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Computer simulation

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A computer simulation, a computer model or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. Computer simulations have become a useful part of mathematical modeling of many natural systems in physics (computational physics), chemistry and biology, human systems in economics, psychology, and social science and in the process of engineering new technology, to gain insight into the operation of those systems, or to observe their behavior.

Computer simulations vary from computer programs that run a few minutes, to network-based groups of computers running for hours, to ongoing simulations that run for days. The scale of events being simulated by computer simulations has far exceeded anything possible (or perhaps even imaginable) using the traditional paper-and-pencil mathematical modeling: over 10 years ago, a desert-battle simulation, of one force invading another, involved the modeling of 66,239 tanks, trucks and other vehicles on simulated terrain around Kuwait, using multiple supercomputers in the DoD High Performance Computer Modernization Program; a 1-billion-atom model of material deformation (2002); a 2.64-million-atom model of the complex maker of protein in all organisms, a ribosome, in 2005; and the Blue Brain project at EPFL (Switzerland), began in May 2005, to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level.

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News tagged with computer model

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Too much entanglement can render quantum computers useless

Physics / Quantum Physics

created May 25, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (20) | comments 4 feature

(PhysOrg.com) -- "For certain tasks, quantum computers are more powerful than their classical counterparts. The task to be performed is the same for quantum or classical systems. However, the former ones can do it in a more ...


Toddlers develop individualized rules for grammar

Other Sciences / Other

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (12) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using advanced computer modeling and statistical analysis, a University of Texas at Austin linguistics professor has found that toddlers develop their own individual structures for using language that are ...


Earth and the Sun

Study: Small fluctuations in solar activity, large influence on the climate

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 27, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Subtle connections between the 11-year solar cycle, the stratosphere, and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according ...


Cryptomartus hindi

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique (w/ Video)

Biology / Other

created Aug 05, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Early relatives of spiders that lived around 300 million years ago are revealed in new three-dimensional models, in research published today in the journal Biology Letters.


Milky Way Galaxy

Physicists on the prowl for dark matter

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 23, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (33) | comments 89 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- 95%. That is the percentage of the known Universe that is missing. As in it is not there. Or at least if it is there, we can't see it. We call this unseen stuff "dark matter". That has been ...


Modern tests demonstrate soundness of old iron bridge

Modern tests demonstrate soundness of old iron bridge

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 2

An unusual bowstring truss iron bridge that carried traffic across Roaring Run in Bedford County, Va. for almost 100 years is now a picturesque footbridge at the I-81 Ironto, Va. rest stop. Built in 1878, ...


Soil Microorganisms? Role Cited as a Missing Factor in Climate Change Equation

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Those seeking to understand and predict climate change can now use an additional tool to calculate carbon dioxide exchanges on land, according to a scientific journal article co-authored by a University of ...


Rain or Shine? Computer Models How Brain Cells Reach a Decision

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Yale University researchers have devised a computer model to explain how the brain makes decisions based on statistical probabilities-as, for instance, when a doctor makes a diagnosis based on several conflicting ...


Researchers examine correlation between political speeches, voting

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Although politicians are often criticized for making empty promises, when it comes to their voting records, their words may carry more weight than previously thought, according to findings by two Penn State information technology ...


Glimpsing a greener future

Glimpsing a greener future: Computer model foresees effects of alternative transportation fuels

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's the year 2060, and 75 percent of drivers in the Greater Los Angeles area have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that emit only water vapor.


Research gives new insights into 4 billion year-old meteorites

Research gives new insights into 4 billion year-old meteorites

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have gained new insight into the makeup of ancient meteorites called Carbonaceous Chondrites, in research published in the October edition of the journal Earth Science and Planetary Le ...


Longer toes eyed as sprinters' edge

Longer toes eyed as sprinters' edge

Biology / Other

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Longer toes may give sprinters a leg up on other runners, according to a new study.


Interactions with Aerosols Boost Warming Potential of Some Gases

Interactions with Aerosols Boost Warming Potential of Some Gases

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances -- notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth’s climate. And they’ve been aided ...


Feds designate 'critical habitat' for polar bear (AP)

Feds designate polar bear habitat in Alaska

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(AP) -- The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to ...


Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course

Google Earth Application Maps Carbon's Course

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 21, 2009 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (16) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, particularly when the picture is used to illustrate science. Technology is giving us better pictures every day, and one of them is helping ...