How your Computer can benefit all of Mankind


Ever wanted to volunteer but didn’t have the time, or wanted to be part of something bigger than yourself but don’t know what that is? Why not let your computer do it for you. Use your computer’s idle time to cure diseases, study global warming, discover pulsars, and do many other types of scientific research.

Welcome to the world Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing or BOINC aka volunteer computing. There are problems in the world that even super computers can’t figure out, or researchers that can’t afford super computers can’t figure out. Just because these problems are too big for any one computer doesn’t mean that they can’t be figured out. Historically, significant increases in available computing power have always enabled new insights and discoveries.

This network of millions of volunteer computers creates a resource larger than any existing supercomputer. Computations that would take tens of thousands of years to compute on an ordinary computer are processed in just a few months.


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Saving the world isn’t just for doctors in Africa and technocrats in San Jose. They need funding, processing power, and support: and that’s just what you have. You don’t even need to move your lazy butt. Just stop reading blogs and Digg posts and take a minute to save the world. . . .

World Community Grid: When you’re not using it, your computer can fight AIDS, muscular dystrophy, and cancer. After you download and install this program, the World Community Grid uses your computer’s idle time to process data for any of several world-changing medical projects. WCG treats every computer as part of a giant processor: your computer downloads data, crunches it, and sends the info back to the Grid. If a crucial part of a medical cure is found using your computer, WCG will let you share the glory.


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