China Unveils World’s Fastest Supercomputer

China has scored a win in the race to achieve mega computing power, by unveiling a new system that is twice as faster than anything else available right now.

Tianhe-2 was unveiled at the end of last month by the Chinese National University of Defense Technology. At an operating speed of 30.7 petaflops or quadrillion operations per second, it is definitely the world’s fastest supercomputer right now.

Also known as Milkyway-2, the supercomputer is more than likely to top the biannual Top 500 supercomputer list out this month. The first place in the ranking is currently held by U.S. system Titan, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For comparison, Titan, owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, operates at just 17.6 petaflops per second.

China already topped the supercomputer ranking in 2010, but was beaten by Germany in 2011 and then the United States last year. A senior Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher and Tennessee University professor, Jack Dongarra, was able to see Tianhe-2 in operation and confirmed the statistics revealed.

What’s interesting is that the Chinese system operated at 30.7 petaflops per second in a Linpak test of only 90 percent of its capacity, so it is likely to score more when it runs 100%. Dongarra said in a report that the system’s theoretical performance is estimated at 54.9 petaflops.

Technical specs

The world’s fastest supercomputer is equipped with 2 different kinds of Intel computer chips and locally-developed circuitry. It reportedly has 12.4 petabytes (1 petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes) of storage and 1.4 petabyte memory.

Its operating system, Kylin Linux, was especially developed by the National University for Defense Technology. The machine is housed in a large room and is equipped with 48,000 Xeon Phi boards and 32,000 Intel Ivy Bridge Xeon sockets, Dongarra said.

Tianhe-2 will be moved to the China’s National Supercomputer Center to provide a high-performance, open computing services for the southwest of the country. Among possible uses for the system is running simulations for airplane testing, aiding government security and processing what was described as “big data.”

Source: Data Center Journal

China says EU must recognise its decline amid trade war

China has warned Europe that its failure to recognize its power is declining is inviting further retaliation from Beijing in their escalating trade row. “The change of the times and the shifts of power have failed to change the condescending attitude of some Europeans,” People’s Daily, the ruling Communist party’s mouthpiece, said on Thursday. “China doesn’t want a trade war, but trade protectionism cannot but trigger a counterattack.”

It said that Beijing could take yet more measures against the EU. “We have set the table for talks [yet] there are still plenty of cards we can play,” the newspaper wrote. The angry editorial was published under the name “Zhong Sheng”, a pen-name that sounds the same as “Voice of China” and is seen as authoritative representation of official views. Other state media carried similar commentaries. Beijing is hitting out after Brussels imposed duties this week on solar panels imported from China. On Wednesday, the Chinese government responded by launching an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation against European wine.

But this was seen as a symbolic move in that wine exports to China come largely from states who support the solar tariffs move, such as France, Spain and Italy, while Germany – which Beijing regards as the true power of the union – has made its disapproval of Brussels’ hardliner position clear. While China has said it would welcome negotiations on the solar panel case, the People’s Daily is correct in saying that Beijing has “plenty more cards” to play. Wine exports represent a tiny fraction of the €433.6bn in bilateral trade between China and the EU.

“If the EU thinks that it can safeguard its interests through sanctions, it will have to realize that it is no longer facing the China of the past,” said Chen Zhimin, a professor specializing in EU diplomacy at Fudan University in Shanghai. Thursday’s tirade follows years of pent-up frustration at Europe’s eroding power and what Chinese officials see as the group’s complex and inefficient policy making and decision mechanisms. Increasingly, Chinese officials have been trying to deal with national governments instead of Brussels and Beijing has sent strong messages that it sees Germany as a leader in Europe.

The People’s Daily article reflects this and specifically targets the Brussels bureaucracy. “Europe’s decision system has run into problems,” it said. “Despite clear opposition from a majority of the member countries, the trade commissioner [Karel] De Gucht stirred up trouble in such a complicated and sensitive issue. That is abnormal,” it said.

But the editorial’s language is also likely to touch a nerve outside the EU as it adds to growing rhetoric out of Beijing emphasizing China’s aspiration to great power status and the decline of the West.

Ahead of his summit with US President Barack Obama on Friday in California, Xi Jinping, the party chief who took over as China’s president in March, has expressed the hope that the two countries can move to a “new type of great power relationship”. In the West, the phrase, in combination with Mr Xi’s rhetoric about a “Chinese dream” and the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ has been read as a sign that China is becoming more overt in its pursuit of global power. “We are now looking at a Beijing which positions itself as an equal to the US and superior to a lot of smaller nations,” said a Western diplomat.

Prof Chen said a majority in China would agree that the EU’s slower growth rates compared with many emerging markets had left it in relative decline. “In addition, the EU faces a lot of problems,” he said. “If it continues down this path, it will be declining absolutely.”

 

SOURCE: FT

Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, USN Explains The Importance of the port of San Diego to the US Navy

Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, USN.

Rear Admiral Dixon Smith, Commander of the Navy Region Southwest USN talks about the importance of the Navy’s presence in San Diego.

The Better Life Index rates the 36 OECD countries in 11 areas that aim to cover every aspect of life, including income, education, health, work-life balance and life satisfaction

The residents of Switzerland are the most satisfied with their lives, according to the latest Better Life Index report, released this week by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Switzerland has moved up to the top spot, bumping Denmark to fifth. For the third year, the United States failed to make the top 10, while countries like Canada, Mexico and all the Scandinavian nations did.

The Better Life Index rates the 36 OECD countries in 11 areas that aim to cover every aspect of life, including:

1. income
2. education
3. health
4. work-life balance
5. and life satisfaction

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the Better Life Index and ranked the countries based on the life satisfaction measure alone.

While each of the other 10 categories of quality of life measured in the study is related to life satisfaction, there are several that clearly play a much bigger role, Conal Smith, section head within the statistics directorate at the OECD, explained in an interview with 24/7 Wall St.

The first, and arguably the most important, is jobs. Of the 10 countries with the highest levels of reported life satisfaction, eight had among the 10 highest employment rates — that is, the percentage of the population that is employed. Of the 10 countries with the lowest reported levels of life satisfaction, six had unemployment rates in excess of 11% in 2012. This includes countries like Greece, Portugal and Italy.

“For life satisfaction, it is pretty clear that unemployment drives the relationship,” explained Smith. “Not having a job when you’re willing and able to work affects life satisfaction more than anything else.”

Not surprisingly, good health appears to affect life satisfaction. In seven of the 10 countries, there was a better-than-average proportion of residents reporting good health. This includes Canada, where 88% of respondents reported being in good or better health, compared to an OECD average of 69%. Life expectancy was also high in most these countries, with Switzerland reporting an average life expectancy of 82.8 years, the highest among the 36 countries measured. Of the 10 countries with the worst life satisfaction, the majority had below-average life expectancy.

Another factor many of the countries on this list have in common is governments that tend to provide ample benefits for residents. Five of these countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Austria, spend more than the United States as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) on their residents. Likely as a result, income equality is also very high in the majority of these countries.

Dropping three spots this year, the United States is tied for 14th in life satisfaction. This is in spite of the fact that the it had the highest disposable income of any country measured and a high rate of self-reported good health. Given how well the country does on most measures, it suggests that life satisfaction encompasses more than simply income or even health. Mexico, which had among the lowest scores for many indicies, still ranked among the highest in life satisfaction.

Based on figures published by the OECD as part of its annual Better Life Index, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the indices measured for each of the member nations and participating countries. The indices that make up the Better Life Index are comprised of 11 categories: housing, income, jobs, community, education, the environment, civic engagement, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. Figures used to calculate the index and its components are from different years, and the values for individual nations represent the most current data available. We relied on unemployment rates from the OECD’s most recent Economic Outlook data release, as well as figures covering government outlays and the Gini coefficient, which measures income equality after taxes and transfer payments for each country.

These are the happiest countries in the world:

10. Mexico
> Life satisfaction score: 7.3
> Self-reported good health: 66% (14th lowest)
> Employees working long hours: 28.6% (3rd highest)
> Disposable income: $12,732 (3rd lowest)
> Life expectancy: 74.2 years

Mexico received a high life satisfaction score despite receiving low scores in a number of categories that make up the OECD’s Better Life Index. No nation rated worse than Mexico in safety — the nation’s murder rate of 23.7 murders per 100,000 residents in 2011 was the highest of any OECD nation and more than 10 times the OECD average that year. Additionally, 13.1% of residents had been assaulted or mugged in 2012, also the highest of any nation considered. Mexico also ranked as one of the worst nations for both work-life balance and income. The nation had one of the lowest averages for household disposable income in the OECD, at just $12,732 as of 2010. This is less than a third of the average disposable income in the United States. However, none of these factors have prevented Mexicans from being satisfied with their lives.

9. Finland
> Life satisfaction score: 7.4 (tied for 7th highest)
> Self-reported good health: 69% (18th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 3.9% (8th lowest)
> Disposable income: $25,739 (13th highest)
> Life expectancy: 80.6 years

People in Finland spent an average of 19.6 years getting an education, more than any other country in the OECD. Based on students’ average scores in reading, mathematics and science, Finland was considered to have the most accomplished students. The government, relative to the nation’s size, is one of the largest spenders in the developed world, providing a significant social welfare system. In 2012, the government’s total spending was equal to nearly 56% of GDP. Finland’s employment rate of 69% in 2011, although lower than quite a few other countries, was higher than the 66% average rate across all OECD countries. People in Finland worked just 1,684 hours annually, compared to 1,776 hours in all OECD countries. Just under 4% of all employees worked very long hours, compared to about 9% in all OECD countries.

8. Canada
> Life satisfaction score: 7.4 (tied for 7th highest)
> Self-reported good health: 88% (3rd highest)
> Employees working long hours: 3.9% (9th lowest)
> Disposable income: $28,194 (9th highest)
> Life expectancy: 81 years

Canada was rated among the top nations for residents good health. In 2011, 88% of residents surveyed reported they were in good health, higher than all countries except for the United States and New Zealand. Canada also had one of the higher average household disposable incomes among nations considered, at more than $28,000. This was well above the OECD average of $23,047. Canada was rated as one of the best nations in the OECD for housing — although there are some concerns in the country that a real estate bubble is forming.

7. Austria
> Life satisfaction score: 7.4 (tied for 7th highest)
> Self-reported good health: 69% (18th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 8.8% (14th highest)
> Disposable income: $28,852 (6th highest)
> Life expectancy: 81.1 years

Last year, just 4.7% of all workers in Austria were unemployed, less than any other nation in the eurozone, where the 2012 unemployment rate was 12.3%. As many as 72% of Austrians between the ages of 15 and 64 were employed in 2011, among the top 10 of all countries and better than the 66% average rate for OECD countries. Austria was in the top third of all countries in terms of both household financial net worth, at $47,458, and personal earnings for full-time employees, at $43,688. In addition, 96% of all residents indicated that the water quality was satisfactory, higher than all but two other countries and significantly better than the 87% who indicated that across all OECD countries. Austria also has high levels of civic participation — the voter turnout rate was 82% in 2008, the ninth highest among countries considered.

6. Netherlands
> Life satisfaction score: 7.5 (tied for 5th highest)
> Self-reported good health: 76% (11th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 0.7% (2nd lowest)
> Disposable income: $25,493 (14th highest)
> Life expectancy: 81.3 years

The Netherlands was rated as one of the best countries for jobs by the OECD. In 2011, 73% of the population between 15 and 64 years old was employed, one of the highest proportions of all nation’s measured. Further, only roughly 1.5% of workers had been unemployed for more than one year as of 2011, less than half the OECD average of 3.1%. Also potentially contributing to residents’ happiness is the fact that 94% of residents asked said they had a support network they could count on for help if they were in trouble. This was one of the highest figures among countries measured.

5. Denmark
> Life satisfaction score: 7.5 (tied for 5th highest)
> Self-reported good health: 70% (17th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 2.0% (4th lowest)
> Disposable income: $24,682 (15th highest)
> Life expectancy: 79.9 years (12th lowest)

Employees in Denmark had an average full-time gross pay of $45,802, higher than all but four other countries in the OECD. The average worker in Denmark put in just 1,522 hours annually, much lower than the OECD average of 1,776 hours. Air quality and water quality was considerably better in Denmark, compared to many other countries. Some 94% of residents indicated satisfaction with the water quality, the seventh highest of all countries and better than the 84% indicated across the OECD. The government of Denmark spends considerably to ensure the general well-being of its residents. Last year, government spending totaled 59.5% of GDP, the most of any OECD nation.

4. Sweden
> Life satisfaction score: 7.6 (tied for 3rd highest)
> Self-reported good health: 80% (8th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 1.2% (3rd lowest)
> Disposable income: $26,242 (12th highest)
> Life expectancy: 81.9 years

According to the OECD, Sweden ranks as the top country among all nations measured in terms of protecting its environment. Swedes enjoy some of the highest quality air of any nation — as of 2009, there were just 10 micrograms of small particulate matter per cubic meter in the county’s most populous areas. Its water quality in 2012 also ranked among the highest for all countries. The nation’s residents also are among the healthiest of any nations measured. Nearly 80% of those surveyed in 2011 stated they were in good health, well above the 69% average for the OECD. Although Sweden received moderate ratings for income and jobs, it was one of Europe’s best nations for income equality, with one of the lowest Gini index scores of any country.

3. Iceland
> Life satisfaction score: 7.6 (tied for 3rd highest)
> Self-reported good health: 77% (9th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 13.5% (8th highest)
> Disposable income: $21,201 (16th lowest)
> Life expectancy: 82.4 years

Iceland residents have the strongest support networks of all countries — 98% of residents indicated they could count on friends or relatives if they needed help. Iceland residents tend to be in good health as well, with the country’s life expectancy and self-reported health both among the top 10 of all countries. The employment rate for those between the ages of 15 and 64 was 79%, tied with Switzerland for the highest among all countries. Where Iceland did not do as well relative to other countries was income and wealth — average disposable household income of $21,201 and average household net financial wealth of $31,182 were both lower than OECD averages. But after accounting for taxes and transfer payments, income in Iceland was more evenly distributed among residents than in other nation in the OECD.

2. Norway
> Life satisfaction score: 7.7
> Self-reported good health: 73% (14th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 2.8% (6th lowest)
> Disposable income: $31,459 (3rd highest)
> Life expectancy: 81.4 years

Norway’s employment rate for those between ages 15 and 64 was 75%, tied with the Netherlands for the third highest rate among all countries. The gross pay of full-time employees neared $44,000, the ninth highest of all OECD countries. The average household income was $31,459, higher than every country except for the United States and Luxembourg. People in Norway tend to work significantly less than those in other countries — the average worker only put in 1,426 hours of work, compared to 1,776 in all OECD countries. Less than 3% of the country’s employees worked very long hours, lower than all but five other countries. In 2012, just 3.3% of all workers were unemployed, well less than all but one other nation examined by the OECD, South Korea. As many as 96% of the country’s residents were satisfied with the water quality, tied for third highest in the OECD. Norway also ranked among the 10 best countries in terms of air quality.

1. Switzerland
> Life satisfaction score: 7.8
> Self-reported good health: 81% (7th highest)
> Employees working long hours: 5.9% (17th lowest)
> Disposable income: $30,060 (4th highest)
> Life expectancy: 82.8 years

In no other country did residents have a better sense of well-being than in Switzerland. People in the country tend to be better off financially than residents of most other countries. In 2010, the average household’s disposable income was $30,060, higher than all but three other countries. Meanwhile, the average household financial net worth in Switzerland was more than $99,000, higher than any other country except for the United States. As many as 79% of the country’s residents were employed in 2011, tied for the highest employment rate in the OECD. People in the country work just 1,632 hours annually, compared to the OECD average of 1,776. Very few residents were unemployed in 2012, when the unemployment rate was just 4.4%, lower than all but three other nations studied.

SOURCE: 24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

VIDEO UPDATE: AF’s X-47B is now capable of launching/landing on a aircraft carrier

The X-47B continues to make aviation history during it’s round of tests aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush. The carrier drone performed its first ever touch and go operation aboard a carrier on May 17.Just three days earlier, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator became the fir

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May is Military Appreciation Month

May is Military Appreciation Month

Relations between India and China Flare Up Over Border Dispute

India was upbeat when Li Keqiang, China’s new premier, announced that New Delhi would be the destination for his first foreign trip since taking power: it was seen by some as a potential milestone in more co-operative relations between the two wary neighbors.

But as Salman Khurshid, India’s foreign minister, arrived in Beijing on Thursday to finalize details for the visit, many Indians were asking why Mr Li is coming at all.

The optimism was shattered by a three-week border stand-off between the two countries after an estimated 30 Chinese troops slipped across the de facto Himalayan border they share and 19km into what India says is its territory.

The incident has again soured relations between the world’s two most populous nations, stirring memories of the humiliating defeat India suffered in a 1962 border war. But it has also renewed fears over China’s wider territorial ambitions across Asia.

China has become one of India’s biggest trading partners and the Li visit was seen in Delhi as an opportunity to build on that trend, with Beijing also keen to deepen economic ties. Bilateral trade is increasingly complemented by direct investment by Chinese companies.

“We thought we were seeing the beginning of something really good that was going to take us forward,” one Indian official says of the planned visit later in May. “The economic relationship is expanding fast, and we were going to focus on that. But now we feel there’s a complete lack of sincerity on the Chinese side.”

The Chinese troops finally withdrew earlier this week. India’s Congress-led government has offered no details of the deal that preceded the pullback, but Indian army officials have told the local media that New Delhi agreed to demolish a defensive line of bunkers and observation posts on its side – a concession that Beijing has long sought but which has left India’s security establishment fuming.

“The Chinese-Indian relationship is strange and difficult,” says Li Xiangyang, director of the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “India has this deep-seated trust deficit as it compares itself with China all the time – almost like China used to measure itself against the US and the UK in the 1950′s and 1960′s.”

In the absence of a definitive, agreed boundary in the remote Himalayan desert region, the two countries have a vague, decades-old line of actual control. The neighbors have been negotiating on the border dispute since 1981, while simultaneously working to improve other aspects of their relationship.

India has in recent years upgraded the road and military infrastructure on its side of the de facto border, which lags far behind development on the Chinese side. But Beijing has made clear it finds these moves unacceptable, a message that was conveyed again during talks over the border incursion.

“For India, every meter of road and every bunker in that area is a strategic win of territory,” says Sun Hongnian, an expert on the Indian border at the Research Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at CASS. “With every such construction, they come closer to the main road on our side which is a strategic bit of defense infrastructure.”

Some observers note that these arguments closely resemble a pattern seen in territorial disputes with other neighbors.

Zhang Xiaodong, a scholar at the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an article published last week that Beijing was in fact following a strategy of grabbing opportunities to expand its range of control across the region. He applauded the strategy but said China was ill-advised to open a new front with India in this game at the same time disputes were flaring with Japan and in the South China Sea because this raised the risk of its neighbors teaming up against Beijing.

Many are still debating whether the incursion was a deliberate attempt to pressure India into retreating or whether the Chinese military was freelancing, encouraged by President Xi Jinping’s recent rhetoric of stronger safeguarding of China’s national interests.
But in New Delhi some argue that such distinctions are irrelevant and that Beijing’s strategy is already working.

“They managed to make the Indians agree to conditions that they had failed to impose by other means earlier,” said Brahma Chellaney, a strategic affairs analyst at New Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research. “India is wilting under pressure. The [Indian] government is trying to say it’s a victory for quiet diplomacy but it’s actually a victory for coercive diplomacy. They have rubbed India’s nose on the ground.”

VIDEO REPORT by the AEI: How the USA is truely doing in Afghanistan today

VIDEO REPORT: Update on NASA’s Orion Program

Supported by team members across the nation, the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Colorado is leading the development effort as NASA’s prime contractor for the Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle. Image credit: NASA

SOURCE: NASA – A NASA-Industry Team Effort.