Ira's avatar, Ira Flatley, hanging out in Linden Lab's Second Life virtual world.

Getting bored with your life? Maybe you need a second one. You can have one -- on-line. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can create a virtual You that will chase after trolls, fly, or simply hang out on a tropical island paradise. This hour, we'll be talking about virtual worlds and why we find them so addictive. Is it healthy for us to catch a virtual movie online, when we could be seeing one with our "real" friends here in this world? We'll also talk to scientists who want to use virtual worlds to better understand this one: one researcher has even proposed unleashing a virtual epidemic in an online community near you. Plus, someone has to decide what goes into a digital realm, and what stays out: why doesn't every land have dragons? Join us as we talk to a game developer from Second Life about building virtual worlds.

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). We'll also be taking questions from Second Life avatars this Friday. Ira's avatar, Ira Flatley, will be hanging out in Second Life during the show at Science School (Second Life coordinates 128 128 0). If your avatar has a question for Ira or our guests, instant message Ira Flatley in Second Life between 3:00-4:00 PM ET or visit him at Science School. Plus, some virtual swag - ask Ira for a SciFri t-shirt for your avatar!

Guests:
Dmitri Williams
Assistant professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication
Los Angeles, California

Cory Ondrejka
Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
Linden Lab
San Francisco, California

Sherry Turkle
Director, MIT Initiative on Technology and Self
Program in Science, Technology, and Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Eric Lofgren
PhD Epidemiology Candidate
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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This segment produced by Molly Webster