Earth Simulator version 1.0 still has glitches but it sill sounds like they are using one mean, green computing machine to do the beta testing. Clocking in at 0 million, plus a little spare change for the accompanying power generator, they say it's equivalent to 50,000 home PCs.

No one's actually worked on a computer this fast before, and early software versions may sputter. "We're 100% certain that the hardware will work fine," says Otsuka. "We can't say the same about the software. We are only 60%-70% confident that everything will run OK at first."

The hardware guys always say it's the software's fault... ":^)

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