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250,000 PS3s Folding@Home

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-a-lot-of-origami dept.

GamesIndustry.biz reports that over 250,000 users have signed up for the Folding@Home project on the PlayStation 3. The sheer number of users has resulted in '700 teraflops in a single moment', most of which is provided by PS3 users. "'The PS3 turnout has been amazing, greatly exceeding our expectations and allowing us to push our work dramatically forward,' said Vijay Pande, associate professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home program lead. 'Thanks to PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer's and other diseases.'" The article notes the software has a new update with some refined functionality and faster processing.

11 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Of course they're folding... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course the PS3s are spending the time doing Folding@Home.

    It's not like there's any games to play on them.

  2. Difficult by rlp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Tried it but couldn't get past the first boss level.

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    [Insert pithy quote here]
    1. Re:Difficult by MeanderingMind · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's raining in Shanghai...

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      Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
    2. Re:Difficult by GroeFaZ · · Score: 2, Funny

      Really? For me, within a couple of frames he bent over.

      --
      The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
  3. 250,000+ with nothing better to do? by Moryath · · Score: 3, Funny

    What a shame - all those PS3's, and not a single decent game to play on them.

  4. This Folding@Home sounds like a fun game! by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Funny

    I should pick up a PS3 so I can play it.

    LOL all those M$ fanboys dont even know about this HOT ESCLUSIVE TITAL!

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    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  5. Folding@home by mypalmike · · Score: 4, Funny

    Best laundry sim on the market.

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    There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
  6. Re:A small disparity by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Funny

    I guess they're using the same system they use to count the number of PS3's they've sold.

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    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  7. Re:That's great and all... by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe Sony's using this as a sort 'pay as you go' system. They've realised most people can't afford the console so they're letting people slowly pay them off by donating a portion of their time to scientific research... 'Woo hoo! Only 700 more hours of calorich pragmastiscism indexing and I can totally play some Fight Night! But only for 10 minutes.. The University of Leakston's reserved my processor for some research on abscract non-contuitive phasing for the next 2 months'

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    I have nothing compelling to say
  8. Re:A small disparity by i+kan+reed · · Score: 3, Funny

    where did the 250,000 come from

    Sony's marketing department.
  9. Wha.... by fitten · · Score: 2, Funny

    You mean Sony has actually sold 250,000 PS3s? ;) (I kid, I kid, notice the winking smiley, please don't flame me :()