Supercomputing technology from IBM has been turned toward the wild blue yonder, allowing scientists in the Netherlands to record a phenomenon in the Earth's atmosphere that is nearly a million times faster than lightning and 100 times brighter than the Sun.

Astrophysicists at the ASTRON astronomy organization have used a prototype of the LOFAR radio telescope to record the fastest and brightest ultra-high energy cosmic ray particles ever observed. What cosmic ray particles are is not entirely known.

Researchers are using the number crunching capabilities of IBM's BlueGene supercomputer to decipher how and why the particles exist, and the effort to do so has made for some strange bed fellows in science.

"This is indeed an unusual combination, where nuclear physicists and radio astronomers work together to create a unique and highly original astroparticle physics experiment", said Dr. Anton Zensus, director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn where the experiment was initiated.

"It paves the way for new detection mechanisms in particle physics as well as demonstrating the breathtaking capabilities of the next generation telescopes such as LOFAR and later the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). Suddenly major international experiments in different research areas come together"

BlueGene/L shook up the world of supercomputering in October 2004, achieving 36.01 teraflops and significantly reducing the energy consumption and profile of supercomputers.

Since that time, IBM has < a href="http://www.betanews.com/article/IBM_Breaks_Own_Supercomputer_Record/1111715517">broken through the 100-teraflop mark and developed the world's fastest supercomputer for the United States National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

The NNSA system is a derivative of IBM's BlueGene/L supercomputer, which won back the supercomputing crown from NEC's Earth Simulator when it was completed. The machine is used to simulate nuclear tests as part of an ongoing maintenance program for the U.S. nuclear stockpile to honor anti-nuclear testing treaties.