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Japanese supercomputer becomes world's fastest

AFP

A Japanese supercomputer has become the fastest in the world, making calculations more than three times faster than a Chinese rival, its developers said Monday. The c has achieved 8.162 quadrillion calculations per second, or 8.162 petaflops in computer jargon, according to developers Fujitsu Ltd. and the state-funded Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, known as RIKEN. In doing so K Computer overtook China's Tianhe-1A of the National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin, which became the world number-one in November and is capable of operating at 2.566 petaflops. (AFP)

Japan gadget charges cellphone over campfire

AFP

A Japanese company has come up with a new way to charge your mobile phone after a natural disaster or in the great outdoors -- by heating a pot of water over a campfire. The Hatsuden-Nabe thermo-electric cookpot turns heat from boiling water into electricity that feeds via a USB port into digital devices such as smartphones, music players and global positioning systems. TES NewEnergy, based in the western city of Osaka, started selling the gadget in Japan this month for 24,150 yen ($299), and plans to market it later in developing countries with patchy power grids. (AFP)