Free software supports the fight against Corona : You can help too

Free software supports the fight against Corona

• A lot of computing power is required, especially for scientific purposes. It doesn’t always have to come from supercomputers in laboratories, but can also be in your living room. The principle is simple: users install a client on their PCs and provide unnecessary resources for research projects. Software such as BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) or Folding @ Home can now also help users decrypt the coronavirus. 

• Software company Opera also plays a role here: All users of the Opera GX gaming browser are currently asked to provide computing power for Folding @ Home. So if you have a gaming computer at home and don’t play 24 hours a day, you can make the PC available for research in low-usage hours.

• The puzzle game Foldit – Solve Puzzles for Science takes a playful approach. Instead of leaving the decryption to the computer, you can help yourself and “fold” the best protein structure with which the coronavirus could possibly be rendered harmless.

Gamble against the coronavirus

• Instead of providing the computing power of your computer, Foldit is all about finding the protein structure in a playful way in the fight against the coronavirus. To do this, you “fold” proteins and have to make sure that the individual components do not touch but are as compact as possible.

• In a leaderboard, you can compete with players from all over the world. The most promising proteins are being tested in the laboratory by researchers at the University of Washington. This may contribute to the crucial protein that can be used to neutralize the coronavirus.

• To get you started, you will be taught how to use the puzzle in a tutorial. In addition to the coronavirus, other scientific puzzles are then available for playful research.

With free tools against coronavirus

• If you don’t want to gamble for hours, you can simply make your unused computing power available for research. Then everything happens automatically in the background.
• As an example, we will show you how to use BOINC here: get the download and unpack the ZIP file. The package contains two versions for Windows, one for 32 bit and one for 64 bit systems. Install the right variant for your Windows. If you don’t know which Windows you have, take a look at the settings under “System” and “Info”. The information you are looking for is behind “System type”. The installation of BOINC is very easy with the wizard and only requires a few clicks on “Next”.
• You can use the installed client (BOINC Manager) to provide your computing time for various projects. For example, “Rosetta @ home” deals with the protein structure of the coronavirus, which you can select from the project list. New users have to create an account, which requires entering their email address and selecting a password. The BOINC Manager then contacts the project server and gets the first tasks from there.

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Deeper insights and control options

• You can switch to an “extended view” in the BOINC Manager, which shows you more information about the upcoming tasks and statistics. Unfortunately, a targeted selection of tasks that affect the coronavirus is not possible. The tasks are automatically distributed by the research project. Your computer’s resources should only be seized if you are free on your system.
• You can also stop the calculations by the projects at any time. This is particularly easy via the taskbar. Right-click on the BOINC Manager icon and select “Pause 1h”. Via the project overview, you can also stop individual projects completely or at least stop the processing of new tasks. You can use the calculation settings to set maximum limits for processor usage and the utilization of the network connection and its RAM. A limitation to certain times of the day and night is also possible.

Downloads: Foldit / Boinc / Folding @ Home