Wow…. WOW. This is really amazing:

Solve Puzzles for Science | Fold It

Synopsis via Kotaku :
“Could you win a Nobel Prize in Medicine for playing a computer game? Foldit is a game for the PC and Mac that takes the Folding@Home concept and adds a more human element to the mix. Instead of having a network of computers work through all of the possible shapes for folding proteins, a problem so huge it could take centuries for all of the computers in the world to solve, Foldit presents unfolded proteins to the player in the form of puzzles, on the basis that human intuition could tackle the problem much faster.”

The presentation is very tidy, the tutorials effective, the difficultly curve smooth, and even if they do go a little too far with the whole PopCap “stars bursting all over the screen makes a player feel good” mantra, it is actually a joy to play. More comments to come as I get the chance to really dive deeper into this brilliant initiative. But a question in the meantime:

“Is this classed as Collective Intelligence??

I ask because it seems this isn’t as much collective problem solving and design here as it is just brute force utilisation of a niche problem solving skill across a global population.