Chapter 1366
: Red Star Supercomputer Performs 3 Million Calculations Per Second, Shocking the World;
When Li Aiguo arrived at the supercomputer laboratory, the leaders of the Ministry of Railways and the professors from the Ninth Bureau's Thirteenth Division were already there.
The supercomputer was preparing to shut down, and Professor Gilotti was busy with several researchers nearby.
Many Russian professors have now joined us, received confidentiality training, and have no chance of returning.
Therefore, their level of secrecy has been raised, and they are now a core force.
Professor Yu was currently staring at the supercomputer.
Looking at these enormous, neatly arranged objects, he still felt a sense of disbelief.
These cold, hard steel wires and cables are capable of rapidly calculating the world's most complex mathematical formulas—it's nothing short of a miracle.
Seeing Li Aiguo walk in, Professor Xia Zhongsu smiled and nodded at him, then said in a low voice, "Aiguo, the calculation results will be out soon."
Before he finished speaking, a researcher walked over with a thick stack of documents.
"The results are in."
Li Aiguo took it without looking at it, and handed it directly to Professor Yu next to him.
Professor Yu accepted it solemnly. His expression was initially quite calm.
But when his gaze fell on the data results in the document, his expression suddenly changed.
The calculation results above are exactly the same as the data he calculated in his previous theoretical deductions.
Even in parts he had not fully verified, the supercomputer provided extended calculations.
"This calculation result."
Professor Yu stared at one of the sets of numbers, muttering to himself as he subconsciously reached into his shirt pocket for a pen, but his hand found nothing.
He then remembered that he had given the pen to Li Aiguo when he became his apprentice.
Li Aiguo, quick-witted and agile, took out a pen and scrap paper and handed them to Professor Yu.
Professor Yu had completely lost himself in the moment, oblivious to the many leaders and colleagues watching.
He pulled up a chair, sat down, and started calculating as soon as he spread out some scrap paper.
The leaders of the surrounding ministries and the researchers of the Ninth Bureau and the Thirteenth Division were already used to this.
Professor Yu is just like that; once he's immersed in calculations, he doesn't care if the sky falls.
Only such pure-hearted people can navigate the unfathomable ocean of knowledge and salvage countless treasures.
Li Aiguo studied with Professor Yu for several days and naturally became familiar with his teacher's habits.
Knowing that once the calculations started, they would definitely not be finished anytime soon, they invited the leaders to chat in the nearby rest area.
The rest area is actually a small garden with a pavilion in the middle and lots of flowers planted around it, where you can relax.
"Patriotism, if this supercomputer is really useful, can we optimize the railway network?" said Dou Wu, who is in charge of the Fenghuo Dispatch Center.
Dou Wu has always been a steady and reliable person. He has made many contributions after the railway network was built and has now been promoted to director of the dispatch center.
“Using a supercomputer for optimization is feasible,” Li Aiguo said, without guaranteeing it.
Scheduling optimization involves not only algorithms but also data collection equipment; it's just unclear whether it's feasible with the current technology.
The leaders standing nearby listened to this as if it were gibberish; they couldn't understand it, but they thought it was very sophisticated.
More than half an hour passed.
Professor Yu put down his pen and looked up at Li Aiguo with eyes full of excitement.
"Patriotism, it all comes true! No, not only does it come true, the supercomputer's calculation results have also solved several key problems that I haven't been able to figure out in theory!"
Although Professor Yu did not explain what the problem was, everyone knew that it was related to the development of the super mushroom egg.
"Success!"
"We made it!"
"Hurrah!"
Inside the laboratory, the Russian researchers and Chinese technicians burst into cheers and applause.
The applause was not enough to express their excitement; they hugged each other tightly, their eyes reddening.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Don't forget our Advisor Li! He's the biggest contributor!"
That shout immediately resonated with many.
Several Russian researchers excitedly ran over, lifted Li Aiguo high in the air, and then threw him into the air.
Li Aiguo was a little worried that these young men wouldn't be able to handle it, but fortunately, his worries were unnecessary.
Cheers mingled and echoed throughout the massive supercomputer laboratory, creating a beautiful symphony.
Looking out through the laboratory's glass window, a bright flag fluttered in the wind.
As the cheers gradually subsided.
Professor Yu also got excited: "We scientific researchers often deal with numbers, but our computing tools are developing slowly."
When making mushroom eggs, they could only use an abacus.
Mainframes were used initially, but later dedicated minicomputers were developed.
However, the computational efficiency still cannot meet the requirements.
Now, things are much better, thanks to the supercomputer developed by our patriotic comrades.
We have fundamentally solved the problem of computation.
I assure you all, I will definitely create the world's best super mushroom egg.
Professor Yu's voice became choked with emotion towards the end.
As a veteran nuclear physics expert who came from a time of great poverty and hardship.
No one understood better than him what the birth of this supercomputer truly meant for scientific research.
Wow!
Applause erupted again.
Xia Zhongsu, the researchers applauded wildly. This was the world's most advanced supercomputer. How could they not be proud!
"Great! The supercomputer has made a tremendous contribution as soon as it was built! I think this machine truly deserves to be called a national treasure!"
The railway department leaders took the lead in applauding, setting the tone for the event.
Just kidding, the supercomputer is a project of the railway department.
Now that it's a success, the railway department is also beaming with pride.
"Comrade Patriot, please write a detailed report as soon as possible. I need to report this good news to my superiors immediately!"
"Don't worry, I'll start writing it right now."
Since Professor Yu had many more complex computational tasks to perform immediately after verifying the theory, Professor Xia Zhongsu was responsible for the subsequent operation and scheduling of the supercomputer.
Li Aiguo returned to his office, quickly wrote a report, and handed it to the leaders of the railway department.
As evening fell, the setting sun blazed like fire, bathing the entire capital city in a fiery red glow.
Inside a study in the capital city.
The superior took the report from Leader Teng, opened it, glanced at it twice, and then said with a smile, "If I'm not mistaken, this report was written by Comrade Aiguo himself, wasn't it?"
"Boss, how could you tell that?" Boss Teng was slightly taken aback, finding it somewhat unbelievable.
It should be noted that this report was written and submitted in the name of the Red Star Computing Institute, and Li Aiguo's personal signature was not on the entire report.
"Who else could it be but him?" The superior was clearly in a very good mood, pointing to a few paragraphs in the report and laughing.
"Only someone like him would use such simple and easy-to-understand language to explain those obscure and difficult professional computer terms to us."
Look at that metaphor! It makes everything clear at a glance, haha!
"Yes, Comrade Aiguo is indeed very meticulous in his work, always considering the needs of us laymen." Leader Teng nodded in agreement.
The superior continued to flip through the pages, and as he read on, his smile grew wider and wider.
"According to the report, this supercomputer can perform 300 million calculations per second, which is equivalent to the workload of millions of abacus operators?"
Even though the higher-ups knew that supercomputers were great, they still felt that this speed was a bit too advanced.
"I'm not entirely clear on the specific technical details either," Leader Teng reported truthfully.
"However, as you know, Professor Yu from the 13th Research Office of the Ninth Academy brought some nuclear physics problems with him to verify this time."
According to Professor Yu in private, those data would have required his entire team to work day and night for more than six months to calculate.
However, this supercomputer solved the problem completely in just three days of full-power operation!
In fact, it is eloquent.
Upon hearing this, the superior nodded: "Great! With this machine, we'll have a sharp weapon from now on!"
After a moment of contemplation, the superior leader said: "Supercomputers are of great significance. They have already surpassed the level of foreign countries and are truly catching up with and surpassing the world."
We must vigorously promote and encourage all sectors of society to learn from Comrade Li Aiguo's spirit of courage, perseverance, and the courage to scale new heights.
At this point, the superior turned to his assistant standing to the side and said, "Contact the newspaper immediately and assign them the task."
The assistant immediately nodded in agreement, turned around, and quickly walked out.
At that moment, he was also filled with shock.
We've done publicity before, but this is the first time a higher-level leader has personally drafted the publicity content.
But after thinking about it carefully, the assistant understood. How could Li Aiguo not publicize such a big thing?
"By the way, I heard that Comrade Aiguo has been busy with supercomputing recently, and is also in charge of the research and development of that electric train?" The superior sat down again and asked Leader Teng.
"Yes, this kid is very hardworking, and he's in charge of several project teams at the same time."
You must take good care of yourself!
Old Teng, we've all come through those difficult times, and we should all know that good health is the foundation of our work.
He can't keep working like this non-stop; he mustn't ruin his health.
"Please rest assured, leader, I will go back and make the arrangements right away," Leader Teng quickly assured him.
“I will immediately send someone to keep an eye on Li Aiguo and force him to rest for a few more days.”
Leader Teng originally intended to suggest a week's rest, but after considering the urgent need for electric trains in the subway, he changed his mind.
Leader Teng stood up to leave, but suddenly remembered something.
"Sir, there's something else. That supercomputer has just been completed and hasn't been officially named yet. Comrade Aiguo and the colleagues at the Institute of Computing Technology would like to ask you to give it a name."
Upon hearing this, the superior stood by the window, gazing at the fiery sunset and the gradually brightening lights of countless homes, and pondered for a moment.
"The red star shines in all directions, so let's call it the 'Red Star Supercomputing System'!"
The efficiency of action was very high in those days. With the instructions from above, the article was published in the Renren Daily the next day.
Warmest congratulations to the Red Star Computer Research Institute on the successful development of the world's fastest supercomputer
The title is simple, but the content is explosive.
The above details the performance and parameters of supercomputers.
"...This machine uses a total of 212 million high-speed silicon discrete transistors."
685 million units of switching diodes, Zener diodes, etc.
"More than 2300 million pieces of various precision mica capacitors, low-temperature bleached carbon film resistors, and high-frequency inductors..."
"...Peak fixed-point arithmetic speed reaches 3 million operations per second, with 64-bit word length fixed-point arithmetic..."
"...Globally, it pioneered an advanced architecture that adopted an 8-way parallel fixed-point arithmetic unit array plus a central scheduling and control unit, completely breaking the foreign technological monopoly on arithmetic unit design..."
"...Each path has an independent 64-bit fixed-point ALU, enabling efficient coordination of multi-pipeline time-division overlapping instruction fetch, decoding, and computation..."
Early that morning, in a courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang.
Inside the courtyard, Liu Haizhong got the newspaper early in the morning and ran back to the pond in the courtyard.
"Great news! Fantastic news! We've made another major breakthrough in scientific research!"
Soon, the residents of the courtyard house gathered around with their washbasins.
Liu Haizhong read a portion of the article aloud.
Unfortunately, most of the residents nearby looked at each other blankly after hearing this, having heard nothing of interest.
"What is a discrete transistor?"
"Also, 3 million calculations per second seems fast, but just how fast is that?"
"Yes, Uncle Er, we don't understand it either."
Liu Haizhong waved his hand impatiently, interrupting everyone's discussion: "Go away, how would I know what a transistor is!"
However, the newspaper used an analogy, saying that the supercomputer's computing speed was equivalent to the combined speed of millions of experienced abacus users across the country simultaneously using their abacuses!
"hiss"
The residents' expressions all changed simultaneously.
The so-called calculators weren't those with the same calculation skills as sticks; they were all experienced abacus masters, very skilled at manipulating the abacus beads.
"My goodness, that speed is terrifying!"
"No wonder the newspapers said it's number one in the world!"
"That's right, we've launched a super big satellite this time!"
Everyone was amazed.
"Please be quiet, there is an article coming up."
Liu Haizhong continued, "The newspapers called on us to learn from Comrade Li Aiguo, who developed the supercomputer..."
The residents all turned their heads to look in the direction of the Li family's house.
"Wow! It turns out that this world-shaking supercomputer was actually built by Aiguo from our institute!" Xu Damao slapped his thigh excitedly.
"I knew it! A machine this powerful can only be handled by patriots!"
Xu Damao was truly happy. His daughter, Xiao Hehua, had started elementary school this year and was doing quite well in her studies. He had already planned to encourage Xiao Hehua to spend more time with Li Aiguo and study hard.
I hope that in the future I can be like He Yushui, get into university, and bring honor to my family.
"Let's go! Let's hurry to the backyard and go see our beloved brothers!"
Someone in the crowd shouted excitedly, and the residents of the compound immediately rushed towards the Li family's house in the backyard.
However, when everyone arrived at the Li family's door with great excitement, they found that only Chen Xueru was having breakfast with several children.
"Hey, what's going on here? Why are you all here so early in the morning?" Chen Xueru looked at the large crowd at the entrance and felt a little strange.
"Aiguo went to the research institute and has been busy these past few days. Uncle, is something wrong?" Chen Xueru quickly put down her chopsticks and went to greet him.
"Comrade Xueru, this is wonderful news, a truly great event! Patriotism has once again made an earth-shattering contribution! You should take a look at today's newspaper!"
Taking the newspaper from Liu Haizhong and looking at the words on it, Chen Xueru's breathing quickened.
Chen Xueru couldn't understand the technical parameters of those supercomputers, but she did see a familiar name.
Chen Xueru felt her heart pounding in her chest, and an unprecedented sense of happiness and pride instantly flooded her entire body.
Which woman wouldn't want to marry a man like that?
"Oh my, Xue Ru, you are so lucky to have married such a good man as Ai Guo!"
"Yes, yes, Aiguo is now a role model to learn from. Xueru, you've really earned a lot of face!"
"Xue Ru, you've done a great job too!"
Several young wives and aunties in the courtyard gathered around, praising Chen Xueru one after another, their eyes full of envy.
"Oh dear, this is all thanks to Aiguo's hard work. I'm just a woman, staying at home all day, how would I know about these things? I really didn't do anything..."
Chen Xueru blushed slightly at the compliments from everyone and quickly declined them modestly.
"Xueru, you can't say that. Men go out to work, and we women have to take care of the home. You deserve half the credit for patriotism."
"Yes, Xue Ru's performance is remarkable. She is busy with the work of the neighborhood office and also has to do laundry and cook at home."
"That's right, Comrade Xue Ru is definitely a good role model for all the wives in our compound!"
Everyone echoed their agreement, nodding in praise.
At this moment, Qin Huairu was standing alone by the moon gate leading to the central courtyard not far away.
She stared blankly at Chen Xueru, who was surrounded by people like a star, her face beaming with happiness, and her heart sank to the extreme.
Now that Jia Dongxu is dead, Jia Zhangshi has been driven out of the courtyard house, and Yi Zhonghai is being forced to apply to go to the Northwest.
Li Aiguo is now in the newspapers again, and Chen Xueru is receiving praise from the residents.
If she hadn't changed her mind back then, she would be standing in the crowd now.
Qin Huairu felt she regretted it.
the other side.
The atmosphere remained serious inside the Academy of Sciences' main office.
Mr. Guo looked at the article published in the newspaper, his face turning ashen.
Vice President Zhou tapped the table: "The supercomputer is a scientific project, which should have been coordinated by our Academy of Sciences. However, I heard that some people delayed the approval, which is why the railway department snatched it up."
The meaning behind these words couldn't be clearer: those above are extremely dissatisfied with this matter, and someone definitely needs to step forward and take on this enormous responsibility.
If it were a regular research project, missing the opportunity wouldn't be a big deal. After all, when it comes to research, being cautious before initiating a project and delaying the evaluation process isn't a major mistake.
But now the situation is completely different!
This article about the successful development of the Red Star supercomputer comes with instructions from higher-level leaders!
What does this mean?
This means that this matter has reached the highest levels of authority!
This is an extremely serious mistake!
At this moment, Chen, the deputy director of the computer research institute sitting below, quickly stood up: "Deputy Dean Zhou, you...you've misunderstood!"
The dean didn't intend to delay at the time.
This is mainly because the expected investment in supercomputer projects is simply too large, often amounting to astronomical figures.
We must organize experts to conduct detailed demonstrations and studies; we cannot proceed blindly..."
Before he could finish speaking, Vice President Zhou interrupted him: "As far as I know, all the funding for the supercomputer was raised by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot Studio, and we don't need to invest. Besides, if the railway department can approve it so decisively, why can't we?"
I think it's because some of our colleagues are so prejudiced!
The room fell silent immediately upon hearing this; it was a very serious accusation.
Everyone turned to look at Mr. Guo.
"Old Zhou, I suddenly feel a bit dizzy and have a tightness in my chest. It seems like my old ailment has flared up again..."
Mr. Guo was speechless and could only stand up, leaning on the table for support.
When Vice President Zhou saw that Mr. Guo was going to leave the meeting room under the pretext of seeing a doctor, he did not stop him.
After all, this is standard practice.
Mr. Guo was helped out of the meeting room by two staff members.
Walking down the empty corridor, Mr. Guo glanced back at the closed conference room door and let out a long sigh.
"This Li Aiguo is really troublesome. How did he manage to develop a supercomputer?"
Li Aiguo was unaware of these things.
After completing several sets of calculations and witnessing the capabilities of supercomputers, Professor Yu proposed a collaboration.
"Comrade Patriot, I think we should establish a long-term cooperative relationship with your Red Star Supercomputing Center. Our Ninth Institute, Thirteenth Research Office, should just do it directly."
Let's move all our subsequent complex theoretical research and data analysis work here!
"Teacher, look at what you're saying! This is exactly what we'd like to hear!" Li Aiguo was overjoyed upon hearing this.
This can contribute to the creation of the Super Mushroom Egg.
Moreover, during the large-scale calculations conducted by the 13th Research Laboratory of the Ninth Academy, the supercomputing center can also improve the underlying system of the supercomputer.
This is definitely a win-win situation that kills two birds with one stone.
Li Aiguo readily agreed.
Subsequently, considering the high level of secrecy required for the Super Mushroom Egg, the weather station dispatched a dedicated security team to the supercomputing room.
After contacting the authorities in Shanghai, Professor Yu also planned to rush back to bring back the materials he needed to calculate.
Li Aiguo personally escorted Professor Yu to the train.
"Have a safe journey, teacher!"
After watching a meteorologist accompany Professor Yu onto the train, Li Aiguo rode his motorcycle towards the Changxindian Locomotive Factory.
The development of electric trains has now reached a critical stage.
While Li Aiguo was busy developing electric trains.
The People's Daily also spread through the port city.
An uproar erupted within the large family.
"My God! 3 million fixed-point calculations per second! Are you sure this data isn't a joke? This is unbelievable!"
"Yes, it is said that IBM's 7030 Stretch, which was specifically developed for nuclear weapons, can only perform 250 million calculations per second."
"This...this difference is just too huge! They're from completely different eras!"
"Isn't this obvious?"
You've forgotten that Hextech's minicomputers have consistently outperformed IBM in both performance and price.
This Red Star supercomputer probably also uses their cutting-edge technology!
"That makes sense, that makes sense! It seems I should stick to the Red Star brand when buying computers in the future!"
"Come on, come on! I heard that Red Star Computer is having a global promotion right now. Buy a minicomputer and get a free genuine copy of the 'Tank Battle' game!"
I've wanted to play that game for ages, I can't miss this opportunity!
Yang Jizong knew that the supercomputer had been successfully developed, but he didn't care, since it was impossible to export this thing.
But when he saw the computer orders pouring in from all over the world, he realized that he had underestimated the impact of supercomputers.
In fact, the computer industry is just that ruthless; the strong take all.
The eldest son ate meat, while the second son struggled even to drink a sip of thin soup.
This is similar to the battle between Intel and AMD for market share in the processor market in later generations.
As long as you achieve an absolute lead in a certain cutting-edge technology, even if you don't sell that top-of-the-line product, you can still drive the sales of other low-end products under your brand!
Of course, for the average person, they're just watching the spectacle.
After all, the only machines they usually come into contact with are those small machines that cost a few thousand dollars.
It's simply impossible to access such a behemoth as a supercomputer.
However, research institutes and similar organizations are very sensitive to this.
In particular, the renowned Los Alamos National Laboratory.
A group of researchers looked at the Red Star supercomputer in the newspaper, then at the 7030 Stretch in front of them, and suddenly it didn't seem so appealing anymore.
"Fuck! Compared to the Red Star supercomputer on the other side, this 7030 Stretch is practically an old machine that should be thrown into the trash heap!"
A researcher angrily waved the newspaper in his hand.
"Yes! This old, beat-up machine cost our lab a whopping $430 million back then!"
"IBM is clearly committing commercial fraud! They've cheated us!"
Back then, in order to raise the funds to purchase this IBM supercomputer, the laboratory tightened its belt and even suspended all researchers' bonuses and benefits for a whole year!
Everyone thought that by spending a lot of money, they could buy some revolutionary computing device.
Now, after comparing them... this is it? This piece of junk?!
Amidst the public outrage, several leading senior researchers quickly co-signed a strongly worded letter of protest to the AEC.
We strongly demand that IBM give them a reasonable explanation, and even request a refund!
New York, the heart of Manhattan.
Inside an extremely luxurious president's office at IBM's headquarters.
Thomas Jr. was leisurely sipping his red wine.
Although Red Star Computer has now captured most of the global minicomputer market with its excellent performance, leaving IBM with no chance to fight back.
However, Thomas Jr. did not despair.
Because of its long-standing relationships, IBM has successfully entered the more profitable mainframe market.
They also invested heavily in developing their flagship product, the 030 Stretch, which they are very proud of!
Although this thing doesn't sell well because of its extremely high price, the profit per unit is huge!
Each unit costs over four million US dollars. If IBM can force a few units to be sold through connections, it might be able to recover and even revive itself!
"Looks like I really am a brilliant business genius, haha!" Thomas swirled the red wine in his glass and laughed triumphantly.
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open from the outside.
"What's going on? Don't you know you need to make an appointment and knock before coming in?!"
Thomas was furious and about to explode, but when he looked up and saw who had barged in, his anger froze instantly.
Because the person who came in was none other than the buyer of 7030 Stretch, Commissioner Smith from AEC.
"Oh, dear Commissioner Smith, what brings you here today?"
Thomas Jr. quickly put down his glass, stood up, and plastered a fawning smile on his face.
"By the way, how are you doing with the vacation villa by the Miami beach that I arranged for you last week?"
Although Thomas didn't understand Commissioner Smith's intentions, he could tell that something had happened, and it was a big one.
He deliberately brought up the seaside villa; his meaning was quite clear.
Mr. Commissioner, I've presented you with a very valuable villa. We're allies in the same boat, so let's talk this out.
Unfortunately, Isaiah Thomas still didn't realize the seriousness of the problem at that time.
Commissioner Smith can get a share of the money, but only if he can protect his own safety.
Those people who research nuclear weapons are not only extremely stubborn, but also have very prestigious titles; they are all top-notch figures in the academic circles of Xiaomei's country.
If they really start making trouble, then it will be a problem.
The ship is about to sink, so the first thing to do is to kick your allies off the ship.
Thinking of this, Commissioner Smith's expression became even more serious.
"Mr. Thomas! You still have the nerve to talk to me about villas?"
“The Los Alamos National Laboratory is in complete chaos right now!”
Someone complained directly to me, strongly suggesting that the price of your 7030 Stretch was too high.
Moreover, compared to the Red Star supercomputer that was just developed in the east, it was simply an outdated old machine!
I expect you to give me a reasonable explanation for this matter immediately!
Commissioner Smith said angrily, throwing a newspaper directly at Thomas's face.
Thomas hurriedly caught the newspaper.
When he looked down and saw the performance parameters of the Red Star supercomputer in the newspaper, he felt his head buzz.
"What Red Star Supercomputer?"
"Ah, 3 million times per second..."
"Is this Li Aiguo trying to wipe us out completely?!"
(End of this chapter)