There are scientific experiments that are too complex for humans to explain and predict… but not for computers. Thanks to computer science, it is possible to create models that simulate the phenomena one wants to study, such as the spread of a disease or the interactions between particles, by doing real experiments in the virtual world, experiments that would be difficult or impossible to do in real life due to cost, time or logistical problems. Making two galaxies collide, for example, is more difficult to replicate in the laboratory than in a computer.

This is the field in which the CECAM in Lausanne, Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire, works, which collaborated with us for the new issue of Comics&Science: The HPC Issue (001 2023). In this issue, you will find the story Ekham the Wise”, written by Giovanni Eccher and drawn by Sergio Ponchione: an engaging tale that, through dragons, witches and princesses in danger, manages to explain the functioning of high-performance computers or HPC (High Performance Computer), from which comes this issue’s title.

In this issue, in addition to the traditional editorial articles by leading experts in the field, you will also find an exquisite and new ‘badly drawn’ story by Davide la rosa.

We would like to recommend two presentations of this issue that have already been scheduled, the first is scheduled in the context of the Festival delle Scienze di Roma, on Saturday 22 April at 5pm at Studio 3 in the Auditorio Parco della Musica. In addition to the cartoonist Sergio Ponchione, Roberto Natalini, Sara Bonella and Massimo Bernaschi will also be guests. The second, on the occasion of the eagerly awaited Salone internazionale del libro in Turin and precisely on the first day of the festival: Thursday 18 at 14:00 in the Sala del Fumetto in Hall 1 in the company of Giovanni Eccher and the unfailing Sergio Ponchione (with some of his preparatory studies). We, as always, look forward to seeing you!