PS3 power requested for research project
By Daniel Terdiman
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: March 15, 2007, 7:02 AM PDT
If you bought a PlayStation 3 thinking it was just for games or
watching movies, Sony wants you to know you can use the powerful
device for something a lot more important.
Sony announced on Thursday that owners of any Internet-connected
PS3 will be able to participate in a wide-ranging, distributed,
scientific experiment led by Stanford University's [email protected]
program, which is seeking to better understand a process called
protein folding and its relationship to several serious
diseases.
According to a release from Sony, the Stanford program is focusing
on how two-dimensional protein strands in the human body fold into
the three-dimensional molecules that determine their biological
functions, and why incorrect folding can lead to debilitating
diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
But studying the folding process is an extremely complex task
requiring vast amounts of computing power, Sony said in its
release. Hence the PS3/[email protected] initiative. PS3 participants
will be able to lend their console's massive processing power to
the effort, much as PC users are able to assist in the [email protected]
project, which is seeking to identify extraterrestrial life.
PS3 users are expected to be able to start lending their machines
to the project on March 23, accessing [email protected] via the PS3's
XrossMediaBar, the console's interactive menu system. Once
participating machines are connected to the project and idle,
[email protected] will tap the devices' unused processing power. Users
will be able to watch the scientific simulations in real time, Sony
said, as well as interact with the research by manipulating protein
strands.
