The latest supercomputer might come in handy to solve questions that have been fascinating astronomers for many years. The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center has dedicated Perlmutter, touted as the world’s fastest computers for AI to build the largest-ever 3D map of the observable universe, reports VentureBeat.
The 3D map is being constructed to study dark energy that’s pushing the expansion of the universe. Perlmutter will process data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) to provide observations. The supercomputer will process “dozens” of galaxy exposures from a study and dictate where DESI aims next.
Years of work to be done in days
As AMD explains, the initial version of Perlmutter will feature 1,536 nodes that will pack a 64-core Epyc 7763 processor and four NVIDIA A100 GPUs each. This results in a system that has 4 exaflops of performance when performing artificial intelligence tasks. It dramatically reduces calculation time. As per Nvidia, Perlmutter will be able to process a year’s worth of DESI info in a “few days,” not even weeks or months.
The map isn’t the only project that requires high computing power. Perlmutter will also be working on the study of atomic interactions to generate clean energy tech such as biofuels. Although mapping out the universe is not an easy task, it shows just how advanced supercomputers have become in handling truly large-scale tasks.
UK to build the world’s most powerful supercomputer
Recently, UK announced that it will be building the world’s most powerful climate and weather supercomputer with Microsoft’s help. UK’s weather service, the Met Office, has signed a mega-deal with Microsoft for the project.
While the UK already has a supercomputer that performs 16,000 trillion calculations a second, the new machine will be twice as powerful. By gathering more detailed climate modeling, the country is planning to make its infrastructure future-proof and protect them during harsh weather conditions.
The system will be powered by 100% renewable energy and is expected to save around 7,000 tonnes of CO2 in its first year of operation.
