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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Virtual Virus"
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READER SCRIPT
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A MODEL VIRUS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A SIMPLE, LOWLY PLANT VIRUS HAS JUST BECOME FAMOUS: IT IS NOW THE FIRST LIFE-FORM TO BE SIMULATED BY A COMPUTER DOWN TO ITS INDIVIDUAL ATOMS. THE SIMULATION SHOWS WHAT EACH OF THE VIRUS'S ONE-MILLION ATOMS WILL DO EVERY ONE-MILLIONTH OF A BILLIONTH OF A SECOND. IT WAS CREATED BY A TEAM FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR SUPERCOMPUTING APPLICATIONS. IT TOOK THEM 100 DAYS TO GENERATE JUST 50-BILLIONTHS OF A SECOND OF VIRUS ACTIVITY. TRY IT ON YOUR HOME P-C, AND IT WOULD TAKE YOU 35 YEARS. WITH THE NEXT GENERATION OF SUPERCOMPUTERS, RESEARCHERS WILL BE ABLE TO MAP TO MORE-COMPLEX LIFE-FORMS--AND THAT MAY LEAD TO BETTER WAYS TO COMBAT VIRAL INFECTIONS IN PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND HUMANS. A SMALL-TIME VIRUS LANDS A BIG ROLE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
