The internet is a wonderful global communication tool and science has always used it to feed the most important research. At the same time, the power of computers has increased significantly in recent years and today, even a 400 or 500 Euro computer provides very high performance, sometimes even superfluous for most users. For this reason, in this post, we point out some scientific projects that allow a PC connected to the network to donate a very small part of the power of their processor, the CPU, to research .
The idea of distributed computing is a very simple concept. Some research projects work with large volumes of data and there are numerous calculations that must be processed and analyzed using particular algorithms determined by the objectives. In order to reduce the time needed to process the raw data, the scientists took advantage of the distributed computing model, dividing the calculations between the computers connected to the network. Basically, the servers used by the research departments, can be connected to any PC that is turned on and that can surf the internet, in order to use some of the power of their processor .
To understand significantly the sharing of computer resources on the network and distributed computing, you can look at the exceptional Electric Sheep screensaver, which connects all the computers in the world that have installed the program and generates on them, when they are in standby, abstract animations of "sheep" as if the PCs dreamed together .
Who owns newer, performing PCs, which often stay on without doing anything or who, for their normal use, do not need all the speed of the processor, can consider the idea of donating a small part of it to a project research or a beneficial cause .
Since research is of a different type, everyone can help find cures for different types of diseases (such as Coronavirus) or other types of investigations using their own computer .
1) Folding At Home is the most modern and most important project on this list, which is proposed as a software to participate in the search for cures for various diseases, including also Cancer and Coronavirus . You can then install the program on your PC and let it donate a small part of the computer's processing power to research, without disturbing your work and daily use.
Getting started is easy. you just have to download Folding @ Home client for Windows, macOS or Linux, start the app and set the search to "any disease" (including COVID12) and adjust the amount of energy to devote to the project and if you want the calculations are always or only performed when the system is idle.
2) SETI is the research project of extraterrestrial intelligence and is the one that has the greatest number of contributions and donations. It is based on a software called BOINC which is a program that must be installed on the PC and which is activated when the PC is not used or if it is on standby.
SETI HOME is permanently deactivated on March 31, 2020.
3) Climate Prediction is another project that uses the same BOINC software and aims to predict climate change on Earth. While there are many theories about the Earth's climate, ClimatePrediction aims to provide concrete evidence so that you can make predictions with mathematical calculations.
The BOINC program then allows you to participate in many other projects, providing a list so that the donor can choose the cause he prefers, including SETI and Climate Prediction.
Obviously the research work will be visible with a nice graphical interface made available by Boinc which provides all the statistics and calculations that are done in real time. Furthermore, when the PC is idle and Boinc starts working, you will be able to see a beautiful graphic Screensaver.
4) The fight against cancer is coordinated by the World Community Grid project.
This network allows to support various causes (one or some of them chosen), through the BOINC software, including the discovery of new drugs, AIDS, the fight against cancer and the search for clean energy. The graphics that display the status of this project are not that great, but the cause is important.
5) Support the promotion of nanotechnology for the development of futuristic applications.
This project always uses BOINC, so adding this project is simple because just select it from the list. The graphic visualization of this project is very nice and makes the donor feel an important part of scientific research.
6) LHC is a voluntary contribution where the idle time of the PC CPU can be donated to help physicists studying particle accelerators to develop and analyze new technologies.
7) Fight AIDS is always part of the World Community Grid and allows to support the search for a cure and a drug against AIDS .
In addition to these, there are many valid scientific research projects to support and it is certainly difficult to choose one to participate in with your own computer.
If you know others, we can take advantage of this post and comments to collect scientific research to which you can contribute without any effort.
The idea of distributed computing is a very simple concept. Some research projects work with large volumes of data and there are numerous calculations that must be processed and analyzed using particular algorithms determined by the objectives. In order to reduce the time needed to process the raw data, the scientists took advantage of the distributed computing model, dividing the calculations between the computers connected to the network. Basically, the servers used by the research departments, can be connected to any PC that is turned on and that can surf the internet, in order to use some of the power of their processor .
To understand significantly the sharing of computer resources on the network and distributed computing, you can look at the exceptional Electric Sheep screensaver, which connects all the computers in the world that have installed the program and generates on them, when they are in standby, abstract animations of "sheep" as if the PCs dreamed together .
Who owns newer, performing PCs, which often stay on without doing anything or who, for their normal use, do not need all the speed of the processor, can consider the idea of donating a small part of it to a project research or a beneficial cause .
Since research is of a different type, everyone can help find cures for different types of diseases (such as Coronavirus) or other types of investigations using their own computer .
1) Folding At Home is the most modern and most important project on this list, which is proposed as a software to participate in the search for cures for various diseases, including also Cancer and Coronavirus . You can then install the program on your PC and let it donate a small part of the computer's processing power to research, without disturbing your work and daily use.
Getting started is easy. you just have to download Folding @ Home client for Windows, macOS or Linux, start the app and set the search to "any disease" (including COVID12) and adjust the amount of energy to devote to the project and if you want the calculations are always or only performed when the system is idle.
2) SETI is the research project of extraterrestrial intelligence and is the one that has the greatest number of contributions and donations. It is based on a software called BOINC which is a program that must be installed on the PC and which is activated when the PC is not used or if it is on standby.
SETI HOME is permanently deactivated on March 31, 2020.
3) Climate Prediction is another project that uses the same BOINC software and aims to predict climate change on Earth. While there are many theories about the Earth's climate, ClimatePrediction aims to provide concrete evidence so that you can make predictions with mathematical calculations.
The BOINC program then allows you to participate in many other projects, providing a list so that the donor can choose the cause he prefers, including SETI and Climate Prediction.
Obviously the research work will be visible with a nice graphical interface made available by Boinc which provides all the statistics and calculations that are done in real time. Furthermore, when the PC is idle and Boinc starts working, you will be able to see a beautiful graphic Screensaver.
4) The fight against cancer is coordinated by the World Community Grid project.
This network allows to support various causes (one or some of them chosen), through the BOINC software, including the discovery of new drugs, AIDS, the fight against cancer and the search for clean energy. The graphics that display the status of this project are not that great, but the cause is important.
5) Support the promotion of nanotechnology for the development of futuristic applications.
This project always uses BOINC, so adding this project is simple because just select it from the list. The graphic visualization of this project is very nice and makes the donor feel an important part of scientific research.
6) LHC is a voluntary contribution where the idle time of the PC CPU can be donated to help physicists studying particle accelerators to develop and analyze new technologies.
7) Fight AIDS is always part of the World Community Grid and allows to support the search for a cure and a drug against AIDS .
In addition to these, there are many valid scientific research projects to support and it is certainly difficult to choose one to participate in with your own computer.
If you know others, we can take advantage of this post and comments to collect scientific research to which you can contribute without any effort.
