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See the original image at sciencedaily.com —

Computer Game's High Score Could Earn The Nobel Prize

sciencedaily.com — Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV.

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  • drnoh, on 05/10/2008, -2/+98Tricking people into doing good. I like it. Now we just need a way to complete our taxes while playing GTA4
    • Kumaku, on 05/10/2008, -2/+1http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/edit ...
    • crimsonryno, on 05/10/2008, -6/+2Yeah...I forgot to pay my taxes because I was playing GTA IV
      • ROFLance, on 05/10/2008, -1/+11Too bad taxes were due 2 weeks before GTA IV came out.
        • elDud3rino, on 05/10/2008, -1/+11Tax fraud and illegal videogame bootlegging, crimsonryno's gonna go down HARD.
    • humanerror, on 05/10/2008, -8/+5If you're a US citizen, paying taxes means funding war. That's the opposite of doing good.
      • macweirdo42, on 05/10/2008, -2/+11Technically, massive deficit spending is funding the war.
        • humanerror, on 05/10/2008, -1/+1Yes and 50% of income from taxes is also allocated to the war.
      • phort99, on 05/11/2008, -0/+4If you're a US citizen, NOT paying taxes means you go directly to jail. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.
    • dosapede, on 05/10/2008, -2/+1Similarly, playing this game could lead to the development of new bio weapons. Who really knows what exactly we're being asked to design. The first supporter listed, the Defense Advanced Research Project, doesn't sound too friendly.
  • mattnyc99, on 05/10/2008, -4/+6Sweeeet
  • ispeakasian, on 05/10/2008, -4/+44Finally, killing hookers and taking their money will actually earn me money. Hell yes.
  • styx31989, on 05/10/2008, -19/+7http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5218/1208302289 ...
    • Neoanarchist, on 05/10/2008, -5/+3Hahaha, I like it. I've seen this comic before but I don't remember what it's called. Any help?
  • OffPiste, on 05/10/2008, -5/+9They're going to need a lot of Mountain-Dew and cheese-curls.
  • DinosWillDie13, on 05/10/2008, -0/+27Possibly the most useful video game to date. Now lets see them try to say video games are ruining children!
    • gsxrjason, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2Actually I read through all of the FAQs and it's just an experiment to see if human pattern recognition makes the process more efficient than computers. Bummer.
  • Paperthin, on 05/10/2008, -0/+10so has anyone actually tried it? is it any fun?
    • xBDVx, on 05/10/2008, -0/+3I'm trying right now. Their server is really slow right now, so it'll take a while for you to log in.
    • lamiaconfitor, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4in the words of LaVar Burton, Blessed be his holy name; "...don't take my word for it..."

      http://fold.it/portal/adobe_main/
    • pbaehr, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4I tried it the other day when it was on Slashdot. I love logic games, but I found the objective was too vague to be much fun. I haven't uninstalled it, though. I plan to give it another try once I have a little more time.
      • lamiaconfitor, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1the objective isn't defined... that is part of the awesomeness...
    • Memitim, on 05/10/2008, -0/+5Appears to be popular with the Something Awful crowd as their group current has the second highest score. Seeing an article someday about Something Awful in reference to stopping a life-threatening illness and winning a Nobel Prize would just be... epic.
    • PirateNinja365, on 05/10/2008, -1/+1I actually tried this game a few days ago. It is very elegantly done and fun to mess with, but that's about all in my opinion. I will probably play it for like 5 minutes every other day, but it is not the kind of game I would play longer than 15 minutes straight.
      • lamiaconfitor, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1I get lost for hours at a time... no sympathy here.
  • Xulfer, on 05/10/2008, -2/+2Nice. Anyone else gonna give it a try?
  • fudged71, on 05/10/2008, -1/+22That is really cool. I just started protein folding on the PS3 a couple days ago, and it is really cool to research the actual protein that is being worked on, and try to understand the structure and what the process is doing. I really wonder what happens in this game when you are wrong!
    • 75489, on 05/10/2008, -3/+6A cat dies :(
      • eleven, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2My cat just died the other day :
        • Memitim, on 05/10/2008, -0/+3I guess you should have worked on getting your actions per minute up!

          What, too soon?
    • fudged71, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2And speaking of... if they got this put on consoles.... I definitely would play
    • chaotropicagent, on 05/10/2008, -1/+2Down's syndrome :(
  • bokep, on 05/10/2008, -0/+15That Nobel Prize shall be mine!
  • solarweasel, on 05/10/2008, -6/+1go dawgs
  • qxrt, on 05/10/2008, -6/+1That would be an odd incentive to play a computer game...Top scorer wins a Nobel Prize.

    Then again, judging by how academia (and the rest of the real world) works, the credit never really goes to the workhorse...it goes to the person riding the horse and telling it to do the work.
  • Andyschism, on 05/10/2008, -0/+30Now all the ladies want to be with me, cuz I cured AIDs through video games.
  • 75489, on 05/10/2008, -8/+0I'm making a clan. It's gonna be called, The Folding Brothers or The Folding Bro's for short. Let's fold'em!! Hoorah!

    BTW, Is there like a strategy guide I can buy? or perhaps some cheats I could use to fold'em faster and stuff?
    • lamiaconfitor, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1on the site, there is an ad hock strategy guide, actually, its called a forum.
  • cvxdes1, on 05/10/2008, -2/+41submitted by KevinFederline? Really?
    • jo21, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1it would surprise me, he whined so much for those kids now he have them and he is in las vegas o playing golf...
    • aenima987, on 05/10/2008, -1/+5who is he by the way? (really, i don't know)
      • sixsidepentagon, on 05/10/2008, -1/+7Apparently you don't know how to use google either.
  • lamiaconfitor, on 05/10/2008, -0/+18I'm going to play this until it makes me want to kill...
  • HanSolo69, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1They're going to maybe find a cure for HIV this week? Seems kind of presumptive.
  • mrjit, on 05/10/2008, -1/+4Neckbeards run this joint.
    • MrESaulved, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2No, FatCats run this joint, Neckbeards are their enablers.
  • gr0ss, on 05/10/2008, -0/+3This sounds pretty cool, I'm going to try it. Maybe it'll be some fun like AudioSurf or something.
  • uscfan7690, on 05/10/2008, -0/+9They claim to have survived the "Slashdot Effect". They don't seem to be doing quite as well with the Digg Effect...
  • crodragn, on 05/10/2008, -0/+24First game ever where finding a way to cheat (and fold faster or more accurately) results in the advancement of science, rather than in getting oneself kicked/banned.
    • honus, on 05/10/2008, -1/+6It's actually the opposite of cheating, if you consider it from a Blizzard perspective. All the people who use F@H have the bot version installed. We're installing the human version.
      This is really quite brilliant.
  • Mannyy, on 05/10/2008, -3/+1faek!
  • Shadowgamers, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2I can't wait until someone tries folding Titin
  • Billistic, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1i played this game, I don't get it.
  • frantzpan, on 05/10/2008, -2/+0d/led it. completely unplayable (1 fps) on core 2 2.2 ghz. considering the absolutely elementary gfx, wtf?
    • dbissig, on 05/11/2008, -0/+0There IS something amiss. My aging ~4yr old laptop with (2.4 gig celeron (1GB ram)) runs Fold It! very well (~30fps), but my newer 2.13 core 2 duo (2GB ram) can't handle it at all. 1fps is about right.
  • atact88, on 05/10/2008, -2/+0The program is great for illustrating a couple basics about protein structure. No, playing the game is not going to cure HIV, but it might encourage some future scientists to pursue it ;)
  • Synapse84, on 05/10/2008, -5/+4i haven't played this so i'm just speculating....

    but they should make it multiplayer... like instead of being a single player (which i'm guessing it is), have 4 people working on the same protein, and whoever can fold it first wins.

    but this is just speculation, i have no idea how this folding protein stuff works.
    • elDud3rino, on 05/10/2008, -0/+0Or, co-op, nothing better than multiple minds breaking down a problem.
    • crypt, on 05/10/2008, -1/+4If you havent played it, at least read the article
      "Foldit includes elements of multiplayer games in which people can team up, chat with other players and create online profiles. Over time the researchers will analyze people's moves to see how the top players solve puzzles. This information will be fed back into the game's design so the game's tools and format can evolve."
    • Synapse84, on 05/10/2008, -1/+1ahh, didn't think of ctrl+f -> Multiplayer. Was too long of a read and didn't want to read it anyways.
  • elbekko, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2Pretty fun.
  • Enjia, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4everyone should give this a chance.
  • shacow, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1wow
  • copypastry, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2Protein foldan gaems
  • PabloIV, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2it is actually not bad. a tiny bit frustrating, but generally awesome
  • peznex, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4"...we can then 'teach' human strategies to computers..."

    I'm scared.
  • macweirdo42, on 05/10/2008, -0/+7Can't wait to see what Jack Thompson's reaction to this game will be.
    • Ploppyplop, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4I would imagine 'retarded' is a safe guess.
    • stklaw, on 05/10/2008, -0/+4Bioterrorism simulator, I guess?
  • jboettcher, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1i like it
  • punkcat, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1and i thought PC gaming was dead
  • Mattya2006, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Very Ender's Game. Am I curing cancer without even knowing it? Cool.
  • mcarter24, on 05/10/2008, -0/+0Pretty fun, but digg effect is really bogging down their servers.
  • tgulden, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Looks like we're all on the way to becoming Mentats...
  • xsidekick409, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1I am confident in saying that there is no way a player of a protein folding game will win a Nobel prize.
  • Sverre, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Hey, this game is really cool. I love the way they've made it - it really feels like just another silly computer game, except that it seems a little bit hard to understand exactly what's going on. But then, that's the whole point, right?
  • wiredDeath, on 05/10/2008, -0/+2lol - "Thanks to all you wonderful protein folders, we had a successful launch today with tons of great press. We even survived the Slashdot Effect!"
  • Spoomeister, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Cool, and clever, but it's predicated on the notion that all the input is correct. GIGO applies here. This approach breaks down if there's something we don't yet fundamentally understand about how protein folding works, or what results are allowable in certain circumstances (weird exceptions that we hadn't considered). If the game doesn't take into account a fundamental law of physics somewhere, then these gamers will never find what they're looking for.
    I know this is a clumsy analogy, but it'd be like asking someone to systematically try to tune to all possible radio stations in the FM band in their area, and then giving them a radio that doesn't go above 101.5.
  • jlebrech, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Could even push back the release of Spore and make folding proteins the first level of the game.
  • Kerath, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1Is there some reason they can't look at these proteins with an electron microscope or something? Do they unfold very easily?
  • Noga56, on 05/11/2008, -0/+0It's still slow so I guess that shows how much bigger the digg effect is than slashdot.
  • MrHawkins, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1After curing cancer, maybe we can develop something to cure the digg effect. The game can't even connect to the server.
  • nartz, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2Quick Review: 1 Star for Effort

    Control:
    Control of the individual proteins in 3D space using a mouse is very difficult, and makes gameplay less interesting because trying to make one move involves moving a hundred other parts you didn't mean to. Key to a good game allows easy navigation and startup -- this does not have either of those.

    Second, scoring is ambiguous. They said they don't know what is optimal, but somehow they know how to judge what is good or what is bad. However, their scoring mechanisms (on a high level) should be made clear; there is something about how a tighter packed protein gets a higher score, but I have passed levels and had it not very tight. This should be made explicit, else it feels like anything is possible.

    Anyone else feel this way?

    Sincerely,
    Wishing that a game like this was done well.
    • copypastry, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1I 100% agree. I would like it more if the backbone control was more thought out. Instead of just arbitrarily pulling/pushing/bending the backbone, generate a control scheme where you can move the backbone sections across one axis at a time.

      CTRL-dragging might move it in the X axis, ALT-dragging the Y, SHIFT-dragging for Z. Clockwise/counterclockwise rotation could be handled in such a manner too.
      There also needs to be a coarse/fine switch for adjustments, because far too often there is barely a hair between nudging the protein into a good conformation and bending it into a crappy one. When you watch the automated backbone-bending thing... it is adjusting the proteins far more gradually than most people can manage.
    • zabac, on 05/12/2008, -0/+0Scoring seems to use the same function used with the state-of-the-art Rosetta protein folding software: so the score is as good as any scientist would know right now. what they don't know is what is the best possible score, and that is what game play will discover over time.
  • copypastry, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2OMG SOME JERK IS USING A FOLDBOT ON THE SERVER WTF HAX
  • ilves7, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1This would be awesome as a mobile phone game. Would need some better controls though.
  •  

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