Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The building housing the engineering department at nagasaki university
is also home to a remarkable new super computer
that master complex math calculations in astro physics
at record speed
Tsuyoshi Hamada
who led the development team said the super computer only coast
$420000 only to make
whats more
its made of parts
that you could find in many computer stores
so first of all
would you tell me
how we should see and understand super computers right now
until recently
super computers were extremely expensive
only a few researchers had access to them
and only a small number of privileged people had access to the technology
and only a small number of privileged people had access to the technology
but now we can build these machines with parts for PC's and
workstations that are common place
here we make calculations at the same speed or faster from existing super computers
the total coast of a super computer now being developed in japan is set to
the total coast of a super computer now being developed in japan is set to
coast 1.3 billion dollars
coast 1.3 billion dollars
its is made up of the only most cutting edge hardware
its powerful and versatile that it could be used in many different tasks like
predicting earthquakes and making better cars
by contrast ,hamada and his team developed a relatively low coast super computer
that is made of general uses and commercially available parts
this part is called the GPU(Graphics processing unit)
this part is called the GPU(Graphics processing unit)
GPU's are used widely in computers and video game consoles displays cards
by forming a cluster of 760 GPU's
to make calculations in astro physics
and hydro dynamics ,the team broke the record for computing speed
with 158 trillion calculations per second
this program estimates the expansion of the universe following the big ***
professor hamada can run simulations that make complex calculations
professor hamada can run simulations that make complex calculations
about the origin of universe and the movement of the galaxies
the team recently (2009) won a golden nobel prize
in the category of price per performance
the award is one of the most prestigious in the super computing field
the award is one of the most prestigious in the super computing field
tell me more about the development of your computer
what's the hardest part of it
and what is the key to your success
there are processors in every computer
and there are tens of thousands of them in this computer room
theoretically a computer performance reflects the
number of processors that are connected to each other
but you still need a program that coordinates the processors smoothly
but you still need a program that coordinates the processors smoothly
but you still need a program that coordinates the processors smoothly
the goal is to understand the program constraints ,so that it gives
commands to the processors in the most efficient way possible
commands to the processors in the most efficient way possible
the important thing then is not just building a computer
the important thing then is not just building a computer
but understanding what research it will be used for
here we are doing physics calculations
so the extent of our knowledge of physics really makes a difference in this case
how would this invention
will be beneficial to our daily lives in the future
will be beneficial to our daily lives in the future
if knowledgeable people from different fields keep building computers
like we did and using them in creative ways
its going to result in great deal of innovation
its going to result in great deal of innovation
in order for low coast super computers like this to be used
all over the world ,people from other disciplines must share
their knowledge on how to use this kind of computer effectively
their knowledge on how to use this kind of computer effectively
because we lowered the coast significantly
it may leads to more people using super computers like this
they might create new businesses that had never been imagined before
or who knows ,even develop new branches of science
what i hope for most
is that the biggest applications haven't even been imagined yet
is that the biggest applications haven't even been imagined yet
professor hamada super computer
is creating a buzz among international researchers and businesses
although
computers have limitations
researchers would take advantage of low coast
could one day making individualized super computers that meet their needs for
specialized fields
translated by "Technigeek"
translated by "Technigeek"