Virtual realities might soon be a place to raise real money.

By Melissa Busch

“It allows for teaching in a new way and makes new technologies seem less daunting,” she explains.

SL is a world run and inhabited by avatars (characters with funny, futuristic-sounding names created by users) that can buy property, interact with each other, buy and sell products, and even have some extra-special superpowers. They can fly and change forms, and the world can be customized to support an avatar’s needs.