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Grid Computes 420 Years Worth of Data in 4 Months
Da Massive writes with a ComputerWorld article about a grid computing approach to the malaria disease. By running the problem across 5,000 computer for a total of four months, the WISDOM project analyzed some 80,000 drug compounds every hour. The search for new drug compounds is normally a time-intensive process, but the grid approach did the work of 420 years of computation in just 16 weeks. Individuals in over 25 countries participated. " All computers ran open source grid software, gLite, which allowed them to access central grid storage elements which were installed on Linux machines located in several countries worldwide. Besides being collected and saved in storage elements, data was also analyzed separately with meaningful results stored in a relational database. The database was installed on a separate Linux machine, to allow scientists to more easily analyze and select useful compounds." Are there any other 'big picture' problems out there you think would benefit from the grid approach?
When you consider global warming...malaria WILL become a huge problem for many areas that haven't had to worry about it before now. This is in no way a waste. Buy your quinine now and while you're doing it...buy stock in the companies that manufacture it.
I reserve the right to think for myself. Others' opinions are optional. Puppy on lap = typos...not illiteracy.
Actually I'm sure they would love to move to more fertile, profitable areas. Unfortunately, there are others with a different agenda who like to keep them away. Those people are getting much more outside help than the starving kids. Let's not forget the economics of the arms trade with african warlords and corrupt tinpot generals who are, of course, "good for our interests". I'm also aware that basic sanitation and clean water, both cheap and easy to achieve with the right thinking, will take care of probably a full 90% of the problem. Their old traditions are responsible for much of it. The parent's link lead me to this. It has to be just the tip of the iceberg. So the chemical insecticides are not needed. There are far too many unexplored, easily accessable natural solutions.
Outsiders really aren't interested in Africa's problems, unless it interferes with "free trade". This will be solved by the Africans with relatively little outside help. It's just the usual numbers game.
I've heard that gin is a good mosquito repellent.
What?