The idea to utilize computers in private homes for coordinated calculations originally stems from the project "SETI@Home", the search for possible radio signals from extraterrestrials civilizations.

"Einstein@Home" is a similar project by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, dedicated to the search for gravitational waves; part of the programming has been contributed by the Max-Planck-Institute for Gravitational Physics.

If you have a broadband internet connection, you too can join the hunt: If you do, your computer will regularly receive data packets from a central server; at the times when you do not use it for your own purposes, a screensaver is started (see image above) and a special software begins to scan the current data packet for gravitational waves. For example, in their spare time, the computers running the media stations for this exhibition are searching for gravitational waves.