IBM To Build 3-Petaflop Supercomputer

angry tapir writes "The global race for supercomputing power continues unabated: Germany's Bavarian Academy of Science has announced that it has contracted IBM to build a supercomputer that, when completed in 2012, will be able to execute up to 3 petaflops, potentially making it the world's most powerful supercomputer. To be called SuperMUC, the computer, which will be run by the Academy's Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Garching, Germany, will be available for European researchers to use to probe the frontiers of medicine, astrophysics and other scientific disciplines."

Re:i now play chess vs the world

[Anonymous Coward]

1: it's a dick-wagging contest to have the best supercomputer in the world.

2: huge supercomputers can be leased out to cycle-hungry organizations the same way one would lease office space in a skyscraper.

3: each incremental advancement represents overcoming various hurdles faced by all computing technology; the simple needs of common folk will become that little bit easier as a part of our constant forward march in technological advancement.

Re:Why I love Moore's law

[NewtonsLaw]

So our desktop computers will wait thousands of times faster than they do today... for the next keystroke or mouse button-press. :-)