PS3 Searches for Cancer Cure

Since the advent of the PS2, Sony and Microsoft have been sure to talk up just how much processing power their consoles pack. Enterprising gearheads have taken this as a challenge, and have come up with all kinds of applications for PlayStation and Xbox hardware. Taking a cue from Seti@Home, Entropia and World Community Grid, Sony plans to harness the PS3's computing power and networkability in their software update at the end of this month.

The update will create a "Folding@home" icon onscreen that users can click, which will enable the network-connected PS3 to devote some of its idle processing power to a Stanford University grid networking project that will study "misfolded" proteins that may be at the root of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and some cancers. So the next time a skeptic asks why you waste your time with game consoles, tell them you're doing it for science.