China builds fastest supercomputer to date

New York Times : China has built the fastest-ever supercomputer, the Tianhe-1A. It has 1.4 times the horsepower of the current top computer, built by the US, as measured by the standard test used to gauge how well the systems handle mathematical calculations. Tianhe-1A’s number-one spot is expected to become official on 1 November when Jack Dongarra, the University of Tennessee computer scientist who maintains the official supercomputer rankings, releases an updated list. For decades the US dominated the technology and built the largest, fastest machines—although Japan briefly took the title away in 2002 with a computer that had more horsepower than the top 20 American computers combined. The US quickly regained the leadership in 2004, and kept it, until now. Supercomputers are used to solve problems in areas critical to national interests, such as defense, energy, finance, and science.