Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stuuut 
Used to extend the life of nuclear weapons
They should be using that to find cures for diseases or something......
Quote:
Originally Posted by
[Adz]
Precisely my thoughts.
I heard a quote somewhere but I can't find it. It went something along the lines of everything America cares about is militarised. Even the lead attorney is called a General.
This research is for nukes. Nobody is going to actually use a nuke in war again.
The US has thousands of them, more than they need to destroy the entire planet. If a few hundred old nukes don't work, then so be it.
And it comes down to mentality. The world's most powerful computer... used to keep killing machines in working order. Yay! Why on Earth would they want to put it to a use that will actually help humanity, like finding cures for diseases or something like that?
Using computers to find cures for diseases?
That's strange... both of your folding postbits must be invisible.
We already have a ~7 PFLOP network working towards cures for dozens of diseases.
While I agree that U.S. "defense" spending is a little bit out of line, there are certain things worth investigating. Ff it means greater understanding of weapons that have the power to tear the world apart, then I think it's a good investment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DuckieHo
It also runs Xeon Phi.... (aka Knight's Corner aka Larrabee)
That's an argument? Really?
An attorney general is a term for a "main legal advisor to the government". The "general" part is "a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters". The term general here is a legal term, not a military term.
Even England uses the term:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_general#United_Kingdom
Question for you... how do we
KNOW our nukes still work?
1) Physically test them every few years.
2) Simulate them.
Which would prefer?
If another country figures out that our stockpile is completely worthless and we have been wasting billions maintaining useless weapons.... where does that put the US? MAD as deterrent is moot and it would take years for the US to develop more weapons.
Duckie is right. As much as we need computers working on biomedical technology, this is hardly something that we can afford to neglect. If there's one thing that nuclear
anything has taught us, it's that you can't let things go unchecked.
It should also be interesting to see how these new Xeon Phi perform!
Edited by Escatore - 6/19/12 at 12:37pm
