Intel has developed aFacebook
application that allows users to donate their spare processing
powerto help fight disease and combat climate
change.
Using peer-to-peer computing, researchers break up complex
computational tasks into pieces of work that can be farmed out to
PCs. If hundreds or thousands of PCs participate, the combined
computing power can be used over time to solve complex
calculations, like the
Seti programme
used to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.
Intel's Facebook peer-to-peer application,
Progress
Thru Processors, allows users to donate their PCs' unused
processor power to research projects such as
Rosetta@home,
which uses the additional computing power to help find cures for
cancer and other diseases such as HIV and Alzheimer's.
In addition to Rosetta@home, Progress Thru Processors
participants can choose to contribute excess processor computing
power to the research efforts of
Climateprediction.net
and
Africa@home.
Climateprediction.net is dedicated to increased understanding of
global climate change by predicting the Earth's climate and testing
the accuracy of climate models. Africa@home is currently focused on
finding optimal strategies to combat malaria by studying simulation
models of disease transmission and the potential impact of new
anti-malarial drugs and vaccines.
The application automatically directs a computer's idle
processor power to fuel researchers' computational efforts, Intel
said. The application will activate only when a PC's performance is
not being fully used. When the participant's computer usage demands
more processor performance, the application defers and sits idle
until spare processing capabilities become available again.
Intel said the application runs automatically as a background
process on a PC and will not affect performance or any other tasks.
Additionally, Progress Thru Processors does not require
participants to leave their computers powered up unnecessarily. By
keeping their PCs on only as they normally would, participants will
still be contributing to life-changing research, according to
Intel.
Progress Thru Processors was developed in collaboration with the
National Science Foundation-funded
BOINC project at the
University of California, Berkeley. Marketing and creative work for
Progress Thru Processors was provided by noise, a New York-based
marketing agency.