Join Earthgoers distributed computing!

Back in 1999, the University of California, Berkeley set out to prove the viability of distributed grid computing (many remote computers acting as one) by releasing SETI@Home.  The goal of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) was to detect radio transmissions from space that could only be intelligent life broadcasting from some distant star.

The project was, and continues to be, a great success--even if they haven't detected aliens yet. Thousands of people around the globe have installed and run their software, which uses spare CPU time to do science and also acts as a screensaver.  SETI@Home remains the most popular distributed computing project, but there are many other projects in fields ranging from biology to physics to cryptography to games like chess.

One project, ClimatePrediction.net, aims to simulate the Earth's climate.  We are currently facing a rapidly shifting climate due to increases in CO2 and other greenhouse gases.  By running their simulators, you can help scientists better understand the changing climate, which in turn help policy makers determine which ecosystems are most threatened and how best to preserve them.

Another project is the World Community Grid, which is a catch-all for a number of different projects aimed at benefitting humanity.  They include finding cures for cancer, fighting AIDS, and developing drugs for dengue fever.

Berkeley has developed a generic software application called BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) that allows you to "subscribe" to different distributed computing projects, including ClimatePrediction.net and World Community Grid.  BOINC gives you "credit" for computing, which allows individual users and teams to compete across projects.  We here at Earthgoers have a team that you can join.

BOINCstats.com keeps track of credits across all projects.  You can see the Earthgoers team statistics here, or view our current credit below.  Download BOINC, join our team, and start helping humanity today!