Distributed computing: weapons research?

[globalist]

One of my friends sort of refuses to give F@H a go, pointing out that he read somewhere that it (or might have been another DC client) was used in the past for weapons research without the folding folks even knowing about it.

Is there any truth to this? IMO it's just an urban legend but you never know...

[aRandomRobot]

I have never heard of this. Unless he can cough up that article I think it's safe to say it's an urban legend.
He might be confusing F@H with projects that simulate how nuclear weapons degrade over time. But those don't use distributed computing like F@H.

[Lupine]

While tinfoil hats can be used as an excuse to not get involved in anything, I find this particular conspiracy theory especially ludicrous.

The only articles I've seen that include Folding@home in the same discussion as weapon's research are those detailing how, combined, F@H is more powerful than the fastest supercomputer, at that time and possibly even now - the Roadrunner at the US governments Los Alamos nuclear weapons research laboratory. Thats a comparison of power, not a suggestion of project usage for weapon's research.