LONDON, ENGLAND — The University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Britain, won funding of 104 million U.S. dollars to build a super computer capable of processing 10,000 trillion calculations every second.
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced the funding as he unveiled his spring budget on Britain’s economy to the parliament.
In his statement Hammond announced funding of 264 million U.S. dollars, saying it will help maintain Britain’s reputation as a pioneering and world-leading nation as it leaves the EU.
The new national supercomputer will be five-times quicker than Britain’s current capabilities, and thousands of times more powerful than a traditional desktop computer.
It will be integral in aiding discoveries in medicine, climate science and aerospace, and will build on previous British breakthroughs in targeted treatments for arthritis and HIV.
“I am told it will be capable of a staggering 10,000 trillion calculations per seconds,” said Hammond.
Other flagship projects are cutting-edge genetic research in Cambridge and state-of-the-art lasers in Oxfordshire.
Funding of 107 million U.S. dollars will be used for state-of-the-art laser technology in Oxfordshire. Another 60 million U.S. dollars will go to support genetic research in Cambridge.
“These investments will support innovators across the country to make the breakthroughs that will push biotechnology, medicine, science and aerospace forward,” said Hammond.
Britain’s research and technology industry is worth 48 billion U.S. dollars to the British economy and employs more than 231,000 people, he said.
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