Sony Computer Entertainment is closing the Life with PlayStation service, a PlayStation 3 news channel that also contains the Folding@Home application.
Folding@Home is a distributed computing project at Stanford University where CPU power from a number of devices including PS3s are used to understand how proteins fold. "The PS3 system was a game changer for Folding@home, as it opened the door for new methods and new processors, eventually also leading to the use of GPUs.” said Vijay Pande, Folding@home research lead, Stanford University. “We have had numerous successes in recent years. Specifically, in a paper just published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, we report on tests of predictions from earlier Folding@home simulations, and how these predictions have led to a new strategy to fight Alzheimer’s Disease. The next steps, now underway at Stanford, are to take this lead compound and help push it towards a viable drug. It’s too early to report on our preliminary results there, but I’m very excited that the directions set out in this paper do appear to be bearing fruit in terms of a viable drug (not just a drug candidate).”
Beginning on October 24, new users will not have access to Life with PlayStation. Service for all users will end in the beginning of November.
