Zombie College: The 5 Rules of Lab Safety

What may be the best lab safety video ever.

I Educate (So They Know)

This one is for the science teachers, and all other teachers too!

Kickstart Reading Rainbow

Butterfly in the sky!
I can go twice as high!
Take a look
It’s in a book
Reading Rainbow!

If you are like me, and pretty much everyone else I know, then you grew up watching and loving Reading Rainbow. You tuned in to PBS and watched LeVar Burton share a love of reading. The show went off the air in 2009, and over its run time influenced millions of children.

Now, LeVar is trying to kickstart a new generation to fall in love with reading. Literally. He has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough money to bring back the beloved show. And this time, he hopes to add to the experience with the array of technologies not available back when the show stared in 1983, like tablet readers and a Reading Rainbow app.

So if you are looking for a good Kickstarter to back you should consider this one. The minimum pledge is only 1 dollar.

But you don't have to take my word for it...




See the great Kickstarter page at: "Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere."

Also, here's an NPR All Things Considered interview with LeVar:
"Burton Calls On 'Star Trek' Fans To Bring 'Reading Rainbow' To The Next Generation"

The Ultimate Mentor Adventure!

Marvel Comics is looking for the next Jane Foster! The character in Thor and its sequel Thor: The Dark World is an astrophysicist played by Natalie Portman. Natalie, who graduated with honors before attending Harvard University, enjoyed playing a scientist and believes in encouraging girls in these types of roles. As such, she is working with The Walt Disney Company (who owns Marvel Entertainment as of 2009) in a new endeavor called the Ultimate Mentor Adventure.

Natalie and the Ultimate Mentor Adventure aim to "empower girls ages 14 and up in grades 9-12 to embark on a journey that will allow them to explore their potential in the world of STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Through the collaborative efforts of Marvel, the National Academy of Sciences, and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., girls will have a chance to go out into the real world and ask successful women in STEM fields about what they do, how they got where they are…and how others can follow in their footsteps."




The finalists will get the opportunity to some of these incredible women in science, conduct interviews, participate in experiments and interactive events, go behind the scenes, and attend the premiere of Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World on opening day! To enter you must download, complete, and submit some forms (by October 20, 2013, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time). Then you must interview a successful woman working in a STEM field in your hometown. Finally, you create a 5-minute video about yourself, uploading it to the Ultimate Mentor Adventure website.

Kinda wishing I was 14 again.

In case you didn't get that URL, here it is again: http://dep.disney.go.com/ultimatementoradventure/

Teaching Science Through Rap

Two podcast events collided for me to produce today's post. The first was a 2-part interview on Neil deGrasse Tyson's show Star Talk. This interview included clips from Neil's discussion with GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan where they talk about how he thinks of his music, how fans relate to it, and how science has influenced his lyrical prose. Neil then listens to and comments on this discussion with Columbia Assistant Professor of Science Education Dr. Christopher Emdin. In his work, Chris uses rap to connect inner city youth to science. His erudite elocution put together with his expertise of hip hop culture is really inspiring.

You can hear this interview on Star Talk's website, just look for Season 4 episodes 20 and 21, or by clicking HERE.

Next, check out this video where Chris explains how urban students would learn more effectively if their teachers understood and spoke the language of hip hop.

The second podcast event was an NPR story called "Science Rap B.A.T.T.L.E.S. Bring Hip-Hop Into The Classroom." This story includes the two videos below, and it discusses Chris's teachings as well as how students research and wrote rhymes for the Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S competition. This program is part of a national push to boost science education among minorities. Senior Jabari Johnson won the competition with his rap "Quest for Joulelry," but you can see all of the lyrics HERE.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Tom McFadden also teaches science through music via Science with Tom and The Rhymebosome. You will recognize his work from my Monday video post Covalent Love. His approach with students is teaching them to write about conflicts from the history of science.  Here's a video he created with a group of seventh-graders from Oakland California.

Since it directly pertains to this subject, I'm going to throw in a video trailer for Baba Brinkman's Rap Guide to Evolution. I've actually seen him perform live, and he is a great.

If you've been following my blog long enough then you know I like to post good sciency music videos, many of which are raps. Here are a few to look at or revisit when you have the chance:

The Photosynthesis Rap
The LHC Rap
The Grad Student Rap
The Meiosis Rap
Epic Battle of Electricity
Rapping ATP
Rappin' Science

Rapping, Ecology Style

You can also click on the videos label over there on the right side of your screen to see all the wonderful sciency music I've come across in my Internet travels.

Want more information? Just click through the links peppered thoughout the post and look for more science rap video posts on my blog.

Science Podcast Roundup: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the Science Podcast Roundup. As with Science Podcast Roundup: Part 1 I'm only going to include podcasts that I have listened to so as to give a more honest opinion. I'm finishing up the list in this post so if you don't see your favorite podcast then please leave a comment with your suggestion. All of these podcasts can be found in the iTunes directory or through RSS feeds on the websites I’ve provided.

Radiolab

This podcast is from WNYC, a New York public radio station, and NPR. It is hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. The show is weekly and has full episodes that last over an hour as well as shorts that are about 20 minutes long. The podcast presents topics at the intersection of science, philosophy, and the human experience. They take on big questions and are often very story based. These stories are typically told through interviews. I find that the show explores interesting topics on a more personal level, and the hosts’ voices have almost a soothing quality that makes them very easy to listen to.
Website: http://www.radiolab.org

Science Times

This is another podcast from the reporters and editors of The New York Times. It is a 30 minute long podcast, hosted by David Corcoran, that discusses news in science, medicine, and the environment. So why not just read the NYT Science Section? This podcast reports those stories in much more detail, often going to location and interviewing doctors and scientists.
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/podcasts/index.html

Science Weekly

This podcast is presented by The Guardian and is hosted by Alok Jha along with some of The Guardian’s science reporters. In general, it covers “the best analysis and interviews from the worlds of science and technology.” These weekly episodes run anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. The episodes tend to be topic driven and include interviews by experts in the field. Overall, it is an easy to listen to, informative podcast.
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/science

Science…sort of

This podcast reminds me quite a bit of This Week in Science (described below). If you are a TWiS minion then you will probably like this show. The podcast is hosted by The Paleopals (Patrick, Ryan, Charlie, Ben, Jacob, Kelly, and Justin) and is “about things that are science, things that are sort of science, and things that wish they were science.” The weekly podcast runs about an hour and a half and covers more topics and stories than your average topic-based podcasts. The format is kind of just scientist friends talking about science stories they find interesting. It has a very informal sound to it, but that leads to some entertaining conversation and joking around. The informal format is not for everyone and to really like this style you may have to listen to a few episodes and get to know the personalities of the hosts. Once you do that you may find that you agree with certain people more than others and look forward to what they say in the next episode.
Website: http://www.sciencesortof.com

The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe

This podcast is produced by the New England Skeptical Society and is “dedicated to promoting critical thinking, reason, and the public understanding of science through online and other media.” It is currently hosted by Robert Novella (a neurologist), Rebecca Watson (the founder of Skepchick, Evan Bernstein (blogger and professional skeptic), and Jay Novella (skeptical activist, blogger, and producer). The show discusses the latest news from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims. It is all discussed from a scientific point of view – and that is the important part for me. The weekly show has a run time of just over an hour, the format is informal, and the material informative and entertaining. I really like their scientific point of view for topics that can get very unscientific very quickly.
Website: http://www.theskepticsguide.org

Star Talk

So I may have a small academic-crush on Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and a scientist involved in educating the public. This (mostly) weekly podcast runs about 45 minutes, is hosted by Neil, and presented by Discover magazine. It strives to bridge “the intersection between pop culture and pop science, covering subjects like space travel, extraterrestrial life, the Big Bang, the future of Earth and the environment, and other breaking news from around the universe.” Neil is often joined by comedian co-hosts, celebrities, and other special guests. I’ve always thought Neil to be well spoken and funny and this obviously lends well to radio. Each episode tends to be topic or interview based. The show is well suited for the average listener, and even for younger audiences. I find the podcast to be funny and informative. Try it and I’m sure you’ll love it too.
Website: http:// www.startalkradio.net

The Story Collider

This podcast is all about personal stories. They are live shows that are recorded and posted as podcasts for us to listen to. The episodes are posted weekly and range from 10 to 20 minutes in length. Essentially they are one person telling one story about how science, any part of it, has affected them. These people come from all walks of life, they are scientists, comedians, librarians, artists…whoever. Their stories range from important scientific discoveries to the very personal process of going through fertility treatments. They often contain really funny moments of humor as well as really personal life struggles. If you like to hear stories then this is the podcast for you.
Website: http://storycollider.org

This Week in Microbiology (TWiM)

This is a new podcast funded by the American Society for Microbiology. It is hosted by Vincent Racaniello (a virologist at Columbia University), Cliff Mintz (biopharmaceutical educator, microbiologist, and blogger), Michael Schmidt (professor and researcher in microbiology and immunology at MUSC), Stanley Maloy (bacteriologist and professor at San Diego State University), and other experts in the field. This biweekly podcast runs from an hour to an hour and a half in length and discusses the “unseen life on Earth.” They “strive to produce an informal yet informative conversation about microbes which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.” I find that statement to be true, for the most part. I think that the average person can keep up with them but that it defiantly helps to have at least a little knowledge of the subject. The hosts definitely know their stuff, effectively and thoroughly exploring a recently published article or news story, often referencing related primary literature. I find the podcast to be very well put together and easy to listen to. I subscribe to it because it keeps me up-to-date on a topic that I don’t read a lot of literature on. This podcast follows in the path of the successful This Week in Virology (TWiV) and This Week in Parasitism (TWiP). I have not given these shows a try, but if you like TWiM it is likely you will enjoy these other two shows as well.
Websites: http://www.virology.ws/2011/02/23/this-week-in-microbiology/ and http://microbeworld.org/twim

This Week in Science (TWiS)

This is actually the first science podcast I ever listened to. It is a weekly science radio talk show broadcasted by KDVS 90.3FM on the University of California Davis campus. The weekly, hour long show is hosted by Dr. Kirsten Sanford and Justin Jackson. They review articles and news stories in a wide range of topics and they will often have a long interview with a guest. This is one of the more entertaining podcasts as the hosts often take a “humorous and irreverent look at the week in science and tech.” Some of their more famous segments include This Week in World Robot Domination and the TWiS Bookclub. And, more recently, they have started broadcasting a live video stream of their show through the KDVS website.
Website: http://www.twis.org

NPR: Science Friday

SciFri is a weekly (yes, on Friday), two hour, call-in talk show hosted by Ira Flatow. It is part of NPR’s Talk of the Nation and is one of the most popular iTunes downloads, it even has iPhone and Android Apps. They “focus on science topics that are in the news and try to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand.” The show frequently includes panels of expert guests, takes questions from listeners, and has in-depth interviews with scientists. This is one of the premiere science shows and one I highly recommend.
Website: http://sciencefriday.com

Science on Saturday

This show can be found in the iTunesU section of the Apple Store. It is an approximately hour long video podcast from the University of California Television Network (UCTV) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Education Program. It consists of a series of lectures for middle and high school students. They focus on cutting-edge science topics and explore them in fun and interesting ways. Although this is geared towards pre- through late teens, the average listener will probably also enjoy them.
Website: http://education.llnl.gov/sos/

The Science Show

This is one of the longest running shows on Australian radio. It is a weekly, hour long show hosted by Robyn Williams and broadcast by ABC Radio National. It features current scientific issues, debates, events, and personalities. It also has segments recorded on location, interviews with scientists, and special feature stories and series. I find Robyn to be an exceptional host, often going to locations and hosting full interviews himself. If you like Science Friday and the Nature podcast then I highly recommend trying this one out.
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow

Weird Things

This podcast is a production of the blog of the same name. It is an almost weekly show that runs about an hour and a half and is hosted by Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood. It is geared towards “people who love both science and are fascinated by the impossible and fantastic” and “who believe a mystery is interesting no matter the outcome.” They attempt to answer questions like: How can you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? and How would you fight a Yeti in hand to hand combat? The hosts will present a story and then spend the rest of the time both talking directly about that story and going off on wild tangents. I find this podcast’s informal format and unique topics to be very entertaining and strangely informative, all at the same time. I definitely wouldn’t call it hard science, and it is skimming the surface of science news reporting at all, but it is funny. Consider becoming a Weirdling!
Website: http://weirdthings.com/

And last, but not least, I’m going to throw out a general approval-blanket over iTunesU. Several universities are now posting large amounts of information on the service. You can find individual podcast-type shows, made-for-audio specials, and even listen to class lectures. All for free! Want to know about a topic you never got around to taking in school? No problem. You’ll find several versions of the class here, you just need to decide on the school and professor. A note here though: Audio quality varies, especially for class lectures, so take a quick listen before downloading an entire class. If you can’t listen to a few minutes then there is no way you’ll get through an entire semester. But because there are so many choices, if you don’t like one then there is sure to be another out there.

Hope you enjoyed this tour through the world of science podcasts. I've gotten many friends, family, and collegues hooked on them in the past and I hope to do the same for you. As with all things, have fun!

Science Podcast Roundup: Part 1

To say I listen to a lot of podcasts would be an understatement. I constantly have headphones in my ears, much to the delight of friends and family who like to see if they can catch me unawares and scare the bajeezus out of me. There are so many podcasts out there, and the fact that they are free is just icing on the cake. I find that they are a great way to keep up on news, national, international, and science news in particular. But the multitude can often make it difficult to choose which ones to subscribe to. So I thought I would put together a list of science podcasts to help you decide. I’m limiting my list to those I’ve actually listened to so I can give a more honest opinion. If you have a podcast that you love, and that I haven’t listed here, then please leave comment.
I started off this post thinking that it would be quick and easy. Yeah, not so much. I started writing, and writing, and writing. I soon came to realize that (1) I probably listen to way too many podcasts, and (2) just one post wasn’t gonna cut it. And so this is part one of the Science Podcast Roundup.

All of these podcasts can be found in the iTunes directory or through RSS feeds on the websites I’ve provided.

60 Second Science

This is a podcast from Scientific American with the tagline “It’ll just take a minute.” The brief show is presented by science journalists who describe an interesting science story in, you guessed it, 60 seconds. The purpose of such a short podcast is simply to give you, the public, an easily consumable, bite-size piece of news or commentary. Personally, I find the stories interesting and well presented, but the one minute format can be annoying on a mechanical level. If listening on iTunes or my iPod I find that when one episode ends I must go to the window or device and scroll to the next one, interrupting whatever other task I’m doing every minute or so.
Website: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/podcasts.cfm?type=60-second-science
The accompanying blog called “Observations” http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations

Ask a Biologist

This show can be found in the iTunesU section and comes from the Arizona State University School of Life Sciences. The approximately 30 minute show is hosted by Dr. Biology (a.k.a. CJ Kazilek). The show is geared towards students prekindergarten through grade 12, and it is intended as a resource for teachers and parents. Questions appropriate to this age class can be submitted to be answered by Dr. Biology, and the host often has interviews with scientists. If you have an inquisitive child then this is the perfect podcast for you!
Website: http://askabiologist.asu.edu/

Astronomy Cast

This podcast is a “fact-based journey through the cosmos.” It is a weekly (for the most part) discussion on all sorts of astronomical topics ranging from planets, to physics, to space missions, and more. It is hosted by Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today, and Dr. Pamela Gay, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwarsville. Fraser takes a host role while also asking the questions that you yourself would ask of a particular topic. Pamela does a great job explaining a topic in detail, often using examples that make the topic understandable and that easily translate through audio. You don’t have to be an astronomer to understand what they are talking about, this podcast is for anyone. I like the 30 minute time format, you wouldn’t think it but it is actually a good amount of time for grasping a topic. Also, the podcast has been running since September 10, 2006, and as it is topic based and not current event based, it is easy to go back and listen to past episodes without feeling like you will miss something or get behind on a discussion. Personally, I love their tour through the solar system where they devote an episode to each of the planets and major components of our solar system.
Website: http://www.astronomycast.com

Big Picture Science

This podcast is presented by the SETI Institute’s radio studio in Mountain View, California. It is a weekly, one hour show that is broadcast on several radio stations in the U.S. (and one in Italy) as well as being rebroadcast on many Internet radio stations, in addition to its podcast format. The show “connects ideas about the origins, the behavior, and the future of life – and technology – on Earth in surprising and playful ways.” And once a month they have a “Skeptic Check” episode where they “separate science from pseudoscience – and facts from the phony.” I find that this podcast covers some really interesting topics and has great interviews. Sometimes the hosts can sound a little staged and robotic and the sound pieced together, especially for interviews, but it is overall it is easy to listen to and very informative.
Website: http://radio.seti.org

BirdNote

This podcast is brought to you by NPR and has several hosts that range in expertise from birders to broadcasters. This daily podcast consists of short two minute or so episodes about “the intriguing ways of birds.” They are usually topical, focusing on a particular habitat, behavior, or species and incorporate some wonderfully rich bird sounds. This podcast suffers from the same short formatting issues as 60 Second Science, if your device doesn’t auto-advance then you are constantly scrolling to the next episode. On the other hand, each episode has that smooth, professional quality that is so talk radio. I would say that this show is more for the average listener and/or backyard birder. Hardcore birders might be better entertained and informed elsewhere.
Website: http://www.birdnote.org

Bits: Tech Talk

I don’t listen to all that many technology related podcasts, but I do really like this one. It is from The New York Times. It is a 30 minute long, weekly podcast hosted by J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado. It discusses tech news, trends and innovations. They have really great hands-on computing tips – I particularly like their Tip of the Week. They include product reviews and have interviews with inventors, manufacturers, and software experts. Their website also links to all of the stories they talk about each week.
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/techtalk

Brain Science Podcast

This podcast is hosted by Dr. Ginger Campbell, an emergency physician with an interest in mind-body medicine, the brain, and consciousness. Episodes are approximately monthly and range in time from 20 minutes to just over an hour. The podcast features discussions on the latest books about neuroscience as well as interviews with leading scientists in the field. I find that when Dr. Campbell just reviews a book that it comes off much like she is reading a well researched book report. However, when she interviews someone the show flows more naturally, perhaps because she is engaging with another scientist. Also, the podcast can get rather technical and so I would recommend it to those in the science and medical fields rather than just the average listener.
Website: http://www.brainsciencepodcast.com

Brain Stuff

This podcast is from the folks over at How Stuff Works.com and is hosted by Marshall Brain. Episodes are released every other day and are about 3 minutes in length. Originally I read the title thinking it may be a neurology podcast. Not so. This podcast answers a single user-submitted question per show. The host is engaging but the audio is not all that great, making him sound like he’s sitting in a big hollow room with an itty bitty microphone. The subject matter, while interesting at times, tends to be a little young. If you have kids then they might find it fun and neat to find out what makes glass transparent or how blimps work.
Website: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hsw-shows/brain-stuff-podcast.htm

Cell

This podcast is produced by Cell Press, the publisher who puts out peer reviewed journals such as Cell, Current Biology, Neuron, Trends in Ecology and Evolution (TREE), and many others. It is hosted by the editors of this group and features interviews with the scientists that have published papers in this journal group. The monthly podcast runs 20 to 30 minutes long. It is easy to listen to and features some really interesting and groundbreaking science. However, I would recommend it for scientists and other academics as it can get rather technical. If you are unfamiliar with the terminology in the fields of cell biology, chemistry, genetics, immunology, and evolution then you can get lost very quickly. I find that it is a good way to keep up with a topic that I am familiar with but that I don’t really read the literature on with any regularity.
Website: http:// www.cell.com/cellpress/podcast

Discovery

This podcast is from the folks over at the BBC. Episodes run about 20 minutes and come out each week. Their objective is to take an “in-depth look at the most significant ideas, discoveries and trends in science, from the smallest microbe to the furthest corner of space.” I like this podcast quite a bit. It presents news with a global perspective, something I appreciate since news in the U.S., even science news, tends to be U.S.-centric. They cover a wide range of topics, and they even report on location. A show tends to be topic driven, only covering one topic per week, so if you are looking for broader science news coverage then you may want to listen to a different podcast.
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/discovery

The Naked Scientists

No they are not actually naked (I think…and hope), but rather these podcasters strip down science to its bare essentials so that it is easily understood by the public. This podcast is a weekly science radio talk show broadcast by the BBC, and it runs about an hour long. It is hosted out of Cambridge University by its creator Dr. Chris Smith along with Dave Ansell, Kat Arney, Sara Castor-Perry, Ben Valsler, Carolin Crawford, Dominic Ford, and more. Their fields of expertise vary from medicine to physics to marine biology, which means that the science news stories they present are both varied and interesting. To go along with these stories they have sections on kitchen science (small, safe experiments you can do at home), interviews, and question shows. Note: If you are using iTunes, all of the regular and specialty shows from The Naked Scientists come in both podcast and iTunesU versions. I recommend subscribing to the podcast version as it will update automatically and be listed under Podcasts rather than Music on your iPod.
Website: http://www.thenakedscientists.com

Naked Astronomy

This is one of the specialty shows from The Naked Scientists. It is a monthly, one hour long show on the happenings in astronomy news. It is hosted by Ben Valsler, Andrew Pontzen, Carolin Crawford, and Dominic Ford. This podcast has really great interviews and question shows as well. It is pretty comprehensive on all of the big astronomy news that has happened over the past month, explaining each story in such a way that both scientists and the lay person will enjoy.
Website: http://www.thenakedscientists/astronomy

Naked Oceans

Another specialty show from The Naked Scientists, this podcast takes you down under the waves, and into the ocean. This is a monthly, 30 minute show that discusses all of the latest news in marine biology. It is hosted by Helen Scales and Sarah Castor-Perry and often has guests and interviews. I find that it is a little less technical, or maybe just a little easier to follow, than Naked Astronomy, but perhaps that is only a result of the topic. It has a light-hearted almost playful feel to it while still presenting serious science stories.
Website: http://www.thenakedscientists/oceans

NASACast

NASA has several audio and video podcasts. The shows cover a wide variety of space topics, current space news, and NASA missions in particular. The podcasts are approximately weekly and range in run time from 10-15 minutes. The This Week @NASA podcast can be a bit choppy as they present many stories in a short span of time. However, the other podcasts are more topic driven and so flow better and explain the week’s topic in greater detail, and the video podcasts have some great NASA images and interviews with specialists and astronauts. It is a good podcast for keeping up on all things NASA.
Website: http:// www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/
 
Nature Podcast

Nature is one of the top journals in the field of science, and this is a podcast created by this publication. The podcast is hosted by Kerri Smith, Geoff Brumfiel and Geoff Marsh, along with reporters Charlotte Stoddart, Eric Olson and Natasha Gilbert. Each week the approximately 30 minute show covers the top stories from Nature, often featuring interviews with scientists and reporting on location. This podcast seems to be on par with Science Friday, so if you already like and listen that one you will probably like this one.
Website: http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/

The Nerdist

I’m including this podcast no so much as a great science reference but more as a fun geekology listen. It is a weekly show that runs about an hour and is hosted by Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira. Each episode typically features a famous guest – the kind of famous that everyone knows, not just scientists, like Stan Lee, Drew Carey, Dave Attell, etc. etc. etc. The guests are varied but usually relate to nerd culture, comedy, or science in some way. I find the show to be very entertaining, and the conversations with and stories told by the guests are usually really funny. It’s a light listen, something for when you don’t want to be bogged down in hard science and need a laugh. It is probably important to mention that the hosts occasionally (or sometimes frequently) swear, so you might not throw this on the mp3 player with the kiddies in earshot.
Website: http://www.nerdist.com/podcast/nerdist/

That's all for now. For the rest of this list continue on to the Science Podcast Roundup: Part 2.

Citizen Science. Get Involved.

Citizen science is becoming more and more popular these days. And why shouldn't it? It is an opportunity for volunteers, who may or may not have specific scientific training, to contribute to ongoing scientific research. The volunteer gets the benefit of participating in a task they are interested in and the scientist gets the benefit of many people going through very large amounts of data, allowing them to accomplish their research objectives. It is just a great way to involve the individual as well as promoting public engagement in science.

Citizen science is not a new concept, it has been around for centuries. However, with advances in technology and the rise of the Internet it has become so much easier to get people involved, especially across large geographic areas. And in most cases the human brain is much better at analyzing images and other data than a computer. Add to that the number of replications you can have when multiple people classify the same image and you can see how errors can be decreased and new discoveries made.

So how does this whole thing work and how can you get involved? Well, first, think about a scientific topic that interests you: ornithology, astronomy, climate change, geology...whatever. The scope of science is so big that there is likely a project that fits your interests. Next, you need to find a project. They come in several varieties. First there is the scope: international, national, regional, or local. Next there is the type of activity you want to do: field work, image or data analysis, or just contributing some of your computer's power. And finally, how long do you want to spend working on this: years, months, or hours. That sounds like a lot but once you have figured these parameters out it will make it much easier to find a projects that suits you. Once you have found a project there is typically a short training session to get you familiar with the user interface and how the data should be analyzed/recorded. Then you are all set to do some science!

I've divided some of the most popular citizen science projects down by category, giving a short description of each. Each icon is linked to take you to the project described. At the end I've linked to a couple of general, easily searchable websites that will help you find the project you want.

ASTRONOMY

This is one of the most popular citizen science fields, and the projects that make up the Zooniverse are the most popular of these projects. There are several projects within the Zooniverse to choose from including:

• Ice Hunters
•  Help find the final target of NASA's New Horizons Mission! After passing Pluto (and pending NASA approval of an extended mission, of course) the spacecraft will retarget itself for an encounter with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). The target won't be selected until shortly before the Pluto encounter and there will be lots of images to go through to find out where to go next. This is where you come in. Look at pictures of never seen before objects to find out which one we should visit.
• Moon Zoo
• Explore the surface of the Moon! Look through images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and answer questions about what you see. Identify craters, boulders (called "Boulder Wars," LOL), or any interesting or weird features you come across.
• Galaxy Zoo: Hubble
•  There are hundreds of thousands of galaxies drawn from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope archive. In this project you get to look at the gorgeous imagery from this telescope and classify the galaxies. Are they elliptical, spiral, irregular? Or is there some new type out there waiting to be discovered?
• Galaxy Zoo: Supernovae
•  This project is similar to the project above, this time contributing data from an automatic survey in California, at the world-famous Palomar Observatory. Except here you are looking for supernovae. Exploding stars!
• Galaxy Zoo: Mergers
• Here you are looking for the merging of galaxies. From images you select simulations that look similar to the targeted merger, tuning your best matches. You can even decide which simulation wins in a series of tournament-style competitions.
• Planet Hunters
• Look for extrasolar planets (planets around other stars)! This project finds planets by identifying how the brightness of a star changes over time.
• The Milky Way Project
• This projects aims to sort and measure our galaxy. Using the beautiful infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope you are asked to find and draw bubbles. These bubbles identify the life stages of the stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. 
• Old Weather
• This project works to recover worldwide weather observations made by Royal Navy ships around the time of World War I. This will contribute to climate model projections, improve a database of weather extremes, and track past ship movements and the stories of the people on board.
• Solar Stormwatch
• Help spot explosions on the Sun and track them across space to Earth! Not only will you help to identify and classify activity on the Sun but you will also contribute to early warnings if dangerous solar radiation is heading toward astronauts. 

These scientists are seeking to understand a star that has been a mystery for many years. This star is epsilon Aurigae, it is located in the constellation Auriga, and it is a variable star (it changes in brightness over time). This change in brightness is called eclipse. It takes over 600 days, and it only occurs every 27.1 years. The project scientists will guide you through the process of how to observe epsilon Aurigae, how to send them your observations, and then how to see your results, analyze them, and even publish them in a scientific journal.

SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. It is completely safe. All you need to do is download the program and it will run while your computer is on, not disrupting any of your other computing tasks.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

This project works to produce predictions of the Earth's climate up to 2100 and to test the accuracy of climate models. To do this, they need people around the world to give them time on their computers - time when they have their computers switched on, but are not using them to their full capacity. What do you do? Not much really. You to run a climate model on your computer. It runs automatically in the background, not affecting any other tasks for which you use your computer. It is completely safe and requires no more of your time than it takes to download the program. Read more by clicking the image link or go to download the program HERE.

Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) works to measure and map precipitation. Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, you take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible and report it on the website. These data are compiled and used to provide accurate high-quality precipitation data, increasing the density of precipitation data available throughout the country, and encourage citizens to have fun participating in meteorological science while heightening their awareness about weather.

This project aims to accurately record and analyze "ice on" and "ice off" events as well as snow depth, air temperature, and wildlife observations to learn how climate change affects our environment. You will receive instructions on how to properly IceWatch (even if you live in a warmer climate), you pick your location to observe over the winter (like a nearby lake, bay, or river), record your observations, and submit them online.



GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

This project is great for gamers!

Genetic sequences are difficult to understand and decipher their structure, and this project aims to compare them to detect any similar regions they may have. So they have put together a website that abstracts the multiple alignment problem to a game where the goal will be to align words made by pieces of different color instead of letters representing the genetic code (A,C,G,T). You create columns of the same color and create gaps, ultimately finding the best tradeoff between aligning color and creating gaps. You can even choose a puzzle to solve from the disease you want to treat.

Another project that is great for gamers. This project is all about protein folding. Proteins are built from individual amino acids but they don't stay all stretched out in a strand, they fold into very specific shapes. Finding the shapes and the optimal folding is the hard part though and is what this project aims to do. Knowing the structures is important to things like drug development and disease research. The problem has been put into game form. You, as the player, solve a series of puzzles to optimally pack you protein, hide the hydrophobic bits, and clear any clashes. You can play individually or form teams, competing with other protein folders around the world.

OCEANOGRAPHY

The whale shark photo-ID library...its cool just saying it. This project uses photographs of the skin patterning behind the gills of each shark and any scars to distinguish between individual animals. This helps scientists to see where individual animals are going, the abundance of whale sharks, and their distribution. If you see a whale shark while out diving you can report all kinds of information about the encounter by filling out their online form, and you can submit pictures to the library.

Do you love whales? All kinds? This project is working to classify the sounds that whales make into distinct regions. "For example, in Orcas (Killer Whales) there are over 150 identified types of call. Every time you match a pair of Orca calls, you're casting a vote for those two calls to be considered 'similar'." The more this is done the better map the researchers get of calls that are alike. This allows them to identify patterns, groups of whales, and eventually get a better understanding of how whales communicate with each other. All you do is look at a spectrogram and listen to a call and then find a matching call. Simple.

This is a project for reporting jellyfish and other marine organisms. If you have seen jellyfish, red tide, or any other unusual marine life you just go online and fill out their form and submit it. They even have a list of similar projects around the world that you can participate in.

FishWatchers is a project out of the International Game Fish Association. This website allows you to  upload your fish observations and photos through the Internet. Any fish any time. This information will then be used to create current distribution maps to assist in monitoring trends in biodiversity

TERRESTRIAL PLANTS AND ANIMALS

This is a great project from a Dutch entomologist that lets motorists report the date, time, and location of their latest outing and the number of insects that get hit (and probably smushed) by their vehicle. Not only does it give an idea about how many bugs are killed by vehicles it provides insect presence in certain locations and information about their flight patterns.

This is a network of people across the United States who monitor plants as the seasons change. It is a national field campaign designed to engage the public in the collection of important ecological data based on the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants (plant phenophases). You can send in regular observations or just a single report. Everything is usefull. They provide good identification keys and other tools you will need to start. Not in the U.S.? I'm sure there is is similar project near you.

This is a U.S. based citizen science project that is a national animal and plant phenology observation program. You find out the plants and animals near you on a provided list, learn to select a site and observe and record what is there, and submit your results.

 eBird is a real-time, online checklist program that reports and accesses information about birds. It provides information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. It is amassing one of the largest and fastest growing biodiversity data resources in existence. You enter when, where, and how you went birding, fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing, and submit your observations into the eBird database. They even provide tools so you can maintain your personal bird records and even visualize your personal data with interactive maps, graphs, and bar charts.

Neighborhood Nestwatch is a project out of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. The idea is to find and monitor bird nests so scientists can compare how successful nests are in urban, suburban, and rural areas. All you have to do is keep a watchful eye out throughout the year and report your results.

 I know several people that participate in the Christmas Bird Count each year and have a really great time. From December 14 - January 5 volunteers brave the cold weather to do a little bit of bird counting. Anything from feeder-watching to active birding counts. It provides valuable information on migrating birds, bird abundances and distributions, and much more. There are many groups out there too that participate in the count and would love to have another person to help, regardless of your skillset.

 NestWatch, as you might gather from the name, is a nest-monitoring project. It aims to compile large, continent-wide databases tracking survival and reproductive success of a wide range of species and provide a unified nest-monitoring scheme to track reproductive success for all North American breeding birds. You "get certified" (meaning you learn how to properly observe a nest without jeopardizing the nest), look for active nests, monitor the nests and collect data, and enter the data online. The fact that you get to see baby birds should be a big selling point *wink*

The Backyard Bird Count is similar to the Christmas Bird Count in that it is an annual event that provides a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the North America. The Count occurs from February 17 - February 20 and takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. When you are finished you enter your results on their webpage.

When it comes to doing science, watching the visitors to your bird feeder sure ain't bad. Project FeederWatch is a winter-long project of birds that visit feeders in backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. By counting birds at your feeder you help scientists to broadscale movements of winter-bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. You count birds at your count site that are there because of something you have provided (plantings, food, or water) and only report the highest number of individuals you see in view at one time, and then you report it online. Simple.

OTHER

 The Quake-Catcher Network (QCN )is a collaborative initiative for developing the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to Internet-connected computers. The QCN obtains information about earthquake waves (seismic waves) by using computers that are connected to the Internet. Many laptop computers have built in sensors and desktop computers can utilize small USB sensors to collect the data. The data from these sensors are collected only when the computer is turned on and idle and is sent over the Internet. It is safe and easy. All you need to do is download the program.

 I used to take my ecology lab students out to cemeteries so we could collect data to make life tables. They were always a little squeemish at first but ended up loving the work. The Gravestone Project aims to map the location of a graveyards around the globe and then use marble gravestones in those graveyards to measure the weathering rate of marble at that location. The weathering rates of gravestones are an indication of changes in the acidity of rainfall between locations and over time and could be used as a measure of changes in climate and pollution levels. You go to your local graveyard and take a few measurements such as the lead lettering or headstone thickness.

The bodyLab is a project that researches the evolution of human body shapes and our ideas of attractiveness. All you have to do is go to the website and rate the silhouettes of women and/or men based on if you find that body shape attractive. It is so easy to do you don't even need to create an account.

The Sound Around You is building a sound map of the world as part of a new study into how sounds in our everyday environment make us feel. All you do is use your mobile phones (or another audio recording device if your phone is not compatible) to record 10-15 second clips from different sound environments, or ‘soundscapes’ from a family car journey to a busy shopping center, and to upload them to the virtual map, along with your opinions of them and why you chose to record it.

Dognition is a site that offers dog owners a series of science-based games that determine their dog's unique abilities and their relative strengths and weaknesses in various thinking skills. These skills range from empathy to cunning to memorization. As a user, you enter the results of your dog's behaviors, contributing to a data set that can be used by researchers studying dog cognition. It also offers the owners a "window into [their] dog's mind, offering a first step on the path toward improved behavior." You can tell how your dog sees the world and how they respond in different situations while at the same time contributing to science. Note: As of now this site/service has a fee.

WEBSITES FOR FINDING CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS

This is the best website I have found for finding a project that suits you. It has a great search engine and describes the projects very well. It also includes many local projects as well as great projects for kids.

This site is less detailed and contains fewer projects but is still a good source for citizen science.


(top image from thisgreenblog.com)