Britain’s most powerful computer is being built just outside Edinburgh – with experts saying the development will ‘turbo-charge’ the nation’s research ambitions.
Construction has begun on the UK’s next national supercomputer, which will help yield ‘world-changing’ discoveries in everything from cancer-busting drugs to next-generation aircraft and extreme weather forecasting.
Backed by £750 million of Government cash, the supercomputer will catapult Britain to the top of the global computing league – and could be the key to boosting the nation’s economic potential.
Packed with thousands of cutting-edge processors, the machine will smash through at least a ‘billion-billion’ calculations every second – a jaw-dropping leap from the 20 million-billion managed by its predecessor.
Around 50 times more powerful than its predecessor ARCHER2, the new system will crunch incredibly complex calculations in hours rather than days, turning what was once impossible into reality.
ARCHER2, also based in Edinburgh, helped crack Covid-19 drug discovery problems, made Rolls-Royce jet engines greener and more efficient, and supercharged the performance of Britain’s wind farms.
The supercomputer is owned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and hosted at the University of Edinburgh.
Professor Mark Parsons, Director of the EPCC at the University of Edinburgh, said: “You would never guess from this ordinary-looking building site just how vitally important it will be for the UK and how its contents could impact on all of our lives positively.
“This marks a profound leap in compute power for the UK. The value of this supercomputer across our society is vast, and will aid strong industry, a healthier economy and a happier population.”
Supercomputing also allows researchers to model flood risks for communities, understand changes in ocean temperatures, and simulate earthquakes – challenges that are simply unfeasible or prohibitively costly to do in the real-world.
A recent independent report showed that ARCHER2 generated £8 per £1 invested, enabling more than £4.2bn in benefits for the UK economy.
The University of Edinburgh was chosen as the new supercomputer’s home in recognition of EPCC’s leadership in high performance computing for more than 30 years. The university has been the home of AI research in Europe for six decades, with EPCC recently formally designated the first UK National Supercomputing Centre.
UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: “Today’s milestone in Edinburgh marks a decisive step in delivering our Compute Roadmap – building the sovereign computing power Britain needs to stay in control of its future in AI and science.
“For decades, Edinburgh has been at the heart of world-leading supercomputing. This new machine takes that further – making sure UK researchers, businesses and innovators have the cutting-edge power they need here in the UK, rather than relying on others.”
He added: “This is what will unlock the next generation of breakthroughs – from training more powerful AI systems to accelerating scientific discovery and creating new products and high-growth businesses. It is our Industrial Strategy in action, turning British ideas into the jobs and industries of the future.”
Scotland’s cooler climate also aids in keeping the machine from overheating, reducing the energy needed to run it. And waste heat from the supercomputer will warm university buildings, with research underway into whether it could also heat local homes by warming water in disused mines nearby.