A supercomputer named SGI Altix that is also known as Nautilus based at the University of Tennessee was fed with millions of articles dating back to middle of 20th century. The supercomputer provided results, which were most surprising for researchers. The system was designed to analyze articles, news feeds, journals, reports and other resources of information and predict events of the future. The supercomputer revealed some very interesting results, which included the location of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden within 200-km diameter and uprising events in Libya and Egypt. The system also revealed the future of Hosni Mubarrak.
The research was lead by Kalev Leetaru from the University of Illinois’ Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Art and Social Science. Mr. Leetaru presented findings in his journal. He gathered around 100-million articles from different sources including US Government, BBC and New York Times, which were then analyzed by the supercomputer. The system categorized these articles according to mood, geographical locations and social aspects, and presented some interesting graphs.
One graph that gathered most attention of researchers was about Arab situation. At one point on the graph, there was clear indication of an extraordinary event, which they believed to be the downfall of Hosmi Mubarrak inspite the fact that He had been the President of the country for almost 30 years. Some other very interesting findings provided by the system included things about US force bombardment on Iraqi troops in Kuwait in 1991 and the event of Iraq War in 2003.
The supercomputer also tracked the movement of Al-Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden and suggested his geographical location within 200-kilometers. The technology is in development process and it can be helpful in the prediction of other important aspects including weather and economic forecasting.
