Simple to use open source software that assists collaboration in workgroups. It isn't project management software, but certainly would help setting up responsibilities and storing/tracking contributions made by groups of researchers working together.
Not all of those mentioned on this list are that "new". Those I think that would be most useful to researchers:
For metrics/statistics - Argyle, TwentyFeet.com & PostRank
For content management - Trunk.ly & Storify
& for Twitter hashtag tracking - HashTracking
Want to write a novel in a month? NaNoWriMo is a great tool for those creative writers out there, but also useful for non-fiction writers as it allows you to easily track your word count.