With so much focus on what's "wrong" with the world of video games, sometimes the things that are "right" don't receive the attention that they deserve. One such thing is Stanford University's Folding@Home program. This research program currently uses a network of over 200,000 personal computers to perform calculations and simulate the folding of proteins. It's when these proteins are "misfolded" that diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and even some types of cancer occur. Using this network as a giant patchwork supercomputer will hopefully bring researchers closer to eradicating these diseases.

What does this have to do with games? Well, by the end of March your PlayStation 3 could be helping the medical research community too. According to the director of research and development at SCEA, Klaus Hofrichter, the PlayStation 3 is perfect for making these sorts of calculations, and they've worked with Stanford University to bring the project to the PS3. An upcoming system update will give you the ability to download the 40 megabyte program, and when you're not playing games, you can run the application. Once started, you can actually watch the molecule being folded, and even view a map of the world to see the location of everyone who's participating in the project.

Much to my amazement, not everyone is interested in this program. Though Mr. Hofrichter's appearance on last week's On the Spot was just seven minutes long, a vocal minority complained that it was "boring" and were upset that the show was focusing on something that wasn't a game. Now, I realize that younger people may never have known someone with a terminal illness, so they might not feel they have a personal interest in the project, but I just can't fathom how anyone could have something negative to say about us giving the project and Mr. Hofrichter seven minutes out of a 79-minute show. You'll still get the latest info on the rushed movie-licensed-sequel-spinoff that you're going to buy even if it sucks, so why not relax and learn about something that is guaranteed to affect you at some point in your life?

Folding@Home is something I'm very excited about, and I'm anxious to put my PS3 to work. This isn't just because I recently lost my favorite uncle to cancer or because I watched my grandmother suffer for over a decade from Parkinson's before she recently passed away. It's because in some small way I'll be able to contribute to a great cause by doing something amazingly simple.

If you'd like to see Folding@Home in action you can watch the On the Spot segment (15 minutes into the show) right here . You can also go to the project's website for more information. And if you don't own a PS3 or can't wait for the PS3 version of the software, you can download the application for Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X.