What does Playstation 3 (PS3) have to do with Alzheimer’s Disease?

I came across an interesting article in the local paper the other day about how Playstation 3 owners are being offered the chance to participate in a supercomputer project.

So I did a little research and discovered that gamers can connect their Playstation 3 into the Stanford University’s supercomputer which is working to unfold complext protein molecules associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Apparently this is not a new concept. Since October 2000, over one million computers throughout the world have been working on similar projects (read more)

But the PS3 system allows the computer simulations to occur 10 times faster than personal computers.

Sounds like a great way of getting kids involved in more than just playing games on their Playstations.

Visit Stanford University’s folding@home website for information on how to get set up…

(photo by hfabulous)