SUPERCOMPUTERS Lab Hits New High In Computer Power By Linking Up IBMs.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: Sheila Riley

Imagine if every man, woman and child on Earth added up a string of 2,000 numbers every second of every day.

That would give you the processing power of a new supercomputer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The machine -- dubbed the Accelerated Strategic Computer Initiative White supercomputer -- is said to be the world's fastest computer. The lab's using it to simulate explosions of nuclear weapons.

But it isn't just the supercomputer's power that's interesting. The device is made of off-the-shelf IBM Corp. equipment. That means other labs, and even businesses, can create their own versions of the machine.

"Companies can build the same technology in smaller …