Gamers can Help Fight COVID-19 by Downloading Folding@home
| Tags: General
| Author Phillip Miner
Put your processing power to good use.
If you’ve heard about COVID-19 (a.k.a. the coronavirus), you’re probably staying at home already playing video games. Lots of people are, even esports superstars after their respective league’s live events were canceled and moved online in response to COVID-19. However, just because you’re staying home playing video games doesn’t mean you’re completely powerless to help stop COVID-19. How can a gamer help?
Enter the program Folding@home. Essentially, the basic premise of Folding@home is this: computer users can download the program, and by running it, they have their computer “donate” unused processing power. Folding@home uses this unused processing power to complement their existing copmputers' power. If you’re looking for a scientific explanation of how your contribution to Folding@home is used, here’s what they have to say:
“There are many experimental methods for determining protein structures. While extremely powerful, they only reveal a single snapshot of a protein’s usual shape. But proteins have lots of moving parts, so we really want to see the protein in action. The structures we can’t see experimentally may be the key to discovering a new therapeutic.”
In simpler terms, Folding@home accelerates the ability of scientists to use computers to perform the complex calculations needed to test treatments and potential cures for diseases. It may not seem like much to “donate” your unused gaming PC’s power to this project. But when it comes to finding cures – especially for COVID-19 – every second counts!
Folding@home has already helped find treatments for diseases such as ebola. Hopefully, that’s convinced you of the legitimacy of this program. If you’re ready to help the cause, head on over to their download site and pick your PC gaming operating system of choice. Happy folding!
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Phillip has been a freelance writer covering video games for over a decade. He's had video game articles published in places from local newspapers to The Escapist. Call of Duty has been a passion of his since the first Black Ops. You can learn more about Phillip on our About page.