That said, however, collaboration has accelerated over the past several years, thanks in part to the increasing popularity of social media, or Web 2.0 tools, which have collectively lowered the barriers to online interaction for scientific researchers.

If Bizarro is like Facebook or Wikipedia, a collaborative network called ResearchGate has aspects that are similar to LinkedIn, the corporate social network. While the service allows scientists to search for and connect research done by others to their own work in order to see patterns or relationships that are worth following, it also allows scientists to create profiles and search for relationships with other researchers in similar or related disciplines.

ResearchGate, which has 180,000 members, says it wants to create something called "Science 2.0" using social media tools. According to the group's Website, "communication between scientists will accelerate the distribution of new knowledge. Without anonymous review processes, the concept of open-access journals will assure research quality. Science is collaboration, so scientific social networks will facilitate and improve the way scientists collaborate."

Some scientists are using even newer tools to collaborate -- including Google Wave, the new tool launched by the search giant that some describe as a combination of email, instant messaging, and a wiki.