While you’re sleeping, you’re actually doing some incredible things. Your body is processing new memories, clearing out toxic byproducts, stimulating collagen production, building muscles and, of course, churning out crazy dreams where your neighbour is a walrus. Meanwhile, your phone is also getting a much-needed recharge, after a long day of being poked and prodded. But thanks to a game-changing new app called DreamLab, your phone can now be working just as hard as you during the night. In fact, together, you could help cure cancer while you sleep.
The app was created by Australian medical research organisation, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and The Vodafone Foundation Australia to help solve some of the greatest mysteries surrounding cancer research. It uses your phone’s processing power while it’s charging to help crunch cancer data for researchers. Basically, every smartphone is like a small but powerful computer, with smartphones in Australia collectively having 90 times the processing power of a supercomputer. When smartphones aren’t being used — like when you’re asleep — that power goes untapped.
The geniuses at DreamLab have found a way to put that otherwise-wasted supercomputing power to good use to fast-track cancer research. When your DreamLab app is on, your smartphone is tackling and solving tiny research problems and sending the results back to the research team. Each piece of the puzzle helps speed up Garvan’s research into some of Australia’s biggest killers including breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer.
From October 24, the app will be available for free on the app store for both iOS and Android. In order to help raise awareness for the campaign, you can also join some of Australia’s biggest celebrities, CEOs and politicians in updating your LinkedIn profile with the job title ‘Cancer Researcher at DreamLab App’ for one day. For more information, visit ourdreamjob.com.au.
