The nation’s new supercomputer, Taiwania 3 (台灣杉三號), has been inaugurated to support research related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on Tuesday, calling on academics and businesses to apply for free cloud services.
Taiwania 3 was developed by the National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) at a cost of about NT$400 million (US$14.4 million), the center said.
The center is one of eight institutes under the National Applied Research Laboratories, which is overseen by the ministry.
As the pandemic has severely affected people’s lives, the center asked itself what a supercomputer could do for the nation, NCHC Director-General Shepherd Shi (史曉斌) said in a video.
Shi, a former IBM engineer, was accompanied by former vice president and epidemiologist Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), and other experts in the video.
The center last year announced a special program allowing academics, researchers and businesses to apply for free cloud services amid the pandemic.
The program has supported many businesses to develop new medical applications, such as an electronic stethoscope developed by Heroic Faith Medical Science that can reduce the risk of virus transmission between medical personnel and patients, the center said.
Graphen Taiwan applied to use the center’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools to chart the genetic evolution of different COVID-19 virus strains, it added.
The program’s resources are upgraded with the commissioning of Taiwania 3, as well as assistance from Taiwan Web Service Corp, the center said, calling on those interested in using its resources to submit applications by July 31.
While there is no limits on projects, applicants can tender proposals related to medical applications, pandemic regulation, policy communications, stabilization of people’s livelihood, data mining and image recognition, the center said.
The center’s Taiwania supercomputer series has three iterations: Taiwania, Taiwania 2 and Taiwania 3.
Taiwania 3 can perform 2.7 quadrillion floating-point operations per second (petaflops), higher than Taiwania’s 1.7 petaflops, the center said.
While Taiwania 3 and Taiwania support high-performance computing, Taiwania 2 is better equipped for AI-related computing, with its computing performance reaching 9 petaflops, it said.
In the TOP500 List of global supercomputers announced in November last year, Taiwania 2 was ranked No. 28, followed by Taiwania 3 at No. 181 and Taiwania at No. 497.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS