SGI & and the Frontiers of Space

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCIENTISTS PROBE THE MYSTERIES OF SPACE WITH LATEST TECHNOLOGY FROM SGI

From Origins of Very First Stars to Solar Weather's Effect on Our Quality
of Life, Researchers Work to Decipher Age-Old Puzzles

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., (April 11, 2005)  Peering at the very edges of the
visible universe, scientists work to solve the mystery of how obscure dark
matter gave birth to stars, solar systems and galaxies more than 13 billion
years ago.  Closer to home, researchers toil to prevent storms raging on the
surface of the sun from triggering massive power grid failures here on
Earth.

Space science efforts like these are underway at universities and
laboratories worldwide, and all of them are linked by a common factor: They
depend on technology from Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI).

Throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, the world's leading
laboratories are working to find answers to some of the most fundamental
questions in science.  To fuel their efforts, they have turned to SGI for
computation, visualization, and storage solutions.

"This is an exciting time in the scientific study of space," said Dr.
Roger Blandford, professor of physics, Stanford University, and director of
the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center's (SLAC) Kavli Institute for
Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC).  "The universe is dominated by
two unidentified substances - dark matter and dark energy - and decoding
their role takes the very best scientific minds and computing technology.
And yet while we work to understand the nature of the universe on an
exceedingly large scale, we also have to study what is happening on a very
small scale.

"This merger of astronomy and physics puts enormous pressure on the
resources we use," said Blandford, "and this is why these high-performance
computing technologies are so crucial to the work performed at KIPAC."

KIPAC relies on a 72-processor SGI Altix 3000 system and a 10TB SGI
InfiniteStorage TP9300 solution to investigate the birth and death of the
very first stars, as well as neutron stars, galaxy clusters and galaxy
collisions.

"It boils down to getting difficult things done faster," noted Jeremy
Bloxham, the principal investigator for Harvard University's studies of the
physics of magnetic field reversals on Earth, and their impact on spacecraft
and even passenger jets flying at high altitudes.

With a new 64-processor SGI Altix system, Bloxham's team of researchers
hope to clarify how shifts in the Earth's magnetic polar fields, which
occur every few thousand centuries and last 5,000 to 10,000 years, can
impact navigation of aerial craft by exposing instruments and people to
radiation at high altitudes. "The more we know about how this occurs, the
better we can shield the near Earth environment from cosmic radiation. With
SGI solutions, we're working up to 20 to 40 times faster than we were with
our previous UNIX server."

KIPAC and Harvard join other leading research institutions conducting
astrophysics and cosmology research and education using SGI solutions based
on its acclaimed scalable, shared-memory architecture. They include:

--Beijing Planetarium. Immersive, SGI Digital Space Theatre powered by
SGI Onyx visualization computers and InfiniteStorage solutions.

--Cambridge University and COSMOS. Testing theories of universe's origins;
research led by Stephen Hawking. Powered by SGI Onyx, SGI Altix, and SGI
InfiniteStorage Shared Filesystem CXFS.

--NASA Ames Research Center. Space shuttle analysis to ensure safer space
exploration. Powered by 10,240-processor Columbia Altix supercomputer and
440TB InfiniteStorage solution. SGI Reality Center allows Ames visitors
to fly through galaxies and nebula, and virtually stand on the surface of
Mars.

--NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Remotely piloting Mars Exploration
Rovers. Powered by dual SGI Onyx visualization systems.

--Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and Nanjing Purple Mountain Astronomical
Observatory. Numerically simulating galaxy formations. Powered by SGI
Altix 350 systems (see related announcement).

--University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). Identifying role of
thermonuclear instabilities in supernovae using NASA's Columbia system in a
GRID environment.

--University of Michigan's Center for Space Environment Modeling.
Predicting when solar storms may impact communication satellites or power
grids. Powered by NASA's Columbia supercomputer.

--University of Valencia. A range of astrophysics studies, from star
formation to behaviors of neutron stars. Powered by 100-processor Altix
supercluster.

--University of Washington. Developing models that chart the inception and
development of the Milky Way. Powered by 24-processor Altix system.

--US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Studying "space weather" and the
characteristics of near-space environment. Powered by 128-processor Altix.

SILICON GRAPHICS | The Source of Innovation and Discovery

SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI), is a leader in
high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI's vision is to
provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative
breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in
brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate,
providing technologies for homeland security and defense or enabling the
transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to
addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and
creative users. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in
Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at www.sgi.com.

Silicon Graphics, SGI, Altix, Onyx, Reality Center, the SGI cube and the SGI
logo are registered trademarks, and NUMAlink and The Source of Innovation and
Discovery is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the United States
and/or other countries worldwide. All other trademarks mentioned herein are
the property of their respective owners.







FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHINESE ASTROPHYSICS SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATE THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE USING
SGI TECHNOLOGY

Two Observatories Collaborate to Unlock the Secrets of Galaxy Formation

BEIJING and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 11, 2005 - Scientists and novices
alike have gazed at the night sky for centuries and pondered, "How was the
Universe formed?" Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI) today announced that through
the use of its high-performance supercomputing technology, the answers to
these and many other questions about the origins of the Universe may be
uncovered by astrophysics scientists at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
and the Nanjing Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory.

With the new SGI Altix systems installed in November at each observatory
- Shanghai and Nanjing - scientists are exploring the theory of the
structure of evolution of the Universe by running high-resolution numerical
simulations of galaxy formation.

Galaxy Formation is one of the most important and most challenging problems
in astrophysics. In standard theories, it is believed that the Universe is
dominated by dark matter -- matter that influences the evolution of the
universe gravitationally -- but is not seen directly in present observations.
Most astronomers think that the universe was formed during an event called
the Big Bang - a giant explosion which occurred between 10 and 20 billion
years ago. During the Big Bang  of the space, time, matter and energy in
the universe were created. This giant explosion hurled matter in all
directions and caused space itself to expand. As the universe cooled the
material in it combined to form galaxies, stars, and planets.

"Although there have been many exciting developments in analytical,
semi-analytical or empirical modeling of dark matter distribution, their
validity still depends heavily on the resolution of the simulations used.
With the new Altix system, we can easily run the 2563 particles in one step of
20 seconds, and run 5123 in 6-7 minutes. Altix makes science easier," said
Mr. Long Long Feng, project leader of Nanjing Astronomical Observation.
"The other benefit of the Altix system is it lets researchers concentrate
on real science, we do not need to worry about programming in order to manage
the system -- the system is very straightforward and easy to manage."

"We selected SGI Altix 350 because its large shared-memory really benefits
these kinds of simulations," added Mr. Yi Peng Jing, project leader of
Shanghai Astronomical Observation. "The complex computations are very
memory intensive and SGI is unique in the industry for its ability to handle
such large, complex and memory-intensive calculations."

"SGI systems have been deployed at planetariums and science centers around
the world to help unlock the secrets of our universe and beyond. The
Astronomical Observatories of Shanghai and Nanjing are among those
prestigious ranks of leading research centers in search of the answers to the
origins of the universe," said Alex Lee, president, SGI, China. "SGI
solutions combined with the expertise of scientists at the Chinese Academy
of Sciences Observatories will accelerate research progress, fueling
innovation and solving many of the mysteries in all areas of cosmology."

Two SGI Altix 350 systems powered by 16 Intel Itanium 2 processors
each with 96GB and 48GB shared memory and running the 64-bit Linux
operation system, were installed in November at the two locations - Nanjing
and Shanghai - but run cosmological simulations for the same project.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding SGI
technologies and third-party technologies that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in such statements. The reader is
cautioned not to rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which are
not a guarantee of future or current performance. Such risks and
uncertainties include long-term program commitments, the performance of third
parties, the sustained performance of current and future products, financing
risks, the ability to integrate and support a complex technology solution
involving multiple providers and users, and other risks detailed from time to
time in the company's most recent SEC reports, including its reports on Form
10-K and Form 10-Q.


Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) is one of the institutes of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). It is responsible for the VLBI and SLR
networks of the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC). It also
hosts the central office of the Asia-Pacific Space Geodynamics Program
(APSG), as well as a partner group of the Max Planck Institute for
Astrophysics (MPA).

It was formally established in 1962 following the amalgamation of the former
Xujiahui (originally spelt Zi-Ka-Wei) and Sheshan observatories,
which were founded by the French Mission Catholique in 1872 and 1900
respectively.

Nanjing Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory

Nanjing Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory is one of the institutes of
Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).  It includes a variety of research programs
including astrophysics, space geodynamics, solar magnetic activity and the
structure of Universe.

It was built in 1934 and has since become one of the China's leading
astrological bases. The Observatory today still houses some valuable ancient
astronomical instruments and carries out important research relating te solar system.


SILICON GRAPHICS | The Source of Innovation and Discovery

SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI), is a leader in
high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI's vision is to
provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative
breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in
brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate,
providing technologies for homeland security and defense, or enabling the
transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to
addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and
creative users. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in
Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at www.sgi.com.