Received a mail from World Community Grid, one of my longstanding favourite sites. I first signed up to this one when it was run by United Devices a few years back and feel that it's one of those positive actions that people can take that it seems wrong that everyone isn't doing it.
The idea is incredibly simple - you sign up and download a program that uses your computer's idle time to crunch data related to complex problems as part of a wider research study. When the data has been "crunched", the results are sent back and another batch of data is sent to you. In return, you get a pretty screensaver (!) and the knowledge that you're part of something that helps the rest of the world. So far, my computer's idle time has been given to searching for cures for HIV/Aids, SARS & Muscular Dystrophy as well as simulating the folding of human proteins. The idea is that if enough computers are doing this sumultaneously, it effectively acts as one enormous supercomputer - currently equivalent to ranking amongst the top five supercomputers currently available. What would take many many years of computer time can be done in months.
It's a really exciting concept and you can choose the kind of research you want to take part in. Then, every so often, World Community Grid sends you an email with the latest news and, from the comfort of your living room, you can feel like you're part of an enormous research community at the cutting edge of scientific study.
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