Chapter 1364
: The Supercomputing Center is Completed, Professor Yu's Computing Task, and the Co
time.
It's like the corrugated iron roof tiles on the roof of Harbin, which were blown off by a level 12 gale and never found again.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
At dawn, golden rays of sunlight bathed the capital city.
Li Aiguo woke up to the sound of his child crying.
"Hey, what's gotten into this family so early in the morning that they have to beat their child?!"
Li Aiguo's temper flared up instantly. He rolled out of bed, threw on a coat, and pushed open the door to leave.
But after he rubbed his eyes and saw the scene before him clearly, his anger subsided by more than half, and he almost burst out laughing.
Liu Haizhong was seen swinging a thorny branch at a child's bottom.
And that unfortunate child crying so loudly, who else could it be but Bang Geng?
Although Banggeng is now in elementary school, the authority to discipline him remains firmly in the hands of Liu Haizhong, the "courtyard law enforcer".
"Hey, Aiguo, good morning." Liu Haizhong heard the noise and, amidst his busy schedule, looked up and greeted Li Aiguo.
Then, pointing at Banggeng, who was clutching his buttocks and howling, he angrily cursed, "This brat, he didn't go home properly after school last night."
They actually sneaked into Aunt Zhang's house next door and stole her laying hen!
Luckily, Guangtian was quick-witted and ran back to tell me.
Otherwise, that chicken would have been in his stomach last night!
Good heavens, Li Aiguo thought to himself. That kid Banggeng hadn't escaped the gears of fate after all; he was about to embark on that irreversible path of chicken thieves again.
However, before he could even finish stewing the chicken, he was suppressed on the spot by his wise and mighty second uncle.
"Second Uncle, you go ahead with your work, continue! Don't delay your education of the next generation."
Li Aiguo naturally wouldn't stop him. This kind of brat needs to be taught a lesson by society.
He yawned lazily, turned around and went back into the house to get a towel and a washbasin, then strolled to the courtyard to wash up.
Today is the day the first batch of medical personnel are leaving the country, and Li Aiguo, as the organizer, will definitely go to see them off.
Chen Xueru was aware of the situation and got up early to prepare breakfast.
After eating and drinking his fill, Li Aiguo arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, where more than a dozen medical personnel were already dressed and lined up to assemble.
The staff from the foreign affairs department are checking their identities one by one and issuing passports to them.
Standing next to the group were several blond-haired, blue-eyed representatives from the French Medical Association, who were specifically responsible for coordination.
Although these medical personnel received intensive French training and could manage daily communication, they were not truly proficient.
Moreover, being completely unfamiliar with a foreign land, one will inevitably need the care and help of others once they arrive.
"Comrade Patriot, we can set off now," the foreign affairs personnel reminded him, seeing that preparations were almost complete.
"Get in the car!" Li Aiguo waved.
The shuttle bus responsible for picking up and dropping off the medical staff was already waiting. The medical personnel boarded the bus one after another, and Li Aiguo also boarded the bus, and they traveled all the way to the airport.
Security check and paperwork proceeded smoothly and efficiently.
The medical staff lined up and stepped onto the gangway one after another.
This was Shen Guan's first time on an airplane. Sitting in his seat, he felt somewhat incredulous as he recalled his recent experiences.
Not long ago, he was a self-employed doctor who couldn't even get into a regular hospital.
But now, he's actually going abroad on a big plane!
Moreover, he was to serve as an attending physician in a traditional Chinese medicine clinic abroad!
Recently, the French Medical Association reached an agreement with this side to issue certificates to Chinese medicine practitioners who go there for exchange and learning.
Hextech has purchased shops in Paris and other locations and converted them into traditional Chinese medicine clinics.
The plane slowly started moving, and Shen looked at the figure standing in the sunlight. Although he knew the other person couldn't see him, he couldn't help but wave.
"Brother, please don't worry."
After seeing the medical staff off, Li Aiguo got busy again.
The manufacturing of electric trains continues, and the construction of the supercomputing center is also under close supervision; they are working almost non-stop every day.
Fortunately, this is a vibrant era full of passion, where hard work always pays off.
on Monday.
Li Aiguo then received a call from Professor Xia Zhongsu.
"Patriotism, done! The liquid cooling system is fully installed!"
We just conducted a preliminary full-load test, and the coolant circulation is stable, which can completely control the temperature of the machine running at full load!
I think the supercomputer is ready for formal trial operation at any time!
"Really? I'll be right there! Also, report this to the relevant ministry."
"Understood." Professor Xia Zhongsu knew that reporting achievements immediately was the work style of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot's workshop.
After hanging up the phone, Li Aiguo grabbed his coat and headed outside.
To be honest, this supercomputing project has had a long and winding road.
According to his original plan, this liquid cooling system should have been completed half a month ago.
However, he ultimately underestimated the processing difficulty of current corrosion-resistant metal materials.
Even with the help of the metallurgical institute, it still took an extra half month to get the pipeline sorted out.
"Aiguo, you seem so happy. Is the supercomputer finished?" Section Chief Xing had been watching the situation closely. Seeing Li Aiguo's joyful expression, he followed from behind.
"It's only installed, hasn't been tested yet. Section Chief, shall we go together?"
"Great! This is the day I've been waiting for!" Section Chief Xing rubbed his hands together excitedly.
Supercomputing centers require huge investments, and recently there have been many rumors in Beijing that building a supercomputing center is a waste of time.
Some people say that the concept of supercomputing was wrong from the very beginning.
In short, there are all sorts of rumors and gossip.
These rumors inevitably affected the railway department and Section Chief Xing, who had long been hoping for this day to turn things around.
Li Aiguo, along with Section Chief Xing, was about to head to the supercomputing center when he thought for a moment, then returned to his office and made a phone call to Professor Yu, who was attending a meeting in Beijing.
"Professor Yu, the supercomputer is completed and ready for trial operation!"
Upon learning that the supercomputer had been completed, Professor Yu immediately said he would bring the relevant data over right away.
After doing all this, Li Aiguo drove to the supercomputing center.
At this moment, the leaders from the Ministry of Railways had arrived and were standing at the entrance of the supercomputing center, their mouths agape in astonishment.
To be honest, the architectural style of this supercomputing center seems far too avant-garde in an era when most buildings are still tenement buildings and red brick houses.
The entire building is a modern flat-roofed building, and the exterior walls are not made of traditional red bricks or cement gray, but are all painted pure white.
Rows of huge glass windows are embedded in the wall, reflecting a dazzling light when the sun shines on them.
In addition, ventilation louvers and exhaust systems were installed on the sides of the wall.
"Distinguished leaders, welcome! Before entering the core computer room of the supercomputing center, please change into this anti-static suit."
Professor Xia Zhongsu, with his sharp eyes, noticed the ministry leaders standing at the entrance and quickly went to greet them, carrying several sets of white jumpsuits in his hands.
These days, domestic circuit board manufacturing processes and anti-static technologies are far from meeting standards.
To prevent static electricity carried by the human body from damaging electronic components, the Red Star Computer Center developed this batch of special anti-static clothing.
This thing sounds pretty high-end from its name.
To put it bluntly, it is actually woven from high-purity polyester filament.
The newly installed production line at Beijing's No. 1 Cotton Mill can produce it, but the output is extremely low.
"Haha, these clothes are quite nice." The ministry leader didn't care about being stopped at all; after all, it's normal for researchers to have a bit of a temper.
After changing their clothes, the ministry leaders, guided by Xia Zhongsu, entered the supercomputing center.
As soon as they went in, their mouths gaped even wider; this time, they were truly speechless.
In the nearly 1,000-square-meter cleanroom, rows and rows of server racks, each taller than a person, were neatly arranged.
The roof is covered with pipes and cables of various thicknesses and colors, like a spider web...
Although these leaders had no idea what these complex devices were for.
But just based on the feeling it gives off, it feels extremely high-end!
"I never thought that Li Aiguo would actually pull it off."
"Yes, this is the first time I've ever seen a machine like this."
"That's right. I've heard that this machine is incredibly smart; it can even calculate weather changes across the country."
If weather forecasts could really be as accurate as they claim, then the train delays at our Ministry of Railways would be greatly reduced!
When Li Aiguo arrived with Section Chief Xing, the leaders were gathered together, pointing and commenting on the server racks.
When the leaders of the ministry saw that Li Aiguo had not only come alone, but also with several unfamiliar elderly professors behind him, they were all a little confused.
In particular, these professors were accompanied by two people: one carrying a briefcase and the other a security officer.
"Good morning, Leader Chen! Good morning, leaders! Let me introduce you to this colleague from the Thirteenth Division of the Ninth Academy."
Li Aiguo stepped forward, but did not directly mention Professor Yu Min's name; he simply gave her a number.
But it was this very number that made the ministers present suddenly realize something, and they instantly understood.
Ninth Courtyard, Thirteenth Room!
That's a top-secret unit that creates super-giant mushrooms!
"So, the comrades from the Ninth Institute's Thirteenth Division came all this way to use our machine?"
A leader from the ministry asked.
"Here's the thing, the supercomputer is only in its initial stages of manufacturing. To test it, a lot of calculations are needed, and luckily, the 13th Research Lab at the Ninth Academy has some small calculation problems." Li Aiguo explained the situation.
After hearing this, the leaders all showed expressions of understanding, but inwardly they were all amazed.
What kind of simple calculation problem could make professors from the Ninth Academy and the Thirteenth Research Office make a special trip? It must be a difficult problem related to the Super Mushroom Egg.
"In that case, we understand the confidentiality regulations. Aiguo, you should focus on your business. We'll wait in the lobby to see the results."
Several ministry leaders, being very sensible and mindful of confidentiality, proactively requested to avoid any appearance of impropriety and left the supercomputing room.
After everyone else had left and the heavy soundproof door slammed shut, Professor Yu Min finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Patriotism, is this the supercomputer?"
"Professor Yu! Look, these three rows over here are the core computing units, filled with the latest transistors we've made ourselves. This area over here is for high-speed data input/output devices..."
Li Aiguo led Professor Yu Min along the corridor between the server racks, giving a brief overview of the supercomputer's overall physical structure and data flow.
"In other words, as long as I input the relevant mathematical models and initial parameters I'm carrying, I can let this supercomputer perform iterative calculations on its own?" Professor Yu's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"That's right, that's the principle. You just need to set the questions, and leave the rest to it."
"So... how long will it take to get the results?"
"That's not necessarily true. It depends on the amount of computation; it can take anywhere from a few seconds to several weeks."
“That’s true…” Professor Yu pondered for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.
"But when it comes to patriotism, I have to be frank with you."
The calculation we're bringing this time... cough cough, this 'problem' has a huge number of variables and is extremely difficult.
I estimate that even if your machine is incredibly fast, it would still take at least a week, right?
Professor Yu swallowed back the name of the top-secret configuration halfway through his sentence, replacing it with "this question".
This sense of secrecy among the older generation is indeed far beyond that of ordinary people.
"A week? Lao Yu, you're too optimistic. I think with all that data we have, it should take at least a month!"
An elderly professor from the Ninth Academy who had come along immediately raised a different opinion. "A month's progress is already quite good. According to our plan, this problem is the amount of calculation a team would need for half a year, and we still can't guarantee the accuracy of the results."
The professors from the Ninth Academy stood in front of the computer cabinets, quietly debating and reminiscing.
Li Aiguo smiled but didn't respond.
At this moment, Xia Zhongsu had already led his men to complete the inspection and came over to report.
"Patriotism! The entire system has completed its self-check. Liquid cooling circulation is normal, power supply stabilization is normal, and the supercomputer is ready to ignite at any time!"
"start up!"
"Yes!"
With Li Aiguo's command, the operator started the supercomputer.
One by one, the server racks began to hum, and their indicator lights flashed.
Although the thick pipes looked normal, one could imagine that electric current was flowing inside.
"Master node started successfully!"
"Storage array self-test normal!"
"Cooling circulation loop pressure is normal!"
"Voltage output module is normal!"
As the operator announced each step aloud, the self-test procedure was successfully completed.
Everyone in the supercomputing room breathed a sigh of relief, and the previously tense atmosphere in the air relaxed.
"Comrade Patriot, the supercomputer has been successfully launched. Please provide further instructions!" Professor Xia Zhongsu reported.
"Professor Yu, it's your turn to step in now!"
Li Aiguo looked at Professor Yu.
Although the calculations Professor Yu taught were related to the Super Mushroom Egg, they were nothing more than a series of dry and tedious mathematical formulas and matrix data.
Even if you show it directly to a layperson, they would never be able to tell whether this thing is for making tractors or for making super mushroom eggs.
Furthermore, the use of the supercomputer in Beijing for this secret calculation was approved by Professor Yu himself after he arrived in Beijing and submitted a report to his superiors.
only.
To convert all the paper-based mathematical models and raw data brought by the Ninth Academy into machine code programs that this supercomputer can recognize and run, a lot of coding work is still needed.
It took Professor Yu and Professor Xia Zhongsu a full half day to finally get it sorted out.
Professor Yu was filled with trepidation as he pressed the execute button.
Because the calculations involved a unique super mushroom egg configuration he had created.
Several months ago, when Professor Yu was at the Shanghai Computer Institute, he had already organized a team to conduct the first preliminary calculations using several computers there.
But the result of that calculation greatly disappointed Professor Yu.
According to the calculation results, the ingenious structure he conceived could not reach the critical state at the moment of implosion and was completely untenable!
At the time, many professors advised Professor Yu to abandon his configuration and instead study the Taylor-Ulam configuration of Xiao Mei's family.
The so-called "Teller-Ulam" configuration, simply put, utilizes the intense X-rays generated by primary nuclear fission to converge through a reflector layer.
By repeatedly deflecting energy through a special cavity, the secondary nuclear fusion fuel is compressed under high pressure in an omnidirectional and uniform manner, ultimately igniting the fusion process.
The Russians and the British used the Taylor-Ulam configuration.
If others can use it, then we can definitely use it too if we just copy them.
The Taylor-Ulam configuration has a high ray utilization rate.
However, it also has a drawback: the cavity filling material is large, the projectile is bulky, the daily maintenance of nuclear bombs is complicated, the sealing requirements are stringent, and the maintenance cost is high.
However, our family is not well-off and we currently lack tritium raw materials, so we cannot be too extravagant.
Most importantly, the super mushroom eggs made using the "Tyler-Ulam" configuration are all extremely large in size.
What we need are small super-mushroom-shaped missiles that can be mounted on cruise missiles, which is exactly what the new configuration excels at.
Only the mushroom eggs that can be fired are the truth!
Because the amount of computation in Shanghai last time was so large, the machine crashed several times, resulting in inconsistent data.
If we want to re-examine the data and find out exactly where the problem lies, it will take at least several more months to work through it.
Just then, Li Aiguo got the supercomputer working, which was the best opportunity to verify it.
Professor Yu was unusually flustered.
It wasn't until Li Aiguo reminded him that Professor Yu took a deep breath and pressed the execute button.
With a buzzing sound, the temperature inside the supercomputing room rose noticeably.
At this moment, the coolant in the cooling pipes flows rapidly, carrying away excess heat.
"This is simply a miracle of combining industry and computers." Professor Yu understood it now.
"Comrade Patriot, if this supercomputer can really operate successfully, you will have made a great contribution to our scientific cause."
"Mr. Yu, you flatter me too much. This is not my achievement alone; it is the result of our socialist system's ability to concentrate resources to accomplish great things."
"Without Professor Xia and his team's tireless efforts day and night, and without the support of brother units across the country, I couldn't have handled this behemoth even if I had three heads and six arms."
Li Aiguo smiled and said modestly.
Afterwards, he led Professor Xia on a personal tour of the server rack aisle, checking the operating data of each node and the flow rate of the coolant.
After confirming that all indicators were running smoothly within the designed safety limits, they returned to the main control panel.
"Professor Yu, I just checked the resource usage in the background."
Li Aiguo pointed to a string of jumping code on the screen.
"Based on the current full-load computing speed of this machine, it will take about three days to calculate the final result from all the data you brought."
If you don't have anything else important to do these next three days, how about I show you around this supercomputing center and our research institute?
"Only three days?" Professor Yu asked with surprise.
A professor raised his hand: "Comrade Patriot, how...how did you estimate this calculation time?"
"When we used computers to calculate things, we just closed our eyes and waited; the machine would finish calculating whenever it spat out the paper tape."
"Hey, this is actually very simple."
Li Aiguo smiled and pointed to the inconspicuous scrolling text at the bottom of the screen, explaining.
"When we were writing the underlying control program for the supercomputer, we specifically added a monitoring module."
When performing calculations, it monitors the CPU utilization and the proportion of data blocks processed in real time.
Based on the real-time progress indicator it provides, a simple formula can be used to roughly estimate the remaining computation time.
This is just the most basic prompt. I'll add a progress bar when I have time.
Those professors, of course, had no idea that Li Aiguo was planning to go even further, and they felt like they were listening to gibberish.
However, it's really not fair to blame them for being naive.
The professors present had, of course, worked with mainframes and even used minicomputers previously produced by the Red Star Computer Factory.
In this era, there was no such design concept as "estimated calculation time" or "progress indication"!
"Hahahaha!"
After the initial shock, Professor Yu suddenly burst into hearty laughter, pointing at Li Aiguo and saying, "I've heard people say at meetings in the ministry that the research level of your Red Star Computer Center has reached the forefront of the world."
I was initially a little skeptical, thinking that the young man might be exaggerating.
Looking back now, it seems I was completely ignorant, like an old man sitting in a well!
"Okay, I'll visit this most advanced computer research institute in the world today."
Afterwards, Li Aiguo led Professor Yu and the other professors on a tour of several laboratories, including the processor design department and the transistor design department.
Li Aiguo's explanation was just right, easy to understand, and without revealing the secrets of the Red Star Computer Research Center.
As the saying goes, "every profession has its own secrets," and Professor Yu never imagined that a computer could contain so much information.
What Professor Yu found strange was that Li Aiguo seemed very interested in the miniaturization of the super mushroom egg.
Because Li Aiguo asked very general questions, he did not inquire about the top-secret specific design parameters.
In addition, the supercomputer was of great help today, so Professor Yu was in a good mood and was very willing to have some purely academic exchanges with him.
"Patriotism, about the miniaturization question you just asked."
In essence, the core of miniaturizing the super nuclear warhead is to reduce its diameter and length, and thus its weight, as much as possible, while ensuring that the explosive yield of the nuclear bomb is not reduced.
Professor Yu stood by a window in a corridor, looking at the young people playing ball on the playground outside, and sighed, "Only by making it small enough and light enough can we truly achieve this."
Only then can it be successfully inserted into the reentry capsule of the intercontinental ballistic missiles we plan to build in the future, achieving true global reach!
“Look, the so-called improvements to missiles like Xiaomei’s ‘Atlas God’ and ‘Hercules 1’ are actually just making changes to the missile body materials to reduce weight.”
There has been no real technological breakthrough or miniaturization in the internal configuration of nuclear warheads.
"Later, I heard that Xiaomei's family secretly developed the 'Pioneer W47' nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines."
That thing is said to weigh only 326 kilograms, but its explosive yield can reach 120 million tons!
Currently, it is carried by their 'Polaris A1' submarine-launched ballistic missile.
If the intelligence is accurate, this could be considered a preliminary step towards achieving nuclear bomb miniaturization in the world.
Professor Yu did not explain in detail, but Li Aiguo understood the basic meaning.
Against this backdrop, the concept of "anti-missile" interception has quietly begun to emerge among various parties.
Furthermore, each country is developing and deploying various types of air defense missiles.
This places extremely high demands on intercontinental ballistic missiles, which serve as the spearhead of attack.
It not only needs to fly far, but it must also have the ability to penetrate defenses with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs)!
Only by breaking into multiple warheads upon re-entry into the atmosphere can they effectively bypass enemy air defenses.
However, the W47 warhead from Xiaomei's company is still too large and cannot achieve multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).
In addition, due to reliability defects in the primary trigger, the W47 was prone to leakage under vibration, resulting in a large number of bullets becoming duds.
Of course, this news was not leaked.
Otherwise, the Russians would definitely have given the US nuclear submarine hiding under the ice cap a good beating.
"Over there, the older brother's family used a similar structure to Xiaomei's family, and they have only managed to produce the SS-N-4, which weighs nearly a ton and can hardly be considered miniaturized."
After Professor Yu finished explaining the miniaturization of the super nuclear warheads from various countries, he continued, "This is also why we need to develop our own new configuration. Only with miniaturized super nuclear warheads, mounted on bombers, can we exert nuclear deterrence."
Li Aiguo said, "Old Yu, I think we need to take a longer-term view."
Since we're going to go for miniaturization, let's go all the way from the start!
Ideally, we could leverage this new configuration validated by the supercomputing to directly create a super-miniaturized, super-mushroom-shaped warhead capable of being adapted for missiles!
"."
Professor Yu felt that this young man's ideas were a bit too ambitious.
He looked at the young man, who was more than a decade younger than him, as if he were an alien, and couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Good heavens, even the miniaturization of a single warhead is still uncertain in the supercomputer.
You actually went and bragged about MIRVs (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles)?
Do you know how complex the ballistic separation and control technology is involved?
Your ideas are too arrogant for a young person like you!
However, after looking at the facilities around him, he nodded silently.
Who knows, this kid might actually make it work!
(End of this chapter)