WEBVTT - What is the Fastest Computer in the World?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>where smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>what is the fastest computer in the world. To put

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<v Speaker 1>things in perspective, Let's start with the computer sitting on

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<v Speaker 1>your desk, the computer you use on a day to

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<v Speaker 1>day basis to browse the internet, handle email, create documents,

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<v Speaker 1>and so on. Most people have some kind of Intel

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<v Speaker 1>or am D processor. A computer likeness can execute approximately

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<v Speaker 1>two billion instructions per second. Your in particular machine might

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<v Speaker 1>be twice that fast or half that fast, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>the ballpart. The fastest computer in the world is much

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<v Speaker 1>faster than that, and it's sitting right on top of

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<v Speaker 1>your shoulders. The human brain is an amazing computing device

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<v Speaker 1>and the fastest processor available. Right now, let me give

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<v Speaker 1>you an example. Your desktop computer is just starting to

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<v Speaker 1>get to the point where it can understand speech and

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<v Speaker 1>take dictation, translating spoken words into written words. It can

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<v Speaker 1>only understand one speaker well, and that speaker has to

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<v Speaker 1>train it for about twenty minutes, and the dictation software

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<v Speaker 1>will still make a lot of mistakes. So two billion

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<v Speaker 1>instructions per second can barely handle dictation, right now. Your brain,

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<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, can understand any number of speakers.

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<v Speaker 1>It needs no training and will make zero mistakes. It

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<v Speaker 1>may even be able to understand multiple languages, and the

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<v Speaker 1>speech processing portion of your brain is just one small

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<v Speaker 1>part of the whole package. Your brain can also process

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<v Speaker 1>complex visual images, control your entire body, understand conceptual problems,

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<v Speaker 1>and create new ideas. Your brain is made up of

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<v Speaker 1>about one trillion cells, with a hundred trillion connections between

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<v Speaker 1>those cells. We might take a rough estimate and say

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<v Speaker 1>it's handling ten quadrillion instructions per second, but it really is.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard to say. In the Top five hundred list,

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<v Speaker 1>which ranks supercomputers by speed, the top supercomputer right now

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<v Speaker 1>can handle five dred or so trillion operations per second.

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<v Speaker 1>It's about one as powerful as the human brain. Another

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<v Speaker 1>supercomputer called md Grape three, built by the Japanese company Reikin,

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<v Speaker 1>has a theoretical maximum speed of one pedal flop or

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<v Speaker 1>one quadrillion operations per second, but that computer can't run

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<v Speaker 1>the official ranking software, so it's hard to compare it

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<v Speaker 1>with the other supercomputers. Even so, it's still not as

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<v Speaker 1>fast as your brain. Do you have any ideas or

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<v Speaker 1>suggestions for this podcast. If so, please send me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics, go to

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com