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Do Some Citizen Science

Posted by timothy on from the distributed dept.

Idmat writes "Citizen Science Projects points to interesting projects by "real people, doing real science." Find out how to do volunteer scientific research, and read about current efforts to gather and report data on everything from water quality to variable stars to frog populations."

10 comments

  1. What about... by keiferb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    the distributed.net projects? SETI at home? Protein folding? I like contributing to the really neat stuff without needing the advanced degrees to actually understand it.

    1. Re:What about... by DaoudaW · · Score: 4, Informative

      the distributed.net projects? SETI at home? Protein folding?

      All these projects do is let real scientists use your computer. You aren't really involved. For real fun, check out some amateur scientist websites. And no you don't need an advanced degree to understand it.

    2. Re:What about... by DramaGeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For anybody that who is interested in this but has no idea where to start, I highly recomend BOINC. It's becoming the standard as more and more distributed projects convert to using it. Right now, SETI, Predictor, ClimatePrediction, and LHC (the particle accelerator). Follow the link for links to each individual project.

      http://boinc.berkeley.edu/

      With BOINC, you can run multiple projects, and it'll split resources between them. On multiprocessor (or hyperthreaded) machines, you can dedicate a processor to each project.

  2. I do research all the time by VultureMN · · Score: 5, Funny

    Every Friday night I do research on the effectiveness of the liver to break down toxins. And every Saturday morn I do more research on the effects of dehydration on the human body. I'm nothing if not thorough and dedicated.

    1. Re:I do research all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm that sounds unhealthy, but sacrifice in the name of research can't be that bad can it? I've been doing an experiment to see just exactly how much people hate spa m!(even the spam website is awful). Turns out they're willing to gut you like a fish, beat you sensely, or perform any number of acts of excrutiatingly painful torture. Conclusion: people much prefer the taste of actual products, rrather than the byproducts of the products.

    2. Re:I do research all the time by shpoffo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wonderful.... so what are the results of your study. I'm not joking; please report.

      .
      -shpoffo

  3. Science rocks! by mind21_98 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For those who want to get into science but don't have the credentials, this is a perfect way to get your feet wet, so to speak. A lot of those projects actually sound quite interesting. And best of all, countries other than the US are well-represented. :)

    --
    US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
  4. great for public schools by tsm_sf · · Score: 3, Funny

    I know that some high schools in Washington state take part in stream and lake monitoring projects. How cool would it be to know that you are contributing to a body of knowledge in HS?

    (Oh, and these kids are having more of an impact on Science than you ever will with your masters thesis. Nobody gives a rat's ass about south pacific mollusk chin-whisker growth. Ok, three people do, but you're one of them.)

    --
    Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
  5. great for everybody by bitingduck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had the opportunity to be a special awards judge at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair in 03, and had to look at nearly every project (first to sort for relevance for the award, then to rank those). Some of the coolest ones were the in the environmental science category. Typically it was very bright, excited kids doing good research in their local area to monitor things, or find out the impact of particular events or pollutants or problems. In a lot of cases they went as far as working with their local governments to mitigate problems that they investigated (e.g. dock preservatives damaging waterways). Great examples of "Citizen Science".

    If you ever get to attend the ISEF, I highly recommend it. It was much more fun than most professional conferences I go to.

  6. Nope. by acxr+is+wasted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Judging by this thread, it seems like "citizen science" is about as popular as "Citizens on Patrol."

    --
    "Come on, let's go drink till we can't feel feelings anymore."