The 3D Internet refers to a currently disparate but rapidly converging set of 3D technologies used for visualizing 3D information on the web. This convergence promises to provide a new set of collaborative tools with application in collaborative visualization, education, training and scientific discovery. As part of the supercomputing conference we recently set up www.sciencesim.com and I encourage you to go to this environment and experiment with new uses.

There is a revolution in knowledge under way. New technologies capable of producing DNA and RNA sequences at low cost are providing us with hitherto unimaginable amounts of data about how biological organisms function. This availability of this data shifts a large part of life sciences into the information sciences. Bioinformatics will be a key technology in the advancement of Medical, Environmental, and Energy sciences in coming years. The ability to read DNA, understand gene expression in RNA and understand the resulting proteins will understand and cure numerous forms of cancer, understand and delay the onset of debilitating conditions like diabetes, alzheimer’s, and depression. It will help us respond to environmental polutents and it will help in the production of bio-fuels.

The most obvious use of high performance computing in sustainability is in understanding the complex climactic systems of this planet. Whether man made or natural the climactic shifts of the planet affect us all socially and economically. Understanding and planning for these shifts with accurate climate modeling is an important endeavor. Our modern society depends on energy and many of our current forms of production pollute our environment. High Performance Computing is being used to improve old energy production methods such as clean coal production and developing new and sustainable production methods such as nuclear fusion. The use of computational power is also a critical to future national competitiveness however with the growth of large data and compute centers there is significant value to be gained from new data centers designed from the ground up with energy efficiency and sustainability.

High performance computing is a tool that can help address some of the most complex challenges of our time. In this blog we will investigate some of these challenges and the work that is being done to address them.