Year: 2010

Just back from a visit to Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Lab. Fascinating developments taking place there, not the least of which includes a number of citizen science initiatives! First up: ChargeCar! This project, part of a series of community-based applied research activities coming out of CMU’s CommunityRobotics.org,  is asking you to share your daily commute […]

It had been more than 10 years since the two-star system known as U Scorpii had erupted into one of its unpredictable bursts of brightness. Then yesterday morning, two amateur astronomers in Florida observed this “recurrent nova” come to life. Barbara Harris spotted it first and Shawn Dvorak soon confirmed. They notified the American Association […]

Most of the time, you can freely choose your own citizen science project (see our Project Finder). But every now and then, a project crashes through the ceiling… and chooses you. That’s what happened to a couple of doctors about a week ago in Lorton, Virginia, when a meteor traveling faster than 200 miles an […]

The science blogging community gathered (in person) at the increasingly popular Science Online 2010 conference in Durham, N.C. this past weekend where I was invited to chat about Adult Science Literacy, Science in the Media, and Citizen Science. I had the chance to unveil this beta version of  Sci4cits to an enthusiastic reception from the […]

Cephalopods use their heads: Australian researchers Julian K. Finn, Tom Tregenza, and Mark D. Norman have discovered octopi that carry around coconut shell halves and use them as shelter. They say it’s the first report of tool use by an invertebrate, a skill that crows, chimps, and, of course, humans share. Check out the amazing […]

Did you know that you can often see the International Space Station in the night sky? I’ve known that for a while, but I never think to look up at the right time. Here’s a cool solution I just came across: space station alerts via Twitter. Twisst will tweet you an advance summary of good […]