NEWS富士通富士通 スーパーコンピューター富士通 雷神

富士通、スパコンをオーストラリアに納入。ビッグデータで気象予測と洪水被害の軽減

富士通が開発し、オーストラリア国立大学 (ANU) に納入したスーパーコンピューター「雷神」が一般公開されました。(納入は2012年6月)…
Takuro Matsukawa
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engadget

富士通のスパコン「雷神」一般公開。5万7472コア、160TB RAM、すごい外装

富士通が開発し、オーストラリア国立大学 (ANU) に納入したスーパーコンピューター「雷神」が一般公開されました。(納入は2012年6月)

富士通のスパコンといえば理化学研究所の「京」が有名ですが、雷神も南半球では最高レベルの性能を誇ります。 主な仕様は5万7472コア Sandy Bridge Xeon 2.6GHz、160テラバイトのメインメモリー、10ペタバイトのファイルシステムなど。ピーク演算性能は1.2 PFLOPS 。OS には RHEL6.4 ベースの CentOS 6.4 を採用しています。

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このスパコンの用途として、富士通は「気象予測シミュレーションによる洪水被害の軽減」を挙げています。

オーストラリアは常に水不足に悩まされている国ですが、近年では気候変動のため異常降雨が発生するようになりました。そのため人口の約80%が沿岸部に集中しているオーストラリアにとって、洪水対策が重要になりスパコンを導入した、という経緯があります。

雷神というネーミングセンスや描かれているデザインだけを見るといろいろと突っ込みたくなりますが、その目的を知った上で改めて見ると、意外と良く思える・・・かもしれません。

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Lifelogging Cameras(01 of03)
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Two lifelogging cameras came to prototype this year: Memoto’s Lifelogging Camera and OMG Life’s Autographer. Both cameras are head-height mounted and automatically snap pictures for you; the Memoto every 30 seconds and the Autographer whenever it detects changes in “temperature, light, motion, direction and colour.” Given the support both of these projects have received, lifelogging may just become A Thing people start integrating into their everyday lives.\n\nWhat might such cameras mean? With so many moments stored as photographs, memories will be \"searchable\" and will stay with the wearer forever. Further down the road, it might mean an end to the government and corporate monopoly on surveillance; now individuals will join entities as surveyors. (credit:Autographer)
Essemblix 'Drag-And-Drop' Drugmaking(02 of03)
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We can \"drag-and-drop\" to make drugs like we insert photos into emails? Yep, that started happening in 2012.\r\n\r\nThe Parabon Essemblix Drug Development Platform uses a \"drag and drop computer interface\" to assemble compounds atom by atom. According to the National Science Foundation, \"it could drastically reduce the time required to create and test medications.\"\r\n\r\nHow drastically? Well, without Essemblix, drugs are built by a slow and expensive process of trial and error; slow and expensive enough that the design-to-product process of even one successful drug typically takes on the order of $800 million dollars and 15 years. Most of that money, and most of that time, isn\'t spent on clinical trials and FDA approval either -- most is spent simply on design and synthesis of new, testable drugs. \r\n\r\nBut with Essemblix, design and synthesis is no longer a time and money sink; Essemblix drugs, says the National Science Foundation, could be conceived and produced \"in weeks, or even days.\" \r\n\r\nBest of all, the Essemblix has already been used to produce drugs. P24RDN, a brain-cancer medication produced by Parabon, has been shown \"safe and effective\" in preclinical trials. PJ-01 , a drug made by both Parabon and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, is currently in preclinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer. (credit:AP)
Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset(03 of03)
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\"Virtual reality\" had a moment in the mid-90’s, what with Total Recall and Virtual Boy. But back in the day, the gaming technology wasn’t quite up to par. Mid-90’s VR displays were plagued by weight, menaced by low resolution, doomed to make gamers nauseous -- and eventually, all of them died with a whimper. \n\nBut now VR is back, and this time it looks like it’s going to work.\n\nThe Oculus Rift, made by ModRetro founder Palmer Luckey, boasts a huge field of vision, resolution approaching Retina-level, and head-tracking sans latency and sans nausea. Better yet, the Rift has a reasonable price tag ($300) and scads of corporate support -- the creators of DOOM have announced that they’re making their fourth game Rift-compatible (as well as their re-release of DOOM 3) and a Rift-compatible version of Minecraft is in the works. \n\nWith a $2 million war chest from their Kickstarter campaign and game developers going gaga over the tech, could the Oculus Rift be the biggest thing since Kinect? (credit:Oculus VR)

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