Folding@Home How often?

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Footloose301

Forgive me for being ignorant, but what is folding? I clicked on it assuming people were talking about folding their clothes or something as was about to tell them that they're in the wrong thread.

FOLDING@HOME is a program that utilizes a global network of CPU power to solve extremely advanced scientific calculations regarding the proteins that account for most major diseases. By offering up the CPU power of the PS3 console, your home PC, and/or other server devices, Stanford University will be able to study the results and hopefully discover ways to hinder the growth of diseases, preventative measures for diseases, or even cures for diseases. The PS3 version of the program even has a nice graphic element to its functionality that has a rotating 3D representation of the planet. On this graphic it also has small dots showing the different concentrations of contributing systems from the entire planets population. When I tell people about the program they think, "Well, there can't be many people wasting their time with this BS." So, I show them the graphic representation and they are blown away by how much effort THE ENTIRE PLANET is putting into this research. It is not only astounding, it also sparks a sense of hope that, despite all of the agressively destructive aspects of human politics, at the basic level we are all still striving to better our existence as a HUMAN RACE instead of only as geographically isolated communities.