Washington, D.C.

U.S. moves to build fastest civilian computer

Viewing supercomputers as crucial to scientific discovery, the Energy Department will announce plans today to build the world’s fastest civilian computer at a research laboratory in Tennessee.

The supercomputer to be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee will be funded over the initial two years by federal grants totaling $50 million.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was to make the formal announcement in a speech today, in which he will call development of the computer for general science “critical to our nation’s competitiveness.”

There are faster computers being developed specifically for the government’s nuclear weapons program — to simulate forces in a nuclear explosion — but those are not used for general scientific research, department officials said Tuesday night.

The project submitted by Oak Ridge scientists envisions a computer capable of sustaining 50 trillion calculations per second.

The Energy Department project will involve Cray Corp., IBM Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc., all private companies involved in high-performance computing research.

Boston

Town defies governor on gay marriage licenses

The town clerk in Provincetown, Cape Cod’s gay tourism mecca, said Tuesday he would issue marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples despite the threat of legal action by Gov. Mitt Romney.

“We would rather be sued and be on the side of right than kowtow to the governor’s personal wishes,” Doug Johnstone said.

Gay marriages will become legal in Massachusetts on Monday, but out-of-state couples are barred from marrying under a 1913 law prohibiting marriages that would be illegal in a couple’s home state. No other state currently recognizes gay marriages.

Provincetown’s Board of Selectmen voted Monday to issue licenses to out-of-state couples anyway, as long as they attest they know of no legal impediment to their union.

Romney’s office has warned clerks they will be required to seek proof of residency or the intention to move to Massachusetts from all couples — gay and straight — who are seeking to marry.

Florida

Kerry addresses health care during campaign visit

John Kerry took his presidential campaign to reliably Republican North Florida on Tuesday, appealing to veterans while accusing President Bush of failing to offer a solution to soaring health care costs.

“It is long-since time that we stopped being the only industrial nation on the planet that doesn’t understand that health care is not a privilege for the wealthy and the connected and the elected, it’s a right for all Americans,” Kerry said, charging that companies are down-sizing “because this president doesn’t have the strength” to stand up to the “pharmaceutical industry and the HMOs.”

The GOP-leaning Jacksonville area served as the first Florida stop during Kerry’s three-day, multistate campaign swing on pocketbook issues like health care.