Folding@Home gets update, new features

by Justin McElroy { Dec 19th 2007 at 9:59AM }

Thanks to titles like Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted there are finally better games on the PS3 than Folding@Home (or Grand Theft Protein as we call it in these parts). Not willing to go down without a fight though, the scientific application recently got even more entertaining thanks to a new update bundled with yesterday's 2.10 PS3 firmware.

First off is the ability to set a shutoff timer for the program, perfect for when you want to help cure cancer, just not all night. Also included is the much more exciting option to play background music while the aforementioned proteins are being folded. (If we may be so bold, a little candlelight, a little Lou Rawls and a little protein folding is a volitale recipe for late night romance.)

Tags: ps3firmware, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris @ Dec 19th 2007 10:10AM

I think this is a really great service and really puts a good face on the industry.

For once I have nothing negative to say.

Matthew @ Dec 19th 2007 10:13AM

Um, yay.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 19th 2007 10:20AM

While I'm all for every effort to cure cancer and many other serious diseases: Has any real medical procedure or drug been developed based on research from folding proteins?

I mean seriously, I don't know.

Phranctoast @ Dec 19th 2007 10:24AM

this is probably something that wont see medical results for a decent amount of time. Everything in the medical industry seems to take a lot of time.

Solomon @ Dec 19th 2007 10:36AM

http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Papers

Results

glitched @ Dec 19th 2007 11:00AM

I was just thinking about this earlier this week… In addition to playing music from the harddrive, what if F@H had additional sound tracks? perhaps nature soundtracks could be selecting such as a jungle sound track, an ocean soundtrack, sounds of cicada’s on a hot summer day, crickets in the eventing, or water sounds near a stream? etc

Matt B @ Dec 19th 2007 11:24AM

The reason it takes so long to find cures is that they don't want a cure. They want to find a way to make you LIVE with the disease so they can string you along for decades with their medicines.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 19th 2007 11:37AM

Thats mighty cynical. I'm pretty sure the researchers at the universities want to find cures. Its the pharmaceutical companies that MAY be inclined to treat the symptoms, not the disease.

But thats only in a super cynical world.

Mr.ESC @ Dec 19th 2007 11:53AM

That's one scary thought though that would be a perfect sci-fi story.

Anyhow I believe tobacco companies would be very interested on a cure for cancer or a vaccine.

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Dec 19th 2007 12:29PM

There are balances against that scenario though, and it doesn't require optimism to see it. For one, the more people that make it to a decrepit age, the better. If you cure what kills you, then you still have the millions of things that start to fail with age. These days, I have yet to see a senior without a small cluster of pill bottles...and those are the relatively healthy ones. Curing a disease like cancer (and there is more than one type to be cured) is not a block to profit, it is an aid to making even more profit.

Plus, while it may seem otherwise...information flows freely now more than ever. And if a cure exists, then the information that allowed that cure to be developed exists too and someone else can make the same discovery. If the company with a cure patents the process, then everyone will know that company A is actively blocking a cure.

It is the stuff of great conspiracy/sci-fi epics that tell of one great discovery held back. But the truth is that rarely do revolutions occur in a vacuum. The Wright brothers didn't just invent everything on the spot. There were other attempts and a great body of knowledge that came together in an "aha!" moment.

Finally, think about generic drugs. Eventually, any drug goes generic and profit is much diminished. A cure would have 6+ billion people clamoring before that happened. I'll only worry if perpetual monopolies are ever granted.

ark_v2 @ Dec 19th 2007 12:20PM

How much is Weblogs paid?

Lemmiwinks @ Dec 19th 2007 12:37PM

+2 douche

Synner @ Dec 19th 2007 12:39PM

Well, it's about time PS3's most popular title gets an update.

;)

Curtis @ Dec 19th 2007 3:06PM

That made me lol haha.

john paul @ Dec 19th 2007 1:29PM

i really don't understand what this thing is
all i did was zoom in and out of a globe
seriously speaking: can someone please explain to me what folding@home is?

ThornedVenom @ Dec 19th 2007 2:13PM

From what I understand, you dedicate the PS3's spare processing power for the calculation of protein folds.

Via the internet, researchers input certain data which need to be calculated, and it solicitates the processing power from every connected member of that Folding@Home network. As a result, the network becomes the equivalent of a giant supercomputer.

And this is for protein research, for a good cause. Like finding a solution for cancer.