can mining algorithyms be changed to benefit humanity

[ken23]

Probably an ignorant question from a newbie--but
has anyone considered whether or not the math problems solved in mining operations could be changed to math problems which could benefit humanity--such as using the computing power to help research efforts supported by BOINC, for example.  If you are unfamiliar with BOINC--it is an umbrella for projects which pool the idle computing power of many individuals into a "supercomputer"--to solve research questions in fields from medicine to physics to climate change.

Rather than have the math problem computers crunch to verify a block during the mining process--would it be possible to at the same time make the math problem one that would contribute to research efforts?

Cheers,

Ken

[acoindr]

Unfortunately, no it's not possible because you're including data from the block, as a means for block chain verification, in the problem/answer. So any math problem you use has to include that data. Second you have to be able to adjust the difficulty of the problem so that no matter how much computing power goes toward solving it solutions can remain limited over time.

[Gabi]

No.

[QuestionAuthority]

No.

It already benefits humanity. I'm human and it benefits me and gives us namecoins too. It's a win-win.

[Elwar]

The more secure the algorithms make Bitcoin, the more benefit for humanity we receive.

[franky1]

ignoring ASICS i think if scientific research companies gave a small financial incentive such as a similar amount to the dollar value someone earns mining bitcoin on their 800mhash GPU. then people would definitely dedicate their computing power to help humanity.

for instance people can mine bitcoins for a $71 a month income on a single 800mhash GPU
so if they were offered $71 a month for non bitcoin tasks, ofcourse they would go for it

[jaywaka2713]

I think the only thing ASICs can help you out with other than mining Bitcoin is hashing AES encrypted SHA256 hashes very fast for password breaking. Wouldn't affect TrueCrypt as they use SHA-512.

[Stephen Gornick]

Rather than have the math problem computers crunch to verify a block during the mining process--would it be possible to at the same time make the math problem one that would contribute to research efforts?

The reason the Bitcoin network requires a large amount of computing power is to enable decentralization, with a proof-of-work being the tool employed.

But that computing power is for a specific purpose, ... to make it so that the decentralization is immune to corruption.   That's the only reason there is this large amount of computing power.

But the proof-of-work computation that is performed is useless for anything else.  

Now that doesn't mean there computing resources that Bitcoiners will (soon) abandon can't still have use for scientific purposes.

CoinLab was making inroads to doing this but got stuck on how distributed scientific computing is a hard problem to solve with little opportunity to monetize it.

So essentially, the Bitcoin project has paid the way for there to be many tens of thousands of (soon-to-become) unused GPUs that have potential value for doing scientific computing work.
 

[grue]

holy crap this has been asked many times. SERIOUSLY, SEARCH BEFORE POSTING

[GenTarkin]

hrm... last  I checked, bitcoin does benefit humanity =P

[Gabi]

ignoring ASICS i think if scientific research companies gave a small financial incentive such as a similar amount to the dollar value someone earns mining bitcoin on their 800mhash GPU. then people would definitely dedicate their computing power to help humanity.

for instance people can mine bitcoins for a $71 a month income on a single 800mhash GPU
so if they were offered $71 a month for non bitcoin tasks, ofcourse they would go for it

Distributed computing is about donating computing power. If the companies would have enough money to pay you, then they simply would not need you. They could just get the computing power in a more efficient way (aka, supercomputers)
Note that almost all BOINC projects are projects from universities or other non profit teams.

[jdbtracker]

Physics and Proteomics, and other sciences can be used for a proof of work.

but the math required to convert a SHA256(simple algorithm) into a currency that by decentralization can verify problems of hundreds of orders of magnitude greater is a very daunting task.

One would be to find primes, if someone created a prime based currency it is possible, to create new money each block would be finding a new prime found at a specific time and easily provable by dividing it by something other than 1 or itself.

complex proteomics is a level of mathematics that would as well be easy to verify but very hard to reproduce the results, the need here would be to supply enough genetics problems for the network to use... what if you run out? and when you fold or simulate a molecule it is random when someone will find a solution.

same for a massive science initiative where all atomic properties are recorded and slowly new molecules and particles of ever increasing complexity are being simulated, The block ledger for all these examples would time stamp when the solution or simulation was completed and would easily be verifiable by a computer but very difficult to create. 

With these initiatives and the soon to be turned off GPU power aligned to these projects massive processing power can be used to maintain the networks security, slowly going form simple molecule simulation to multi cellular simulations of DNA, Cells, entire organisms and maybe entire ecosystems.

so yes it is possible to create a proof of work made from scientific data, it is nothing more than math and even the Cheats would be creating particles to be simulated that had some value since a complex molecule would take the same time to simulate as a useful one from stanford.

[aigeezer]

Probably an ignorant question from a newbie--but
has anyone considered whether or not the math problems solved in mining operations could be changed to math problems which could benefit humanity--such as using the computing power to help research efforts supported by BOINC, for example.  If you are unfamiliar with BOINC--it is an umbrella for projects which pool the idle computing power of many individuals into a "supercomputer"--to solve research questions in fields from medicine to physics to climate change.

Rather than have the math problem computers crunch to verify a block during the mining process--would it be possible to at the same time make the math problem one that would contribute to research efforts?

Cheers,

Ken

I run BOINC on a couple of PC mining machines 24/7 with no conflicts. I don't let BOINC use the graphics cards though. I'm in the top 1% of all BOINC users worldwide, so it absolutely can be done. You could start to do it today - no need to wait for algorithm changes, no need to ask permission - just do it and feel good tomorrow.     

[melvster]

Probably an ignorant question from a newbie--but
has anyone considered whether or not the math problems solved in mining operations could be changed to math problems which could benefit humanity--such as using the computing power to help research efforts supported by BOINC, for example.  If you are unfamiliar with BOINC--it is an umbrella for projects which pool the idle computing power of many individuals into a "supercomputer"--to solve research questions in fields from medicine to physics to climate change.

Rather than have the math problem computers crunch to verify a block during the mining process--would it be possible to at the same time make the math problem one that would contribute to research efforts?

Cheers,

Ken

Yes donate a portion of new coins to charity ... easy ...

[BitAddict]

Bitcoin is going to be a HUGE benefit for the humanity.

Our grandchildren will study history of Bitcoin, like the biggest revolution after internet. 

[ken23]

holy crap this has been asked many times. SERIOUSLY, SEARCH BEFORE POSTING

I did try to look for this topic and came up with nothing useful--probably because I am too new to know what search terms to enter.  I think a useful response from you might have been to point me towards a thread.

I do think that screaming at a new person and boarder line verbally abusing him just because you don't like something he posts is not only very rude--it is also counterproductive to the goal of getting people to join the Bit coin movement.  Maybe that's the normal way people communicate around here, but if you are seriously interested in going mainstream with Bit coin--you should think twice before making such a post in response to a sincere question from a Newbie...Your response really makes me wonder what this movement is really all about.  It certainly won't succeed if this is the kind of welcome you afford new members.

Until I read what you wrote I was very seriously considering really getting involved (above and beyond making some fast cash from a 12K investment in a mining rigs)--now I will pull back to see whether it looks like most people around here behave the way you do.  If you do want Bit coin to succeed you will need people like me, and it would therefore be in your own best interest to re evaluate the way you treat people like me--because Bit coin won't succeed without people like me.

I have no idea where you are coming from or what you agenda is--and I'm really not that thin skinned. I only wish to point out that as more people become interested--they won't stay interested with the unnecessary kind of abuse you just threw in my face.  I am not interested in becoming involved in a movement in which rude behavior is the norm.  

[mgio]

ignoring ASICS i think if scientific research companies gave a small financial incentive such as a similar amount to the dollar value someone earns mining bitcoin on their 800mhash GPU. then people would definitely dedicate their computing power to help humanity.

for instance people can mine bitcoins for a $71 a month income on a single 800mhash GPU
so if they were offered $71 a month for non bitcoin tasks, ofcourse they would go for it

No, I would still mine bitcoins instead of perform the scientific computations because mining bitcoins just doesn't pay me directly, it also secures the blockchain and therefore protects my bitcoin investment and helps bitcoin succeed which is something I strongly believe in.

[rabbitweasel]

Project like F@H will probably be as good as it gets for a while for mass distributed humanitarian causes. I still won't donate my PS3 power though as I'm worried I'll cut it's life short.

[kjj]

holy crap this has been asked many times. SERIOUSLY, SEARCH BEFORE POSTING

I do think that screaming at a new person and boarder line verbally abusing him just because you don't like something he posts is not only very rude--it is also counterproductive to the goal of getting people to join the Bit coin movement.

Heh.  If you'd searched, you'd have seen that we were nice to the first ten thousand people posting these repeat threads...

Try not to take it personally.  There are a lot of topics that everyone thinks they were the first person to think of, but we see them every few days and get burned out trying to answer over and over again.

[hl5460]

I believe so. I used to join in the SETI@Home program. It's funny, but not that.....rewarding.