  I describe the recent success in performing accurate calculations of the
effects of the strong force on particles containing bottom and charm quarks.
Since quarks are never seen in isolation, and so cannot be studied directly,
numerical simulations are key to understanding the properties of these
particles and extracting information about the quarks. The results have direct
impact on the worldwide experimental programme that is aiming to determine the
parameters of the Standard Model of particle physics precisely and thereby
uncover or constrain the possibilities for physics beyond the Standard Model.
The numerical simulation of the strong force is a huge computational task and
the recent success is the result of international collaboration in developing
techniques that are fast enough to do the calculations on powerful
supercomputers.
