Scientists now able to run synchrotron experiments remotely

Scientists will now have access to remote laboratories as a new project opens the ability to run synchrotron experiments from outside of the lab.

President of the University of Saskatchewan in Brazil flicked on the synchrotron Saturday from Campinas. Dr. Antonio Jose Roque da Silva, director of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory said in a news release: "This project opens a new frontier in scientific research since scientists can perform experiments from anywhere in the world, not only at the place where the laboratory is located."

ScienceStudio is the first web-based application of its kind to be released, and is the accumulated work of researchers from the University of Western Ontario in London, Concordia University, and IBM Canada. The project is funded by Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network.

The software allows researchers to use a high-speed, secure fibre-optic network to transmit data from the synchrotron in real time. The researchers can then collect data, collaborate on analysis and schedule experiments, all on the web.

Although it's still in testing, researchers have been using ScienceStudio for about a year to run experiments remotely, and it could alter the way in which some scientists conduct research.

Posted by Ben Evans