This might be the simplest way to help medical researchers, and you only need your phone
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Posted on October 22, 2018
It is shocking to see how much funding new technologies are getting every single day, while others are getting less and less. Why do we need to explore space when we have our own problems on this planet that need urgent solutions? Why do we need to be bombarded with new telephones every other day, while the ones that we have will work fine for two years if you are lucky? Why do we need a wardrobe full of different clothes, when we can just have the basics, and save ourselves hundreds a year.
Humans will always explore the unexplored, rather than sorting out what has a problem.
Hospitals are seeing their budgets cut down massively, which affects patients in a very direct way.
Imagine having to write down by hand the 10 first decimal numbers of the Pi number. Fine, google it, write it, 30 seconds, done. Now, imagine writing down by hand the first 35 thousand decimal numbers. Maybe you will need help, and you might not even finish that working 40 hours a week. You might have to ask online.
Now, let's change the situation. Imagine analysing one cancer patient's DNA sequence, as opposed to analysing 3 million patients' sequences. Bit by bit. It would take a team decades in order to complete the task. But what if they had a supercomputer that could do all of that on its own?
Great idea, but, who pays for that? Well, here is how you come into action.
The Dreamlab app has been developed in order to use your phone to create a network of computers that, once combined to each other remotely, would create a spider web-like system to imitate what a supercomputer could do.
All you have to do is leave your phone on at night and it will automatically be helping the supercomputer network do its job. It is probably the easiest and cheapest way for you to genuinely help researchers. It is also good to know that the app won't track you or your personal data.
For more information, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43949552
