4大終極計算難題待解
Shelley Dubois
2013-02-01
目前世界上運算速度最快的超級計算機每秒鐘已經(jīng)可以處理超過17千萬億次數(shù)據(jù)——大約相當于同時進行2萬萬億次運算。但是,計算機科學家們的目標是研發(fā)出能處理百萬萬億次數(shù)據(jù)的計算機,用來破解虛擬氣候、模擬細胞、模擬燃料、破解超新星現(xiàn)象等四大計算科學難題。
模擬燃料 ????燃料燃燒背后的公式很難從微觀層面理解。研究燃燒的科學家必須依靠猜測。借助泰坦,科學家們可以模擬酒精和丁醇等相對簡單的燃料燃燒的化學反應。但是,由于汽油和生物柴油是復雜的燃料——它們內部分子結構更長,因此較難模擬——將需要越來越強大的超級計算機來分析它們。 |
Future fuel ????The equations behind burning fuel are extremely difficult to understand on the micro-scale. Scientists studying combustion must rely on guesswork. With Titan, scientists can model the chemical reactions for combustion of relatively simple fuels like alcohol and butanol. But because gasoline and biodiesels are complex fuels -- the molecules inside are longer and thus trickier to model -- more and more powerful supercomputers will be required to parse them. |