Science & Technology

World’s fastest supercomputer now fully operational in Japan

Tokyo, Mar 9 (efe-epa).- The Japanese supercomputer Fugaku, recognized as the fastest in the world, began operating at full capacity on Tuesday, according to its creators, who expect it to make valuable contributions in Covid-19 research.

Fugaku was jointly developed by the state-owned Riken scientific institute and by the Japanese technology company Fujitsu.

It was partially activated in April last year to research Covid-19 and potential treatments.

The supercomputer, which can perform more than 442 quadrillion computations per second, will now run at its full capacity of 415.5 petaflops, according to Riken president Hiroshi Matsumoto at a ceremony on Tuesday in Kobe, western Japan, where the machine is installed.

Matsumoto said he hoped Fugaku will be able to do what its predecessor, K, could not, including artificial intelligence applications and big data analysis.

The computer is expected to be used in approximately 100 projects that will also include other fields such as climate change.

Fugaku was recognized as the fastest computer in the world in June last year, overthrowing Summit, installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, United States, by IBM, according to the biannual TOP500 rating.

The Japanese machine retained its first place in a November TOP500 rating.

Fugaku, named after Mount Fuji, also topped three other categories measuring performance in computational methods – industrial use, artificial intelligence applications and big data analysis. EFE-EPA

ahg/sc/tw

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