UNIVERSITY UPGRADES SUPERCOMPUTER
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ October 19th 2001 ]

A supercomputer housed at Indiana University capable of 1,000 trillion calculations per second will be upgraded after the institution received a portion of a $105 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to fund its genetic research program.

Designed to simulate the birth of galaxies and delve into the deepest reaches of human genetic code, the university supercomputer - 1000 times more powerful than an average desktop - will become one of the most powerful computers in the world, according to a report in today’s Hoosier Times.

Powered by IBM technology, the supercomputer consists of ten 7-foot towers that encase 632 processors. Several towers will be moved from Bloomingdale to Indianapolis where high speed data connections will allow the computer to operate as one.

The Lilly Endowment grant will allow the supercomputer to accelerate its research into genetics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology and a host of other disciplines, but its architecture will prevent it from supporting videogames.