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Mathematician Calculates Pi to 10T Digits

Breaks own previous record of 5T digits

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 18, 2011 12:58 PM CDT

(Newser) – A Japanese man used his homemade computer to calculate the value of pi to 10 trillion digits, breaking the 5-trillion-digit record he himself set last August. Systems engineer Shigeru Kondo, 56, started crunching the numbers on a computer using a 48-terabyte hard drive in October and finished Sunday, the Telegraph reports, citing Kyodo News. He will apply to the Guinness Book of Records.

There were a few challenges along the way: The temperature in the computer room got as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning “we could dry the laundry immediately but we had to pay [almost $400] a month for electricity,” his wife recalls. Last year's record was almost thwarted when his daughter’s hair dryer tripped a circuit breaker, Kondo says.

A Japanese man broke his own record for calculating the value of pi. (Shutterstock)

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Mathematician Calculates Pi to 10T Digits

Breaks own previous record of 5T digits

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