Fun with the grid

Problem: residents near Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, Italy, have reported minor earthquakes, but the Vesuvius Observatory sensors have not recorded any volcano activity. Is Mt. Vesuvius ready to erupt? Or is this just a false alarm?

Your mission: discover the truth. You become the Grid Master and must use grid computing to model Vesuvius’ volcanic activity as quickly as possible, but without taking computing power from other important jobs.

Think you have what it takes? Give it a go at TryScience.org.

“Grid Master” is just one of the grid-themed games TryScience have developed to teach future scientists the benefits and challenges of grid computing.

Kids playing “Grid Master” must not only protect the residents of Naples, they must also decide which applications work best on the grid, and which projects should be given priority on their grid network.

TryScience comes from the New York Hall of Science, IBM and the Association of Science-Technology Centers.