Minima Institute
09 Apr 2024 20:55 Sichuan 152
Understanding Traditional Science (TradSci) and Its Limitations
Traditional Science (TradSci) stands for the methodical search for knowledge through theory, experiment, and observation.
Traditional science follows a centralized approach, with major publishers and institutions having disproportionate control over research. This leads to several drawbacks. Innovation tends to slow because of competition and lack of funding.
For example, potential breakthroughs could be stymied if promising early programs are denied grants. The lengthy and biased publication process of high-impact journals can hinder the timely exchange of knowledge. It can take years for a study to be published, which hinders the ability of the larger community to extend these findings.
Additionally, paywalls for published research create access barriers, especially for independent researchers and the general public. The system could hinder collaboration and ultimately reduce the potential impact of scientific advances. Tens of thousands of dollars undermine the idea that science should serve the public interest because of the costs it can incur to publish papers.
There are open access preprint services like ArXiv, but they do not provide article level tracking, identity verification, or quality control. SciHub provides unauthorized access; Therefore, an official, easily accessible scientific platform is needed. Web3 provides the resources needed to create systems that ensure data integrity and encourage participation.
Decentralized Science as an Alternative to Existing Scientific Systems
Decentralized Science (DeSci) within the Web3 framework is a paradigm shift in scientific research characterized by four fundamental principles: incentive, transparency, decentralization, and collaboration.
The shift from centralized institutions (where a few entities control most power) to distributed networks (where participants share most power) is called decentralization.This change reduces the power of gatekeepers and increases inclusiveness by democratizing access to resources and decision-making.
DeSci places a strong emphasis on transparency and supports free and open access to methods, data and conclusions. DeSci fosters an environment of openness and accountability by encouraging transparency, thereby making scientific research more repeatable and credible.
Collaboration is at the heart of DeSci, which leverages decentralized networks to enable cross-border, censorship-resistant collaboration. DeSci promotes diversity of perspectives, expertise sharing, and group problem solving by eliminating institutional and geographic boundaries.
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and tokens that compensate researchers for their efforts are the driving forces behind DeSci's incentives. These awards match individual interests with group goals that enhance knowledge, creativity, and social impact. DeSci promotes participation, creativity, and the preservation of the scientific method through economic incentives.

How DeSci Works
DeSci uses blockchain for secure data storage, dao for decentralized decision-making, and tokenization to incentivize research contributions and control intellectual property.
Due to its immutable and decentralized structure, blockchain technology ensures the security and reliability of data storage. Blockchain data is resistant to tampering and single points of failure because it is spread across multiple nodes in the network. Each block in the chain has a cryptographic hash of the previous block, resulting in an ordered sequence of linked data blocks. Adding blocks to the chain ensures the integrity and security of the data, as it is computationally impossible to change any earlier blocks without the approval of the majority of the network.
DAO is an essential part of DeSci, enabling transparent and decentralized funding allocation and project governance. DAO allows stakeholders to manage resources and make decisions collaboratively without the need for centralized intermediaries. They do this by using smart contracts on a blockchain network. DAO members can use programmable governance mechanisms to enforce rules, propose and vote on research proposals, and allocate cash for certain projects.
At DeSci, tokens and intellectual property non-homogeneous tokens (IP-NFT) are essential to encourage participation and claim rights to research outcomes. IP- NFT allows researchers to mark their intellectual property rights (e.g. papers, datasets, patents) on the blockchain. Tokens can be used to coordinate incentives within the decentralized research community, compensate researchers for their contributions, and encourage collaboration.
With IP- NFT, scholars can grant themselves rights to exchange or license on a blockchain platform by tagging their intellectual property rights, including papers, repositories, and patents. This encourages innovation and information sharing within the DeSci ecosystem by incentivizing researchers to share their work publicly while maintaining ownership and control of their intellectual property rights.
Benefits of DeSci
DeSci fosters innovation and teamwork, democratizes access to scientific knowledge and builds a more inclusive and equitable research environment.
First, it encourages inclusion by lowering barriers to entry, enabling scientists from diverse locations and backgrounds to participate in and contribute to scientific projects. In addition, by providing open access to data, methods, and results, DeSci promotes trust and openness while promoting repeatability and peer review.
In addition, it allows researchers to collaborate in a decentralized, censorship-resistant way that accelerates innovation and problem solving, thus fostering international collaboration. DeSci also proposes innovative incentive systems, including tokens and DAOs, that ensure researchers are fairly compensated and encourage participation.
IP-NFT allows researchers to retain control of their intellectual property, potentially monetizing their work and incentivizing open sharing. In addition, DeSci could eliminate paywalls and democratize access to research data and findings, thereby facilitating broader knowledge exchange.
In the world of DeSci, trust and verifiable credentials are essential. The Soulbound token serves as a non-transferable mark of achievement, giving researchers a powerful tool to demonstrate their expertise and credibility within the community.
Challenges facing DeSci
If DeSci's goal is to transform research as expected, it faces challenges in ensuring data security, efficient DAO governance, blockchain scalability, legal gray areas, and promoting inclusion.
Ensuring the security and integrity of data on a decentralized network presents significant challenges, as bad actors may try to alter or tamper with research data. In addition, reaching agreements in dao can be difficult, requiring an effective governance structure to manage competing interests and options.
In addition, scalability remains an issue, as the high transaction and data volumes of large research projects can be difficult to manage for blockchain networks. Legal issues and regulatory uncertainty related to data ownership and intellectual property rights further hinder widespread adoption.
In addition, it is critical to overcome the digital divide and ensure that researchers from all geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds have equitable access to DeSci tools and resources. Overcoming these barriers requires