Google will soon be offering up terabytes of online storage for open-source scientific datasets, which will be housed at the domain http://research.google.com. Storage will be free to researchers, and anyone will be able to access the data. The service, which is currently known as Palimpsest, was due to launch this week, but missed its launch date and will be launching soon.
Palimpset was first previewed to the scientific community at the Science Foo camp at the Googleplex last August. The service will utilize data visualization technology through Trendalyzer, which they previous acquired, and will offer algorithms for the examination and proving of information. The site will also offer up annotating and commenting features in a style that we’ve become used to at YouTube.
So what’s the point of Palimpsest? Well, it would primarily fill a need for scientists who want to openly share their data, as well as allow citizen scientists an opportunity to poke through an unprecedented amount of data. Examples of two datasets that plan to be included are images from the Archimedes Palimpsest, a 10th century manuscript, and 120 terabytes of data from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Interested in learning more? Check out the slide-show that Jon Trowbridge at Google presented last May, which talks more about the project:
| View | Upload your ownGoogle is also reportedly on the hunt for cool datasets to add to the project, so if you’ve got something you’d like to contribute, get in touch with them.
