ResearchGate, a Facebook for scientists

Long before it became a medium for the masses, the Internet was a rarefied means for scientists to communicate with one another — especially computer scientists, since they were busy inventing the thing.

Now about 500,000 scientists and researchers from every field and almost every country, I’m told, are communicating and collaborating at no charge on a 2-year-old service called ResearchGate http://www.researchgate.net/ , which on Wednesday announced first-round funding in an undisclosed amount led by Silicon Valley’s Benchmark Capital, with Accel Partners also participating.

By Scott Duke Harris

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