What the hell is a Petaflop ?
Thе wоrld'ѕ fаѕtеѕt ѕuреr-соmрutеr hаѕ jоіnеd thе hunt fоr еffесtіvе treatment fоr thе соrоnа virus.With thе power of 200 реtаflорѕ,оr the соmрutіng ѕрееd to perform 200 ԛuаdrіllіоn саlсulаtіоnѕ реr second, IBM's Summіt ѕuреrсоmрutеr ran simulations оf mоrе thаn 8,000 drug соmроundѕ tо ѕее іf thеу mіght be effectively ѕtор thе corona vіruѕ frоm іnfесtіng hоѕt сеllѕ.
Frоm those, іt іdеntіfіеd 77 роѕѕіblе саndіdаtеѕ, аnd wіll run ѕіmulаtіоnѕ of them іn аn еffоrt tо nаrrоw down the lіѕt further, bеfоrе еxреrіmеntаl ѕtudіеѕ саn be done.
Our Boris...
In some way of a comparison in the UK we have Boris Johnson, our crazy looking Prime Minister and it is an open secret that he models himself on his hero Sir Winston Churchill, Even his speeches have adopted the Churchillian rasp.
But what our " Boris" has done is copy what Winston did in the second world war, when our backs were up against the wall and we needed fresh thought and innovation,he has asked all the schools, university and most importantly our very own garden shed inventors to come up with something ( anything) that will help fight this common foe...
They have !! ,some boffins ( all ex-garden shed inventors no doubt ) from Formula one and a university in the UK have invented a non mechanical pressure ventilator which has already gone through the testing stage and now will go into production, and can you just believe this, they can produce 1,000 units a day !!....Petaflop eat your heart out !!
My old dad was a shed boffin,I can just see him now scribbling some calculations on mum's kitchen worktop before that idea was lost from his mind...Miss you Pops !!
KEYWORD..there is just too many
Proud would be an understatement....If I could invent a word to express my gratitude to to all those heroes out there fighting this virus, putting their own lives at risk and sometimes paying the ultimate sacrifice..I can't think of one ( or i'm not educated enough to think of one )..There just isnt a word is there ??."Petaflop"....maybe the person who came up with that name might come up with an interesting keyword....Yep !!
Be safe, Be happy
Tim
Recent Comments
2
Wow, Just when I think that technology is easy to keep up with, someone comes out with something new to learn about! This is amazing that a computer can be that powerful!
Interesting post Tim! Thanks for sharing.