Put Your Game Machine To Work

Looks like it is going to be possible to donate your PS3's spare cycles to science.

This advance utilizes the new Cell processor in Sony’s PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) to achieve performance previously only possible on supercomputers. With this new technology (as well as new advances with GPUs), we will likely be able to attain performance on the 100 gigaflop scale per computer. With about 10,000 such machines, we would be able to achieve performance on the petaflop scale. With software from Sony, the PlayStation 3 will now be able to contribute to the Folding@Home project, pushing Folding@Home a major step forward.

After the bad press of the PS2 being used by Saddam to build weapons of mass distruction (or maybe not) looks like Sony decided to get ahead of the curve and setup a constructive use for the PS3's spare time.

Of course if the PS3 uses wattage anything like the Xbox 360, you will be donating more than just your hardware to the cause. At 165W running for 20 hours a day for 30 days at $.10 a kWh, gives you a monthly electricity bill of $10 a month.

via folding@home via Engadget