Computers at home or in the office often sit idle for minutes, hours, or days at a time. The Internet now allows researchers to take advantage of this enormous reservoir of unused computer power.
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More than 1.6 million people have downloaded software to sift through signals collected by the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico as part of a search for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. Investigators at the University of California, Berkeley manage the year-old project, known as SETI@home, and consolidate the results (SN: 9/18/99, p. 187).