The University of Chicago is spearheading a US$148 million expansion of a computer network that scientists hope will help predict the exact location of tornadoes and earthquakes, figure out how the brain works, plumb the secrets of the human genetic code, design quiet aircraft and perform many other tasks now out of reach.

Started five years ago, the TeraGrid network ties together the computing capacity of eight major scientific centers. With the expansion, it will become the world’s largest open-access supercomputer network, enabling users to perform up to 60 trillion calculations per second.

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