For the first time in three years the world's only superpower can claim to have the world's fastest supercomputer.

The IBM Sequoia supercomputer, based in California, is capable of carrying out more than 16 thousand trillion calculations per second. That means it is capable of calculating in one hour what it would take 6.7 billion people around 320 years to manage with calculators.

The results are a significant success for American technology company IBM, who can now claim to have five of the world's top ten fastest supercomputers.

The previous record holder was Japan's K Computer, built by Fujitsu. Other countries to have supercomputers include China, Germany, Italy and France.

Written and Narrated by Alfred Joyner