Summit – World’s Fastest Computer Fights The Coronavirus

Cynthia McKanzie – MessageToEagle.com – Summit, the world’s fastest computer is now doing exactly what it was designed to do – solving the world’s problems, and right now our greatest concern is the coronavirus.

The coronavirus is an incredible challenge for scientists, but there is hope Summit can help.

Summit has the power of 200 petaflops, which means it has the computing speed of 200 quadrillion calculations per second, aka: It’s 1 million times more powerful than the fastest laptop.

Summit – World’s Fastest Computer Fights The Coronavirus

Summit components. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL – CC BY 2.0

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used IBM’s supercomputer Summit to identify 77 small-molecule drug compounds that might warrant further study in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 disease outbreak.

The results delivered by this powerful machine equipped with the brain of an AI are a promising step toward creating the most effective vaccine. Experimental studies are required next to prove which chemicals work best.

See also:

Online Map Lets You Track The Wuhan Coronavirus In Real Time

Coronavirus Came From Space And Strong Winds Are Spreading The Disease – Professor Says

Planet-Sized Quantum Computers With God-Like Powers – Why Do We Need Them?

“The idea was born out of an interest in the coronavirus’ entry point into a host cell. When Chinese researchers sequenced the virus, they discovered that it infects the body by one of the same mechanisms as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, virus that spread to 26 countries during the SARS epidemic in 2003. The similarity between the two virus structures facilitated the study of the new virus,” scientists explain in a press statement.

The team will run the simulations on Summit again, using a more accurate model of the coronavirus’ spike that was published earlier.

“Our results don’t mean that we have found a cure or treatment for the coronavirus,” said Jeremy Smith, director of the University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Molecular Biophysics said.

But the findings could inform future studies. And those studies are necessary to create the most effective coronavirus vaccine.

“Only then will we know whether any of them exhibit the characteristics needed to mitigate this virus.”

Written by Cynthia McKanzie – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer