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发表于 2013-4-21 10:29:36
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本帖最后由 refla 于 2013-4-30 21:55 编辑
Users of Android phones can now help scientists learn about whether or not extraterrestrial life exists by donating unused processing power from their tablets or mobile phones to the Einstein@Home project.
安卓手机的用户现在可以把平板手机或移动电话的空余算力,贡献给 Einstein@Home 项目,从而帮助科学家研究是否存在地外生命。
To do this, Android users would have to download a software called the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing or the BOINC platform. This software will let you contribute unused processing power from your Android devices that will help analyze data for Einstein@Home, a project which aims to find pulsars, black holes and gravitational waves. Your contribution may also feed other researches on IBM’s World Community Grid.
为此,安卓用户得先下载一个名为伯克利开放式网格计算平台(Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing,BOINC)的软件。该软件会利用安卓设备的空闲算力,分析Einstein@Home的数据。Einstein@Home的目标是寻找脉冲星、黑洞和引力波。你贡献的算力,也可能用于其它研究项目,这些项目属于 IBM 公司的 WCG 项目【译注1】。
【译注1】WCG 由美国 IBM 公司赞助,是一个比较特殊的“项目”,其本身实际上是一个平台,用户通过加入 WCG 可以选择为其下多个不同研究方向(主要是医药、生物和环境等)的子项目贡献算力。子项目中包括由清华大学主持的项目清水计算(Computing for Clean Water)。
This platform has been around since the late 1990s when it ran on more than one million personal computers. The premise, of course, is to pool as much unused processing power as possible so that researchers can use such power to find extraterrestrial life.
早在1990年代末,就有大约一百万台个人电脑,在运行BOINC。当然,前提条件是,有充足的空余算力储备(pool),才有可能让科研人员想到利用这些算力,去寻找地外生命。
It initially crunched data for SETI@home project, an open source software platform. The platform was started by David Anderson, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley. One of his grad students in 1995 asked him about the possibility of using the extra juice from the processing power of personal computers around the world in tracking extraterrestrial.
SETI@home 是一个开源的软件平台,用来初步处理 SETI@home 项目的数据。该平台由加州大学伯克利分校的计算机科学系的戴维•安德森教授建立。1995年,他所带的研究生问他:利用全球个人计算机的空余算力,来追踪地外生命的可行性有多大?
And although Anderson wasn’t really interested about extraterrestrial, he began the project to work on pooling the resources of computers around the world and powering a research. The platform’s popularity, however, eventually died down. But with the existence of over half a billion Android phones, Anderson has suddenly become optimistic again to take the project forward.
尽管安德森对地外生命的兴趣不大,但还是启动了这个项目,通过收集遍布世界的计算资源,来增加科研力量。遗憾的是,这个平台的影响力,最终还是逐渐减弱了。但是,超过五亿的安卓手机,让安德森看到了重振项目的希望。
Understandably, this is a lot to ask from Android users. However, the platform won’t take too much of your phone’s battery life since it will only run when your phone is charging. Also, your mobile plan won’t suddenly balloon since the data-crunching will happen only when you are connected to a wireless network.
显然,电池是安卓用户很关心的问题。其实,BOINC 不会占用太多电池电量【译注2】,因为 BOINC 只在充电时运行。而且,BOINC 也不会占满手机的任务表,因为那些充满噪声的数据,只有在接入无线网时,才会下载。
【译注2】battery life 字面意思是“电池寿命”,但我认为 昴宿星团人的解释 更符合现实情况。(2013-04-30补充)因为马上提到“在充电时运行”,逻辑上与电量的关系更密切。
And to protect your phone, the software’s developer made the code smart enough to detect when your phone’s temperature is too high. It will automatically shut down. Also, the interface has a lot more graphics than the previous version.
为了保护手机,软件开发者编写了非常智能的程序,能够侦测出手机温度是否太高。如果太高了,就会自动停止运行 BOINC【译注2】。此外,手机版的界面,比PC版的界面,多了很多图片。
【译注2】shut down 的字面意思是指关机。但我认为,把用户的手机关掉,实在是一个糟糕的选择。所以,我宁愿相信只是把 BOINC 停掉。
It may be a little weird that Anderson devised this new BOINC platform to juice processing power from Android phones, but he figured out how such devices can contribute to the project since they now have powerful CPUs and processors.
也许你会有点奇怪,安德森怎么会想到设计新的 BOINC 平台,去“榨取(juice)”安卓手机的算力?其实,现代的手机已经装备了强大的CPU和处理器,安德森正是在估算过这类设备对项目的潜在贡献后,才这么做的。
When it comes to iPhones and iPads though, Anderson said it wouldn’t be possible since Apple does not allow the creation of an app within its app store. Also, the BOINC software would need to tap into the processor—something that Apple will surely not allow. And since Apple is highly restrictive, Anderson said it would impede in the whole point of BOINC’s open platform.
当谈到 iPhone 和 iPad 时,安德森说没有可能!因为苹果不允许程序上架。而且,BOINC 需要通过中断使用处理器【译注3】——其中有些技术,是苹果决不允许的。碍于苹果的严格限制,安德森说,这完全违背了 BOINC 的开放理念。
【译注3】trap 是一种 CPU 设计技术,用户软件通过 trap 指令调用中断服务。
In a report by Wired, Anderson said he believes the contribution of Android phones alone can help the project get back to its feet. He also has faith that the social tools now being used by smartphones and tablets users will drive the distribution of the software to new heights. And if you ever feel weirded out by this project, maybe knowing that you are helping scientists in their research will put your mind at ease.
安德森发表在《连线》杂志的一份报告中称,他相信光是安卓手机的贡献,就足以帮助项目重振雄风(get back to its feet)。他还坚信,现在使用的手机和平板电脑等社会工具,将会推动 BOINC 的下载量达到新高。如果你还是对这个项目感到不可思议,记住你正在帮助科学家搞研究,也许就够了。
【译注4】参见 http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BF%9E%E7%BA%BF。
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