Super Computer

A supercomputer is a computer that leads the world in terms of processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation, at the time of its introduction. (The term Super Computing was first used by New York World newspaper in 1920 to refer to the large custom built tabulators IBM had made for Columbia University.)

Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as weather forecasting, climate research (including research into global warming), molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and the like. Military and scientific agencies are heavy users.