BBC wants your clock-cycles - to predict climate change

http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/ne...oadpage_tn.jpg

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The BBC is bringing all guns to bear on the contentious subject of climate change, with programmes on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4 that examine the science and the politics, as well as the possible consequences.

As part of this effort, the corporation wants tens of thousands of users of Windows and Linux PCs worldwide to download and install a distributed-computing app that runs in the background and can harness the unused power of all these PCs to carry out predictions on climate change.

The target is a minimum of 10,000 PCs. When that's reached, the BBC says, calculations will be carried out faster than on the world’s "biggest" computer. However, it's hoping that many more than the minimum sign up.

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Check out this HEXUS.headline for full details - including some quick-and-dirty hands-on with the app - and let us have your thoughts.

Feb 20th - update on the TV programmes

These have started kicking off now!

The first programme - Meltdown - finished 25mins ago but is set to be repeated at midnight.

The second programme - El Nino - started 25mins ago, finishes at 11pm and is set to be repeated at 1am.

The third program - Five Miles High: Jetstream - starts at 11pm and is set to be repeated at 2am.

Anything which brings Distributed Computing to a wider audience is good as far as I'm concerned. (Although there is something ironic about thousands of energy-guzzling, heat-generating computers being left on to map climate change!)

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The fact that there are typically two elements of the program working - together taking close to 16,000K of RAM.

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16MB? That's nothing. Over at Folding@Home, some work units can use over 300MB of RAM. People build dedicated computers just to do this stuff. It's fiercely addictive.

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Originally Posted by Mattus

Although there is something ironic about thousands of energy-guzzling, heat-generating computers being left on to map climate change!

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Can't imagine WHAT you mean!

:mrgreen:

hmmm, I'm just getting a timeout when I try to download it, can't believe that hexus has prompted that many peoplke to download it

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Originally Posted by Bob Crabtree

Can't imagine WHAT you mean!

:mrgreen:

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lol was just thinking the same thing, bizzare, ill stick to Folding @ Home I think.

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Originally Posted by fredered

hmmm, I'm just getting a timeout when I try to download it, can't believe that hexus has prompted that many peoplke to download it

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It's working for me at the moment
Windows:
http://bbc.cpdn.org/download/mirror....creensaver.exe

Linux:
http://bbc.cpdn.org/download/mirror....=bbcclimate.sh

Yep I was also thinking how ironic to encourage people to leave computers on to predict global warming, when of course unused computers should be turned off to prevent energy waste :p

Ironic really I've been running the climate prediction stuff for ages on BOINC :)

As for all the pedantic people there saying "oh yeah leave your PC on and help the world" I bet half of you download large files and leave your PC's downloading while not in use :P

Why not use the spare cycles when downloading and process this information, as most systems downloading only ever use >10% CPU cycles leaving 90% free for this to be processed.

Yup - completely agree about spare cycles if you're doing something at the same time, and especially if you don't use a mobile or cool n quiet. But leaving computers on when not in use is just bad. And I don't download large files ;)

ditto on the irony, that was my first thought :)

Kudos to the bbc though for raising the profile of climate change and hence energy usage. Governments can huff one way or puff the other but getting a project such as this into schools and homes all around the Google is the most pro active attempt at education I've seen so far.

The down side is, while I would like to see their tv series focus on the underlying science and shun needless speculation and sensationalism, the title Meltdown suggests this is not the way they're heading.

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Originally Posted by Lee @ SCAN

Ironic really I've been running the climate prediction stuff for ages on BOINC :)

As for all the pedantic people there saying "oh yeah leave your PC on and help the world" I bet half of you download large files and leave your PC's downloading while not in use :P

Why not use the spare cycles when downloading and process this information, as most systems downloading only ever use >10% CPU cycles leaving 90% free for this to be processed.

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Lee,

The REAL bottom line here - of course - is that even if people did leave their PCs on specifically to allow the climate-change stuff to run (and very few will, I think), it can readily be argued that the outlay in power could be well worth making if it does help clarify the FACTS about climate changes and what things are causing them.

I'm personally convinced by the widely-agreed scientific arguments so believe that anything that helps further prove the case and better predict what's going to happen can only be to the good.

My presumption, though, is that the calculations being carried out could actually disprove prevailing theory (or cast some doubts) and - if it turns out that the theory is wrong - that would be no bad thing, from a purely scientific aspect.

Bob

Waste of time in my honest opinion. No one here knows enough about the tests being undertaking to do anything other than speculate how any results will be (mis)used. Some tests may show the earth will cool -5C in 100 years time, some say it will exceed an additional 11C. What will happen with the simulations being run? Will they take an average temperature? What possible use is that?

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Originally Posted by yamangman

Waste of time in my honest opinion. No one here knows enough about the tests being undertaking to do anything other than speculate how any results will be (mis)used. Some tests may show the earth will cool -5C in 100 years time, some say it will exceed an additional 11C. What will happen with the simulations being run? Will they take an average temperature? What possible use is that?

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I was thinking thaft and more laong the lines that one pc cant produce a very good predicition so If it will be must use then the individual pcs just do small chunks that the clever people want calculating and the whole "your own climate" sctreensaver thing is just for show.

I'll stick to Folding@Home I think, holds more personal interest than climate change does for me :)

This caused a lot of instabilities on my main rig (see sig). Windows XP popping up all over the shop wanting to send error reports, spontaneous reboots...

Now I've uninstalled all is back to normal!

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Originally Posted by koocha

This caused a lot of instabilities on my main rig (see sig). Windows XP popping up all over the shop wanting to send error reports, spontaneous reboots...

Now I've uninstalled all is back to normal!

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Tends to be a sign of a not quite 100% stable overclock in my experiance.

BOINC and Folding dont take kindly to anything that isn't 100% stable.