One of the most intriguing challenges for social scientists is to explain the ebb and flow of national fortunes. Why do some societies grow rich and powerful, while others remain deadlocked at the margins of the international economy? And perhaps even more puzzling: Why do some nations achieve economic success and enjoy significant periods of technological dominance, only to see their power and fortunes usurped by the next generation of rising powers? In other words, [...]

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One of my favorite chapters in Wikinomics describes the rise of a new paradigm we call collaborative science or Science 2.0. Of course, the pursuit of scientific knowledge has been a collaborative activity for a long time — at least since the ideas of the Enlightenment inspired pioneers such as Newton and Bacon to devise the scientific method. Now as blogs, wikis, and Web services are adopted by a younger, more Web-literate generation of scientists [...]

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Sony recently announced a partnership with the folding@home project that will allow scientists to harness the spare processing power of millions of Sony PlayStation 3 users. All of that processor power, in turn, will be used to better understand the causes of diseases like Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis, and cancer. Sony’s new processor and graphics technology reportedly packs a punch so the aggregate unused computing power of thousands of Internet-connected gamers should be sufficient to push [...]

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