ACADEMIA

On June 19, 2009, IBM announced its intent to achieve the next 'moon-shot' in the evolution of the world's most powerful computers – an 'exaflop' system with nearly unimaginable power.

What is Exa-Scale Computing?

An exaflop is the next major speed barrier of supercomputing – the performance of one million trillion calculations in a single second by a single computer. One exaflop equals:

• The combined performance of 50 million laptops  - enough to reach 1000 miles from the ground when stacked, weighing over 100,000 tons.
• 1000 times the power of today's most powerful supercomputer.

How will Exa-Scale Will Change the World?

While the magnitude of an exascale supercomputer's power is difficult to imagine, the uses for such a system are already clear to IBM scientists as well as global leaders of businesses and governments.

More than Doubling the World's Oil Reserves

Today's oil recovery techniques – the finding and drilling of oil deposits – have a success rate of only 30 percent.  Tomorrow's exascale computing can predict with incredible accuracy the location of oil deposits, increasing those recovery rates to as high as 70 percent.

Predicting and Fighting Pandemics in Real-Time

Today's supercomputers allow scientists to simulate incredibly complex biological functions – identifying the origin of diseases and discovering new treatments.  However, these complex tasks can take weeks, even with the help of today's most powerful computers. In the hands of tomorrow's scientists, exascale systems can turn disease prediction, identification and cures in real time, allowing doctors to outrun the epidemics of tomorrow.  

Modeling 100 Years of Climate Change in a Few Hours

Today's supercomputers can estimate climate change impact to Earth's environment 100 years into the future – performing calculations so intense that they require one month to complete.  Tomorrow's exascale systems will reduce this time to only a few hours.

Real-Time Analysis of Oceans of Financial Services Data

Today's supercomputers – like those used by TD Securities – can speed advanced financial calculations by 2000 percent when compared to traditional methods.  Tomorrow's exascale financial calculations will include real-time, intelligent analysis of important factors such as investor profile data, live market trading dynamics, RSS news feeds and social networks – helping control financial risk and provide more accurate valuations of assets and investments.