Last week some e-science websites published the following exciting news:
“Prestigious Prix Europa award has been won by the BBC Climate Change Experiment, in which the BBC and the Oxford-run ClimatePrediction.net project worked together and encouraged over 250,000 people to donate computer time to the world's largest climate modelling experiment…” (Climateprediction.net news 22-Oct-2007)
Climate prediction is not the only such type project. Oxford e-Science Centre also implements Cancer Saver project. In the latter project computer power is used to identify compounds that inhibit the production of the proteins that are linked to cancer growth in humans. Both scientific experiments rely on peoples’ donations of their computers’ time and power.
These powerful e-research ideas throw profound moral challenges to human culture and values. Could donation of computer power be equally valuable as donation of blood? Should education respond to this by educating digital volunteers and digital donors?
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