World's fastest supercomputer goes down

Register | at | by Mike

The US government has activated ASCI White, the world's fastest supercomputer. This IBM machine costs $110m and simulates the effects of nuclear detonations. Shouldn't taxpayers be concerned: surely it's cheaper to blow up the occasional Pacific atoll? What with global warming, and rising sea levels, they're all doomed, anyhow.

Located in a classified area at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, ASCI White weighs 106 tons and covers an area more than half the size of a football pitch. The monster machine is said to be faster than the combined speed of the next three most powerful supercomputers.