SETI@Home to Crunch More Data

BigDave writes: "In this article on Wired, it describes how SETI is gradually running out of data, as the current data acquisition system cannot keep up with the rate of processing (since they now have 3 million users processing data). They have acquired a new high-speed digital data recorder which is Linux-powered, and was donated by Hewlett-Packard."

Comments

Is it not a waste?

[Kingpin]

Imagine we did read some meaningful data. I guess we can assume that the civilization is already extinct. Ok, so we know that there's chances of life out there - what else is new?

Why not spending that processing time on some relevant projects where you can help make a differences? Like http://foldingathome.stanford.edu/. Or similar projects for scanning for asteroids or anything else that just has a plausible purpose.

Re:Is it not a waste?

[pointwood]

What if we found ET? - that would be the biggest discovery imho. Besides that, I think it's "stupid" to discuss what project is better - the result is way to often a flamefest :(

I run Folding@Home myself for Arstechnica (the #1 Seti and Genome team!) though, but that is a matter of personal preference.

We have a nice page with introductions to the different Distributed computing (DC) projects we are involved in right here. We "hand out" that page to new members of our "DC family". Then they can choose themselves what project they would like to support.

Re:Is it not a waste?

[UnifiedTechs]

Want a good distributed project that could have some near future results. United Devices ( http://members.ud.com/vypc/cancer/about.htm )has a Cancer Research project running. Here is their Description.

"Participants in the Intel-United Devices Cancer Research Project are sent a unit of molecules over the Internet. Their PC will analyze the molecules using drug-design software called THINK. The THINK software analyzes the molecular data by creating a three-dimensional model and changing its shape (or conformation) to attempt to dock it into a protein site. When a conformation docks successfully and triggers an interaction with the protein, it registers as a "hit". These hits are what this research hinges on. Any one hit may be the one that will ultimately lead to a cure. All hits are recorded, ranked as to strength, and filed for the next stage of the project."

Yes United Devices themselves are for profit, but at least the project could do some good. Not saying others like foldingathome can't. But Remember that cancer is the #2 killer in the US after heart disease.

Distributed Cracking

[flonker]

I've been thinking about the whole distributed computing issue recently. SETI@Home and Distributed.net have proven how effective large scale parallel processing is. OTOH, Nimda has proven how effective a very simple worm can be.

Joe Cracker just managed to get ahold of a password file from his favourite .mil site. But now he's stumped. He tried his regular password cracking programs, to no avail. He decides to code up a quick worm in Visual Basic, and in several hours he has thousands of computers working at his task.

Other data

[Xetrov]

Why not do something similar trying to find a cure for cancer, or mapping genomes, or number crunching for physics simulations or something?

Dont get me wrong, i like SETI
but SETI@HOME is silly i think, when there are more important things to do. How about we apply some global computing power to getting INTO space, rather than wasting it listening to millions(?) of stars?

Re:great! but what about broadcasting???

[YanIsa]

Here.

"The Arecibo message, which was designed by Frank Drake (who was then Director of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and is now Chairman of the Board of the SETI Institute) together with his Observatory staff, was a simple graphic consisting of 73 rows of 23 "bits" per row. This number of rows and columns was chosen because each is a prime number. Prime numbers could be easily guessed by any recipients, and that would help them to decode the graphic. The message was sent by simple shifting of the signal between two frequencies in the 2,380 MHz band. It took three minutes to send the message.

The message itself gives the kind of information that any culture would want to learn about us: where we are located (at least within our solar system), what we look like (a crude stick figure), a simple drawing of the telescope used to send the message, and something about our biological construction (DNA and some of the building blocks of our biochemistry.) This message was sent as a "demonstration" to commemorate the upgrading of the 1,000 foot diameter Arecibo telescope with a new, more accurate reflector surface."

(http://www.seti-inst.edu/general/ao_message_cro p. html)

Yan