A large part of the world has been paused by the emergence of COVID-19, but activity has surged in everything related to medicine and public health. The ultimate goal is to put an end to the damned virus behind the disease, yet developing new drugs that hinder its advance and improve our "firepower" is equally valid. With that in mind, many users decided to donate their hardware cycles to the Folding@Home project to simulate the dynamics of proteins associated with COVID-19 and discover new treatment opportunities. Why don't you join?
COVID-19 has brought out the worst in us (from weak leaders to intellectually deficient people who insist on denying the situation), but it also reveals the best in us, with millions of people working 24/7 to send the SARS-CoV-2 virus back to the dark hole it came from. The most important thing we can do, and what currently works as a "vaccine", is to stay at home. We know it's hard, and in some special cases, virtually impossible. But we not only have to do it; at the same time we can help a little more.
The key is the Folding@Home project, which has been with us for almost twenty years and has the gigantic goal of simulating molecular dynamics scenarios (which demands impressive processing capacity) for the development of new therapies. Thanks to Folding@Home, we now know much more about Alzheimer's, Huntington's, HIV, flu, and cancerous mutations, but now it's SARS-CoV-2's and its disease COVID-19's turn. Technically, Folding@Home contributors cannot specify that their "donation" goes only to COVID-19-related work, but the project has decided to prioritize this disease. Want to join the fight? Here's what you need to do:
How to contribute
- Go to the official Folding@Home page and download the installer for your operating system.
- Proceed with the installation (the Express mode should be enough)
- Once installed, you have two options: contribute anonymously or create an identity
- If you create an identity, choose a name and generate a passkey (email reception is a bit delayed, but you can start without it)
- The "team number" is optional, but there are many teams waiting for your participation.
The rest is a matter of opening "http://localhost:7396/" or "https://client.foldingathome.org/" in your browser and adjusting the power level, or directly accessing the advanced client in the system tray. Leave the project type as "Any", since COVID-19 is not in the selection list, but most likely you'll receive a work unit linked to that disease.
Cryptocurrency mining communities have already donated thousands of GPUs, and even Nvidia has joined the call. Do you have robust hardware but don't use it all the time? Don't hesitate! You can add your resources to Folding@Home even when you're not in front of the computer. Let all those spare threads get to work killing the damn bug as soon as possible.
Official site and download: Click here
Folding@Home on COVID-19: Click here
https://old.neoteo.com/covid-19-tracker-mapa-de-infecciones-coronavirus-microsoft/
