how to suspend program and save state data in python or IDLE?

[james at biosci.utexas.edu]

hi! i'm running computationally-intensive python programs for a  
student project, and i have a couple of questions.

1) how can i suspend program execution for brief periods either in  
python or through IDLE;

and 2) is there a way to save state data so that if i have to quit  
running a program in a student computer lab, i can write the state of  
the program and all intermediate data to -- say -- a usb drive, then  
read in the state data later so the program can pick up where it left  
off?

thanks,
james