PlayStation 3 and Wii Helping Scientists, Doctors, Patients

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   As if Folding@home wasn't enough, the next time you hear someone belittling videogame consoles such as the PlayStation 3, and even the Nintendo Wii, feel free to share this enlightening news bit. The New Scientists reports that researchers, chemists, physicists, among other scientists all around the world are using the PlayStation 3 as a means of simulating various events - be it intergalactic or pharmaceutical.

   An Astrophysicist from the University of Massachusetts, Gaurav Khanna, has linked 16 PlayStation 3's, running the PS3 enabled Linux OS, in order to simulate the occurance of gravity waves when two black holes collide. Sounds nutty, doesn't it?

   Utilizing standard C-language executions, Todd Martinez, chemist at the University of Illinois states that one PlayStation 3 can perform calculations for him 130 times faster than an ordinary PC can. "We can now do the things we were killing ourselves to do," Martinez said. Martinez is calculating the energy of the electrons in 1,000 atoms - the equivalent of a small protein.

   More over, surgeons are using the Nintendo Wii remote as a tool to hone their surgical skills with. Think of it as a much more simulated game of Operation, minus the obnoxious buzzing noise when you touch the borders. Additionally, they also use the Wiimote as a means of gaging deficiencies in a patient - those, in particular who've suffered strokes or have Parkinson's disease.

   As many of you know may know, the PlayStation 3 makes this kind of work possible thanks to the immensely powerful Cell CPU. The Nintendo Wii Remote, on the other hand, features an accelerometer that senses the direction and speed that it's being moved at.

   Videogames are still toys, eh?

2/13/2008 Arnold Katayev

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