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In a manner of speaking the very same PS3 that burnt a hole in your wallet can serve more good than you ever expected. A Stanford program is asking all owners of PS3’s to volunteer their console for the good of mankind.

According to a press release from Sony, the Stanford program is focusing on how two-dimensional protein strands in the human body fold into the three-dimensional molecules that determine their biological functions, and why incorrect folding can lead to debilitating diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

This study requires vast amounts of computing power, this is where every PS3 owner comes in. By signing online with the console and accessing Folding@home via the PS3 ‘XrossMediaBar’, users will be able to share whatever processing power is unused. You machine will be tapped into by their system and you can actually watch all the simulations being conducted in real-time. Live interaction between yourself and the scientists are also possible via ‘XrossMediaBar’.
I believe the future of gaming has changed dramatically to the point where our consoles sole purposes are no longer used for entertainment, they are now being given a higher more valuable cause. Those of you interested in lending your machines processing power can start doing so on March 23, which also happens to be the launch date for PS3 Europe.

Read  [Cnet]