It’s when you’re flying next to a Saturn V rocket or climbing around a protein molecule that you realise the potential for science in virtual worlds. In an online place like www.secondlife.com, you can do things that are dangerous, expensive or downright impossible in real life (or what geeks call ‘meatspace’). That’s why scientists have begun using such places to conference, teach, build and experiment, in fields from astrophysics to neuroscience, chemistry to psychology. Fancy a stroll through a four-dimensional house? Log on and do it in Second Life.

Online worlds are social spaces too, and that makes them attractive to social scientists. How do we develop meaningful relationships with people we’ve never seen or heard? How do those with autism or schizophrenia fare? Do gender roles or moral codes alter? How does information travel and how can there be economies, uprisings and fads? What are the ethics of studying the denizens of these worlds — are they different from real world citizens? Join us at the Apple Store on Regent Street for a free event on how science is expanding into virtual life.

Aleks Krotoski is a columnist for the Guardian’s Technology section and for Guardian Unlimited, where she writes about the social dimensions of interactive entertainment, emerging community experiences in virtual worlds and other aspects of social software. She writes about broader dimensions of social computing for MIT Technology Review, the BBC and Virgin Media.

She is currently working towards a PhD in social psychology at the University of Surrey, examining the social networks of cyberspace. In particular, she is interested in understanding online social influence, and how information diffuses through online populations.

As a digital strategy consultant, Aleks has written policy, government and industry reports covering media regulation, technological forecasting, demographics, age ratings, education and game industry regulation; she also regularly speaks about interpersonal processes in online communities with financial, telecommunications and governmental organisations.

Joanna Scott is a member of the Web Publishing team at the Nature Publishing Group. She is involved in a number of projects, and currently spends much of her time working on Nature’s efforts in the virtual world Second Life, tending the fledgling Second Nature island. Joanna joined NPG in 2004 through the Macmillan Graduate Recruit Scheme, which she came to fresh from a biology degree at Worcester College, Oxford.

Dave Taylor is responsible for introducing new approaches to Knowledge Transfer at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, including use of Web 2.0 and Second Life.

Prior to joining NPL Dave was Vice President of Global Web Development and Marketing for a leading office products manufacturer. He previously managed Letraset’s European Software business, working closely with Adobe Systems, Pixar and Apple Computer and developed an award-winning software product for graphic designers.

David is a member of the British Computer Society and has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Experimental Psychology.

Second Life: Davee Commerce
Blog: http://knowledgecast.wordpress.com