According to the New York times, the US National Science Foundation is planning to award the contract to build the world's fastest supercomputer to Big Blue.

The machine will be delivered in 2011 and it should break the petaflop barrier. It's expected to cost around $200 million to procure and the operating costs over five years will cost about the same.

All is not great, as some politicians and scientists are asking questions about the bidding process, not just about the choice of the contractor, but the location of the machine itself.

More here.