Brazil News
| SAO PAULO - The University of Sao Paulo (USP) has acquired and will put into operation this month a supercomputer ranked among the fastest in the country. The equipment was purchased with support from the Foundation for Research Support of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) and has 2,304 processors.
Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences USP (Photo: uspvirtual.usp.br)
The machine, about 100 times faster than the most powerful computer now operating at the university, can do 20 trillion calculations per second (20 teraflops) and will be used by researchers from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) of USP and the Center for Theoretical Astrophysics, University Cruzeiro do Sul, trustee of the project.
Currently, the world’s fastest computer is the Japanese K Computer, which can reach 10:51 petaflops (1 petaflop is one quadrillion calculations per second), according to the latest list that compiles the 500 most powerful machines on the planet.
”This computer puts us among the leading institutes in the world for high performance computing,” says Professor of Astronomy at USP, Elisabete Dal Pino.
The first test calculation done with the equipment demonstrated the potential of the new machine. With the old computer, the procedure took 90 minutes. Using only half the capacity of the new machine, the test took only a minute and 57 seconds.
”You can model [create a virtual model based on theory] a galaxy, collisions between galaxies, collisions between stars. It can model the death or birth of a star. And you can compare these models with observations obtained from telescopes,” explained the professor.
The new supercomputer cost more than R$1 million (about $550 thousand USD) and will share 10% of its time for the broader astrophysics community in the country.
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Source(s) for this article: Folha de Sao Paulo/Agencia Brasil/ Bruno Bocchini
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