09 June 2008

Fastest Computer to be used for Nuclear Weapons Work

Scientists develop fastest computer


WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists unveiled the world's fastest supercomputer on Monday, a $100 million machine that for the first time has performed 1,000 trillion calculations per second in a sustained exercise. The technology breakthrough was accomplished by engineers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM Corp. on a computer to be used primarily on nuclear weapons work, including simulating nuclear explosions.

As news organizations picked up this story today, they added it to their websites' Science & Technology sections.


But what attracted my attention was the computer's chief purpose.


While US political leaders diligently work to stoke fear into the hearts and minds of Americans about Iran's purported nuclear threat (the country hasn't a single nuclear weapon, let alone the capability to build one), the US harbours the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.


And if this report is any indicator, the American nuclear weapons industry just got a big boost.


In the meantime, the drums keep beating, lately for Israel, for an attack on Iran. Should Israel launch such an attack, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind of US complicity in it.


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