China's Tianhe-2 Retains Supercomputer Crown

The Tianhe-2 supercomputer, developed by China's National University of Defense Technology, remains the world's most powerful computer, according to a biannual Top500 list of supercomputers. Tianhe-2, which means "Milky Way-2" in Chinese, can operate at 33.86 petaflops per second, the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second. One hour of calculation by the machine equals 1,000 years of difficult sums by 1.3 billion people--coincidentally China's current population--on a calculator. It is the third time Tianhe-2 has topped the list. The supercomputer is a product of China's 863 high technology program, which aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology. According to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Tianhe-2 has provided computing support for more than 120 clients at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou in south China. The development of the C919 airliner and drug testing in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica were both helped by Tianhe-2's super powers. The supercomputer also came to the help of Guangzhou's e-government database and cloud computing storage.