IBM builds exascale supercomputer for largest telescope

extremetech.com

39 points·DiabloD3··4 comments

Reading about projects like this always helps me when I ask myself the question whether I'm working on "stuff that matters". Not that I think everything could (or should) be on the same scale as huge science projects that lay the groundwork for our species' future, but it provides a reference point for comparison.

Honestly, this was my same response. I may enjoy what I'm doing, but to be a part of something like this. Wow. I can't even imagine what it would be to be a part of something this amazing and huge.

As usual, the news article is maddeningly short on details, but I assume they're going to be using this for interferometry between all those radio telescopes -- combining the signals with some really heavy DSP to get a relatively high-resolution raster image of a portion of the sky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_interferometer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_Kilometre_Array

I agree with the assumption of this projects application though I find it maddening that they're choosing to look 'up' instead of _down_. I believe more practical value can be obtained if that enormous computing resource were used to investigate the smallest components of the cosmos. Take Test4Theory[1] for example whose stated goal is to help in refining the accuracy of the Standard Model of Particle Physics; this would create the ability for us to derive a more accurate understanding of Nature and would exponentiate our development of technologies that are key to our species survival.

[1] http://lhcathome2.cern.ch/high-energy-physics-simulations

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