BAD HARDWARE WEEK

Stevens predicts that by 2019, we could have supercomputers capable of 1.2 exaflops, and containing 400,000 nodes with 128 processor cores each -- and consuming a staggering 80MW.

By that stage, though, competition between Europe, Japan and the U.S. for the supercomputing crown may no longer be an option. "We may have to cooperate at a global level to push past one petaflop," said Stevens.