Japan creates world's fastest supercomputer

Updated at: 2200 PST,  Tuesday, June 21, 2011  TOKYO: A Japanese supercomputer has snatched the title of the world's fastest machine, ending China's brief reign at the top after six months. The K supercomputer, built by the Fujitsu Company, is as fast as one million desktop computers connected together. It has more than three times the power than the previous title-holder and is capable of performing eight quadrillion calculations each second A quadrillion is one followed by 15 zeroes and in computer jargon the speed is known as 8.2 petaflops. The previous fastest machine was the Chinese computer Tianhe-1A, which was clocked at 2.507 petaflops and highlighted the emergence of China's growing technological and economic power. The Tianhe- 1A machine was the first time China had topped the speed list, wrestling the title from the U.S. who had four of the top ten supercomputers.