What are the consequences?
I guess it is a bad news for bioinformatics (comparing two very long pieces of DNA), but maybe there are sufficiently useful approximations. Or if one string is fixed and only the other string varies, maybe you can precompute some data to make the comparison faster.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.