Researchers are turning the Sony PlayStation 3 console and other gaming hardware into low-cost supercomputers. They're using the hardware to model drug molecules and black holes, the weekly New Scientist says.
The PS3 console uses a Cell chip made by IBM, Sony and Toshiba. It can run on the Linux operating system.
The chip is prized by chemists and physicists because they can use it for their work. The calculations needed to make graphics for games are similar to those used to simulate reactions between particles.
PHOTO: AP
University of Massachusetts astrophysicist Gaurav Khanna has strung together 16 PS consoles. He uses them to simulate gravity waves that occur when two black holes collide, the British magazine says.
By using the C programming language to run the chip, University of Illinois chemist Todd Martinez found he could run calculations 130 times faster than on an ordinary PC.
His is now calculating the energy of the electrons in 1,000 atoms, which add up to the size of a small protein.
"We can now do the things we were killing ourselves to do," Martinez told New Scientist.
Another scientific tool taken from the world of gaming is the Wii hand-held remote control. It contains a gadget that can sense which direction it is being moved.
Surgeons have been using Wii to improve their operating techniques. Neurologists have turned to it to measure movement problems in patients who have had a stroke or have Parkinson's disease.(AFP)
《新科學週刊》指出,研究員正在著手將新力的PlayStation 3 和其他電玩主機改造成成本較低廉的超級電腦,他們利用這些機體來模擬藥物分子和黑洞的反應。
PS3主機的處理器採用了IBM、新力和東芝合力研發的Cell晶片,它能執行Linux作業系統。
該處理器被化學家和物理學家視為瑰寶,因為它能夠支援他們的運算系統;處理遊戲畫面所需的運算效能和模擬粒子間反應的計算相當類似。
該英國雜誌指出,麻州大學的天體物理學家高瑞.卡納串聯了十六台PS主機,模擬兩個黑洞撞擊時會產生的重力波。
伊利諾伊州立大學的化學教授陶德.馬丁尼茲發現,在此處理器上以C程式語言執行運算,比他用一台普通電腦要快了一百三十倍。
他現在能計算出一個小型蛋白質大小的一千個原子中的電子能量。
馬丁尼茲對《新科學週刊》說:「我們現在能做到我們以前必須拼了命才能完成的事。」
Wii的遙控手把是另一項被運用在科學界的電玩器具,這支手把能感應操縱者遙控的方向。
外科醫生已將Wii的技術應用在改良手術技巧上;神經科醫師也求助於這項技術來測量中風或帕金森式症患者的行動問題。(法新社�翻譯:袁星塵)
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