NFTs, Web3, and the metaverse are changing the way scientists conduct research

Scientists can leverage blockchain tools, such as smart contracts and tokens, to improve scientific collaboration between different stakeholders. This so-called decentralized science movement, or DeSci for short, combines blockchain and Web3 technologies to improve scientific research.

A major goal of DeSci is wider participation and funding in addressing scientific challenges, as well as democratizing the peer review process -- which is often dominated by a small number of journals where publishing and opposing censorship can be costly . DeSci can also create standards for research storage through proof of prior art. For example, on a financial blockchain like Bitcoin, transactions are verified by a network of miners, and research can also be verified by participants in a network of blockchain scientists.

scientific decentralization

Blockchain-based peer review ecosystems can be transparent, and they can provide credibility to research contributed by even anonymous participants. For example, scientists might receive shares or "rewards" for their participation, incentivizing the wider community to contribute.

In essence, the science of decentralization makes it possible to develop platforms that enable more people to interact at a fundamental level with what Dr. Benjamin Bratton calls "the source code of matter." "work together. Democratizing science through decentralized science will provide a new interface layer for the modern scientific revolution. The way this is accomplished is by decentralizing access to scientific pursuits—in short, allowing citizen scientists to make a difference.

We've seen this happen with computers, and we believe it will happen with science as well. In the early days of the computer revolution, software was difficult to use. Few people understand these rare techniques, which over time have become more intuitive and simpler - thanks to different levels of abstraction - allowing more people to become valuable contributors . Some of the technologies that make this possible include Javascript and packages that help make coding more efficient. At a lower level of abstraction, there is a technology like WordPress that allows people who don't know software or coding to build their own websites.

Scientific blockchain technology

Blockchain technology (tokens, NFTs, metaverses) has the potential to positively impact platform economies by democratizing scientific collaboration. When you think of platforms, you usually think of Uber or Airbnb, both world-changing projects in their own right. However, platform economics is a very new field of research, and it has even pushed game theory forward as an academic discipline. The process started with Bitcoin (BTC) and has only been furthered by Ethereum (ETH) and dozens, if not hundreds, of other blockchains since then.

Historically, web platforms and applications have tended to be centripetal in the process of creating value. The more they are used, the more value platform builders realize. Blockchain enables fairer arrangements, the more people who participate in any platform, the more people who add value to the platform, the more they get in return from the platform.

Decentralized Science (DeSci) is different from an IP platform or such a platform - the more it is used, the more the platform benefits and the value is consolidated. In the case of DeSci, those who generate value—researchers, scientists, citizen scientists, etc.—get value based on their contributions; that is, the more DeSci is used by other researchers and scientists, the more value they get big.

The implications for basic research in science, mathematics and other fields are very important. DeSci is creating new ways of contributing and collaborating that were not possible before the advent of blockchain technology. If you have the knowledge or understanding that this knowledge is intrinsically valuable and potentially applicable to some large project (which you might not even know what that project is), that your contribution can be used by others, you can be recognized, And get some value from your contributions in the future.

NFT will play an important role in the future metaverse. Because it is through NFT that scientific research can be transferred securely. Academics are already using NFTs. For example, the University of California, Berkeley, auctioned off an NFT related to Nobel laureate and cancer researcher James Allison for more than $50,000. The U.S. Space Force (a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces) has started selling a series of NFTs featuring augmented reality satellite imagery and space imagery. Biology pioneer George Church's company, Nebula Genomics, plans to sell an NFT of Church's genome. Church was a geneticist at Harvard University who helped start the Human Genome Project.

Use cases for NFTs in the scientific arena are rapidly increasing, and there are sure to be more in the future.