Bench Press

Here at Bench Press, we’re very interested in how to leverage new internet technologies to help scientists work better, collaborate more effectively, and reach out to the general public in a meaningful way. So, when we found out we wouldn’t be able to make it to the 2009 Science Online London conference (or solo09 as the Twitter-verse seems to be calling it), we were disappointed to say the least (although for some reason it completely escaped our mind that we could’ve attended for a nominal fee via Second Life).

Thankfully, the people who attend a conference dedicated to talking about better ways for scientists to use the internet are also the most likely to live-blog the event. So, thanks to the always-wonderful Allyson Lister over at the Mind Wobbles, the public has access to an avid conference blogger’s account of the conference. And, as a bonus, on each of her posts, she’s also linked to the FriendFeed discussions of each of the panels!

The two sessions I found most interesting (and wished I had been there to see) were:

• The live-demo of the not-yet-public Google Wave by Cameron Neylon, Chris Thorpe, and Ian Mulvany and the discussion of its potential as a means for collaboration (Google, if you’re listening, I’m still waiting for my chance to try it!)
• The discussion on how science communication will be done in 50 years with science fiction author John Gilbey. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t quite tell from Allyson’s notes what exactly happened, but when the notes talk about creating a “University of Rural England where things are not always as they seem” with “machine-enhanced clairvoyance for science quality auditors” and “a temporal portal to allow historic research leaders to be employed on projects”, you know it must’ve been fascinating.