Post by leunas on Mar 16, 2007 12:45:20 GMT -5
The PlayStation 3's ability to connect to Stanford University and help medical calculations in the area of protein diseases should be up and running by the end of March.
The Folding@home initiative is designed to help study the causes of diseases such as Parkinson's Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis and cancer.
The PS3's Cell chip enables researchers to calculate data and run simulations much quicker than using mainstream technology found in standard PCs.
"In order to study protein folding, researchers need more than just one super computer, but the massive processing power of thousands of networked computers," detailed Masayuki Chatani, CTO of SCE.
"Previously PCs have been the only option for scientists, but now, they have a new, more powerful tool - the PlayStation 3."
Sony's March firmware upgrade for the PS3 will allow users to join the program via the XrossMediaBar, which runs while the PlayStation 3 is idle.
www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23552