Chip Airflow Simulation
Have you (like me…) been losing sleep trying to figure out how mankind will absorb the trillions of billions of computing cycles that result from the gazillions of processors sold every day? The New York Times offers one hint in a fascinating article on the race to build ever faster supercomputers:
[tease]
“Once the exclusive territory of nuclear weapons designers and code breakers, ultrafast computers are increasingly being used in everyday product design. Procter & Gamble used a supercomputer to study the airflow over its Pringles potato chips to help stop them from fluttering off the company’s assembly lines.”
The article also states that supercomputers are used differently in the USA than elsewhere:
[tease]
“While the United States has regained the lead in supercomputing achievement, its researchers have benefited unevenly. The armed forces and intelligence agencies have traditionally commanded the very largest computing systems here, for example, while other countries have devoted their speediest computers to other efforts, notably research on climate change.”