A million PS3 owners have signed onto Folding@Home

by Jem Alexander { Feb 4th 2008 at 4:00PM }

It hasn't yet been a year since the Folding@Home client was released onto the PS3, but in the 10 months since its inception there are now over a million PS3 owners on the Folding@Home network. How do we know this? Sony has sent out a rather handy press release telling us all about it - which includes the fact that this equates to 3000 people signing up every day. Or, if you prefer your linear time nuggets in smaller doses, two people signing up every minute.

Vijay Pande, Folding@Home Project Lead, has said that the research is increasing "in leaps and bounds" since the partnership with Sony started up in March 2007. Only six months later, the network exceeded a petaflop of data. The research taken from the project simulates the folding of protein molecules in order to see in what environments and situations they fold incorrectly, which is what causes various cancers as well as Alzheimer's disease. We're happy to see more PS3 owners join the Folding fold, but are slightly startled by the figure. With upwards of 8 million PS3s out in the world, why are only a million joining the fight. This figure is to be congratulated, but we can't help but feel slightly disappointed that it's still relatively low.

Tags: folding

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kane @ Feb 4th 2008 4:07PM

I would join too but this project has been around for like 5 or more years and they still havent found any *real* cure for cancer and/or other diseases..

Gareth Burleigh @ Feb 4th 2008 4:59PM

No cure for ignorance and stupidity either, you know jokes are only jokes when they are funny

Nate @ Feb 4th 2008 5:57PM

Dude... the cure to cancer isn't like a penny you find on the ground. Cancer and alzheimer's, which Folding also contributes research to, are very complex conditions that can't be cured just by finding one magic potion.

One of the things that Folding does is try to figure out why cancer starts in the first place, how it spreads, and how we might be able to stop it from starting and/or spreading. There has been a LOT of good information to come out of Folding@Home. Tons of practical data that can be used by scientists to further their research.

It's like saying that discovering the process to convert crude oil into gasoline doesn't solve the problem of building a car.... no, not by itself, but it's a step in the right direction - someone else has to use that information and other inventions to make something out of it.

Here's 54 peer reviewed papers that have been published as a direct result of the information gathered by Folding@Home:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Papers

russell @ Feb 6th 2008 9:56AM

wow, Kane is one stupid POS

MatthewJ @ Feb 4th 2008 4:12PM

Maybe the other 7 million are more concerned with being more environmentally friendly and switching off their machines when not in use?

Ed @ Feb 4th 2008 4:13PM

I've been running it most of every day ever since I got my PS3.

MCX @ Feb 4th 2008 5:37PM

Mine has been running 24x7 too... (i am more surprized how well the ps3 has held up on that long) ... no rings of death here...

http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&teamnum=57858&username=www%2EDXEX%2Ecom

kansanpoker @ Feb 4th 2008 4:26PM

i did it for a while , but when i moved , my new internet providers only allows me to use 10 gigs of bandwidth a month , so i cant afford to help or else , i would

Real Gambler @ Feb 4th 2008 4:30PM

Folding doesn't take any bandwith. You get a highly compressed file, work on it and upload it back. They amount of data is relatively small.

Way to go folders!

drdre74 @ Feb 4th 2008 5:10PM

Its really something Sony needs to put out there more. I really haven't used it much. I just forgot about it. I just wish the PS3 had a timer on it to shut down afterward is all. I know you can time the folding at home but I think the system needs to be able to do it also without remote play.

Deathrace King @ Feb 4th 2008 5:52PM

With the current version of F@H you can go into the settings and have it turn the system off when it's done processing the current work unit.

Nate @ Feb 4th 2008 6:04PM

You can have folding at home run like a screen saver - it'll kick on after like 10 minutes of not using your PS3. As others said, you can also have the PS3 turn off after doing a unit of work, but honestly, I can't see why you'd want to do that, you might as well just let it run....

Phileoca @ Feb 4th 2008 4:30PM

instead of looking at the number of PS3s sold, look at the number of PS3's that have PSN Accounts.

My nephew has a ps3 and isn't a registered PSN user.

I'm sure there are many more out there that don't go online with.

Meanwhile, My PS3 is always on and folding.
http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&teamnum=83581&username=Phileoca

MCX @ Feb 4th 2008 5:32PM

Mine is up too....
http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&username=www.DXEX.com&teamnum=0

Majortom1981 @ Feb 4th 2008 5:47PM

The problem is the power the ps3 takes up. I only run folding at home every now and then.

Nate @ Feb 4th 2008 6:01PM

It's really not that expensive. People have worked it out to be between 8 and 15 bucks a month, depending on how expensive your electricity is. To me, that's pretty affordable. You might even be able to write it off as a donation to charity (but don't quote me on that).

scratch @ Feb 4th 2008 6:21PM

Power cost is the main reason that I don't fold@home, with CO2 generation from that extra power use a secondary consideration. As a chemist, I fully appreciate the work that is being done, and I think it is a great thing. However I am on a shoestring budget trying to make ends meet, and just can't afford to pay an extra $8-15/month even if I do believe it is a good cause.

And before I get called out - the PS3 was a one-time purchase cost, funded by gifts. And I pretty much only get games as presents or rarely I'll buy a game on super-good sale. I just don't have much money to spend on my PS3 on a regular basis. And when I do, I'd rather get some entertainment out of it. I'll try to save the world when I'm at work. =P

KILLU @ Feb 4th 2008 5:43PM

i fold at home all the time, when im at school, i turn it on with ,my psp and leave it running in my loker, when i get home, when i take a shower, when i eat, when i go to the bathroom, when i xcercise, when i go out, when i press start because i have to sneezze i fold at home, if ima reach for te controll i fold at home, when i have to open my bottle of water i fold at home cause i cant waste a minute, when im chainging the song on the laptop i fold at home thats 5 seconds lost changing he song if dont fold at home.

kentuckyfried @ Feb 4th 2008 5:19PM

I just hope Stanford is indeed using the networked ps3's towards "solving cancer" as opposed to doing something evil and/or dangerous, like help engineer the next great Plague or some other sort of thing for the U.S. military.

I still login to Folding, but some of my more cynical friends thing that Stanford is up to no good. *shrugs*

kentuckyfried @ Feb 4th 2008 5:20PM

also, there probably aren't as many people helping out as possible b/c it's that exactly that cheap being altruistic...Running the ps3 in CA 24-7 comes out to roughly $15/month.

driven2sin @ Feb 4th 2008 5:05PM

is PS3 a gaming machine or something that you need bunsen burners and microscopes to use?

DrunkRaba @ Feb 4th 2008 6:02PM

PS3 is a gaming machine, as well as many other things, though, I don't think it would appreciate a bunsen burner TOO close to it :P

KILLU @ Feb 4th 2008 5:45PM

i smell the resident evil days coming, thats y im getting ready. r u???

James Gnann @ Feb 4th 2008 5:53PM

I would, but the firewall at my school prevents me from accessing and downloading folding@ home files. I left it on for 4 hours, and it never moved for the download.

PoloS3 @ Feb 4th 2008 6:14PM

i i checked out my foulding a home report and it says im the number one in the nation my name on there is PS3 i wonder if thats right iv folded over 90 times im just wondering

Ether02 @ Feb 4th 2008 6:45PM

I would if I had another ps3. I know the system is built like a tank ,but its so expensive I can't risk leaving it on extended periods of time I'm too paranoid.

P @ Feb 4th 2008 7:01PM

Ive had mine almost 6 months, hit 300 units around new year, the damn thing is bomb proof!
If all the work that comes out of everyone combining a bit of processing power helps make a few peoples lives better one day, how can anyone argue with that.

P @ Feb 4th 2008 7:02PM

damnit, wasnt intended as a reply to a specific post.

WinkerToupsVernon @ Feb 4th 2008 7:22PM

My PS3 seems stuck at 12 work units. It makes me feel that leaving it on is an excercise in futility. I've gone out of my way to make sure it finishes each work unit and still I can't hit 13.

Why does that happen?

joey2joey @ Feb 4th 2008 8:07PM

A few people's lives better. This is cancer and Alzheimer's. If it helps, then that means millions of people's live saved.

P @ Feb 4th 2008 10:26PM

Theres more than just a few people with cancer? i thought it was like 10, 12 tops! does anyone else know this!?! :P

I was simply saying if all that comes of it is a better life for a few people, then that alone should mean this has been a success, you cant put a price on that. Anything else, a bonus.