Image via WikipediaThe virtual laboratory, the stuff of dreams and increasingly reality. We’ve talked about CARMEN and similar projects in the past, efforts that enable collaboration and provide users with the a platform to deploy algorithms and services.
We’ve also talked about NanoHub in the past. A press release on entitled Virtual world is sign of future for scientists, engineers reminded me that I had not visited the site for a while
It is definitely one of the better designed sites of its kind out there, and looking at the site again and reading the press release got me thinking to a couple of themes that are no strangers to these pages (1) Is there a role for microcommunities in science? (2) Is the future of software delivery in science a virtual one?
Lets talk about microcommunities first (given their small sizes perhaps they should be called nanocommunities or something). The community that I am peripherally involved with, The Biogang, is for all practical purposes a microcommunity of bioinformatics types. Similarly, Topsan is a community for structural biologists, EColiHub for people interested in E. Coli, etc. As a whole nanoHUB seems to be a portal for multiple microcommunities. In all cases there is a common thread that brings together people with interests that have enough overlap to be able to share some common goals and enough diversity to foster curiosity, conversation, and collaboration.
nanoHUB also provides its users a virtual software environment. CARMEN fits that model as well. To some extent, so does myGrid, although it’s perhaps a little more complex, and I am beginning to see such examples more and more. In all cases, its not just about accessing one application, or even a metaserver for structure prediction, but a complete suite of services via the web. Over time, I see this form of delivery maturing further and even being used to access large scale simulations, doing data analysis from all kinds of experimental platforms, etc. As our internet pipes get fatter and the ability of scientists to develop scalable web resources improves, it is only inevitable.
Trendspotting: Of micro-communities and software delivery
We’ve also talked about NanoHub in the past. A press release on entitled Virtual world is sign of future for scientists, engineers reminded me that I had not visited the site for a while
It is definitely one of the better designed sites of its kind out there, and looking at the site again and reading the press release got me thinking to a couple of themes that are no strangers to these pages (1) Is there a role for microcommunities in science? (2) Is the future of software delivery in science a virtual one?
Lets talk about microcommunities first (given their small sizes perhaps they should be called nanocommunities or something). The community that I am peripherally involved with, The Biogang, is for all practical purposes a microcommunity of bioinformatics types. Similarly, Topsan is a community for structural biologists, EColiHub for people interested in E. Coli, etc. As a whole nanoHUB seems to be a portal for multiple microcommunities. In all cases there is a common thread that brings together people with interests that have enough overlap to be able to share some common goals and enough diversity to foster curiosity, conversation, and collaboration.
nanoHUB also provides its users a virtual software environment. CARMEN fits that model as well. To some extent, so does myGrid, although it’s perhaps a little more complex, and I am beginning to see such examples more and more. In all cases, its not just about accessing one application, or even a metaserver for structure prediction, but a complete suite of services via the web. Over time, I see this form of delivery maturing further and even being used to access large scale simulations, doing data analysis from all kinds of experimental platforms, etc. As our internet pipes get fatter and the ability of scientists to develop scalable web resources improves, it is only inevitable.