Is it really static? You assume researchers aren't going to try to use this raw data to generate any actual end product. I wouldn't make that assumption.

See Craig Venter's latest attempts at synthetic life, "Mycoplasma laboratorium".

One of the biggest downsides of ordering something from an online retailer is having to wait a variable amount of time to get your order (and having to pay an arm and a leg to get it fast). I've always thought that Wal-Mart was uniquely situated to offering online product ordering (not just for groceries) that gives you same day delivery for a relatively reasonable price. Their size and reach and efficient logistics puts them in a unique position to offer something like that, sort of a short range FedEx. I realize they already have in-store pickup, but I bet there would significant interest if they could offer full blown delivery at a reasonable price. Amazon isn't nearly large enough to develop this sort of thing, Wal-Mart is probably the only company that could. They order everything in massive quantities, they already replicate most of their merchandise across 50 states, and they're renowned for running a lean (and mean) company.

I mean, you can easily spend $5-10 to get something small delivered like a video game. Fuel may be expensive, but $5 of diesel can push a smaller delivery truck a long way. If you can order a video game in the morning, and have it delivered by 7:00 PM, even if they charge $5-10, I could see that being an easy call for a lot of people.

And in other news, hundreds of top programmers in Russia have been summarily convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement, and have been sentenced to 20 years hard labor in the Siberian software mines.

If Nvidia wanted to fight Intel/AMD on this, now would be the time. Under the Bush Administration anti-trust basically ground to a halt, the EU was pretty much the only one holding the line. Now you've got a Democrat president, and Eric Holder already confirmed as AG. A political shift is probably already under way at the Justice Department. Due partially to both Intel's success, and AMD's incompetence, Intel is dominating the CPU market right now. It wouldn't take much to draw anti-trust attention.

I think this programs future has been uncertain because of the uncertainty of its success. Remember what happened to the first one. Governments tend to be very wary of failure in expensive scientific endeavors, even if those failures teach us lessons necessary to succeed. Now that they've had a pretty stunning success, at the very least the millitary is going to be VERY interested in continuing this project (they're already funding this part) and even if NASA's budget doesn't allow for continuing this program with current priorities, I think the Military has been convinced this is a direction worth pursuing further. Just a guess on my part, but I bet you see new funding quite soon.