Over 250,000 users sign for Folding@home project

More than 250,000 PlayStation 3 users have allowed their console to contribute processing power to the Folding@home project, the PS3 version of which has been active for just one month.

Stanford University's research now enjoys a computing power of 700 teraflops in a single moment, 400 of which are delivered by PS3 owners.

The console has also helped bring recognition to the scheme, boosting the number of PCs actively contributing by 20 per cent.

"The PS3 turnout has been amazing, greatly exceeding our expectations and allowing us to push our work dramatically forward," said Vijay Pande, associate professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home program lead.

"Thanks to PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer's and other diseases."

The project is also making a new software update available. The 1.1 version improves visibility of donor locations on the globe, folding calculation speed and protein viewing. There's also additional language support, help screen hints, and improved donor-name length and character handling.

Users can join the program by clicking on the Folding@home icon in the PS3 CrossMediaBar (XMB), or setting the application to run whenever the console is idle.