The BBC has an article - drawn from the latest edition of the appropriately named science journal "Science" - that virtual worlds are a boon to researchers, especially sociologists who study things like government and "the concept of self".

World of Warcraft and Second Life are proving a boon to social scientists who are using them as virtual laboratories.

Researchers are getting insights into real life by studying what people do in virtual worlds, reveals a review in the journal Science.

The BBC has the full tale.