South Australia's fledgling biotechnology industry has received the first of two shots in the arm with the commissioning of Hydra, a $AUD1.7 million system that is Australia's third-largest supercomputer and the largest of its type.
The amount of computing power available to Australian bioinformatics researchers continues to climb, with the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (VPAC) this week switching on a massive $1 million clustered server from IBM that will more than double the organisation's computing power.
While the climate-controlled comfort of most Antarctic research stations makes administration and proper operation of computer equipment and networks a relative non-event, the situation is much different for researchers making the trek into the field. There, plummeting temperatures, teeth-chattering wind, ever-present grit and snow and the inescapable tendency to get very, very wet all contribute to an extremely hostile environment for the notebook PCs that researchers depend upon every day.
Danger is nothing new to Antarctic workers, with often-extreme weather conditions adding complexity to already difficult logistical issues and necessarily inspiring a level of self-sufficiency amongst polar researchers. Rapidly improving technology has lessened that need in many ways, yet incidents such as the April 25 evacuation of ailing US doctor Ronald Shemenski reinforce the need for careful planning to handle potential emergencies on the continent.
While most Antarctic bases must economise on high-cost satellite communications, a fortuitous deal with the South African Department of Environmental Affairs has helped researchers at that country's SANAE IV base ensure continuous data, fax and phone connections that have bridged the distance back to South Africa.
Given the millions of penguins dotting the Antarctic landscape, it's perhaps appropriate that Linux whose mascot Tux would feel right at home on the world's coldest continent has earned a key role in the IT infrastructure supporting the British Antarctic Survey (BAS, at www.antarctica.ac.uk).
If it ain't broke, don't fix it' might be the motto of the technology team supporting researchers at France's Antarctic base, Dumont d'Urville, which lies at around 140 degrees longitude, due south of Australia.
Because Norway's proximity to the Arctic circle means that the majority of its research activities are focused on that region, its exploration in Antarctica is coordinated with neighbouring Sweden and Finland, with each country taking turns as primary organiser of annual summer expeditions to the continent.