Science in Seconds - Citizen Science
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Science in Seconds
Know Everything
RAVES – Citizen Science
Rheanna Sand: When you hear the word science,
what comes to mind?
Lonely PhDs mixing solutions in their labs late at night?
That may be so, but the concept of the citizen scientist
is making a comeback. Yes, you,
the ordinary, plain, simple non‑ scientist, can make a difference,
and not just as a guinea pig donating bodily fluids
or taking part in a crazy psychological prison experiment.
Nope: this science is the real kind of science,
the kind that lets you collect meaningful data
that will be analyzed and utilized in the scientific community.
As a citizen scientist you can do awesome things
like help the Zooniverse Project hunt for exploding stars,
monitor bee populations through the Great Sunflower Project,
or classify whale sounds by tuning into Whale.FM.
You can even help solve the impossible puzzle of protein folding
through a game called Foldit.
But if you don't fancy identifying, observing, classifying or solving,
you can still participate by simply leaving your computer on.
SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence,
will gladly borrow that unused computing power
to boost their search for ET.
Even the kids are getting into it.
In 2010, a group of seventh graders
from Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, California,
combed through images sent back from the Mars Rovers
and found a brand new cave.
And let's not forget, the famous Hale‑ Bopp Comet
was basically discovered by a couple of dudes
peering into telescopes in their driveways.
Citizen scientists are continuing a long‑ lost tradition
that was exemplified by some of our most beloved geeks:
Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin
all made their discoveries outside the confines
of the ivory tower of academia.
So what's stopping you from pitching in?
In the time it takes to tweet Kony2012,
you could have discovered a supernova.
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Only for educational/non-profit purposes.
(Translators are invited to put their name here)