woman from it. That was an incredible piece of constructive surgery. Obviously, surgery is the oldest profession."

The architect snorted. "I've got you beat by quite a bit. God created this entire immense Universe—out of chaos! The heavens and the earth, all the stars and planets, everything, along with the Garden of Eden—before he created Adam. An amazing and immense architectural project. So, obviously. . . .

The computer engineer smile serenely and said, "Who do you think created the chaos?"

Respectfully submitted,

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 03:30 PM

Ah! Thanks for the calrification, BB.

I agree with your wishes in this matter.


A

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: GUEST,RoadRunner
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 03:56 PM

When I am not performing those silly tasks for the scientists, I will be monitoring this GOOGLE thing and watching for those who take MY NAME in vain!

Be wary you puny mortals! You have no idea what teraflops can do when applied to this network of my interconnected connected small cousins.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 04:11 PM

Georgian Silver:

No, it goes "pocketa-pocketa-queep".

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: M.Ted
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 05:01 PM

This is old, but at least it gives some more information on the project What is definition of Roadrunner

It seems that the computer has a much broader range of applications than reflected above--

"This level of processing power will make Roadrunner ideal for simulating complex interactions in many industries. Applications for Roadrunner will be widespread, including measurement of nuclear decay, complex weather patterns, capital market projections or astronomical calculations. Nanotechnologists and biochemists can explore intricate protein folding simulations or molecular interactions to design new drugs or cellular machines. Movie makers and information scientists will be able to create previously unexplored levels of 3D rendering, both for entertainment and potential real-time modeling of cancer, surgical or other biomedical applications. And oil and gas producers will be able to simulate underground geographies, determining the location of unexplored reserves."

Some of you have plenty of time for inane speculations, but no time to do a simple google search--and you wonder why the folk music revival died;-)

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Bert
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 05:55 PM

Never mind, when they load Windows on it, it will be no faster than your old desktop.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Peace
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 06:03 PM

One of the things faster computers mean to physicists is a greater ability to simulate 'chaos' patterns. For example, one of the more difficult things to do quickly enough is the math on weather patterns and the possibilities of tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. Faster computing will help with that I would think.

To explain: take a glass of water. Using an eye dropper let some red food dye drip into the water in the glass. Try to predict where the red will 'go' and what kind of pattern it will make. How will it disperse?

Hell, do the math on billiard balls when the table has weak spots in the cushions. Easy enoug for a single bank shot, but do the math when say three balls are involved. Four. Etc.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: M.Ted
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 06:13 PM

More from the article:

" Roadrunner will use the Red Hat Linux operating system...The architecture of the processors themselves, developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM, is identical to that used in the PlayStation 3 game console, the STI Cell Broadband Engine (Cell B.E.)."

Forget the old days when we were appalled when military tools, like the Humvee, were turned into expensive toys--now expensive toys have been turned in to military tools.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 06:25 PM

Ah. Now maybe they can keep track of warheads and fuses instead of sending them around the globe.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: GUEST,Chief Chaos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 06:39 PM

I believe the title of fastest computer is a misnomer. The article describes the computer as consisting of a large number of dual core processors along with other hardware and software which allows for the entire conglomeration to run at those astounding speeds. To my mind this isn't a "singular" computer but a room full of them operating in tandem. I guess I'm just nit-picking.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 06:49 PM

Ah - networked computers have always been considered a family of computing machine(s) - anbd that phrase has 2 meanings...

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: M.Ted
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 07:03 PM

Chief Chaos--

It's what they do nowadays--cluster computing--faster and cheaper than the big Kluges of the past because they can do it with off the shelf parts, and easy to expand and upgrade--System X, "the world's most powerful and cheapest homebuilt supercomputer." was the third fastest computer in the world when it went online in 2003, and it consisted of about 1100 off the shelf Mac G5s.

They do it because they got tired of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in machines that were obsolete they day were completed--

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: GUEST,Chief Chaos
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 07:07 PM

True, true.

I just thought about it though.
Multiple copies of a flawed system though?

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: artbrooks
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 08:03 PM

Sounds like maskrovia to me...everyone knows that roadrunners don't do much except blow up coyotes.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jun 08 - 10:37 PM

cluster computing and teraflops sound like not quite successful porno,

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: beardedbruce
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 08:26 AM

A petaflop. actually. 1024 teraflops.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 09:59 AM

One of the big problems with a number of "fastest computers" has been that the speeds quoted have been obtained by using massively parallel processing. Programs that can work in this way have to be written specifically to use parallel processing efficiently. There's been much progress in this kind of programming; but it's still not a widely held skill.

So now instead of a weekend to write a program that takes a month to run, it will take a year to write the program that will run in a few minutes? It's progress if you'll need to run the same program many times (fairly likely now?). Or if we have a million monkeys each writing individual programs who will need to take turns at running them on the supercomputer (common a couple of decades ago?).

A story not too long ago about a hardware nut who claimed to have fixed up his mommy's computer so that she could download her movies at TByte/second rates causes one to wonder - what did she do with the downloads. There's NO MEMORY - and especially no hard drive - that can write that fast. Please pass the salt - a grain at a time will be sufficient.

In the context of what they're doing with it, I'm sure the news reports from Lost Almost are accurate; but they have little meaning or direct significance for most of us. As several have pointed out, it ain't your granny's computer (or even remotely like yours) that they're building.

And a PFlop computer probably isn't enough to make my Office 2007 run as fast as Office 2002 did before they disabled it with WinXP patches.

John

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: M.Ted
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 11:19 AM

And your point is?

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 12:15 PM

This is rather esoteric for me but...


Research has found that the human brain anticipates reaction faster than nerve signals can transmit to muscles which imples that we percieve .1 seconds into the future at all times.

We also see that the brain prepares to decide before the larger electrical evidence of a decision making process....HOWEVER there is a small electrical spike even prior to the preperatory spike.

which all leads me to wonder if quantum computers might be able to anticipate decisions or questions.

Subject: RE: BS: faster computer
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 10 Jun 08 - 07:04 PM

"fixed up his mommy's computer so that she could download her movies at TByte/second rates"

So what was he using for a download link? A piece of wet string? Hmmm you did say he was a pubescent teenager? :-P


"a million monkeys each writing individual programs who will need to take turns at running them on the supercomputer"

CS101 students using punch cards to run on the Dec10... :-) been there, done that.... :-P