The U.S. defense department has recently started work on a new supercomputer nicknamed the "Condor Cluster". It will be used to download and analyze large high resolution images, a process that used to take several hours will now take mere seconds. The technology used in making this supercomputer must be some of the most secret technology the United States owns right? Completely wrong. The new "amazing" technology used by this computer is the Sony Playstation 3. 1,760 PS3s were used in process that started four years ago. The PS3 was chosen due to its microchip. However within the last year Sony released a new PS3 slim. This new system was a hit with gamers but is not usable by the Defense Department, since Sony no longer used components that allowed engineers to link the device to the graphical processing unit.
This just shows the power of current gaming systems. Gamers take for do not take into account the power within the system they use every day. The game system that you just used to get to another level on your game is also being used by the government.
This is amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd reversal of events, really. If you think about it, since millitary technology usually gets converted into civilian technology after time.(Like facial recognition software, for instance.)
I remember when they first said they were doing this. They also used a programon the PS3 to send digital creations of certain types of cells or compound to help in medical studies... They started the system with so many ambitions.
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