Starting towards the end of March, the Playstation 3’s computing power will be able to connect to Stanford University to help in medical calculations in the area of protein disease.  Labeled, Folding@home, the PS3’s Cell chips help researchers to calculate data and run simulations faster than using technology found in today’s standard PCs.  The calculations are being used to study diseases such as Parkinson’s Alzheimer’s, cancer, and systic fibrosis.

Masayuki Chatani, CTO of SCE explained, “In order to study protein folding, researchers need more than just one super computer, but the massive processing power of thousands of networked computers.  Previously PCs have been the only option for scientists, but now, they have a new, more powerful tool – the PlayStation 3.”

The March firmware upgrade for the PS3 will allow users to connect with the XrossMediaBar and will run while your PS3 idles. 

“You stay classy, My Gamers”

David Mackiewicz (DaveMack6@Gmail.com)