57,000 monkeys

Here is a link to a Pretty Neat New York Times article:

In a Video Game, Tackling the Complexities of Protein Folding

Basically, someone turned a software application that looked for ways to fold proteins into a video game, so humans could take a crack at folding strategies. Understanding how long amino acid chains fold into proteins is important to understanding the functions different proteins play. (Or something I like that.)

Two things stand out for me: One, humans saw shortcuts and efficiencies that the automated algorithms missed, and brought creativity to the strategies. Two, the Internet provided the infrastructure to allow 57,000 people to do that, together, meaning 57,000 different minds could bring their perspectives and problem-solving skills to bear on the puzzle-like folding action.

jd