Pi calculated to 105 trillion digits, smashing world record

[admin]

A U.S. computer storage company has calculated the irrational number pi to 105 trillion digits, breaking the previous world record. The calculations took 75 days to complete and used up 1 million gigabytes of data.

Pi calculated to 105 trillion digits, smashing world record : Read more

 

[Bruzote]

What is the value in doing this, given the use of energy and other resources? Couldn't the same computational effort be used to solve problems like protein folding or checking mathematical proofs?

 

[MobileJAD]

What is the value in doing this, given the use of energy and other resources? Couldn't the same computational effort be used to solve problems like protein folding or checking mathematical proofs?

The value exists because there's a company who designs storage components for computers that needs name recognition. By having an established benchmark that people recognize as a standard for evaluating performance, the company can use that benchmark to impress people and establish that name recognition. And calculating all of that Pi got them in the news and people talking about them, which is where you want your companies name.
But I agree that with all of the energy spent calculating Pi would have been better put into folding protein instead, but people who are interested in reading about the performance of new computer hardware know more about calculating Pi than about protein folding, which is sad, as protein folding has real world impact.

 

[kenorcutt]

What is the value in doing this, given the use of energy and other resources? Couldn't the same computational effort be used to solve problems like protein folding or checking mathematical proofs?

Considering the answer is wrong. There is absolutely no value in this.

Pi is 3.144...

The error has been known for years. But the status quo guards who have built their life around the error can't let go of it.

 

[Brogan]

I'm very displeased with knowing the chalk writing of Pi at the top of the article is wrong and even contains a repeat segment. Its right for a couple lines then turns into random numbers not associated with that location in Pi. I only know because I can personally type out 80 decimal places of Pi from memory in just a few seconds.

 

[NerillDP]

Although reading about records in calculating pi is marginally interesting, what I would find more compelling is someone actually looking for patterns in pi, like in the Carl Sagan story, Contact.