Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 20 August 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040816-14
News
The common good
Projects such as SETI@home have proved that big research does not need big resources. Can lab-based research follow suit? Strike the right chord and you'll get an army of volunteers helping you for free, says Philip Ball.
Can you get thousands of people to work for you, generating a high quality product, without paying them? Conventional economics would answer: don't be silly.
But it's possible.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email webadmin@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
There are currently no comments.
