Virginia Tech’s supercomputer cluster made from 1,100 Power Mac G5s now ranks third among the world’s 500 fastest supercomputers. “The Terascale Cluster computer, nicknamed ‘Big Mac’ by some, conducts 9.6 trillion calculations per second, zipping along with 2,200 IBM microprocessors not unlike those found in high-end consumer desktop computers,” reports AP. “The Top 500 is a twice-a-year listing started in 1993 to provide a ‘Who’s Who’ of hot computers, spotting and tracking trends in high-performance computing. The ranking by the Top 500 project will be formally announced on Nov. 18 at the Supercomputing Conference in Phoenix.”