IS Magazine Blog

All Posts Term: COVID 19
1 post(s) found
Software Sensations

Fighting COVID 19 with Folding@Home

Folding@Home

As diseases such as COVID-19 ravage around the world the average person might wonder just what they can do to help in combating it, luckily for us there are many ways however an effective and rather not intrusive way is via the program Folding@Home.

What is Folding@Home?

Folding@Home launched on October the 1st of 2000 is a program that is available on many Personal Computers that uses your idle processing resources in order to help simulate processes such as Protein Folding, hence the name Folding@Home. Using the Idle resources of thousands of volunteer computers, Folding@Home has helped achieve massive scientific advancements in the field of dealing with diseases while also breaking world records for technology-related achievements such as being one of the worlds fastest computing systems rated at 98.7 petaflops, which for the less tech-literate of us is very, very quick.

Can I get it on my PC?

If you are hooked on the idea of helping the world by letting a scientific company use your unwanted Idle CPU processes then you may wonder on whether or not your computer will support it. Luckily, specifications aren't much of a concern and it will most likely run on anything that can at least boot up without crashing, meaning you could put all your old laptops to good use by installing Folding@Home on them.

Luckily, Folding@Home now is pretty much universally compatible with all major operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS, Most Major Linux Distros (such as Ubuntu) as well as even phone operating systems such as Android (though it has to be version 4.4 and above). What this means is that you can put any device with these operating systems to use to help us fight against diseases, from using it on your Windows Gaming PC to letting it use your phone's CPU while it is in your pocket.

How do I start using my computer for folding?

Now you know that your device most likely supports Folding@Home you might now wonder on just about how you install it on to your device. Luckily, it is very (I mean very) simple and is about as complicated as downloading any other application.

If you are on a Personal Computer with Windows, Mac or Linux then all you have to do is head to foldingathome.org, find your operating system in the download list and click "Download". Simple as that, follow the setup and then you will have Folding@Home installed on your PC, simple as that.

For Android, all you have to do is go on Google Play and download it from there.

How can this application fight against modern diseases (like COVID-19)

Folding@Home has been helping scientists do revolutionary advances against many modern diseases ever since 2000, and for diseases like COVID-19, Folding@Home plays an important part in helping researchers utilize the necessary computer power in order to help simulate and research the Virus.

Saving Lives with Your PC Hardware - Folding@Home - NGON

Categories

Calendar