Elite Dangerous Players @ BOINC
Sharing computational power to explore the universe (and fight diseases)
Sharing computational power to explore the universe (and fight diseases)
WHAT?
Elite Dangerous Players start to explore the universe for real! Use the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) to help researchers around the world in important projects. Join the Elite Dangerous Players team and donate your computational power whenever you're not playing ED. The team is set up to be international without boundaries or ideology. We make our computers crunch numbers for non-profit research into two areas: the very big and the very small. The very big ranges from asteroids in our solar system to our galaxy and finally the entire universe. The very small concerns proteins in our body. Calculating how proteins fold helps researchers fight diseases and create new drugs. After all, you won't have much fun with your fancy new space ship if you are too sick to take the helm.
HOW?
Download the small program BOINC, set up your account using BOINC Account Manager (BAM), join the projects and don't forget to join the team „Elite Dangerous Players“. You get imaginary internet credits for when your computer finishes real research tasks and of course the team gains rank with every member contributing to research. Obviously you can compare your imaginary internet points with others and we compete against other teams. We could compete against the Star Citizen team, for example.
So through BOINC you donate your computational power to the project(s) of your choice. The team is currently participating in the following projects that are related to the subject matter:
Seti @ Home
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
Elite Dangerous Players Seti Team Page
Looking for extraterrestrial signals.
Asteroids @ Home
http://asteroidsathome.net/boinc/
Elite Dangerous Players Asteroids Team Page
Understanding more about asteroids in our solar system.
Milkyway @ Home
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
Elite Dangerous Players Milkyway Team Page
Creating a three dimensional model of our galaxy.
theSkyNet Pogs
http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/
Elite Dangerous Players SkyNet Team Page
Analyzing data about other galaxies.
Einstein @ Home
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/
Elite Dangerous Players Einstein Team Page
Looking for spinning neutron stars (pulsars) and finally find gravitational waves.
Cosmology @ Home
http://www.cosmologyathome.org
Elite Dangerous Players Cosmology Team Page
Searching for the model that best describes our Universe.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
Elite Dangerous Players Seti Team Page
Looking for extraterrestrial signals.
Asteroids @ Home
http://asteroidsathome.net/boinc/
Elite Dangerous Players Asteroids Team Page
Understanding more about asteroids in our solar system.
Milkyway @ Home
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
Elite Dangerous Players Milkyway Team Page
Creating a three dimensional model of our galaxy.
theSkyNet Pogs
http://pogs.theskynet.org/pogs/
Elite Dangerous Players SkyNet Team Page
Analyzing data about other galaxies.
Einstein @ Home
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/
Elite Dangerous Players Einstein Team Page
Looking for spinning neutron stars (pulsars) and finally find gravitational waves.
Cosmology @ Home
http://www.cosmologyathome.org
Elite Dangerous Players Cosmology Team Page
Searching for the model that best describes our Universe.
Not directly related to Space Sims, but still important, non-profit projects we can help are medical research projects that use our computer power to figure out how proteins fold. We can aid researchers understand diseases related to protein malfunction or aggregation, such as Alzheimers. Furthermore we can help researchers develop new drugs on the basis of actual proteins for other diseases. If you take a look at the project details, you will find that you can help fight cancer, HIV and malaria:
Rosetta @ Home
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
Elite Dangerous Players Rosetta Team Page
Folding proteins.
Poem @ Home
http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/index.php
Elite Dangerous Players POEM Team Page
Even more, but different protein simulations.
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
Elite Dangerous Players Rosetta Team Page
Folding proteins.
Poem @ Home
http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/index.php
Elite Dangerous Players POEM Team Page
Even more, but different protein simulations.
WHERE?
For individual projects and project team page see above.
BOINC main site: https://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php
BOINC Client Download: http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php
BOINC wide team stats page: http://boincstats.com/en/stats/-1/team/detail/154891768/
BOINC Account Manager & Stats: http://boincstats.com/
With Boinc Stats you can view stats of participants in BOINC projects, including yourself and your team. If you create an accout here you can use it as a BOINC wide account, so you don't have to create an account on every seperate project webpage. The idea is that you set up your project accounts through the BAM webinterface and then tell the BOINC program to synch with the BAM databank. This should put all your accounts and projects into BOINC. (If you already have seperate project accounts you can also tell BAM to log into you existing project accounts. I think you need to have matching username, email and password for this to work.)
WHEN?
Let BOINC crunch whenever you're not playing Elite Dangerous, of course. You don't need to have BOINC and your computer running 24/7 for this to make sense. BOINC comes with a screensaver that displays your stats and project visualization. These visualizations can look quite space-y when you're looking for extraterrestrial signals or trying to map the galaxy! BOINC's normal setup lets project tasks run whenever your computer isn't in use, just like the screensaver. You can change the settings in detail, if you like. You can run tasks even when you are using the computer and of course you can set how much bandwidth, memory, cpu and hdd space BOINC can use. You can also prioritize one project over another.
WHY?
If you are reading this the probability is high that we share enjoyment in all things space, science and computers. If you can afford to donate some electricity to keep your computer running at 100% even if you're not using it, a little bandwidth and hdd space to help explore the universe and fight diseases, why not join the team? Also, for finished tasks you get imaginary internet points you can compete over and a neat screensaver.
obligatory inspirational video:
[video=youtube;oY59wZdCDo0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY59wZdCDo0[/video]
It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very like us, but with more of our strengths, and fewer of our weaknesses; more confident, farseeing, capable and prudent. For all our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness. Carl Sagan
[video=youtube;oY59wZdCDo0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY59wZdCDo0[/video]
It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very like us, but with more of our strengths, and fewer of our weaknesses; more confident, farseeing, capable and prudent. For all our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness. Carl Sagan
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
Do I have to contribute to all projects?
No. You can contribute to all, any combination or only a single project of your choice. As long as you join the team, your contributions count not only for you, but also for the team.
Do I need a supercomputer for this?
No. The idea of grid computing is that immense tasks are shared between a lot of slow computers (compared to a supercomputer). If you can play games like ED, you definately have the power to contribute to this.
Will BOINC melt my computer or make it explode?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: BOINC will get your computer busy and hot while crunching numbers for research projects. Make sure your computer can handle 100% load and the heat. Basically, if have no problem running demanding games like ED, you should be good to go. Actually number crunching is a better way to test the stability of your computer, your bios settings, your overclocking and heat management than games. A popular program for testing stability and causing a lot of heat is Prime95. A popular program to keep an eye on your temps is RealTemp. If you get a bluescreen while running BOINC chances are that something was wrong with your computer. BOINC only made it turn up, because it makes your computer run at 100%.
Personal anecdote: I had to disable Asus AI Suite in Windows for my Asus mainboard to keep BOINC from bluescreening my computer. AI Suite is a program that fiddles with mainboard settings from within Windows, something that should be avoided anyway. So my bluescreen was caused by Asus software, not by BOINC. BOINC merely made the problem obvious by crashing the computer.
Are you going to provide official support for BOINC or BAM?
No. I am going to check this thread and answer questions that I can answer, but please be aware that I only recently started using BOINC myself. Basically once you have your account and joined the team, you have a fancy screensaver that does great stuff. Occasionally you press "synch with BAM" if you have changed something in the BAM webinterface (like adding a project) or "update" in the BOINC Client to report finished tasks and get new tasks. Most of this stuff is pretty self explanatory within the BOINC client.
Are you affiliated with Frontier, Elite Dangerous or BOINC?
No. I'm not affiliated Frontier Developments or BOINC or any of the research projects. Elite Dangerous Players is a community team not officially supported or endorsed by Frontier. „Elite Dangerous“ belongs to Frontier. The project logos and graphics belong the their respective projects. I do not profit or gain anything by doing this. Please don't sue me.
No. You can contribute to all, any combination or only a single project of your choice. As long as you join the team, your contributions count not only for you, but also for the team.
Do I need a supercomputer for this?
No. The idea of grid computing is that immense tasks are shared between a lot of slow computers (compared to a supercomputer). If you can play games like ED, you definately have the power to contribute to this.
Will BOINC melt my computer or make it explode?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: BOINC will get your computer busy and hot while crunching numbers for research projects. Make sure your computer can handle 100% load and the heat. Basically, if have no problem running demanding games like ED, you should be good to go. Actually number crunching is a better way to test the stability of your computer, your bios settings, your overclocking and heat management than games. A popular program for testing stability and causing a lot of heat is Prime95. A popular program to keep an eye on your temps is RealTemp. If you get a bluescreen while running BOINC chances are that something was wrong with your computer. BOINC only made it turn up, because it makes your computer run at 100%.
Personal anecdote: I had to disable Asus AI Suite in Windows for my Asus mainboard to keep BOINC from bluescreening my computer. AI Suite is a program that fiddles with mainboard settings from within Windows, something that should be avoided anyway. So my bluescreen was caused by Asus software, not by BOINC. BOINC merely made the problem obvious by crashing the computer.
Are you going to provide official support for BOINC or BAM?
No. I am going to check this thread and answer questions that I can answer, but please be aware that I only recently started using BOINC myself. Basically once you have your account and joined the team, you have a fancy screensaver that does great stuff. Occasionally you press "synch with BAM" if you have changed something in the BAM webinterface (like adding a project) or "update" in the BOINC Client to report finished tasks and get new tasks. Most of this stuff is pretty self explanatory within the BOINC client.
Are you affiliated with Frontier, Elite Dangerous or BOINC?
No. I'm not affiliated Frontier Developments or BOINC or any of the research projects. Elite Dangerous Players is a community team not officially supported or endorsed by Frontier. „Elite Dangerous“ belongs to Frontier. The project logos and graphics belong the their respective projects. I do not profit or gain anything by doing this. Please don't sue me.
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