Search Results for: more+electricity
Will running the World Community Grid Software cost me more in electricity?
The amount of electrical energy consumed by your computer or other computing device is in many ways related to how much processing that it is doing at any given time. If it is sitting completely idle, then it uses relatively little power (usually about 50% of the maximum value). Actively using the device and simultaneously using more programs causes the device to consume more power. The World Community Grid software runs during times at which your device would otherwise be idle. This will cause it to use slightly more electricity (power) and therefore you may see a slight increase in your electricity costs. Exactly how much this increase will impact you depends on conditions where you live and how you have set your preferences. In most cases, the impact will be the equivalent of an additional low wattage light bulb. If these costs are a concern, you may limit the operational time for the software through preference settings on your Settings page or on your computer.
The default values of the BOINC agent are set so that the impact on average computers is minimal. Setting this to a higher value increases energy consumption and lowering it reduces energy consumption. We have chosen 60% because for most computers this figure seems to keep the energy consumption from increasing significantly and keeps laptop computers from getting too hot. In a multiple processor computer, reducing the number of processors permitted to run World Community Grid software may also control energy consumption. However, different machines vary in energy consumption patterns, so the maximum percent of the processor time and number of processors to be used by World Community Grid may be changed to custom values as follows:
Changing the above settings will correspondingly increase or decrease the amount of contribution your computer is making to the research projects.
How does understanding protein structure help scientists understand the role of bacteria in human health?
Different proteins can have many different structures (shapes). They can have sticky portions which like to attach to certain chemical compounds, or repel them. They can sometimes be flexible. For example, enzymes are proteins which can enhance certain chemical reactions or even cut proteins or other compounds apart. Their structures and the patterns of electrical charges on their surface determine which other compounds they may interact with and how they may alter the other compounds.
Since cells use proteins for most of their basic life processes, their functions, determined by their structure, are very important. If these functions are disturbed, diseases can result. Since the human microbiome has over 1,000 times more different kinds of proteins than the human body, many of those have the potential for affecting human cells' operations. Some of these proteins can be beneficial or even necessary, while others may be harmful. This is an area which still needs a lot of exploration. One of the early steps in understanding the role of the microbiome is to discover the functions of its proteins. That requires discovering the structure of those proteins.
How does an organic solar cell work?
Organic solar cells convert sunlight into electricity. The first step is that the organic solar cell must absorb light. This absorbed light adds energy into the material, causing the electrons in the material to increase their energy and move through the material, leaving behind a hole. Second, electrons must travel to a region where they can be collected by an acceptor material, lowering their energy (i.e., the donor-acceptor interface). Once the electrons are collected, they can be extracted to give a current, or they can remain in the device to give rise to a voltage. The electrons that leave the organic solar cell as current can deliver their energy to whatever is connected to the circuit.
How does an organic solar cell work?
Organic solar cells convert sunlight into electricity. The first step is that light must be absorbed in the organic solar cell. This absorbed light causes the electrons in the material to increase their energy. Second, electrons must travel to a region where they can be collected (i.e., the donor-acceptor interface). Once the electrons are collected, they can be extracted to give a current, or they can remain in the device to give rise to a voltage. The electrons that leave the organic solar cell as current can deliver their energy to whatever is connected to the circuit.
What is the efficiency in a solar cell?
Solar cells are commonly characterized by the percentage of the incident solar light that they can convert into electrical power. Thus, the efficiency is given as a percentage. In general, the efficiency is determined by the material from which it is made and by the technology used to construct the solar cell. Efficiencies for commercially available solar cells range from about 5% to about 17%. Although inorganic-based solar cells have reached a maximum efficiency of up to 40%, these are expensive to produce and polluting when thrown away. The maximum efficiency reached for an organic-based solar cell is around 6% as of 2007. Therefore, there is still a lot of work to be done to improve them.
If researchers could find an organic-based solar cell whose efficiency reached 10%, these would be commercially feasible and would revolutionize the field of solar materials. Additionally, if these cells covered 0.16% of the surface of the planet, they would produce about an additional 20 TW (Terawatts, a trillion Watts), which will make up for the estimated increase in energy for the year 2050.
What is the efficiency in a solar cell?
Solar cells are commonly characterized by the percentage of the incident solar light that they can convert into electrical power. Thus, the efficiency is given as a percentage. In general, the efficiency is determined by the material from which the solar cell is made and by the technology used to construct it. Efficiencies for commercially available solar cells range from about 5% to about 17%. Although inorganic-based solar cells have reached a maximum efficiency of up to 40%, these are expensive to produce and pollute when thrown away. The maximum efficiency reached for organic-based solar cells is around 8% as of 2010. Therefore, there is still a lot of work to be done to improve them.
If researchers could find an organic-based solar cell whose efficiency reached 10%, these cells would be commercially feasible and would revolutionize the field of solar materials. Additionally, if these cells covered 0.16% of the surface of the planet, they would produce about an additional 20 TW (Terawatts, a trillion Watts), which would make up for the estimated increase in energy for the year 2050.
What is protein folding?
Proteins are chemical compounds consisting of a chain of smaller compounds called amino acids. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids. A gene specifies the order in which the kinds of amino acids are to be linked in the chain to form the protein. As the protein chain emerges from the assembly machinery, it starts to fold or tangle up into a very specific shape. Some amino acids have electrical charge patterns on their surface which make some attract to each other and some repel. These patterns of charges could be thought of as weak little bar magnets. This makes various parts of the chain of amino acids prefer to stick to certain others, and thus form a very specific structure. In the cell, there are other proteins which sometimes help guide the folding process so that the proteins do not fold into incorrect shapes.
Given that some proteins can be so large as to contain thousands of amino acids, it can be very difficult to figure out the final shape of the folded chain of amino acids, and from there to determine the shape or structure of the protein. Knowing the shape is important because this determines the function or role of the protein. One way of finding the shape is to get many of the same protein molecules and try to make them crystalize into a regular shape (as salt might turn into cubic crystals from a brine solution). Then, x-rays are shown through the crystal. As the x-rays pass the atoms in the proteins, they deflect (diffract) in a very particular pattern which can be deciphered using mathematical techniques to finally know the positions of the atoms and the structure of the protein. However, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to get the proteins to crystalize.
Scientists have turned to computers as an alternate way of discovering the structures of proteins. They use software programs such as Rosetta (originally developed by David Baker's lab at the University of Washington and now with collaborators from other academic institutions including New York University) to simulate the protein folding process. The software attempts to fold the amino acid sequence many different ways, trying to find the lowest energy configuration, which should represent the actual structure of the folded protein. For very large proteins, they use methods which work on portions of the protein at a time and then assemble the portions.
How many characters may I use in a forum post?
The database limit is 32,700 characters. If special characters are used, the character count is decreased due to how special characters are stored in the database. If you have more than 32,700 characters, or utilize special characters, you will need to create 2 or more posts.
What is the expected practical outcome of this project?
The research is primarily driven by a desire to understand, at a fundamental level, why experimental results show that water can flow through some nanotube filters far more easily than expected according to the classical laws of hydrodynamics. By getting a better understanding of these fundamentals, the research aims to shed light on ways in which such filters could be improved even further, and lead to more affordable and more energy efficient types of water filters for cleaning and desalinating water.
What was the difference between run time reported by the United Devices version and the BOINC version?
It is important to note, that the time reported to the server doesn't mean that the UD version was doing more work then the BOINC version. The UD version simply overcounted the actual time that was contributed to the project. In fact, the BOINC version actually contributes more time to the project because it is able to take advantage of multi-core processors or multi-processory systems. The UD version could only use one core or processor. The BOINC version will start up a science application on each core or processor and thus be able to get two or more times the work done.
Are there any additional FAQs for FightAIDS@Home?
Yes, there are more FAQs on the FightAIDS@Home website.
This sounds too good to be true. Am I missing something?
Everything benefits! Members who volunteer their unused processing power benefit by not only making their devices more productive, but also by helping make scientific inroads on humanitarian problems. Research organizations benefit by having access to huge amounts of computing power at no cost, enabling them to make more effective use of critical funds. The scientific community benefits because the project results are shared and made available in the public domain. The world benefits because humanitarian research is advanced.
May I invite more teams to my Team Challenge after I issue it?
Once a Team Challenge has been issued (by pressing the submit button on the Issue Team Challenge page), no more teams may be invited. If you have issued an Open Challenge, other teams may still join the challenge up to the Start Date, or until the end of the challenge if you have chosen to allow Late Joiners (Late Joiners only get credit for statistics accumulated after joining the challenge).
How can I learn more about malaria?
More information about malaria can be found at the World Health Organization’s website, the Medicines for Malaria Venture website, and on Wikipedia.
What is the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together project?
The first phase performs a faster screening on a larger set of potential drug candidates and the second phase performs a more time consuming screening of the best candidates identified in the first phase. See the following FAQ for more information: "What will World Community Grid's calculations produce?".
Why is TB still a major global health problem?
One factor in the increase of TB infection is related to an increase in HIV infection. People with HIV/AIDS have a weakened immune system and are therefore more susceptible to TB. Once healthy people come into contact with the TB bacteria, the bacteria can usually be fought off effectively by their immune system without developing TB. However, a person with HIV is about 30 times more likely to develop TB disease, due to their weakened immune system. It is more difficult to detect and treat TB in an HIV-infected individual, and therefore those co-infected with TB and HIV often remain reservoirs of TB for extended times, with the potential of infecting more people.
Another factor in the increased TB infection is the TB bacteria becoming increasingly resistant to TB drugs. As drug resistance has increased, it has become more difficult to treat TB successfully, requiring much longer treatment times with combinations of drugs. Often, patients fail to continue treatments to the full term which can take up to two years. When treatment stops part-way, the bacteria evolve resistance to the drugs because it lets the bacteria that survived the initial portion of treatment live and infect others. This also results in people carrying TB for a longer time, potentially infecting more people with drug resistant strains of TB that are more difficult to treat. The World Health Organization recently ranked tuberculosis as nearly tied with HIV as the deadliest infectious disease in the world, mostly due to TB building its resistance to drugs.
What's the benefit of running OpenPandemics - COVID-19 work units for GPU?
AutoDock-GPU (AD-GPU) could increase the project's chances of finding a molecule with anti-viral properties even further.
Compared to AutoDock 4 (the current CPU version of the software that is used for OpenPandemics - COVID-19), AD-GPU is much faster, which should provide a nice boost to the already amazing rate of docked results.
Furthermore, AD-GPU has an improved search algorithm that exhibits a greater probability of finding strong interactions between the molecules and viral proteins, and is well suited to dock larger or more complex molecules. This means that scientists can use AD-GPU to not only screen more molecules, but also to enable the search of more complex molecules.
How do I make the software recognize the free space on a separate drive/partition?
The software will only recognize the free space on the partition on which it is installed. If you have a drive/partition with more free space that you want the software to use, you must install the software to that drive/partition.
If I have more than one GPU, can I limit which one is used?
Yes. In order to do this, you can make these changes in your Device Profile page by selecting which vendor they would like to use. You can choose between AMD/ATI, Intel, and NVIDIA.
May I join more than one team?
No. A member may join only one team at a time but may leave a team and join another team at any time. The statistics that you accrue while on a team, remain with that team.
What are the symptoms of Ebola?
When a person is first infected, there is a two to 21 day incubation period before the infected person shows symptoms. Initial symptoms can closely resemble those caused by flu or common tropical diseases. Symptoms progress to include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, bleeding and more.
Why are gene comparisons important?
Because of recent advances in DNA sequencing technology, there is now a huge amount of gene information available for a wide variety of organisms, with more being decoded every day. Many of these organisms, particularly microorganisms, have never been studied in detail before. We therefore know little about what they can do, and how they interact with their environment. However, it is likely that many genes from unknown organisms will be similar to genes from organisms that we know more about. When similarities are found, researchers get a head start in understanding previously unknown organisms.
What are the potential benefits of the Mapping Cancer Markers project?
The project has three goals:
- Identify sets of markers that may be able to predict if a person is at high risk of developing a particular cancer and increase the possibility of early detection.
- Identify combinations of markers, which may predict a patient’s response to specific treatments. This would help make the treatment more personalized and could guide the development of customized therapeutic treatments for that patient.
- Develop more efficient computational methods for discovering relevant patterns of markers.
How common is childhood cancer?
Worldwide, approximately 300,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year, according to World Child Cancer. In the United States, the American Childhood Cancer Organization reports that more children are killed by cancer than any other disease, with over 15,000 children being diagnosed each year. Learn more
Where do I check on the status, statistics, etc. for my Team Challenge (or a challenge my team is participating in)?
Just go to your My Team page, and scroll down to the Challenge Control Panel. All team members will see up to five Current and Upcoming Team Challenges (team captains will see Pending Team Challenges as well). If your team has more than five Current Team Challenges or more than five Upcoming Team Challenges, you may click the link at the bottom of the Challenge Control Panel to view your team's entire Team Challenge History. In the Challenge Control Panel or Team Challenge History View you may click on the name of the challenge to view more details about the challenge; for example: scores for all teams in the challenge, the names of the other teams participating in the challenge, and whether the challenge is open or not. The Team Challenge History page is where you may view your team's past challenges.
The software keeps writing "Deferring communication with project for W days, X hours, Y minutes, and Z seconds". What does this mean and how do I get it to connect now?
This message appears when the software has experienced a problem connecting to the server. This may be because of some problem on your local device or because World Community Grid's servers are temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or updates.
The software will delay the attempt to reconnect because during the time that the servers are unavailable, more and more volunteers' devices will try to connect to the servers. Once the servers became available the servers could become overwhelmed if all of the local devices attempted to contact them at once. This delay mechanism reduces the chances of the servers being overwhelmed.
What are the potential benefits of the "Help Conquer Cancer" project?
There are several direct and indirect benefits of the project. For the first time, scientists will execute a comprehensive image analysis and classification of crystallography images. This will lead to better understanding of the crystallization process, and will enable scientists to improve the accuracy and speed of CrystalVision. Improved understanding of the crystallization process and improved CrystalVision also will enable more disease proteins to be crystallized faster. Finally, more 3D structures will improve our understanding of disease and potentially its treatment, and will lead to improved in silico (performed on a computer or via computer simulation) structure prediction.
Which geographic areas and populations are most impacted by Zika?
Since it was first identified in the Zika forest of Uganda, Africa, the Zika virus has spread across Asia, the Pacific, and more recently to the Americas. Serious concerns about the virus have been raised since 2015, due to a rapid rise in infections in the Americas coinciding with an increase in cases of microcephaly and other neurological disorders.
Between 2007 and April 2016, 62 countries reported cases of the Zika virus. Most of these cases occurred in the Americas (Central, North and South), Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Africa. Any areas with active Aedes mosquito populations—particularly tropical and subtropical regions—are vulnerable to the introduction and spread of the Zika virus. Recent estimates from an international group of university researchers suggest that more than two billion people could potentially be at risk.
What are proteins?
Proteins are the fundamental building blocks for many components within living organisms. More specifically, they are a long sequence of subunits called amino acids, of which there are 20 kinds. Each gene specifies the specific order of the amino acids assembled to make a particular kind of protein. When this sequence of amino acids is constructed by the organism, it tangles or folds into a very particular shape. The shape (structure) of the protein determines its function.
Proteins can be small or large, sometimes containing thousands of atoms. When you eat food containing proteins, your digestive system breaks them down into their constituent amino acids so they are available for your cells to make new proteins according to your genetic codes.
Learn more about proteins at https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/proteome/details.do
Which Android devices are supported?
The BOINC application for Android is supported on most, but not all, devices running Android 4.1 and higher (Android Jelly Bean or more recent versions). If BOINC is not able to run on your Android device, you will see a message that states your device is not compatible when you attempt to install the BOINC app from the Google Play store.
Are there any specific system requirements for running World Community Grid on Android?
Overall, World Community Grid only requires that the phone be running Android 4.1 or higher, but each research project has its own requirements for storage and memory usage. More details are available here.
Will this reduce battery life?
By default, the Android BOINC application is only active when your device is plugged into a power source (AC or USB) and your battery is charged 90% or more. Using the application will not significantly reduce your battery life or your recharge time. If you wish, you can override these default power use settings and customize how World Community Grid runs on your device.
How will World Community Grid software affect people who use a VPN for telecommuting?
The software will not have any effect. The software communicates without problems with, or without, VPN Client Software. Our server site is an external internet address. The bandwidth usage is minimal and equivalent to visiting a few web pages once a week or every few days on more powerful computers.
Do I have to do anything on a daily basis?
No. Once you have downloaded and installed the agent, there's nothing that you have to do. The agent will run on your device whenever it determines that there is unused processor capacity available. When it finishes with a calculation, it will send the completed work to the grid server and then ask the grid server for more work.
If I have more than one GPU on my computer, how do I let World Community Grid run on all of my GPUs?
In order to do this, you have to use the <use_all_gpus> tag in the cc_config.xml file. Instructions to do this are available here.
Why are some areas of the site only available in English?
There are some areas of the site that are dynamic and change frequently. There is no effective way to have these areas constantly updated in more than one language. The dynamic portions of the site include: What's New (on the home page), Help, and the forums. While the forums are not translated, posting in languages other than English is allowed.
I'd like to put something about World Community Grid on my website; is there something that I can use?
If you'd like to promote World Community Grid and/or use the World Community Grid logo image on your website, you can make use of the World Community Grid widget. Click here for an FAQ explaining more about the World Community Grid widget.
Is World Community Grid a non-profit organization?
World Community Grid is a philanthropic initiative, started in November of 2004. Its purpose is to create the world's largest public computing grid for running research projects that benefit humanity. For more information, go to http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/about_us.html
May I download and process multiple work units, then return all of the results at one time?
The software used by World Community Grid does allow you to download multiple work units. It is unlikely that you will return all the work units together unless your device is disconnected from the internet while it completes the work units. For more information on cacheing workunits, please refer to this FAQ.
What are genes?
Genes are “DNA phrases” that encode for proteins. Specific three-letter DNA sequences each encode one specific amino acid. Chains of amino acids form proteins, some of which contribute to the structure of a cell (such as a microorganism) while others act as enzymes. Learn more.
Why are microorganisms important?
Microorganisms represent the great unseen and under appreciated majority of life on our planet. They are everywhere in the environment and in larger, more complex organisms. They are important for a huge variety of natural processes, including human health, agriculture and food production. For almost any kind of organic molecule, there will be a microorganism that has evolved the capacity to decompose, change, or construct it.
Why are microorganisms important?
Microorganisms represent the great unseen and under appreciated majority of life on our planet. They are everywhere in the environment and in larger, more complex organisms. They are important for a huge variety of natural processes, including human health, agriculture and food production. For almost any kind of organic molecule, there will be a microorganism that has evolved the capacity to decompose, change, or construct it.
What is the difference between the Computing for Sustainable Water project and the Computing for Clean Water project?
The Computing for Sustainable Water project is studying how changes in human activities could help improve the quality of watersheds, critical for sustaining life and food sources. The Computing for Clean Water project is trying to develop less expensive water filters so that it would be more practical to produce clean drinking water from poor water sources.
How is schistosomiasis transmitted?
The parasite's larvae, released by freshwater snails, penetrate the skin and eventually travel to the liver via the blood stream. Feeding on the host's blood, the parasites mature and move through the veins to other parts of the body such as the bladder and intestines. During their lifetime, which can be decades, they can produce hundreds of eggs per day. Some of the eggs are excreted in urine or feces, then hatch and infect more snails.
What are the symptoms of schistosomiasis?
The body's immune response to the eggs, which remain in the body, is the main cause of the disease. The immune response is the body's natural defense mechanism to foreign invaders and normally causes temporary inflammation of the affected tissues. However, the disease causes continued inflammation, which damages the affected organs and so the problem becomes more severe. Schistosomiasis can affect various organs such as the liver, spleen, intestine, and kidneys, and can lead to death. One species of Schistosoma can also cause bladder cancer.
What is Leishmaniasis?
Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus "Leishmania." It is transmitted by sand flies and causes skin lesions, with some forms affecting internal organs, possibly leading to death. The disease is a severe public health problem in 97 countries around the world, and is seen in other countries due to tourism. The disease affects more than two million people per year. In Colombia and Latin America the disease has increased so significantly that now Colombia is second only to Brazil in number of cases of Leishmaniasis in the Americas.
How does The Clean Energy Project benefit humanity?
The Clean Energy Project is focused on understanding the fundamental science of how flexible solar cells work, so scientists can design more efficient energy-related technologies. The results of the project will eventually help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to lower our carbon emissions, keep our air cleaner, and contribute to the fight against global warming. Our research will facilitate the development of cheap, flexible solar cell materials that we hope will be used worldwide.
What are the potential benefits of the "Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together - Phase 2" project?
This project has the potential to yield novel antiviral drugs for infectious diseases that greatly impact global health. Specifically, the aim is to identify and develop antiviral drugs against Dengue, Hepatitis C, West Nile, and Yellow fever viruses. In addition, this study will provide the foundation for a new and more efficient approach to drug development for other diseases that plague the world.
What is a protein?
Proteins are large biomolecules consisting of one or more chains of amino acids. The sequence and identity of the amino acids making up the chain determine the structure and the properties of the proteins. Proteins are made by transcribing and translating the DNA sequence of the corresponding gene. So, while DNA may be thought of as the blueprint of life, proteins carry out the instructions contained in the blueprint.
Why was this project just looking at Africa?
Africa is already vulnerable to extremes in climate, and current climate change projections suggest that the region will be more vulnerable in the future. Thus a climate study for this region is important both for economic reasons and for understanding future vulnerability. The climate modeling techniques developed here may be applied to other regions of the world in the future.
What are the potential benefits of the "AfricanClimate@Home" project?
The project will lead to the identification of combinations of key parameterizations that best simulate the varying climates of Africa. More accurate models will give researchers a better understanding of the implications of various natural and man-made influences on the African climate. In turn, this will enable policy makers to make important adaptation and mitigation decisions based on the best available information.
What are the potential benefits of the "Discovering Dengue Drugs - Together" project?
This project has the potential to yield novel antiviral drugs for infectious diseases that greatly impact global health. Specifically, our aim is to identify and develop antiviral drugs against dengue, hepatitis C, West Nile, and yellow fever viruses. In addition, this study will provide the foundation for a new and more efficient approach to drug development for other diseases that plague the world.
Who does TB affect?
Most people who come into contact with TB do not become ill with the disease, but those who are malnourished or have weakened immune systems, such as HIV patients, are more susceptible to developing the disease once they have been exposed to the bacteria. In addition, poor living conditions and overcrowded places are the ideal conditions for TB to spread through coughing or sneezing of infected individuals.
Does TB only attack the lungs?
Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs (pulmonary TB) but it can also develop in areas outside the lungs (extrapulmonary TB), such as the bones and joints, the digestive system, the bladder and reproductive system, the nervous system and the lymph nodes. Extrapulmonary TB is more common in people with a weakened immune system, such as HIV patients
Where can I learn more about TB?
Who are the scientists involved in OpenPandemics - COVID-19?
The Forli Lab at Scripps Research is spearheading the study. They will be working with additional collaborators within Scripps Research, as well as at other institutions, on various aspects of the project including to conduct lab testing based on the results of the virtual experiments conducted on World Community Grid. You can learn more about the scientists behind the project on the Research Participants page.
There are other volunteer computing projects related to COVID-19? Does the world really need more than one?
Yes! There other volunteer computing projects right now that are part of the fight against COVID-19, and they are all doing important work. Understanding the molecular structure of the virus that causes COVID-19, searching for treatments, and ultimately finding a vaccine, requires an "all hands on deck" approach from scientists, government agencies, businesses, and the general public.
What are the system requirements for devices to participate in OpenPandemics – COVID-19?
Any laptop or desktop can be used. OpenPandemics – COVID-19 runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Learn more about the system requirements at https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewTopic.do?shortName=minimumreq
What is an intermittent project?
Intermittent projects are projects that will only periodically have work available to download. This could be because the project has finished but the researchers may not be finished analyzing all the results, and as such, may discover that they have to run a few more work units through the grid. This could also be because the project team may have periods where they cannot produce work as fast as the members are able to process their work.
How do I create a Team Challenge?
As the captain of a team, you may create as many Team Challenges as you want; the only requirement is that they have different names so members can tell them apart from other Team Challenges.
To create a Team Challenge, go to My Contribution and click on My Team in the lefthand navigation. Just under the Team Information, you'll see the Team Control Panel with an Issue Team Challenge button. Click the button to be taken to the Issue Team Challenge page.
Once on the Issue Team Challenge page, you start by picking a name for your Team Challenge. After that, decide if you want your Team Challenge to be open to all teams, or if you want to choose which teams to invite. If you want an Open Challenge, check the box next to "Open Challenge?"
Next up, pick the dates for your Team Challenge. The Start Date must be at least one day in the future, but not more than 30 days away. The End Date must be at least one day after the Start Date, but not more than 180 days after the Start Date.
Once you've chosen the dates, select what type of Team Challenge you'd like. The choices are Points, Run Time, and Results Returned, or an Increase in one of Points, Run Time, or Results Returned. For more in the "increase" challenges, read this FAQ.
Next choose whether or not you want to allow Late Joiners; that is, allow teams to join the challenge after the Start Date. This applies to teams that are invited as well as for Open challenges. Teams that join a challenge after the Start Date will only receive credit for statistics after they join the challenge.
Last but not least, you may invite other teams to participate in your Team Challenge. You may invite teams even if your are issuing an Open Challenge. If you are issuing a Closed Challenge you must invite at least one team.
To invite teams, just search for the name of the team you want to invite, and click the link to "Invite This Team." For more general searches, only the first 25 teams are returned. If this happens, try being a little more specific in your search.