Talk presents findings from sociological investigation on hacking collectives. I will try to answer the question whether hacking collectives are laboratories, as seen by sociology of science. I will also show some peculiar traits of hacking collective, beneficial both for sciences and societies. Perhaps academia needs hackers more than it’s willing to admit? about this event: https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2016/Fahrplan/events/8263.html