How 'Foldit' players and scientists simultaneously created better algorithms

The problem of calculating the way proteins fold is one that requires immense computational power, but can be helped along by humanity's innate ability to solve 3D puzzles. A crowd-sourced game called Foldit enables human players to contribute to defeating some truly awful diseases by figuring out how the proteins fit together. In some cases they even beat the scientists themselves to figuring out the structure of viruses — and they've made computers much better at it in their wake.
Proteins are long strings of amino acids, and much like the earbuds in your pocket can potentially fold up in any of a myriad of ways — but unlike the cable of your headphones, a protein can only ever fold in a s... »read more

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