© 1998 by Oxford University Press
Scanning the intricate structures of a cell's interior through a powerful electron microscope, a scientist in New York spies an intriguing piece of mitochondrial architecture and desires a closer look. Clicking on a computer screen, he directs the microscope to zoom in. Across the continent, at the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research at the University of California at San Diego, the microscope responds, sending three-dimensional images processed by the San Diego Supercomputer Center back to New York for study.
Impossible now, but this kind of collaborative effort is what some see as the ultimate role of the Internet in research -- a mechanism for high-resolution graphics, animation, or video that could provide for virtual laboratories and lecture halls, allowing equipment, data, and brainpower to be shared New Initiatives for Researchers Rev Up the Internet