China and U.S. in a Supercomputer Arms RaceDecember 02, 2011
A supercomputer race is on and the stakes are high. The United States has long dominated the supercomputer field — massive computers that run thousands of processors in parallel with the power needed to design weapon systems and crack codes. But in 2010 China unveiled a supercomputer that is five times more powerful than the most powerful U.S. supercomputer, according to an article in Newsweek. A lead in supercomputer technology could bring military and security advantages. The Tianhe-1A computer allows China to out-process its competitors in designing new military systems, the article noted. "This technology is fundamental to our national security, and our economic competitiveness," Dona Crawford, who runs supercomputing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told Newsweek. "Are we really going to let this slip away? Yeah, we're scared." The lead, however, may not be permanent. Just six months after China announced its Tianhe-1A supercomputer, the Japanese unveiled an even faster computer, the article noted. Now, Lawrence Livermore and IBM are collaborating on a new type of computer, using something called exascale technology, that can deliver 500 times the processing power of the most recent American supercomputer. Nonetheless, the U.S. has a tough climb ahead. While China seems to have an inexhaustible source of funding for its own exascale project, Lawrence Livermore Lab has just over $200 million a year. "If we don't win this race," Bruce Goodwin, head of the Lawrence Livermore weapons program, told Newsweek, "we're screwed." |
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