Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Fight Disease with a Game Console?

Update: So it seems Sony will be updating the PS3 firmware version to 4.30 starting in November which, unfortunately, removes the Life with Playstation app including the Folding@Home section. So to anyone wanting to contribute, be sure to get all you can in now, as after the update, you'll no longer be able to. (Folding@Home is still available on your PC)

How would you like to do your part in contributing to disease research by just turning on your gaming console? "Ryan, there's no way it's that easy." Well you're right, reader. You have to download a couple of things first, but THEN, it does become that easy.

Folding@Home is a research program set up by scientists at Stanford University that can be ran on your computer or on your PS3. These scientists specialize in protein folding research. Protein folding is what a protein has to do before it can carry out its specific function, and when proteins don't fold correctly, it can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow, Parkinson's, and many types of cancer. The problem is that the folding process is still a big mystery and if it can be better understood, then medicine can be created to combat these types of illnesses. An added hurdle is that research for protein folding takes a ton of processing power. The more computers that are doing the research, the sooner cures are found. Imagine if we got every computer in the world to contribute to this research!



Now here is where you and your game console (Or computer) come into play. The Folding@Home program allows the scientists at Stanford to take advantage of all the unused processing power out there. It's a simple program that runs in the background and only uses whatever your computer doesn't need at that time. Note: Whatever it is that you're using your computer for will always have priority. This program will not slow your computer down. A "Work Unit" is downloaded to your computer or PS3 and then the program uses your computer to run simulations and gathers data on how the protein folds. That info is sent back to Stanford and is used in their research. And the Folding@Home program is already part of your PS3 dashboard, you just have to run it. It's that simple.

Now if you're competitive like me, Folding@Home also gives you points based on how much you contribute, along with global leaderboards to see where you rank. You can even create or join teams to contribute together. If you'd like to join my team, Superman's Laundry, I'll put the details in the instructions below.

Before you get started in curing the world, you can visit the Folding@Home homepage to find out more about the program and the software here: Stanford University Folding@Home

Now, let's get you set up. Below is a quite humorous video from Stanford University's website on how to set it up on your PS3. I'll also detail the instructions.




For those who don't want to watch the video, here's the step-by-step:


  1. From your PS3 dashboard, scroll to the Network icon. Under it, if you have the latest Dashboard update, you should see Playstation Store followed by Life with Playstation. Select Life with Playstation.
  2. You may be prompted at this point to download some updates. They don't take but a few minutes on a decent internet connection. 
  3. Once inside, hold the Square button on your controller to make the menu pop up. Scroll to the bottom and select Folding@Home.
  4. After the details screen, your PS3 should immediately go to work in it's protein research.
Want to join a team? Here's how:

  1. From the main Folding@Home page, hit the Triangle on your controller to bring up the options menu.
  2. Now scroll to Identity
  • From here, you can change your Donor Name. By default, it's PS3. This can be used to distinguish between your console and your computer if you decide to have both contributing.
  • You can also join an existing team, as long as you know the team number of the team you want to join. It will be a 6 digit code. If you'd like to join my team, Superman's Laundry, (Get it? Because Superman would fold fast? It's a knee slapper) then enter 221635. 
  • You can also create your own team from here as well
That's it! You've done it. You are now contributing to disease research. Just remember, you have to have your PS3 or computer on in order for it to run. I researched this pretty thoroughly before allowing my PS3 to run all the time, and everybody who leaves their PS3 on 24/7 has had no issues with it shortening its life.


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