Baku. 1 August. REPORT.AZ/ Obama signs executive order to build world's fastest supercomputer, Report informs citing BBC. U.S. leader wants to bring back the glory days of 2012.
China's Tianhe-2 became the fastest supercomputer in the world in 2013, beating the American Titan. Obama thinks it's time to bring that title back home.
On Wednesday, he signed an executuve order to announce the National Strategic Computing Initiative, which will be responsible for building the world's fastest supercomputer.
The Defense and Energy Departments along with the National Science Foundation will lead the research on the development of a new high-performance computer. The technology will be used for better "economic competitiveness and scientific discovery," according to Obama's order.
Supercomputers are used for many purposes, some critical to national security and the country's economic viability. U.S. scientists could use the new supercomputer to pioneer research into all fields ranging from nuclear energy to climate change.
The NSCI will develop the first ever "exascale" computer, which will be about 30 times faster than anything currently in use.
The new supercomputer will operate at 1 exaflop, or 1 quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) calculations per second. The Tianhe-2 runs at 33.86 petaflops, or 38.86 quadrillion (38,860,000,000,000,000) calculations per second.
Calling a supercomputer fast is clearly an understatement.