Category: Computers & Technology

Science endeavors to be a collaborative and open process. Unfortunately, it can be challenging for independent citizen scientists to share their data or publish their research findings. “Despite the quality of their work, competent amateurs and citizen scientists are not well-represented in the research literature,” explains Dr. Sheldon Greaves co-founder and Executive Director of the […]

Recently researchers at Michigan State University have been turning their attention to how we study plant photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the biological process by which plants and algae convert light into storable energy for growth and survival. Quantifying photosynthesis levels can reveal a lot about plant health. For example how efficient is the plant in capturing […]

Tired of watching the kids race home from school just to play video games for hours? One-up them and make a significant contribution to science while YOU play games. (Warning: The kids might like these, too!) EyeWire EyeWire is a citizen science project aimed at mapping the neural connections of the retina. All you have […]

Public Lab has launched Spectral Challenge, a two-part crowd funded project to improve the use of open source spectrometers. A spectrometer is a common research tool which uses light to identify an unknown substance’s chemical composition. Last year, members of the PLOTS community successfully developed a versatile and user friendly $40 spectrometer. While more accessible, […]

Imagine something more mysterious than the trenches of the deep sea, more convoluted than the intricacies of the human genetic code, possibly even more infinite than the vastness of outer space. Meet the human brain. Memories, mental disorders, language capability, motor skills, and so much more are encoded in this singular organ. Yet, neuroscientists don’t […]

The hills are alive with the sound of citizen science (and music)! Calling all music enthusiasts–the Bodleian Libraries are enlisting the help of the public in order to improve access to their music collections. About sixty-four boxes filled with unbound, uncatalogued sheet music from the mid-Victorian period has been digitized for public access. Although this […]

Remember those old diagrams in your grade school science text books?  I used to flip through each chapter trying to find the coolest images, but was continually disappointed when I was forced to squint at tiny illustrations. As I continued through school, however, I found myself drawn to large illustrations that conveyed information effectively and […]

The U.S. Geological Survey invites citizen scientists to send information about landslides in their neighborhoods to the Landslide Hazards Program for inclusion in their national database.

Enter on the side of the building. Look carefully, or else you’ll miss the sign. Walk down the stairs and turn right. Never mind the lack of windows, dim lighting, and pungent smell of coffee grinds. You have now entered FreeGeek, an underground lair of a nonprofit that harnesses the power of local volunteers to […]

Calling all hackers and techies! Science and technology have gone hand in hand for so long. Why not bring them even closer by organizing or participating in a Science Hack Day? First off, what is a hack day? (I assure you that there is no dismemberment involved.) Hack days are usually 48- to 52-hour events […]