VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-02-08 Super Computers Faster, More Powerful 更快更强大的超级计算机

 

AS IT IS 2014-02-08 Super Computers Faster, More Powerful 更快更强大的超级计算机

Hello there, and welcome to As It Is.  I’m Faith Lapidus in Washington. 

Computer technology has revolutionized the world.  It has changed the way people interact and how quickly they are able to connect with each other.  Today we hear how super computers are getting smarter and faster.

We begin with a look the most powerful super computer in the world.  China’s Tianhe-2 super computer has again been rated the world's most powerful computer.  It is the second time in 12 months that the Tianhe-2 has taken the number one spot on the Top500’s list of the most powerful super computers.  Caty Weaver¹ reports.

Super Computers Faster, More Powerful

Experts measured the super computer’s performance at 33.86 petaflops, or quadrillions of operations per second.  China's National University of Defense² Technology developed the super computer, which runs twice as fast as the number two-rated Titan super computer.  It belongs to the United States government’s Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.  Both Tianhe-2 and Titan are part of an ongoing³ race to make super computers faster and more powerful.

So what is a super computer?

A basic personal computer has one microchip at the center of its operations.  This Central Processing Unit, or CPU, executes a set of commands contained in a predesigned program.

The first super computers had a few more CPUs.  That number grew as microprocessors⁴ became cheaper and faster.  Andrew Grimshaw, a computer science professor at the University of Virginia, explains. 

"Today, super computers are all what we call parallel machines.  Instead of one CPU - central processing unit - they have thousands and thousands.  And in the case of the Chinese machine, depending on how you count, millions of these central processing units."

These parallel machines are made up of many individual computers called nodes.  They are all positioned in one block.  They use a lot of power, create a lot of heat and require huge cooling systems.  They also use programs different from those used by ordinary computers. 

Professor Grimshaw says anyone with enough resources can build a super computer to solve problems that require millions of mathematical calculations. 

But that is not always necessary.  A virtual super computer can be created by networking individual computers within a university campus or company.  These machines then process data during down time, when no one is using them. 

"Those are very easy to run on virtual super computers because each problem is independent of all the others and I can scatter⁵ these jobs out around the place.  We run these all the time at UVA."

Professor Grimshaw says that until ten years ago, engineers worked on making computers faster.  Since then, he says, they have worked to create more powerful parallel machines. 

"It’s transforming science and engineering, and it’s going to continue to transform it in ways that I think most people don’t fully⁶ grasp how well we can model and simulate the world now."

Professor Grimshaw says the increasing computing⁷ ability of super computers makes the future of research very bright.

I'm Caty Weaver.

And I’m Faith Lapidus.  You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English. 

Severe weather events affect communities in all parts of the world.  Earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis⁸, and tornados⁹ have caused billions of dollars in damage and killed hundreds of thousands of people.  When Hurricane Sandy struck the United States in 2012, many people complained that weather reports leading up to the storm had not been correct.  Now, scientists are looking to super computers to help improve weather predictions.  June Simms has more. 

NOAA Hopes Super Computers Will Improve Weather Predictions

 

Predicting the strength and movement of these huge storm systems is of crucial importance.  Thanks to new super computers, meteorologists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric¹⁰ Administration (NOAA) are getting better at predicting the weather as far as six days out.

Hurricane Sandy was one of the costliest¹¹ storms in United States history.  At the time, some people blamed meteorologists for not correctly predicting the path of the storm. 

But weather forecasting is extremely difficult, says Ben Kyger.  He is the director of central operations at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction in College Park, Maryland.

“You’ve got major patterns in the atmosphere, like the jet stream, but you’ve also got little eddies¹², little currents, little things happening all over the place.  All these little changes are interacting with each other, continuously, all day long.  So if you look at it from above, from a satellite, you see the atmosphere moving and churning in big ways and little ways.”

Ben Kyger says oceans are another issue because they closely interact with the atmosphere and have a huge effect on storms.

NOAA has spent about $20 million on two new super computers in an effort to improve the dependability of its forecasts. 

“These computers generate the initial model guidance that the whole forecast process depends on, for all the weather information that you see, with snowstorms, tornadoes¹³, hurricanes, how hot it’s going to be today -- all of your weather forecasts start with what comes off of these super computers.”

It takes a huge amount of computational power to examine data from weather satellites, ground stations and other sources.  It then takes a lot of power to predict temperature, air pressure, humidity and wind speed. 

But human brains and experience are still very important to the process. 

Meteorologists at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction scan the same data that the super computers get before issuing a weather report. 

“They’re looking at lots of different models, that run off different computers and then they’re creating that five-day forecast.  They use  lots of scientific and subjective¹⁴ knowledge from doing it year after year.  They know where the models are strong.  They know where they’re weak, and they give us significantly better forecasts than the models would all by themselves.”

NOAA issues worldwide forecasts every six hours, every day of the year.  The reports are free and are helpful for many countries that cannot afford their own weather service.  NOAA continues working to improve its weather forecasting abilities.  Another upgrade of its weather-predicting super computers is planned for as early as 2015.

I’m June Simms.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 microprocessors   

微（信息）处理机( microprocessor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This sort of work would have been inconceivable before the advent of microprocessors. 在微处理机问世之前这种工作是难以想象的。
• In microprocessors, the name used for the IEEE interface bus standard. 微处理机中，IEEE接口总线标准的名字。

5 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

8 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

9 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

10 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

11 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

12 eddies   

（水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Viscosity overwhelms the smallest eddies and converts their energy into heat. 粘性制服了最小的旋涡而将其能量转换为热。
• But their work appears to merge in the study of large eddies. 但在大旋涡的研究上，他们的工作看来却殊途同归。

13 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

14 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。