A billionaire computer scientist, David E. Shaw, is heading a private team that is currently working on one of the most scientifically audacious projects right now, a supercomputer named Anton that will leapfrog the most powerful supercomputers by half a decade. Anton is being built for the sole purpose of hastening simulations of molecular reactions.

This brawny super-rig would allow molecular simulations to last about a millisecond (10^-3) or more, which seems like an eternity compared to the current simulations that barely last anywhere between a few femtoseconds (10^-15) and a microsecond (10^-6) – a thousand-fold increase. The supercomputer derives its might from 517 processors that work in conjunction. The elongated molecular simulations will advance drug research by leaps and bounds as scientists would be able to develop newer drugs based on the data from Anton.

Image Credit: UCSF