From molecular beam technologies to virtual experiments and communities

In the last 50 years, the impressive results on chemical kinetics from crossed molecular beam experiments have been assisted by theoretical and particularly computational progress, among which are: (1) the design and implementation of the SIMBEX (SImulation of Molecular Beam EXperiments) procedure on parallel and distributed computers aimed at rationalizing the dynamical behavior of the investigated systems on the ab initio computed molecular interactions; (2) the establishing of theoretical and computational research and educational networks (like the Quantum Reactive Scattering and European Chemistry Thematic Network), the assembling of virtual research communities (like the meta- and the grid-chemistry ones within the Collaboration in Science and Technology (COST) initiatives to enhance synergic and cooperative work levering on highly productive platforms; (3) the participation in the management of both the Italian and the European grid infrastructures initiatives; (4) the development of molecular open science-enabled cloud services within the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Levering on the mentioned collaborative efforts, important open science initiatives have been implemented. The present paper illustrates a prototype model apparatus for the production of methane out of CO₂ using renewable energy sources and a prosumer (producer–consumer) model for delivering online chemistry competence tests. Finally, a suggestion is made to establish networked local services of the academy for high school education.