[mkj]

I can't answer how numpypy is going, but Numba works pretty well for me to write fast numeric code in python. A bit restricted language and installing llvm is a bit of a hassle, but overall it's great.

[ant6n]

That's CPython and the reason you're not noticing its slow is probably because most of your time is spent computing inside compiled library functions.

[maxerickson]

Numba is a Python compiler: http://numba.pydata.org/

So the fast functions they are using are likely compiled, they aren't necessarily library functions.