The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Screensavers of the world, unite!

Picture this: millions of iMac and PC owners around the world using their home computers to help scientists solve complex computational problems.

It may sound far-fetched, but the concept - known as distributed computing - has become a groundbreaking tool for astronomers, biochemists and other researchers seeking a fast and cheap alternative to expensive supercomputers.

Distributed computing can be a valuable asset in virtually any computationally intensive experiment, according to Vijay S. Pande, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford.

``A handful of projects have already demonstrated how such large-scale distributed computing power can be utilized,`` write Pande and chemistry graduate student Michael Shirts in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Science.

A well-known example cited by the authors is SETI@home, a scientific experiment based in Berkeley, Calif., that uses home computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

SETI@home gives anyone connected to the Internet an opportunity to hunt for signs of intelligent life in the universe by analyzing radio signals from outer space. Volunteers simply download the SETI@home screensaver and software. While they are away from their computers, the screensaver pops up and begins processing the radio signals. Meanwhile, the software automatically checks in at a central website to drop off results and pick up new assignments.

Roughly a half-million users now run SETI@home.

``This large number of processors dwarfs even the largest supercomputers,`` say Shirts and Pande.

They point out that, in just three years, the project accomplished what a single computer would have taken 400,000 years to do.

But SETI@home is only the beginning.

``There are at least 300 million personal computers on the Internet,`` write the authors, but up to 90 percent of all PC processing time is wasted, they say
'"/>

Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
650-723-9296
Stanford University
7-Dec-2000


Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Related biology news :

1. In a noisy world, how can the senses project and receive information at the same time?
2. Warmer world will be a sicker world, say scientists
3. Gobbling food helps threadsnakes avoid danger; in a snake-eat-ant world, its survival of the fastest
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Screensavers the world unite

(Date:1/9/2009)...L (January 09, 2008)--Birdsongs are used extensive..., offering a glimpse of how our own communicating ...s, a graduate student at the University of Miami (...logy, shows that the Swamp Sparrow has the ability...oduce during hostile situations, implying that son...
(Date:1/9/2009)...arnegie Mellon University,s M. Granger Morgan will...ng new energy technologies that can help society r...e a cleaner economy during a policy briefing Janua...ngton, D.C. , Morgan, who heads a team of inves...innesota, The Vermont Law School and the Washingto...
(Date:1/9/2009)...e Donald is one of five women scientists who will ...in Science Award. She and the other recipients, ea...e the awards on 5 March 2009 at the UNESCO headqua...0 in recognition of her contributions to science. ...onald for her work in unraveling the mysteries of ...
(Date:1/8/2009)...e uncovered why some dietary fats, specifically lo...oil), are more prone to induce inflammation. Long-...inal absorption of pro-inflammatory bacterial mole... appears in the January issue of JLR . , While ... found in milk and cheese products) can be absorbe...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Why the swamp sparrow is hitting the high notes 2Why the swamp sparrow is hitting the high notes 3Carnegie Mellon to unveil new sequestration plan 2Sigma Aldrich Names Helge Bastian New VP of Global Marketing for Research Biotech 3397 1Sigma Aldrich Names Helge Bastian New VP of Global Marketing for Research Biotech 3397 2No Difference Found in Treatments for Acute Kidney Failure 12280 1No Difference Found in Treatments for Acute Kidney Failure 12280 2No Difference Found in Treatments for Acute Kidney Failure 12280 3Eyes a Window to Hearing Loss 3F 12278 1Eyes a Window to Hearing Loss 3F 12278 2Eyes a Window to Hearing Loss 3F 12278 3Peacetime use of radioisotopes at Oak Ridge cited as Chemical Landmark 12276 1Peacetime use of radioisotopes at Oak Ridge cited as Chemical Landmark 12276 2Peacetime use of radioisotopes at Oak Ridge cited as Chemical Landmark 12276 3
Other News:
...In a matter of months, butterflies sporting the ye...were created through simple laboratory crosses of ...June 15, 2006 edition of the journal Nature. ..."W...iven rise to Heliconius heurippa, a hybrid butterf...
...WASHINGTON, June 14 Bacteria in the soil can tran...und in the United States into more toxic forms tha...aboratory study published today on the Web site of...tal Science & Technology. The study is scheduled t...
...Of the thousands of proteins produced in our cells...e (RNAP), which has the unique ability to faithful... organisms--from bacteria to people--depend on RNA...esis. Despite its crucial role in cell biology, fu...
...The virulence characteristic of HIV-1--the virus p...unt to an accident of evolution, new evidence reve...al evolution predisposed HIV-1 to spur the fatal i...DS, researchers report in the June 16, 2006 Cell.....
Butterfly speciation event recreated 2Butterfly speciation event recreated 3Microbes transform 'safest' PBDEs into more harmful compounds 2When it comes to gene transcription, random pauses arent quite so random, study finds 2When it comes to gene transcription, random pauses arent quite so random, study finds 3When it comes to gene transcription, random pauses arent quite so random, study finds 4HIV-1's high virulence might be an accident of evolution 2HIV-1's high virulence might be an accident of evolution 3HIV-1's high virulence might be an accident of evolution 4
...ing heart pumps in people with severe congestive h...liver and other transplants, according to research...s Scientific Sessions 2002. ..."This is a landmar...s to put a left ventricular assist device in place...
...ored by the National Cancer Institute and the Mino...und a collaborative research program between The U...d The University of Puerto Rico Cancer Center.... ...n's mission to eliminate cancer throughout the wor...
... from an earlier trial comparing the ability of th...soon after heart attacks, researchers have found t... to have different effects in heart patients with ...essment of ease of administration and cost compare...
...hreatening heart rhythms more than doubled among N...er 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, researchers reporte...ific Sessions 2002.... The study evaluated patient...ICD). An ICD is an electrical generator the size ...
health news:Heart devices, transplants have similar costs; what will we pay? 2health news:Heart devices, transplants have similar costs; what will we pay? 3health news:$15 million grant spurs cancer collaboration; M. D. Anderson, University of Puerto Rico 2health news:Anti-coagulation drugs found to have different effects in diabetics after heart attack 2health news:Anti-coagulation drugs found to have different effects in diabetics after heart attack 3health news:Terrorist attacks increased dangerous irregular heartbeats 2health news:Terrorist attacks increased dangerous irregular heartbeats 3
...dering the significant amount of data, medical inf...-run health departments, many websites are written... American and are inaccessible to people with dis-...w report by Brown University researchers Darrell M...
...s one of the most exciting workplaces, and now an ... joined forces with a leading neuroscientist to un...ademic discipline neuroarthistory Prof John Onia...o answer questions such as:...... ... What happens...
... of injury - such as heart muscle after a heart at...d like to be able to hasten the formation of new b...ze" patients' blood vessel-forming cells, called a...red area....Recently, researchers at Washington Un...
... of a gene could help prevent diabetes may raise u...'s BMJ.... Earlier this year, scientists discovere... with type 2 diabetes. In subsequent media coverag...st to identify people who carry the variant gene a...
health news:State health department Web sites inaccessible to many, study finds 2health news:State health department Web sites inaccessible to many, study finds 3health news:Cracking the real Da Vinci Code -- what happens in the artist's brain? 2health news:Drug can quickly mobilize an army of cells to repair injury 2health news:Claiming diagnostic tests for diabetes genes is misleading, say experts 2