Would you believe that your humble PC, lying on a desk back home, could actually speed up research into new cancer drugs? If you don't, Oxford University -- along with United Devices and Intel -- is all set to prove it. By using the power of Distributed Computing.
In a nutshell, Distributed Computing is a science that takes large projects, breaks them down into smaller tasks, distributes these among people, and then combines data that is received from these small packets to solve large problems. To do this, it distributes these tasks to individual computers running simultaneously on a network. These PCs process the tasks, and transmit their results to a central server for analysis.
Sounds confusing? Think of it as a way of collecting previously unobtainable computational power to solve a problem faster. Sort of like the 'many hands make light work' adage. For an introduction to the concept of Distributed Computing, its history and inner workings, try DCcentral.
To get back to the Oxford Project, their research is trying to exploit unused PC power to process information on molecules. According to studies by the university, office workers use as little as 20 percent of their computer power. With the power that's unused, Oxford is hoping to screen 250 million molecules with a technique known as peer-to-peer (P2P) networking.
If it works, it could be the world's largest computational project ever.
With an estimated one million people who may participate in the program at least once, researchers claim that screening the 250 million molecules can be accomplished within a year. Participants will receive an initial package of 100 molecules over the internet, along with a software application called THINK, as well as models of proteins suspected of causing cancer.
Interested? Try the United Devices' site for more information on the Intel-United Devices Cancer Research Project.
Among other recent distributed computing projects around the world, volunteers have looked for everything from extra-terrestrial radio signals, to large prime numbers, to effective drugs to fight AIDS. All because the sheer magnitude of these projects make them impossible for one computer or individual to handle.
The most famous of these is, probably, SETI@home: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. What it has been trying to do is determine whether or not intelligent life exists outside planet Earth. To do this, its teams search billions of radio frequencies flooding the universe, looking for signs in the form of radio signals, which could reveal the possibility of another civilisation. Other teams look for signals in pulses of light emanating from stars.
Anyone with a computer and modem can join in the search, simply by downloading and installing the client software.
That's not all. You can participate in lots more science or medical-oriented research projects at sites like Entropia, or visit the ProcessTree Volunteers to help design safer storage vessels for nuclear waste. Then, the GOLEM@Home Project uses a screensaver to design and evolve robotic life forms, creating a population of virtual robots on your PC. The surprising thing is, all these virtual robots contain design information that can be used to build actual working robots.
Evolution@home uses Distributed Computing to study evolution, and you can help them too, or locate similar projects at the Active Distributed Computing Projects page.
There you have it then: technology with the potential to change the way we live. Makes one wonder why most people still use their PCs to do nothing but play Duke Nukem.
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