New supercomputer to aid science research at Energy

The Center for Computational Sciences at the Energy Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has purchased a new super computer system in an effort to help researchers.

The system, which features 256 processors, two terabytes of shared memory and 1.5 teraflops of power, seeks to let scientists simulate and analyze data of great size and complexity to aid research in computational biology, genetic research and climate modeling. One terabyte equals more than 1 million megabytes, and a one-teraflop computer can process 1 trillion instructions per second.

The system could impact environmental threats such as pollution and ozone depletion. "Together with our core university partners ... and our collaborators in [department] labs, academia and industry, we plan to evaluate and help develop the potential of this new architecture for complex scientific and engineering simulations in biology, climate, materials and fusion, among others," said Thomas Zacharia, an associate director at the lab.