The development of networked computers has created unprecedented opportunities in science. From numerical simulations of quantum mechanics to international genomic databases, all corners of science have experienced new modes of operation and investigation. A rapid increase in computational power has been fused with the internet to generate new kinds of projects and consortiums. As much as the Printing Revolution brought the Science Revolution in 16th Century, the Digital Revolution has created the present Information Age, which could widen and accelerate the circulation of knowledge worldwide. Nonetheless, dissemination of new discoveries has been largely controlled by a traditional publication scheme, until recently.

For decades, people have been grappling with the question: could life have ever existed on Mars? Although NASA scientists have found ways to test Martian material, many of their methods actually destroy the materials they are testing, making it difficult to obtain accurate results.