by Doug Millison for SiliconValleyWatcher.com

Credit Silicon Valley with the world's top two fastest supercomputers and with overwhelming dominance in supercomputer technology.

The San Jose Mercury News says an IBM system in Livermore and an SGI system in Mountain View placed first and second among the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, based on a National Research Council report released yesterday.

Of the top 500 fastest supercomputers, "IBM and Hewlett-Packard alone accounting for 78 percent," write Glennda Chui and Therese Poletti, adding that "Sixty-four percent use Intel processors."

What are the two fastest systems used for? According to Chui and Poletti:

While the Livermore machine mostly will be devoted to classified weapons work, it also will be open to researchers who want to design new materials and study interactions between molecules, among other things.

The Ames supercomputer, called Columbia after the lost space shuttle, will be used to model the flight of the space shuttle before it returns to service, as well as forecast hurricanes and earthquake activity, simulate the death throes of dying stars and analyze how genes work in the human body.

Kudos to Chui and Poletti who provide more details about the supercomputers and their use than a story about the NRC report in today's New York Times.

The US government should triple its investment in supercomputer research to stay ahead of competitors, notably up-and-coming China, the report says.

Emphasize the homeland security angle and the money will pour in like Noah's flood, I expect.

Links:

Supercomputer mastery at risk: No. 1 U.S. Must Apply Itself, Report Saysby Glennda Chui and Therese Poletti, San Jose Mercury News

OnlineJournalist.org, edited by Doug Millison "on a need-to-know basis"