This week a shared computing grid called the World Community Grid was larunched. The mission of the World Community Grid's is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. The system is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better. Their success depends on individuals collectively contributing their unused computer time.
Individual computers donate their time when the computer is turned on, but idle. Like a screensaver, grid technology is easy to use, safe and free. When you are ready to use your computer, the grid connection will shut itself off until the next time your computer is idle. The combined computing power is used for projects that benefit humanity.
The project is supported by IBM and some of the world's leading science, education, and philanthropic organizations. The global grid computing project is aimed at harnessing unused global computing power to help solve a variety of health issues and other scientific problems. The new grid will be used for medical research to help unlock genetic codes that could help find cures for AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, according to the group. It will also be used to conduct research to improve the forecasting of natural disasters and find new ways to protect the world's food and water supplies.
The concept has been used in the past for other cancer research and is similar to the SETI @ home project (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which lets participants download a program that allows their PCs to look for radio signals in outer space in a quest to find intelligent life in other parts of the galaxy.
World Community Grid
PC World Article
11:33:23 PM 
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