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Supercomputers crack sixty-trillionth binary digit of Pi-squared
physorg.com ^ | April 29, 2011 | Linda Vu

Posted on 04/30/2011 12:22:36 AM PDT by allmost

Australian researchers have done the impossible -- they’ve found the sixty-trillionth binary digit of Pi-squared! The calculation would have taken a single computer processor unit (CPU) 1,500 years to calculate, but scientists from IBM and the University of Newcastle managed to complete this work in just a few months on IBM's "BlueGene/P" supercomputer, which is designed to run continuously at one quadrillion calculations per second.

Their work was based on a mathematical formula discovered a decade ago in part by the Department of Energy's David H. Bailey, the Chief Technologist of the Computational Research Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Australian team took Bailey’s program, which ran on a single PC processor, and made it run faster and in parallel on thousands of independent processors.

"What is interesting in these computations is that until just a few years ago, it was widely believed that such mathematical objects were forever beyond the reach of human reasoning or machine computation," Bailey said.

"Once again we see the utter futility in placing limits on human ingenuity and technology."

(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: stringtheory
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To: allmost

I’ve only calculated PI to 1 million places using an old program and a 486 computer. It took a while.


21 posted on 04/30/2011 2:16:31 AM PDT by Dumpster Baby (Truth is called hate by those who hate the truth.)
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To: allmost

Thank goodness! I have been up half the night with insomnia worrying about Pi squared. Now I can go back to sleep :-)
/s


22 posted on 04/30/2011 2:23:16 AM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: Dumpster Baby

You should double check your math. That millionth place is a bitch.


23 posted on 04/30/2011 2:24:20 AM PDT by allmost
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To: the_Watchman

Base 13. God has 13 fingers.


24 posted on 04/30/2011 2:37:12 AM PDT by Explorer89 (And now, let the wild rumpus start!!)
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To: FlyingEagle

Start over? :)


25 posted on 04/30/2011 2:37:50 AM PDT by allmost
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To: LukeL

Pi are too squared


26 posted on 04/30/2011 3:17:03 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: allmost

These are the same type of folks who believe they can predict “CLIMATE”.....aka useless information.


27 posted on 04/30/2011 3:32:49 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: allmost

I believe Pi is only an approximate to start with...so this means nothing.


28 posted on 04/30/2011 3:34:18 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: allmost

Ken & Brad got smoked.

29 posted on 04/30/2011 3:36:46 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: allmost
It'w when they figure this out that we've really got trouble.


30 posted on 04/30/2011 3:43:47 AM PDT by paulycy (Islamo-Marxism is Evil.)
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To: allmost
IBM's "BlueGene/P" supercomputer, which is designed to run continuously at one quadrillion calculations per second.

Tell me that this bad boy runs entirely on green energy and I'll be impressed...If it uses more carbon energy than my ice maker we have a problem.

31 posted on 04/30/2011 4:04:52 AM PDT by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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To: allmost

They should give up on this. It won’t get Obama removed from office.


32 posted on 04/30/2011 4:19:18 AM PDT by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)
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To: allmost

WOW. The suspense is killing me. Hello, ZERØ, no?


33 posted on 04/30/2011 4:42:12 AM PDT by steelyourfaith (If it's "green" ... it's crap !!!)
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To: allmost

bookmark


34 posted on 04/30/2011 4:43:38 AM PDT by GiovannaNicoletta
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To: nathanbedford
Nathan,

You might not like hearing this very much, but it might not be the most savvy political move to say that you live in *ahem* Germany while choosing as your screen name, the founder of the KKK.

And yes, I was the one who wrote you about that long ago, after having read your 'About' page: you modified it slightly to put more emphasis on his late-in-life conversion to Christianity; but even that won't allay lefties' suspicions.

As for Google? They have ways of making you talk.

And your Wi-Fi sings like a canary.

Source.

Cheers!

35 posted on 04/30/2011 4:50:13 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Arthur McGowan

That is an awesome answer. lol.


36 posted on 04/30/2011 5:30:07 AM PDT by TheBigIf
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To: allmost

Does anyone know why they are seeking the digits of pi squared instead of just the digits for pi itself???

Does pi squared have some signifigance more so then pi.


37 posted on 04/30/2011 5:32:46 AM PDT by TheBigIf
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To: the_Watchman
Is EVERYTHING about hex with you??!!
38 posted on 04/30/2011 7:01:04 AM PDT by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
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To: allmost

Once I get past fingers and toes, I don’t see much point in continuing......


39 posted on 04/30/2011 7:03:53 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (It's not the Obama Administration....it's the "Obama Regime".)
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To: Sacajaweau

There are exact formulas. They do not have closed forms, and they converge very slowly.

As I recall, one of them is [4 - 4/3 + 4/5 - 4/7......]
After 10000 terms, MS Works gives 3.141492654, good to only 3 digits.

I will agree that on cheap computers, the least significant digits cannot be trusted.


40 posted on 04/30/2011 8:04:09 AM PDT by scrabblehack
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