Sony Computer Entertainment announced that PlayStation 3 consoles will soon have the ability to connect to Stanford University’s folding@home program, a project aimed at understanding protein folding, misfolding and related diseases.
The process of folding proteins is extremely complex, and computers must be used to perform simulations to study it. A simulation can take 30 years for a single computer to complete, so the folding@home program distributes the computing across a network of computers. The PS3’s Cell/B.E. processor is 10 times faster than a standard chip inside a mainstream PC, will soon be able to connect to Stanford’s folding network.
A folding@home icon will be added to the Network menu of the XrossMediaBar. PS3 owners may join the program by clicking the icon or setting the application up to run whenever the PS3 is idle.
