The Folding@Home project has now managed to exceed one petaflop of processing power, thanks largely to the introduction of Sony's PlayStation 3 console last year. The project is currently operating at 1152 teraflops, with 889 teraflops being contributed by the PS3 and Windows based machines being closest competitor with just 164 teraflops. This means that over three-quarters of the processing power for Folding@Home is being provided by the PS3 due to the console's Cell Broadband Engine. Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University said the following:

The recent inclusion of PS3 as part of the Folding@Home program has afforded our research group with computing power that goes far beyond what we initially hoped. Thanks to PS3, we are now essentially able to fast-forward several aspects of our research by a decade, which will greatly help us make more discoveries and advancements in our studies of several different diseases.

The Folding@Home project runs simulations in protein folding, which are helping scientists work towards cures for illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and certain forms of cancer. If you want to contribute to the project, you should take a look at the Folding@Home website and techPowerUp!'s Folding@Home team - all it requires is an internet connection and your idle processing power.