The Future of Science is Continuous

Science is trapped in a paper-shaped box. In this talk at the ATProto community, Rowan Cockett introduces the structural states of scientific components — the floor, the buckets, and the shelf — and makes the case for a second wave of modular science where modularity emerges from packaging rather than being imposed as a precondition. The talk introduces the Open Exchange Architecture (OXA), a new standard for modular and composable scientific content.

A working group hosted by Creative Commons and Continuous Science Foundation (CSF) exploring how licensing can function as infrastructure that enables the reuse of research outputs in an increasingly modular research environment.

AI can read anything, but without shared standards it only reinforces PDF-era incentives. The interfaces we build shape what science becomes, and transforming scientific culture requires modular, structured, contextual foundations beneath every interface.