Our schools teach much more than just scholastics; they also teach our children how to be good citizens. But there is still one vital area of education that almost all of our schools are completely neglecting, so I hope you'll take just a few minutes to read this important message about the amazing potential of grid computing, how it can help ALL of us, and why our children should be introduced to it in our schools.

Our world faces many serious problems with diseases, our environment, energy, famine, and natural disasters. The search for solutions to these problems can be helped significantly by grid computing -- an enormous, virtually untapped, free resource that is immediately at our disposal. Unfortunately, most people, including many of our leaders and educators, are completely unaware of it.

For example, the World Community Grid (WCG) is a non-profit organization which uses a program developed and donated by IBM primarily for medical research; it is supported by some of our most reputable institutions: the Mayo Clinic, the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, the United Nations, IBM and many other businesses, colleges and universities, and even the U.S. Government (the Environmental Protection Agency). Since personal computers usually consume only a small percentage of their actual capacity, even when in active use, the WCG uses the Internet to, in a sense, collect the spare power from volunteers' computers, and then uses that power to do its research. During the process, use of the computer is not affected at all; people can continue to use their computers securely, just as they always have, with no degradation in performance. In fact, the WCG has proven to be so safe and secure that the worldwide Organization of Scouts [i.e., the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, etc.] (article), and even the city government of Austin, Texas (article), have joined as 'partners' with the WCG.

There is nothing futuristic about this; it is a reality that is occurring right now. At the very moment you are reading this, there are already millions of personal computers working on various humanitarian projects via grid computing. As I compose this website, my computer is using the time that I pause to think, and even the time between my keystrokes, to do important medical research to cure diseases such as cancer. In regard to cancer, I'm happy to refer you to this Bio·IT World article which describes a great success in cancer treatment which we have already accomplished using the WCG to furnish spare computer power for research; here is a podcast with a more detailed descripton of that research by Dr. David Foran, professor and lead researcher at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.  And here is another success reported by Stanford University (separate from the WCG) more than five years ago, yet most of the public is still unaware of distributed computing (another name for grid computing).

The WCG is now averaging completion of about TWO CENTURIES of computer time for medical research EVERY DAY using only donated computer power that would have just gone to waste, and the WCG's results are available for free to researchers around the world. Besides the WCG, there are many other similar organizations using the same technology to accomplish other important humanitarian work, such as searching for solutions to environmental problems like global warming, and predicting earthquakes and other natural disasters. In addition to medical research, the WCG now has a research project to identify super-hybrids of rice in order to help feed the world during our growing global food shortage.

But all of these projects face a common problem: we could do so much more except for the fact that society in the U.S. -- and indeed the whole world -- is wasting a HUGE amount of computer power; out of the more than 900 million personal computers estimated to be available as of 2005 (source), and certainly well over a billion today, only a few million -- probably less than one percent -- are now being used for grid projects. This leaves the completely untapped power of about 99% of all the computers in the world -- most of them in the U.S. -- that could be used to cure diseases and make our world safer and cleaner. It is power that will solve tomorrow's problems today. It is power that can be used right now to benefit our country and all of mankind, so we simply can not afford to waste it ... but we are. And unlike solar power or wind, spare computer power can be harnessed immediately and at virtually no cost because everything that is needed is already in place: the research projects, the computer programs, and even the infrastructure (the Internet and hundreds of millions of personal computers). They're all available right now and just waiting to be used, so there is absolutely no excuse for not gathering and using as much of that spare power as we possibly can, in order to help cure diseases and benefit mankind in so many ways.

The really sad part is that the reason the present number of grid participants is only a drop in the bucket is because the vast majority of people are unaware of what we do ... and of what they can do ... and of how much we can accomplish together. They have simply never heard of grid computing. But what is even far worse is that most people are so suspicious that ... when they do hear about this ... they are still unwilling to even consider it for fear of spyware and viruses. Helping to spread the word is just not enough; the public needs to be assured of the safety and security of such programs.

The problem of suspicion and distrust is caused by simple ignorance and misunderstanding, all of which can easily be fixed by a program of education in our schools to teach about grid computing and to encourage students to be better citizens by participating in such projects. While a few schools have that vision, the vast majority do not; a list of participating elementary and high schools, colleges, state universities, and even some entire school districts, can be found here. If you are a school administrator, I urge you to contact any of those schools to learn about their experiences with grid computing and WCG. Incidentally, the WCG will assist large organizations, e.g. schools, with bulk installations on their networks.

Fortunately, the cost to taxpayers for teaching our children about grid computing should be minimal, and perhaps cost virtually nothing, because lessons can be incorporated into existing computer classes and should require only one or two hours of the curriculum per year; that is because grid computing is as simple as downloading and installing a free program, and participants need not do anything else after that except to just allow the program to run ... so teachers and students won't need to learn anything 'technical' that they are not already covering in class. The additional material to be taught need only consist of a mere overview of the concept of grid computing, and how it is being used by different universities and research institutes for everything from detecting and tracking asteroids which could threaten the earth ... to the study of sub-atomic particles. And although this concept is very simple in that respect, it is nevertheless about computers and should naturally be a part of every child's 'computer education' because it is one of 'the' computing technologies of the 21st century. And teaching about this also offers the added bonus of creating more interest in those various scientific projects which employ grid computing. Eventually, as teachers and students learn about grid computing, many will recruit their families and friends, and as knowledge replaces ignorance and suspicion, our country and the whole world will benefit.

Beside the simple, very brief, and low cost introduction to grid computing that I've just described, there is the additional option of in-depth teaching about grid computing in high school science classes; this will provide students with an opportunity to organize and conduct authentic scientific research in collaboration with other students and scientists from around the world, while also learning how to employ this cutting-edge technology in their future careers. There are numerous projects already available and currently in use by hundreds of high schools as evidence of the practicality and value of this area of teaching; for example, 475 high schools in the U.S. are participating in QuarkNet (use the arrow at the top of that page to view an assortment of high schools projects), and there are numerous other programs available as well (examples), with many of them funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. If you are a science teacher, please investigate such programs because they will surely open up new and wonderful opportunities for your students.

I hope, for the good of our nation, ... and indeed all of humanity, ... that you will take the time to investigate and learn more about grid computing, and then join a grid project, spread the word, and support legislation that will require our schools to include appropriate instruction about this important topic in all basic computer classes. We need to teach our children just how safe and secure grid computing actually is, and about the many interesting ways it is being used to help mankind; they need to learn that good citizenship means caring enough to do responsible things that benefit our nation and the world, and that donating spare computer power, instead of just wasting it, is one of them. Now, one might ask why a law to require such teaching is needed; well, the problem is that most school administrators and teachers are just as ignorant and suspicious of the topic as the rest of the population, so they are not inclined to fairly consider it either, and probably will not do so unless and until it becomes an actual requirement.

Just think:  since November 16, 2004, the WCG -- which is just one of many grid projects -- has already completed over 189,000 YEARS of computer research, ... but if that were a HUNDRED-FOLD as it should be, then maybe we would already have a cure for cancer today. We must, therefore, educate people to get them to help us, ... and our schools are a logical way to do that ... as logical as "two plus two is four" ... and the address for this website is just as easy to remember ...

If you are not a legislator, here is a sample message to send to your elected officials and candidates to refer them to this site.