DailyDirt: Citizen Science

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Apr 24th 2013 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The funding for "big science" is subject to all kinds of political whim, so maybe it's time to bolster the efforts of small science projects that might still contribute to the world's scientific knowledge. (And, hopefully, citizen scientists won't waste too much time or resources on perpetual motion machines or homeopathic remedies.) Here are just a few programs that citizen scientists can participate in.

The White House is looking for citizen scientists and is accepting nominations for notable people who have made a significant impact on society. The White House will host its Champions of Change event on Citizen Science on June 4, 2013 -- so get your nominations in by the end of April. [url]
If you like ants, here's your chance to have some say in giving a common name to the ant species forelius pruinosus. Anyone can vote on the top four names: barricade ant, blockade ant, high noon ant or highway ant. (vote before April 30th!) [url]
Citizen scientists submitted projects to a Scistarter contest earlier this year, and the grand prize went to a device that creates fuel from water. It's not exactly a Mr. Fusion, but splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is still a neat demonstration. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: ants, challenges, citizen scientists, forelius pruinosus, science
Companies: scistarter

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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2013 @ 6:25pm

what's the difference between a scientist and a citizen scientist?
does one pay more in taxes? is one more likely to be labeled a terrorist?
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2013 @ 6:47pm

In other news...
The device that creates fuel from water will be protected by drones and watched over by clones of Tom Cruise and a British woman. They are said to be an effective team.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Apr 2013 @ 11:17am

Re: In other news...
An army of Tom Cruise clones sounds like an awesome Star Wars sequel! JJ Abrams can have someone say "Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?" every 10 minutes during the movie.
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Citizen Science, 28 Jul 2014 @ 9:27pm

Even more citizen science
There's an explanation of citizen science at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science
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