(Download) "Bolstering U.S. Supercomputing: The Nation's Needs for Supercomputers to Strengthen Defense and National Security Cannot Be Satisfied with Current Policies and Spending Levels." by Issues in Science and Technology * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Bolstering U.S. Supercomputing: The Nation's Needs for Supercomputers to Strengthen Defense and National Security Cannot Be Satisfied with Current Policies and Spending Levels.
- Author : Issues in Science and Technology
- Release Date : January 22, 2005
- Genre: Engineering,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 213 KB
Description
In November 2004, IBM's Blue Gene/L, developed for U.S. nuclear weapons research, was declared the fastest supercomputer on the planet. Supercomputing speed is measured in teraflops: trillions of calculations per second. Blue Gene/L achieved on one computation 70.72 teraflops, nearly doubling the speed of Japan's Earth Simulator, the previous recordholder at 35.86 teraflops. Despite Blue Gene/L's blazing speed, however, U.S. preeminence in supercomputing, which is imperative for national security and indispensable for scientific discovery, is in jeopardy. The past decade's policies and spending levels are inadequate to meet the growing U.S. demand for supercomputing in critical national areas such as intelligence analysis, oversight of nuclear stockpiles, and tracking climate change. There has been little long-term planning for supercomputing needs and inadequate coordination among relevant federal agencies. These trends have reduced opportunities to make the most of this technology. The federal government must provide stable long-term funding for supercomputer design and manufacture and also support for vendors of supercomputing hardware and software.