IBM Sequoia becomes world's fastest supercomputer

IBM's Sequoia has taken the top spot on the list of the world's fastest supercomputers for the US.Japan's K Computer made by Fujitsu fell to second place.

It is the first time the US can claim pole position since it was beaten by China two years ago.

Sequoia will be used to carry out simulations to help extend the life of aging nuclear weapons, avoiding the need for real-world underground tests.It also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing.

The computer is capable of calculating in one hour what otherwise would take 6.7 billion people using hand calculators 320 years to complete if they worked non-stop. A calculation that took three full days to compute on the Thinking Machines in 1993 today can be done in less than one second on the Sequoia.

China and Germany both have two supercomputers, while Japan, France and Italy have one. But IBM proved to be the leading manufacturer claiming five out of the top 10 spots.