SETI@Home Close to Half-Billionth Result

Jonathan writes: "SETI@Home, the largest distributed computing project in the world, is on the verge of receiving its 500 millionth result. This is a major milestone for both the project and distributed computing as a whole. Oh, and if you still need some added incentive to get involved, there's a $500 reward for the user who returns the milestone result."

Comments

Re:My spare cycles go to the GIMPS

[circletimessquare]

Where's the fun in that? We already know those prime numbers exist!

i think the point of the search is that some 2^x-1 are prime, and some are not... and because of the mathematics involved, it is relatively easily to factor them, and to also find some really huge primes in the process...

the deeper question of why the heck we should look for them are more philosophical... some concrete reasons? there are cryptological applications, i think, and mathematical implications, most definitely... but mostly, it's just kewl, you know? why do anything in life? why go to the south pole? why go to mars? why get out of bed in the morning!

here's a good list of detailed reasons:
Tradition!
For the by-products of the quest
People collect rare and beautiful items
For the glory!
To test the hardware
To learn more about their distribution