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IBM Building 20 Petaflop Computer For the US Gov't

Posted by timothy on from the because-the-nsa-hates-drm dept.

eldavojohn writes "When it's built, 'Sequoia' will outshine every super computer on the top 500 list today. The specs on this 96 rack beast are a bit hard to comprehend as it consists of 1.6 million processors and some 1.6TB of memory. That's 1.6 million processors — not cores. Its purpose? Primarily to keep track of nuclear waste & simulate explosions of nuclear munitions, but also for research into astronomy, energy, the human genome, and climate change. Hopefully the government uses this magnificent tool wisely when it gets it in 2012."

3 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. 2012? by DodgeRules · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Is this the real reason the world ends in 2012?

  2. Re:Crysis? by Joce640k · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    And what about Windows Vista. Will we finally have a machine which can run Vista at interactive rates?

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    No sig today...
  3. Aluminum foil hat. by Samschnooks · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Besides managing stockpiles of rusty old nukes, Sequoia will also be used for research into astronomy, energy, the human genome and climate change, according to IBM.

    It could also be used to search for "suspicious behaviour" by searching Government databases, Credit card companies' databases, credit bureau databases, Choicepoint's, telecommunication companies' databases, airlines, and any other firm that the Government bullies into giving access. Own a gun, buy some grow lights for your reef tank, and fertilizer for your spinach fields and that'lll be a searching and detainment because of the "War on Drugs", "War on Terror", and "War on [insert here]".

    Will we be allowed any sort of control over our own information? I think not!