What Deep Blue Did Next

In 1997, IBM's Deep Blue computer won a 6-game match against the legendary Garry Kasparov and made headlines around the world.  The match was billed in some quarters as humanity's last stand against the machines. Was this proof that computers would take over the world and subjugate their human creators?  Fortunately, over a decade later, this has yet to happen!

After the match, IBM packed away Deep Blue (pictured) in it's metaphorical box and it never played chess again...

But IBM didn't stop making supercomputers, and the latest incarnation of the 'Blue' series - Blue Ice - is now turning it's gigantic calculating power to a practical use - saving the planet.

Based at the Centre For Climate Research in Swansea University in Wales, Blue Ice is putting it's mind-boggling powers of calculation - it can make 2 trillion calculations per second - to work on predicting the effects of climate change on our planet.

Other versions of the supercomputer are modelling the flight patterns of birds to predict the spread of bird flu pandemics. 

So despite beating us at chess, it seems we are benefitting in many other ways from the ever-increasing calculating speed of our silicon friends.