The future’s made of virtual insanity, according to one behatted sage. But it doesn’t have to be.

We’ve been playing with virtual environments for some time at Nature, holding regular scientific seminars in the online world Second Life.

There are several barriers to entry here. If you’ve never avatared your way around a computer-generated environment, you might be unsure of where to start, how to interact, and what the point of this virtual malarky is anyway. It can all get a little confusing and frustrating for the newbie.

We want to make it really, really easy for you.

Hence, a new web site to bring some virtual sanity to proceedings. The Second Nature (see what we did there?) portal tells you all you need to know about finding the best science in Second Life, including a beginner’s guide and an events calendar.

As well as Nature’s own virtual territory, we show you how to get to the Genome Island, the International Space Flight Museum, and others.

Got any questions? Ask away in the Second Life forum.

Go play!