I saw a post on Go! Smell The Flowers the other day when I joined BlogCatalog that reminded me of something I haven’t posted about.
About 5 years ago in June 2002, I downloaded and installed the Seti@Home software. The Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project uses spare time on your computer to analyse the signals from the radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory searching for signs of intelligence.
In early 2005, a new version of the software was released. This version ran on the BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) platform, which was design to be modular allowing clients for other purposes to be released. I’m still searching for aliens, but I’m also taking part in the following projects:
- ClimatePrediction – experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century
- Einstein – search for spinning neutron stars (also called pulsars) using data from the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors
- Predictor – predict protein structure from protein sequence to address critical biomedical questions of protein-related diseases
- Rosetta – determine the 3-dimensional shapes of proteins in research that may ultimately lead to finding cures for some major human diseases
You can just do this individually or join one of the many teams that do this competitively. Being a bit of a nutter with a liking for Monty Python, I had to join The Knights Who Say Ni! team, who are without exception stark raving mad. This explains my name in the team; the Knights are searching for a Shrubbery and with the name Hedges what else could I be other than ‘I am a Shrub’.
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For some unknown reason, i’ve never used Seti@Home.
Though then again, i tend to turn off computers when i am not using them. Thus, no more processor cycles to search for ET & co.
In any case, it is interesting to hear what is going on with Seti@Home.
Funny story about that:
When I worked for the MOD, a bunch of us asked if we could power down our non-networked computers, pull t the removable C: drive out of its caddy, reboot from a CD, and feed a few SETI packets from a floppy to each machine overnight. The next morning we’d collect the processed packets on the floppy, power the machine down, and reboot with the C: drive reinserted for the rest of the day.
They were so obsessed with security that they declined. They were worried a virus on the floppy would find a way to get low-level access to some EPROM, and inject a virus that would survive a power cycle and lie in wait until that machine might one day get network access before bringing the whole intranet to its knees…
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I decided they wouldn’t understand why that was impossible, and acquiesed. These are the same people that required an ‘air-gap’ of at least 12″ between machines on different networks… incase crosstalk on the network cables allowed data transmission between machines with different security clearances. D’oh!
Hi James,
Thanks for your comments. Maybe you are just too sane to consider searching for ET, you need to be to admit that you are doing it.Hmmm…
I do try to turn my computers off more now than I used to, but at least if I leave them running, I know that with the science projects it is doing some good.
Hi Gary,
I know where you are coming from with secure networks and the rules.
It’s easier to assume if you can think of it, the answer is no, it saves the headaches.