The cure for cancer might be found on your home computer. At least, if you string a bunch of idle computers together online and let them crunch numbers, the results could help in the discovery of the cures for some diseases. That’s the hypothesis of David Baker, a biochemistry professor at the University of Washington, who is asking people to donate the screensaver time on their home and office computers to a project he calls Rosetta@home.
It’s modeled after the popular SETI@home project, which connects hundreds of thousands of personal computers in analyzing radio waves from deep space to search for signs of alien civilizations. Rosetta@home has attracted 60,000 users, creating the equivalent of a supercomputer at a fraction of the cost. (Associated Press)
