The Roadrunner is based on a radical design that includes 12,960 chips that are an improved version of an I.B.M. Cell microprocessor, a parallel processing chip originally created for Sony’s PlayStation 3 video-game machine. The Sony chips are used as accelerators, or turbochargers, for portions of calculations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/technology/09petaflops.html
Articles in category 'Military'
Not much new except a step up in the rhetoric coming out of Beijing. China’s space ambitions are not exactly secret, as far as I’m concerned human motivation into space is just another step in a logical progression of human expansion out into the solar system. My concern is chiefly with the utilization […]
Edging closer and closer to blasters, laser rifles, and phasers. Danger Room covers the story …
What happens when a high-power laser weapon strikes human flesh? This is the topic addressed in a paper for the Air Force office of Scientific Research with the title, “Laser Induced Shock Waves and Vaporization in Biological Systems.” It’s […]
The late Arthur C Clarke is famous for having popularised the geostationary communications satellite in 1945. Now the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working to turn one of his more dangerous ideas into reality.
Clarke’s 1955 novel Earthlight climaxes in battle between a lunar fortress and three attacking spacecraft. At the height of […]
Slate carries the story …
The regeneration of lost body parts has just moved from science fiction to U.S. military policy.
Yesterday the Department of Defense announced the creation of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will go by the happy acronym AFIRM. According to DOD’s news service, AFIRM will “harness stem cell research and […]
The lightweight aluminium exoskeleton, called XOS, senses Rex’s every move and instantly moves with him; it is almost like a shadow or a second skin. It is designed for agility that can match a human’s, but with strength and endurance that far outweigh our abilities.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7351314.stm
In 2007, the Chinese government conducted its 100th space launch with a Long March rocket, carried out a successful anti-satellite (ASAT) test, commenced operations of the Beidou satellite navigation and positioning system, and launched its Chang’e 1 lunar orbiter. A busy year for Beijing, and one punctuated by the now-regular annual deployment of an additional […]
