"Breaking the petaflop barrier, a feat that seemed astronomical just two years ago, won't just allow faster computations. These computers will enable entirely new types of science that couldn't have been done before."
A new crop of supercomputers is breaking down the petaflop speed barrier, pushing high-performance computing into a new realm that could change science more profoundly than at any time since Galileo, leading researchers say.
In June, 2008, IBM's Roadrunner supercomputer was the first to break what has been called "the petaflop barrier." In November 2008, when the annual rankings of the Top 500 supercomputers were released, there were two computers to do so. At 1.105 petaflops, Roadrunner retained its top place from the previous list, ahead of Cray's Jaguar, which ran at 1.059 petaflops.
Petaflop computing will enable much more accurate modeling of complex systems. Applications are expected to include real-time nuclear magnetic resonance imaging during surgery, computer-based drug design, astrophysical simulation, the modeling of environmental pollution, and the study of long-term climate changes.
Today's computer scientists can barely contain their excitement as they imagine what is now possible. "It's very exciting to be alive today and doing computer science. Now we can do some spectacular things."
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