::scr Seti@Home & Global Warming
David Cantrell
scr@thegestalt.org
Fri, 17 May 2002 13:22:35 +0100
On Fri, May 17, 2002 at 11:54:01AM +0100, Dave Turner wrote:
> Should projects like Seti@Home or The Grid be accountable for the
> resources that are consumed for their projects?
Perhaps it would be better-phrased "should science be run by accountants".
Now, you could argue that Seti@Home and their ilk are not science. Trouble
is, it's generally not possible to say in advance which experiments and
which theories will bear useful fruit. Seti@Home *might* detect alien life,
which would certainly be new knowledge. It has also helped push back the
boundaries of computer science by providing a case-study for methods in how
to (and how not to!) run large distributed projects.
Other similar projects, like d.net's hunt for OGRs, and Folding@Home, are
doing real science too.
--
David Cantrell | Degenerate | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david
Educating this luser would be something to frustrate even the
unflappable Yoda and make him jam a lightsaber up his arse
while screaming "praise evil, the Dark Side is your friend!".
-- Derek Balling, in the Monastery