Titan Supercomputer

Oak Ridge got a new supercomputer this week. Actually they just got new guts for it. They had a similar supercomputer there before. They replaced all the computer bits, but all the infrastructure, like the building, powers supplies, cabling and cooling all remained the same. Oh, and they got some new, flashy graphics for the front panel.

Running simulations of complex processes (things like weather, nuclear reactions) is what makes this thing useful. It allows us to peer a little bit into the future. The more detail we can include, the more accurate our predictions and the farther into the future we can see. No, we still can't model financial markets, but we can do a heck of a job with fluid dynamics, which is where we get cool pictures of the power turbine from a GE jet engine.

NPR has a good story about that includes some solid information like :

• Titan would not have been possible were it not for the massive market for video games.
• The room is where it is housed is very large, about a half acre.
• This machine cost $100 million. Its electric bill will total $9 million a year.