Computersight -

What is it?

Folding@home, or F@h, is a program distributed by Stanford University.  F@h uses your computer’s CPU and/or GPU, in conjunction with everyone else in the world running F@h, to create one gigantic worldwide supercomputer.  The user’s processor’s unused cycles are used to simulate protein folding.  Understanding protein folding is very important to scientists because when a protein “misfolds”, it creates a toxic protein.  These toxic proteins are the cause of numerous diseases, so understanding protein folding can lead to the discovery of how to prevent it.

Why Fold?

Users can fold simply to aid protein folding research and support the cause.  Others do it for the stats and rankings.  Individual folders statistics are tracked, so competitive people are always pushing for more cycles.  Users can also join folding teams.  These teams generally consist of members of online forums or communities.  These communities compete against each other in friendly competition. Folding teams are always looking for new members so they can climb their way up the leader boards.

Is it successful?

Yes.  Very much so.  According to Guinness F@h is the most powerful computing cluster in the world.  The cluster is 3 times faster than the worlds most powerful standalone supercomputer, due to the release of the GPU and PS3 clients.

(Image via Wikipedia)