Network Computing at Its Best

Many computers experience idle time, when they are on but not in use for a specific task. In 1999, the University of California, Berkeley released free software to make use of computer idle time to assist SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). Called SETI@Home, computer owners voluntarily downloaded and installed free software that used their computer’s idle time to process data from SETI, looking for any kind of radio signal from space. This program showed the data analysis as a screen saver. Currently, approximately 970,000 computers donate time and processing power to the SETI@Home project.

Two years ago, Berkeley redeveloped the software used for SETI@Home to allow computer owners to donate their computer to other research. One great application that has come from this redesign is the Rosetta@Home project.

Rosetta@Home uses the same principle as SETI@Home, but uses computer power to research cures for cancer and other diseases. David Baker, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington, is heading the Rosetta@Home project. The research currently aims to predict how protein structures unfold at the atomic level. This and other research may lead to a cure for cancer, or a way for the body to recognize part of HIV’s proteins so it can no longer hide from the body’s immune system. Approximately 140,000 computers currently support Rosetta@Home.

All of the @Home projects are based on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC). Users who download the software from BOINC can choose which of the 22 current projects they wish to donate computer processing power to, and can even set how much of their computer’s idle time is donated to each project they wish to support. This is one of those good things that benefits from the “always on” connections offered by Broadband Internet.

While BOINC software is free and contains no spy ware of any kind, there are risks associated with donating your computer time. For more on how supporting Rosetta@Home or any of the other BOINC projects may affect you, visit BOINC’s Rules and Policies.

For more information, visit the following:
Rosetta@Home: boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta
BOINC: boinc.berkeley.edu
SETI@Home: setiathome.berkeley.edu

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