World’s Most Powerful Computer Could Soon Help The US Build Better Nuclear Reactor

[JMAC]

`

Popular Science
10/06/23

Popular Science has been demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872. Not a typo ;-)





https://www.popsci.com/technology/ar...clear-reactor/


"Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, is getting a new supercomputer, Aurora, which its scientists will use to study optimal nuclear reactor designs. As of now, the lab is using a system called Polaris, a 44-petaflops machine that can perform about 44 quadrillion calculations per second.

Aurora, which is currently being installed, will have more than 2 exaflops of computing power, giving it the capacity to do 2 quintillion calculations per second—almost 50 times as many as the old system. Once the unprecedented machine comes online, it’s expected to lead the TOP500 list that ranks the most powerful computers in the world. It was expected to start running earlier, but has had delays due to manufacturing issues."


.

[JMAC]

`

I imagine that breaking encryption wouldn't take long with this computer

.

[JMAC]

`

Aurora & ENIAC on opposite ends of the spectrum, but both huge.


ENIAC (1945) was older than dirt...I mean me.

“The ENIAC contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, along with 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 1,500 relays, 6,000 manual switches and 5 million soldered joints. It covered 1,800 square feet (167 square meters) of floor space, weighed 30 tons, consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power.”

.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by JMAC

`Aurora & ENIAC on opposite ends of the spectrum, but both huge.
ENIAC (1945) was older than dirt...I mean me.
“The ENIAC contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, along with 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 1,500 relays, 6,000 manual switches and 5 million soldered joints. It covered 1,800 square feet (167 square meters) of floor space, weighed 30 tons, consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power.”.

One of my undergraduate labs was across the hall from the room where the ENIAC was stored on the 1st floor of the Moore School, Univ of Penn. It did not take up the full room (quite large) so a fair bit of the area was used to store supplies and gear for our undergrad labs. Today, part of the ENIAC computer has been "preserved" (rather than restored) and is a nice, interesting display (unlike much of our history).
https://www.seas.upenn.edu/about/his...eritage/eniac/

[JMAC]

`




___________________________

https://youtu.be/bGk9W65vXNA
__________________________







.