The end has come for Life with PlayStation, Folding@home

Sony is calling time on its Life with PlayStation application.

The app will be removed from the XMB via the next PS3 software update (version 4.30) that will begin distribution tomorrow (Tues October 23rd). The app’s services will be terminated in November.

The decision also means an end to Stanford University’s distributed computing project Folding@home.

Throughout its lifespan Folding@home has been used by over 15m people, contributing a total of over 100m computational hours.

The PS3 system was a game changer for Folding@home, as it opened the door for new methods and new processors, eventually also leading to the use of GPUs,” the projects research lead at Stanford Vijay Pande stated.

We have had numerous successes in recent years. Specifically, in a paper just published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, we report on tests of predictions from earlier Folding@home simulations, and how these predictions have led to a new strategy to fight Alzheimer’s disease.

The next steps, now underway at Stanford, are to take this lead compound and help push it towards a viable drug. It’s too early to report on our preliminary results there, but I’m very excited that the directions set out in this paper do appear to be bearing fruit in terms of a viable drug (not just a drug candidate).”