Amazing Chinese 'brain'
Can you read this number?
你能讀出這個數字么?
It's "one hundred quadrillion ". That's how many calculations China's new supercomputer – the Sunway TaihuLight – can perform in just one second!
這是“十億億”!這個數字是中國最新的超級電腦——神威·太湖之光在1秒內完成的計算次數!
This accomplishment was rewarded in 2016 with the Gordon Bell Prize, dubbed "the Nobel Prize in Global Computer Science.”
這個逆天的本領讓這臺超級電腦拿下了號稱全球超級計算機界的諾貝爾獎的2016年度“戈登·貝爾”獎。
In second place,another Chinese computer,the Tianhe-2, which placed first in the previous year.
而第二名,也是中國的!是去年贏得冠軍的中國計算機“天河2號”
Until now, Chinese-manufactured supercomputers have placed first for three years in a row. And, in the list of the top 500 most powerful computers in the world, more than one third come from China!
至今為止,中國已經連續三年包攬了這個獎項的冠軍,同時,在這些被選出的500臺世界最強大的計算機中,超過1/3都是來自中國!
But the Sunway's dazzling speed is not just a party trick. It has benefits for humanity, even life-saving ones! For example, it can detect and warn of an oncoming Tsunami, 10 to 20 minutes ahead of time, or produce a hundred years of Earth-climate simulation in 30 days.
太湖之光計算機的神速可不只是在玩弄速度游戲而已。它真正對全人類都有很大的好處。比如,拿來救命!它能在十多分鐘的時間里監測并完成海嘯預警,也可以在30天內完成未來100年的地球氣候模擬。
In the words of Motoaki Saito, founder of Japanese semiconductor company PEZY Computing, China is producing the equivalent of F1 racing cars in the computing field, compared to the mere high-end cars produced by the U.S. and Japan.
日本“菖蒲”超級計算機公司的社長齊藤元章說,“如果以汽車打比方,日美是在制造誰都可以乘坐的高級汽車,而中國是在制造F1賽車。”
But is China's computing industry resting on its laurels? Far from it! Now in the pipeline is the next generation Sunway E-class, which is expected to be 8 times faster than even TaihuLight! We're talking something in the order of one quintillion calculations per second! Sounds like it's burning! No worries! It will be equipped with a highly efficient water-cooling system!
獲得冠軍就足夠了?不!中國科學家正在生產全新一代神威E級計算機,這臺計算機的性能將快過現在的神威太湖之光8倍!那將是百億億次的秒算!天吶,不會燒了嗎?別擔心,它擁有世界領先的高效水冷技術!
But it's not just in computing that China is flirting with the Infinite! More high-tech gadgets are still on the way!
中國是不是只會不斷生產更厲害的計算機?不,他們還有很多厲害的科技產品!
Also in 2016, China completed the world's largest single-dish radio telescope – known as "FAST," which stands for "Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope”. It is like a huge and sensitive "ear", catching the "sound" from distant stars.
同樣在2016年,中國制造的世界上第一大單體射電望遠鏡終于出爐,名為“FAST”, 意思是“五百米孔徑球面望遠鏡”。它像一只龐大而靈敏的“耳朵”,將捕捉來自遙遠星辰的“聲音”。
The "five-hundred meters" refers to the telescope's diameter, which is as large as 30 soccer fields – a hundred and fifty meters longer than that of the Arecibo Observatory in the U.S., which was the largest one before.
球面直徑500米,相當于30個足球場大小,比之前位居世界第一的美國阿雷西博射電望遠鏡長了150米。
In 2016, this big "ear" has received high-quality electromagnetic waves from a pulsar located about 1,351 light-years away. But this is not considered as far enough, as it is able to receive signals from 13.7 billion light-years away.
在2016年,這只大耳朵接收到了一組來自1351光年以外的高質量脈沖星信號。這個位置還不算遠,因為它能接收到137億光年以外的信號。
Scientists are going to use this big "ear" to discover secrets hiding deeply in the space such as observing dark matter and dark energy, looking for the first generation celestial body, discovering neutron star--- black hole binary. It might even help us probe the birth of the universe, which could assist human beings in finding traces of aliens.
科學家將用這只“大耳朵”去研究隱藏在宇宙深處的秘密。比如觀測暗物質和暗能量,尋找第一代天體,發現中子星——黑洞雙星; 甚至給我們揭開宇宙誕生的秘密,幫我們找到外星人的足跡。
Standing among the world’s technological achievements of the past five years, China is the leader.
過去五年,中國創造了很多世界級的科技神器,這讓中國成為了現代科技領域里的佼佼者了。
According to the U.S.based National Science Foundation – in its report "Science and Engineering Indicators" published in 2016 – China has risen to second place worldwide in science research and study, compared to tenth place just a decade ago.
美國國家科學基金會2016年初發布的《美國科學與工程指標》顯示,中國的科研地位已從十年前的第十位躍居到現在的第二位。
These developments are mainly attributed to government support. Chinese President Xi Jinping has described this trajectory as progressing from "Made in China" to " Intellectually Manufactured in China" "China Resolution", and“China Standard”! Science and technology are regarded as the cornerstone of a powerful nation, a foundation on which creative talents can build.
其中的一個很重要的原因是中國政府的支持。中國領導人習近平主席曾談論過中國的發展軌跡,從 “中國制造”到 “中國智造”、“中國方案”再到“中國標準”!科技是國家強盛之基,是創新人才崛起之石,這可不是說說而已。
In 2016, China spent more than 1.5 trillion yuan on scientific study and research, as much as the entire EU put together! While scientific research funding has stagnated in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, China’s input has been on the increase by 10% a year.
2016年,中國在科研領域投資了一萬五千億人民幣,相當于整個歐盟的總和!在歐洲、美國、日本的科研經費幾乎停滯的局面下,中國的科研經費仍以每年10%的速度在增長。
In science and space fields, what other miracles is China expected to create in the future?
未來,在科學和太空的領域里,中國還將創造出什么樣的奇跡呢?