This is part of a series reviewing last year’s stories, according to theme and topic. These stories are about the intersection of science and society. Some deal with the potential of scientific techniques to reveal and solve wider social problems. Others are about expanding the very practice of science to include wider groups of people. 8 ) Foldit – tapping the wisdom of computer gamers to solve tough scientific puzzles
A group of computer gamers made it into the pages of Nature by playing Foldit. The game taps the collective efforts of tens of thousands of people to work out the complicated three-dimensional structures of proteins. The best players could outperform software designed to do the same job and best of all, they could do it without a PhD or any scientific training at all. The controls are so intuitive and the mechanics so much like a proper game, that ...
