Bobmuhthol
04-25-2007, 10:46 PM
http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12100CMCVFW3
Sony's PlayStation 3 has made its name as a game machine, but now it's also becoming famous as a protein-folding machine. One month after Stanford University's Folding@home project brought PS3 machines into its distributed network to process medical research about proteins, Stanford is saying that the machines have doubled the project's processing power.
More than 250,000 PS3 users have joined Folding@home since March. The project draws the unused processing power of a large number of networked PS3s, in a computing grid that works as one huge virtual machine. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project has similarly harnessed such distributed power.
On Thursday, Sony will release an update for the Folding@home application that will enhance the calculation speeds, improve the visibility of user location on the globe, and let users create longer donor or team names.
'Amazing' PS3 Turnout
"The PS3 turnout has been amazing," said Folding@home project lead Vijay Pande in a statement, "greatly exceeding our expectations and allowing us to push our work dramatically forward. Thanks to PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer's and other diseases."
Incorrect protein assembly, or misfolding, can lead to Alzheimer's, Mad Cow disease, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and several cancers. Voluntary participants in the effort install the required software and leave their machines switched on. Data is downloaded and processed on the PS3 automatically, and the results sent back.
"Folding@Home is the most powerful distributed-computing resource on the planet," the project said on its Web site, "and for the calculations we run (parallel independent molecular dynamics trajectories), the most powerful supercomputer of any type (distributed or otherwise)."
Calling PS3 machines "games" is a bit like describing an F15 fighter jet as a "lighter than air machine." Sony has said that PS3s have as much as 30 times more processing power than an average PC.
Commercial Inquiries
Sony said it plans to support a wider variety of distributed-computing projects with the PlayStation 3, not only in medicine, but also in the social sciences and environmental studies.
In addition, the PS3-maker has received numerous inquiries from companies about using the PlayStation 3's processing power in commercial projects. Sony is reportedly considering such incentives as points, accessories, and discounts on PS3 products for gamers allowing their consoles to be used.
A spokesperson for Sony said the idea is in the research stage presently, as the company tries to structure the arrangement and determine how many PS3 owners might be willing to participate in commercial projects.
Sony's PlayStation 3 has made its name as a game machine, but now it's also becoming famous as a protein-folding machine. One month after Stanford University's Folding@home project brought PS3 machines into its distributed network to process medical research about proteins, Stanford is saying that the machines have doubled the project's processing power.
More than 250,000 PS3 users have joined Folding@home since March. The project draws the unused processing power of a large number of networked PS3s, in a computing grid that works as one huge virtual machine. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project has similarly harnessed such distributed power.
On Thursday, Sony will release an update for the Folding@home application that will enhance the calculation speeds, improve the visibility of user location on the globe, and let users create longer donor or team names.
'Amazing' PS3 Turnout
"The PS3 turnout has been amazing," said Folding@home project lead Vijay Pande in a statement, "greatly exceeding our expectations and allowing us to push our work dramatically forward. Thanks to PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer's and other diseases."
Incorrect protein assembly, or misfolding, can lead to Alzheimer's, Mad Cow disease, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and several cancers. Voluntary participants in the effort install the required software and leave their machines switched on. Data is downloaded and processed on the PS3 automatically, and the results sent back.
"Folding@Home is the most powerful distributed-computing resource on the planet," the project said on its Web site, "and for the calculations we run (parallel independent molecular dynamics trajectories), the most powerful supercomputer of any type (distributed or otherwise)."
Calling PS3 machines "games" is a bit like describing an F15 fighter jet as a "lighter than air machine." Sony has said that PS3s have as much as 30 times more processing power than an average PC.
Commercial Inquiries
Sony said it plans to support a wider variety of distributed-computing projects with the PlayStation 3, not only in medicine, but also in the social sciences and environmental studies.
In addition, the PS3-maker has received numerous inquiries from companies about using the PlayStation 3's processing power in commercial projects. Sony is reportedly considering such incentives as points, accessories, and discounts on PS3 products for gamers allowing their consoles to be used.
A spokesperson for Sony said the idea is in the research stage presently, as the company tries to structure the arrangement and determine how many PS3 owners might be willing to participate in commercial projects.