U.S. and China Continue to Compete in Supercomputing Race

In an experiment described in Science, Chinese researchers used photons (also known as light particles) from the country’s quantum-communications satellite and established an instantaneous connection between two ground stations more than 744 miles apart. By doing so, say the experts, China is now a pioneer in harnessing matter and energy at a subatomic level — and a leader in the field of using quantum technology to build a global communications network that can’t be hacked. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is paying for companies to develop new supercomputers in pursuit of at least one “exascale” system. Continue reading U.S. and China Continue to Compete in Supercomputing Race

HP Introduces Memory-Driven Computing With ‘The Machine’

Hewlett Packard Enterprise introduced a prototype computer dubbed The Machine, which has a single 160-terabyte memory bank that can simultaneously process the data found in 160 million books. This never-before-accomplished feat reveals the potential of what’s called Memory-Driven Computing. The custom-built computer is, says HPE, the world’s largest single-memory computer, based on the largest R&D program in HPE’s history. The Machine, it adds, and its capabilities will be transformational. Continue reading HP Introduces Memory-Driven Computing With ‘The Machine’

The Machine: HPE Prototype Intros New Computing Paradigm

At Discover 2016 in London this week, Hewlett Packard Enterprise revealed its early version of a working prototype for The Machine, which began as a research project in 2014. The prototype, in a Fort Collins, Colorado lab, tests the design that will soon be available to programmers to create software to exploit its capabilities. The Machine relies on memory technology to increase calculating speed, and will require a new kind of memory chip unlikely to be widely available before 2018 at the earliest. Continue reading The Machine: HPE Prototype Intros New Computing Paradigm