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Natural Awakenings National

Gigantic Grid: Global Benefits of World’s Largest Public Computing Project

A recent big idea has IBM’s World Community Grid tapping into the computing power of millions of linked personal computers to help solve the global water crisis. Scientists from China, Brazil and the United States will make use of formerly idle processing capacity among volunteered PCs to develop water-filtering technology, clean up polluted waterways and find treatments for water-related diseases.

While the idea of aggregating thousands of individual computers to create a virtual supercomputer to process data is not new, Grist.org reports that it’s the first time the approach has been used to tackle one of the planet’s bigger environmental problems.

To do that, the scientists need to run millions of computer simulations as part of their Computing for Clean Water project. “They believe they can collapse tens or even hundreds of years of trial and error into mere months,” says spokesperson Ari Fishkind.


To join the Clean Water or Clean Energy projects, download the software at WorldCommunityGrid.org.

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