Would have been interesting if they would have explained a bit better what they think will actually be achievable with such an infrastructure. If physicists build something like the LHC I understand even as a layperson what they try to prove. With this whole exascale computing I sometimes think: we do it because we can and applications are more motivated by the solution in search for a problem (disclaimer: I was part of an luckily unsuccessful H2020 proposal on exascale computing in a totally unrelated area) . But maybe some neuroscientist here can enlighten me about the impact this can have on practical research.
Computers are infinitely flexible. The LHC has no chance of providing any insight on, say, large population behaviour, but that’s one of the many things computers can do.