專八閱讀：IBM奪回最快計算機桂冠
"ASCI紫色計算機"將被用于三維模擬核爆炸
Scientists will soon be able to observe the first instants after a nuclear warhead detonates. Fortunately, it will be a three-dimensional simulation, made possible by the world's fastest computer. IBM and the U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday the sale of a $290 million supercomputer, capable of performing 100 trillion calculations per second. Armed with that much computing firepower, a 3-D simulation of the first one-millionth of a second in a nuclear explosion will take eight weeks to calculate.
科學家不久將能觀察到核彈頭爆炸的第一瞬間。幸運的是，世界上運算最快的計算機使三維模擬核爆炸成為可能。周二，IBM和美國能源部宣布，一臺售價為2.9億美元的超級計算機每秒鐘可執(zhí)行100兆次運算。一個關于百萬分之一秒核彈爆炸的情況只需8周就可以通過這臺計算機運算并做出它的三維模擬。而這是史無前例的模擬。
ASCI PURPLE, as the massive computer will be called, has a sobering task. Working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, the hefty computer will be dedicated to the task of monitoring the nation's nuclear missile stockpile.
被稱作巨大計算機的"ASCI紫色計算機"承擔著極其嚴峻的任務。這臺座落(把"座落"改為"安裝")在Lawrence Livermore國家實驗室中的重型計算機，將被用于執(zhí)行監(jiān)測全國核導彈庫的重任。
Every year, the Department of Energy has to certify to the U.S. president that the missiles are safe and in working order. Computers are constantly running simulations to predict the likelihood of missile failure in a war, or the consequences of a missile mishap while still in peacetime.
每年，能源部都要向美國總統(tǒng)證明美國的導彈是安全的，它們正在正常工作。許多計算機持續(xù)運轉(zhuǎn)，模擬預測在戰(zhàn)時導彈失敗的可能性或在和平時期導彈惹禍的惡果。
Currently, the former world's No. 1 computer, ASCI White, did the job. But it can only run simulations on simple theoretical models, said lab spokesman David Schwoegler. ASCI Purple will do the first true-to-life, three-dimensional simulation of a detonation.
實驗室發(fā)言人David Schwoegler說，當前，前世界運行最快的計算機--"ASCI白計算機"曾經(jīng)承擔這個重任，但它僅能在簡單的理論模型中模擬核爆炸的瞬間情況,而"ASCI紫計算機"將首次逼真地三維模擬核爆炸。
And testing the nuclear arsenal requires much more than simulating the behavior of the plutonium inside a bomb. In fact, everything inside the bomb must be tested because materials tend to act in unpredictable ways during a detonation. One thing the computer will be able to test, for example, is whether aging materials hold potential hazards.
檢測核武器庫比模擬炸彈中的钚huang元素的反應要求要高得多。事實上，因為在核爆炸時，許多物質(zhì)的反應難以預測，所以要檢測核彈中的每一種物質(zhì)。例如，計算機要能夠檢測出久置的核材料是否具有潛在的危險。
In the process, the computer will also help scientists unmask some of the 20th century's great mysteries. Nuclear weapons, Schwoegler said, were built in the past "pragmatically, not scientifically." In other words - the bombs worked, but the scientists building them were basing their construction on theories, instead of observation.
在這個過程,該計算機還將有助于科學家揭開上世紀一些重大的秘密。Schwoegler說，以前所造的核武器是"實用性，而不是科學性的"。換句話說，盡管核彈成功了，但是，建造核彈的科學家是根據(jù)理論而不是根據(jù)實際觀察建造它們的。
"I've seen scientists look at materials calculations on ASCI White and say, I knew that happened, but I couldn't prove it," Schwoegler said.
Schwoegler說："靠'ASCI白計算機'計算核彈物質(zhì)的科學家們說，我知道發(fā)生了什么，但我不能證明它。"
ASCI Purple is as fast as 50,000 top-of-the-line PCs performing calculations simultaneously. Its operating memory is 400,000 times greater than that of the average PC, and it can store data equivalent to the U.S. Library of Congress - 30 times over. At 100 teraflops - or 100 trillion calculations per second - it will be about eight times faster than its predecessor, ASCI White, and about three times faster than the world's current No. 1 computer, The Earth Simulator in Yokohama, Japan. That NEC-built machine was installed earlier this year, knocking IBM out of the top spot."
"ASCI紫計算機"的計算速度相當于5萬臺最好的個人電腦同步運算。與普通的個人電腦相比，它的應用貯存能力比普通個人電腦要高出40萬倍，它貯存的數(shù)據(jù)要比美國國會圖書館高出30倍之多。以100每秒萬億次浮點運算或每秒100兆計算的能力，"ASCI紫計算機"比它的前任"ASCI白計算機"要快8倍，它比目前世界上最快的計算機，即位于日本Yokohama的"地球模擬器"要快3倍。本年初，NEC建成這臺巨無霸把IBM擠出了世界最快計算機的頭把交椅。
THE POWER OF THE HUMAN BRAIN猶如人腦的能力
Hans Moravec, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, says ASCI Purple represents an important milestone for the computing industry. Twenty years ago, he predicted that computers would require 100 terraflops of calculating power to simulate the activity of the human brain. Right on the schedule he predicted, that milestone has been reached.Carnegie Mellon
大學機器人研究所的教授Hans Moravec說，"ASCI紫計算機的問世"代表著計算機產(chǎn)業(yè)的一個重要里程碑。20年前，他預測計算機若能達到每秒100兆的計算能力，就能模擬人腦活動了。正如他的預測，這個里程碑已經(jīng)達到了。
"It seemed astronomically large back then," Moravec said. In fact, his predictions were first published in a science fiction magazine. "I'm glad somebody remembered." Moravec's approximation is based on some observed facts - namely, the amount of computing power required to simulate the activity of the retina, which is about 1 billion calculations per second. For an approximation, he then calculated that the retina is about 1/100,000th the size of the entire brain. So he simply multiplied 1 billion times 100,000.
Moravec說："這個運算能力的數(shù)字在當時像天文數(shù)據(jù)一樣巨大"。事實上，他的預測當初是刊登在一本科幻雜志上的。他說："我很高興還有人記得此事。"Moravec的近乎準確的估計是根據(jù)觀察到的一些現(xiàn)象后而做出的"，模擬人眼視網(wǎng)膜活動的計算能力要達到大約每秒10億次運算。為了取得近似數(shù)值，他計算出視網(wǎng)膜大約只有整個大腦的10萬分之一的大小，所以，他僅僅用10億乘以10萬。
The real trick for the industry, however, is to get the cost of ASCI Purple sized-computing power down from $290 million to about $1,000. At that point, he said, there will be robots which can act more or less like people. That kind of cost reduction might again sound like science fiction, but don't be fooled, said Moravec."I expect that in about 2020," he said.
然而，對于計算機行業(yè)來說，真正的目標是將具有"ASCI紫"計算能力計算機的價格，從2.9億美元降到大約1千美元。他說，能達到這目標，就能造出多少有些人樣的機器人了。這種大幅度的降價聽起來又像科幻小說，但是這次不要被愚弄了。Moravec說："我希望大約在2020年就達到這個目標。"
