Analogue makes light work of big data

FROM NEXT September, the UK Met Office will be using 480,000 microprocessors to improve the precision of its local weather forecasts down to a resolution of 300 metres. Part of a 140-tonne, $97m Cray XC40 supercomputer, the software running across those thousands of digital processors will help the UK better predict disruptive weather events such as flooding, strong winds, fog and heavy snowfall.