Folding@Home: Is it actually doing anything?

Question

I just downloaded the Folding@Home program (if you don't know what it is, it's the program that uses "Distributed Computing", combining the power of all the home computers running it to form a huge network with more power than a supercomputer that tries to figure out all the world's problems, such as Alzheimer's and stuff) and while it's running, the window shows what appears to be "molecule" things, like it's actually doing something.

Is that just for show, or is it actually working on something? I mean what you SEE. It looks like a model of something you'd see in chemistry class, a bunch of molecules.

I know that it's doing something, but is what you're seeing ACTUALLY what it's doing?

Answer 1

Ooh, an easy one. Yes, what you see is exactly what it's doing. It's basically going through various possible geometric permutations ("conformations") that the molecule can adapt, and then it calculates energies for them.