Japanese Science Monthly May 2013 | Page 7

One idea,one invention, can change the whole world. Our civilization is rapidly changing, advancing more and more. Items once thought to only be science fiction are now available to the public. As technology becomes more advanced, people are becoming smarter and more efficient. Among the innovators who are advancing old technology and creating new inventions are the Japanese. Inventions such as the CD, calculator, and robots would not exist without the Japanese. Japanese inventors have already changed the world. As more and more money is collected by inventors, the Japanese are scrambling to innovate further and create more inventions. Without inventions, our world would not have advanced, which would probably end the human race.

The Japanese have created many inventions in the field of robotics and technology. It is not widely known that the Japanese are also near the top of the world in creating earth science inventions. One of these remarkable inventions is the Japanese Earth Simulator.3 This simulator was developed by many different agencies.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute, and Japanese Marine Science and Technology Center all contributed to the building of the simulator.1 The Earth Simulator has provided much information. The Japanese have always been faced with answering many scientific questions, which they usually figure out. However, before the Earth Simulator, they never had any way of how to accurately predict what is going to happen in the future. Now, the simulator has enabled atmospheric ocean scientists to run weather forecast and climate projection with more than 1,000 times increased resolutions ompared to conventional simulations.2 This dramatic change in simulation science brings us a lot of information about nature.2 The Japanese Earth Simulator has proven results, and may soon become world-famous.

Why did the Japanese build this expensive $360 million simulator?3 One reason was to figure out the mechanisms of global climate variations to try and prove global warming.3 Another reason the simulator was built was to predict weather and improve infrastructure in developing countries in a way to prevent disasters.3 If the simulator was already running, people would have had a faster warning during disasters such as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.3 Other, less obvious reasons that the machine was built include halting the spread of disease and predicting supply and demand for power and food all over the globe.3 There are many reasons the Japanese Earth Simulator was built, which include forecasting natural disasters and predict supply and demand for food and power. The simulator does all these tasks quickly and well.

The Earth Simulator includes a total of 640 different computers, all connected by a 12-gigabyte-per-second network.5 Achieving nearly 35 trillion calculations per second, simulator is one of the fastest supercomputers in the world.5 This simulator can predict anywhere from 20 to 40 years of climate predictions in one day.5 All of the many reasons the simulator was built have been achieved. Some functions of the simulator no one thought about before it was built have also been utilized. Using the simulator, the Japanese have placed many nuclear power plants in locations with miniscule chances of extreme weather.5 Also, the change of global surface currents have been predicted by the simulator.5 The Japanese Earth Simulator is perhaps one of the greatest inventions in the field of earth science.

Changing the world: Japanese Earth Science Inventions

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