Electron micrograph of the Ebola virus, captured in 1976. For the first time, anyone with a computer or Android-based mobile device can help scientists search for an Ebola cure. A safe and free app from IBM’s World Community Grid (www.worldcommunitygrid.org) puts the devices to work when the machines would otherwise be idle. With their collective processing power, the computers will form a virtual supercomputer to help The Scripps Research Institute screen millions of chemical compounds to identify new drug leads for treating Ebola. An effective treatment has thus far proved elusive because of scant resources previously brought to bear, and because the a protein in the virus responsible for replicating itself adopts different shapes for different functions. (Image credit: Dr. Frederick Murphy, Source: Commons. Wikimedia)