Read about the new beast on the block for simulating nuclear explosions and to take predictive science to whole new levels. Here comes Sequoia, to be installed at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
Read more here: I See Your Petaflop and Raise You 19 More.
Here I am, ignorant of a moment precious. The rare second, missed and unaccounted for eternity.
Makes me think at a large scale, what else I am missing every second …
Here’s another one of their inventions that bubbles efficiency. A foldable bike. I have seen ones like this in Wired and other sites before but these guys have taken it to a whole new level. For example, they have a foldable hardtail ride that tackles rugged mountain trails with standard 26” wheel specification.
If only the cost was down to earth as the idea itself …
Stumbled on to this gem now. It is rated as #1 in Dilbert’s all time top 10. (Jan 11, 2009)
Check out the most popular Dilbert strips here.
Man knows himself only to the extent that he knows the world; he becomes aware of himself only within the world, and aware of the world only within himself. Every object, well contemplated, opens up a new organ of perception within us.
– Goethe
An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first one orders a beer. The second orders half a beer. The third, a quarter of a beer. The bartender says “You’re all idiots”, and pours two beers.
A nice unfolding of the following infinite series expansion:
This is a very simple result. Can’t see it ? Work it out.
Given the reputation of being the ugliest animal on the planet, I had to look up more details on the Anglerfish. Here’s a picture and some details about this deep-sea carnivorous fish.
Nevertheless, what caught my interest, apart from their fantastic and gory looking appearance is the following fact:
The male, which is significantly smaller than the female, has no need for such an adaptation. In lieu of continually seeking the vast abyss for a female, it has evolved into a permanent parasitic mate. When a young, free-swimming male angler encounters a female, he latches onto her with his sharp teeth. Over time, the male physically fuses with the female, connecting to her skin and bloodstream and losing his eyes and all his internal organs except the testes. A female will carry six or more males on her body.
A very impressive collection of photos about supercomputers, from Konrad Zuse’s apparatus to few of the rather not-so-famous flop burners of the recent years… Interesting. I was wondering why they had left out RoadRunner of recent fame but then a quick search on google yields the updated full list for anyone interested.
“Is there a God,” and said machine answers, “There is now.”
via Dark Roasted Blend: Most Powerful Supercomputers: Brains and Beauty.
PS: On a side note, I stumbled upon a list of the fastest supercomputers in India.
There has been quite a furore about an unknown truck driver delivering a thorough account of the first 2 nuclear bombs ever built on the face of the earth. Intrigued and excited, I searched google to read more about him and stumbled on this gem of an interview/article that brought him to light.
Read David Samuels’s account about the truck driver, John Coster-Mullen, who conducted more than a decade of research to successfully build the first accurate replica of Little-Boy, the master-blaster that annihilated Hiroshima, ending WWII. The article itself is quite interesting and leaves you wanting for more. Here’s an excerpt:
I recently wrote to Coster-Mullen and suggested that we take a trip across the country to visit his Little Boy replica, which is currently housed at Wendover, a decommissioned Air Force base in Utah. After some negotiation, we agreed to ride together on his late-night delivery route between Waukesha and Chicago. We would then drive to Wendover. Along the way, he would explain the inner workings of the first atomic bombs, and I would learn how he got it right and the experts got it wrong.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the his book “Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man”.
For the past few years, I have been following the buzz on quantum computing. Even if I only barely understand the theory behind physics involved, there is still something mysterious about quantum mechanics that keeps bringing me back. Anyway, I diverge here.
Recent breakthrough in quantum computing occurred when scientists were able to successfully teleport information between two distant atoms. Furthermore, there are huge possibilities in the field of quantum cryptography if the efficiency of the quantum entanglement is a little more feasible.
Refer to the original article below for more information.
Science Quantum Information Teleported Between Distant Atoms.