Take part in the largest climate change experiment ever

Randymcchickenf

Randymcchickenf

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900
England
Devon
Saw this the other day, thought it was worth a post.
Ive just downloaded it, and its very interesting!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/climatechange/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/climatechange/
We're organising the world's largest ever climate experiment, and we need your help.
We need thousands of people to help

Trying to predict climate change is hard. There are lots of factors involved – air temperature, sea temperature and cloud cover all play a part – as do dozens of other variables. Therefore, there are a huge number of calculations involved.

One solution is for scientists to use the largest supercomputer they can find. But even the biggest supercomputers are only so good.

We think you can do better.

Using a technique known as distributed computing, we’re hoping to harness the power of thousands of PCs around the world. If 10,000 people sign up, we’ll be faster than the world’s biggest computer. And we’re hoping to be even better than that.

More about climate prediction and distributed computing
What do we want you to do?



Use your model as a screensaver, and watch it progress as a detailed spinning globe.



Taking part is easy. All we’re asking you to do is download a simple programme, which doubles as a screensaver. Once you’ve installed it, your computer will take care of the rest. You don’t have to send us anything. You don’t have to enter any data. In fact – if you decide not set the programme as your screensaver, you probably won’t even notice it’s there.

However, if you want to, you can follow the progress of your experiment on a 3D spinning globe.
If I’m not doing anything, how am I helping?

The experiment works by making use of your spare processing power. All you have to do is use your computer exactly as you normally would, and the programme will run calculations in the background. When it’s done, it will send results back to scientists in Oxford, who will combine everyone’s results. The more people who take part, the more complete their predictions about the future climate will be.

Take part in the experiment

The experiment has been created for the BBC by climateprediction.net, using BOINC software courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley.

The BBC makes no warranties or representations, either express or implied in relation to, and accepts no liability in respect of the software. You load and use the software at your own risk and the BBC will not be liable to you for any direct or indirect damages including for lost profits or for any other consequential loss arising from your use of or inability to use the software or from errors or deficiencies in it.
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Now thats interesting but I dont want to loose any computer power, although I know it uses my spair power...I just dont like the idea it's using MY PC:odd:

But it is a very smart and effective way of settings something incredible up! I'll think about joining.
 
I've just installed it - good idea and nice find 👍

I've got another 4 machines in my office, so I can run it on all of them hopefully :o)
 
Their claim that using 10,000 random PCs is faster than the world's "biggest" (presumably they mean fastest or highest processing power) computer is ludicrous, but the idea of distributed computing is a good one. There are many different projects like this (including folding @ home, which I used to take part in).
 
Question. I just rebooted my PC, and the experiment has started all over again from the beginning. Is that right? :odd: Mind you, I had to turn off the PC by the power button, the PC screwed up (and it does frequently).

If it keeps restarting from the beginning, then it isn't woth doing.

And yes, this is very much like how the SETI works.
 
Randymcchickenf
Im not sure what that is, but im sure its mentioned somewhere on the site...so ill assume yes.
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SETI stands for Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence. It is those huge radio dishes that scan the sky for any radio signals from another planet.

SETI@Home is where multiple personal computers around the planet download software to download and process the data from SETI and then send it back.


OK, I just read the SETI@Home page and they are actually using the exact same software for the climate prediction project. They even have a link to participate in that project.
 
I have no spare computer power.
I have cool&quiet software installed and it slows my processor down when i'm not using it much. Installing the software you're talking about prevents my processor from doing so, which costs energy.
And when your computer is on 12 hours a day it's noticeable in the electrical bill.
So no, i'm not going to install it.
 
dustdriver
Installing the software you're talking about prevents my processor from doing so, which costs energy.
And when your computer is on 12 hours a day it's noticeable in the electrical bill.
So no, i'm not going to install it.
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Oh the irony in the fact that this is being done for a climate change prediction project.
 

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