First Blue Gene in the Southern Hemisphere

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The University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand is putting in a new IBM Blue Gene. For those keeping score, this is the first BG in the Southern Hemisphere. From the university

In announcing the decision, Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Sharp said the Blue Gene, which the University has dubbed “Blue Fern”, demonstrates the University’s commitment to being a leading research institution.

“Blue Fern will be one of the 25 most powerful supercomputers operating in academia worldwide. Its significant computing power will be available to researchers around New Zealand and will enable research never before possible in this country.

…“For the first time, they will be able to model blood flow and complex chemical reactions in the entire human brain, and mimic the interactions of the millions of nephrons that make up the human kidney, enabling insights not previously possible in New Zealand.”

Until now, this research has had to focus on individual parts of the brain, or on single nephrons in the kidney, due to limitations in New Zealand ‘s computational capabilities.

The machine will be installed in July, and although it’s not in the release, Ian Foster mentions on his blog that it will have 4,096 processors.