What is the purpose of folding?

[Br3tt96]

I understand it's using a program to connect to other pcs to process data. What exactly do you get out of it, nothing? It's a bit confusing for me...

[Goldensapling]

To help contribute to disease research. It's volunteering your PC hardware into a massive supercomputer network to help with disease research, like cancer or alzheimer's

[Silyy097]

I understand it's using a program to connect to other pcs to process data. What exactly do you get out of it, nothing? It's a bit confusing for me...

What do you get from donating to charity? Nothing too, maybe a bit of self esteem, pride, etc.

 

We don't know where all the data goes. (At least I don't) But we know that we are making a contribution in trying to cure diseases.

[Opcode]

Folding proteins and sending the data back to researchers to help come up with a cure (or something to make it dormant) to cancers and what not.

 

Help Stanford University scientists studying Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and many cancers by simply running a piece of software on your computer.

The problems we are trying to solve require so many calculations, we ask people to donate their unused computer power to crunch some of the numbers.

[Lewellyn]

I understand it's using a program to connect to other pcs to process data. What exactly do you get out of it, nothing? It's a bit confusing for me...

 

It's a donation of your computers resources with no guarantee of return. The folding research is one sort of brute force way in trying to understand diseases and find cures by running simulated models through computers. The cost of electricity for a single computer folding over the course of a year is relatively small to a PC user (a few dollars on your bill), but because it costs more for researchers to build a supercomputer or network installation this is actually the preferable option. 

[Imakuni]

It's a donation of your computers resources with no guarantee of return. The folding research is one sort of brute force way in trying to understand diseases and find cures by running simulated models through computers. The cost of electricity for a single computer folding over the course of a year is relatively small to a PC user (a few dollars on your bill), but because it costs more for researchers to build a supercomputer or network installation this is actually the preferable option. 

Hence why I prefer stuff like The Clean Energy project (World Community Grid, Boinc), where you can ACTUALLY go to their database and have access to all of the results generated by the project. Still, all the help is appreciated.

 

 

Anyway, back to OP. You don't get a direct benefit, at least on the short term. However, IF the researchers succeed in their efforts, we can develop cures/treatments for painful diseases. In that sense, it directly benefits pretty much anyone you know, as it would help them overcome such diseases, should they acquire them.

[Br3tt96]

To help contribute to disease research. It's volunteering your PC hardware into a massive supercomputer network to help with disease research, like cancer or alzheimer's

  

What do you get from donating to charity? Nothing too, maybe a bit of self esteem, pride, etc.

 

We don't know where all the data goes. (At least I don't) But we know that we are making a contribution in trying to cure diseases.

  

Folding proteins and sending the data back to researchers to help come up with a cure (or something to make it dormant) to cancers and what not.

  

It's a donation of your computers resources with no guarantee of return. The folding research is one sort of brute force way in trying to understand diseases and find cures by running simulated models through computers. The cost of electricity for a single computer folding over the course of a year is relatively small to a PC user (a few dollars on your bill), but because it costs more for researchers to build a supercomputer or network installation this is actually the preferable option.

  

Hence why I prefer stuff like The Clean Energy project (World Community Grid, Boinc), where you can ACTUALLY go to their database and have access to all of the results generated by the project. Still, all the help is appreciated.

 

 

Anyway, back to OP. You don't get a direct benefit, at least on the short term. However, IF the researchers succeed in their efforts, we can develop cures/treatments for painful diseases. In that sense, it directly benefits pretty much anyone you know, as it would help them overcome such diseases, should they acquire them.

Ah, now I understand the purpose of it. So how safe is it, do they have access to my computers files, information, credit card stuff, and so on? I found a link, but I'm not sure if it's the one everybody else uses.

https://folding.stanford.edu

[blackadder]

Ah, now I understand the purpose of it. So how safe is it, do they have access to my computers files, information, credit card stuff, and so on? I found a link, but I'm not sure if it's the one everybody else uses.

https://folding.stanford.edu

they don't use personal information, i wouldn't think they would on purpose anyways. Stanford is one of the top schools in America, they don't need our money,they have billions. thats the link we use. Keep a eye on temps.glhf

[Imakuni]

        

Ah, now I understand the purpose of it. So how safe is it, do they have access to my computers files, information, credit card stuff, and so on? I found a link, but I'm not sure if it's the one everybody else uses.

https://folding.stanford.edu

It's as safe as possible. Just like you blindly trust your web browser and games to be installed and access the internet, you can trust the FAH software.

 

Also, yeah, that's the link we use.