en-us Science news and technology updates from Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com Copyright 1996-2013 Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com 45 http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/logo/SAlogo_144px.gif 144 Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:40:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=aurorasaurus-project <p> <!-- <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=aurorasaurus-project>[More]</a> Space,Cosmology,Science Education,Astrophysics,Physics,Everyday Science Tue, 28 May 2013 17:00:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4ab9e2c86b780b63da6f747aa96e21fa http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=ventus-project-carbon-dioxide-count <p>Power plants burning fossil fuels constitute more than 40 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere every year, according to Arizona State University researchers. Information regarding where the world&rsquo;s power plants are located and how much each one is emitting is not well-known outside of the U.S. and a handful of industrial countries. In order for basic research on climate change and the global carbon cycle to move forward, researchers need this information. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=ventus-project-carbon-dioxide-count>[More]</a> Energy & Sustainability,Society & Policy,Energy,Science in Service,Everyday Science,Environment,Science Education,Alternative Energy Technology,Clean Air Policy,Climate,Energy Technology Tue, 21 May 2013 13:10:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=29f748d9a226ea06d62ae5773f44a6ea http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=digital-fishers-canada <p>Over its first two years of operations, NEPTUNE Canada has recorded thousands of hours of video, both during installation dives and from underwater cameras installed across its subsea network. All this video needs to be studied, but the organization&rsquo;s software is not yet sophisticated enough to automatically identify a wide variety of animals and other features. By playing Digital Fishers , citizen scientists help researchers gather data from video, and unveil the mechanisms shaping the animal communities inhabiting the deep. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=digital-fishers-canada>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Science in Service,Everyday Science,Computing,Science Education,Ecology,Communications,Biology Tue, 14 May 2013 13:05:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=68442e96dd59a718642808650890e3ad http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=space-warps-zooniverse <p>Zooniverse&rsquo;s Space Warps project calls on citizen scientists to help discover elusive objects in the universe by looking through images that have never before been seen. Computer algorithms have already scanned the images, but there are likely to be many more space warps that the algorithms have missed. Space Warps&rsquo; creators think that it's only with human help that all of them will be found. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=space-warps-zooniverse>[More]</a> Space,Math,Physics,Science in Service,Cosmology,Science Education,Astrophysics,Galaxies,Space Exploration,History of Science,Everyday Science Tue, 07 May 2013 11:45:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=29e83560a3f4c4e30c3bbfe59d20b35c http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=marine-debris-tracker <p>Discarded metal, fishing gear, plastic, glass and other waste can both sully a beach and pose a health threat to its inhabitants. That&rsquo;s why the NOAA Marine Debris Division and the Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative (SEA-MDI) , located within the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia, have developed the Marine Debris Tracker mobile app. This iPhone and Android software lets you check in when you find trash on our coastlines and waterways. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=marine-debris-tracker>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Society & Policy,Science in Service,Consumer Electronics,Science Education,Ecology,Computing,Biology,Everyday Science Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5c07543f2a3596c61dd5700df0c4b599 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=zooniverse-notes-from-nature <p>Natural history museums across the world share a common goal--to make scientific data accessible to those who would use it. Zooniverse&rsquo;s Notes from Nature project gives citizen scientists the opportunity to make a scientifically important contribution. Every transcription that is completed brings researchers closer to filling gaps in our knowledge of global biodiversity. Help museum staff and scientists by transcribing the labels and ledgers that have been meticulously recorded and stored for the very reason that they might be someday be useful. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=zooniverse-notes-from-nature>[More]</a> More Science,Psychology,Chemistry,History of Science,Math,Physics,Science in Service,Everyday Science,Science Education,Astrophysics,Cosmology,Dinosaurs,Evolutionary Biology,Language & Linguistics,Neuroscience,Psychiatry,Archaeology & Paleontology,Biology Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=6a7f678d1772b3d05072376cecae80ef http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=noaa-project-ping <p>The National Severe Storms Laboratory&rsquo;s (NSSL) Precipitation Identification Near the Ground (PING) project is looking for citizen scientists who can report on certain weather conditions--hail and winter weather, in particular--from the ground. NSSL, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), collects weather information from Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) during storm events. However, these Doppler radars cannot see close to the ground. Through PING, NSSL wants to compare its radar findings with citizen-science observations. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=noaa-project-ping>[More]</a> More Science,Physics,Science in Service,Climate,Science Education,Environment,Everyday Science Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=6ef7c8cce516bcb357a58d86f9828652 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=biocurious-diy-bioprinter <p>Did you know you can print live cells from an inkjet printer? Companies like Organovo are developing ways to 3-D print human tissues and organs. But the basic technologies are so accessible that we wanted to play around with them ourselves. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=biocurious-diy-bioprinter>[More]</a> Technology,Chemistry,Science Education,Science in Service,Everyday Science,Biology,What's Next Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:15:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=eba455ddf75980d4c88f761a111ad154 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=roadkill-survey-for-road-bikers <p>Conducted in Partnership with the Road Ecology Center', The UC Davis Road Ecology Center&rsquo;s Road Kill project brings together researchers and policy makers from ecology and transportation to design sustainable transportation systems based on an understanding of the impact of roads on natural landscapes and human communities. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=roadkill-survey-for-road-bikers>[More]</a> More Science,Society & Policy,Science in Service,Ethics,Science Education,Ecology,Biology,Everyday Science Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:30:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=fa1b354f743ae1b3673f2ae6d1e90e21 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=space-hacker-workshop <p>The inaugural Space Hacker Workshop on May 4-5, 2013, at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, Calif.--across the street (literally) from NASA Ames Research Center--will teach citizen scientists and hardware hackers how to do &quot;space on the cheap.&quot; During the two-day event, participants learn how they can build and fly experiments in space, and even fly in space as citizen astronauts, through the Citizens in Space program . <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=space-hacker-workshop>[More]</a> Technology,Physics,Society & Policy,What's Next,Computing,Astrophysics,Galaxies,Space Exploration,Cosmology,Communications,Math,Science Education Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=b24c3b06de7b2231753d230ab8584056 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=frogwatch-canada <p>Canadian herpetologists (scientists who study amphibians and reptiles) are studying declines in various species, hoping to determine causes and possible solutions. Volunteer monitoring programs such as FrogWatch Canada are important because they are often the first signal that a particular species is declining. If such programs were up and running in the late 1970s we would have a much better idea why Northern Leopard Frogs declined across the prairies. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=frogwatch-canada>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Society & Policy,Science in Service,Ecology,Science Education,Climate,Biology,Everyday Science Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:10:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=fa78aae7fbbe1b772581449e41276155 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=project-merccuri <p> Project MERCCURI (Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University Researchers on ISS) is an investigation of how microbes found in buildings on Earth--in particular public buildings such as stadiums--compare to those on board the biggest building ever built in space: the International Space Station. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=project-merccuri>[More]</a> More Science,Chemistry,Science Education,Everyday Science,Biology,Science in Service Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:20:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=731d77046f6e691d579fa74a0c67e63a http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=cicada-tracker-wnyc-magicicada <p>Public radio station WNYC invites families, armchair scientists and lovers of nature to join in a bit of mass science: Track the cicadas that emerge once every 17 years across New Jersey, New York State and the whole Northeast by building homemade sensors and reporting your observations. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=cicada-tracker-wnyc-magicicada>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Science in Service,Ecology,Science Education,Biology,Everyday Science Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:10:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9d393accf1d27d15f65fb66a5fcfa87d http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=hummingbirds-at-home <p> Hummingbirds at Home is a new citizen science project from the National Audubon Society designed to help scientists understand how climate change, flowering patterns and feeding by people are impacting hummingbirds. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=hummingbirds-at-home>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Science in Service,Ecology,Science Education,Climate,Biology,Everyday Science Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:30:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=100e4fb7418b5896a4cdc9cec0a51035 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=subseaobservers-scallop-science <p>University of Delaware researchers working with mid-Atlantic scallop fishermen invite citizen scientists to help survey the scallop population in the New York Bight , off the coasts of New York, New Jersey and Delaware by analyzing undersea images captured by a robot submarine named Dora. The SubseaObserver approach is designed to cover more terrain in less time while leaving the undersea environment undisturbed . <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=subseaobservers-scallop-science>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Ecology,Science Education,Biology,Science in Service Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:45:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=133b4c95130bdec3417e3e9699689f39 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=the-snowtweets-project <p>The Snowtweets Project provides a way for people interested in snow measurements to quickly broadcast their own snow depth measurements to the Web. These data are then picked up by the project&rsquo;s database and mapped in near real time. Snow and ice researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada, are especially interested in using Web-based digital technologies to map snow depth data; currently, the project uses the micro-blogging site Twitter as its data broadcasting scheme. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=the-snowtweets-project>[More]</a> More Science,Science in Service,Computing,Science Education,Environment,Everyday Science Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:20:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=76af1cce679d57786dc87917d23241a0 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=icewatch-usa <p> IceWatch USA , a program of nonprofit Nature Abounds , brings citizen scientists the opportunity to help professional researchers study how our climate is changing. In as little as 10 minutes, citizen scientists can report information that will help to analyze how climate will change in different regions of the United States, and how ecosystems are reacting to the change. IceWatch USA is modeled after and a proud partner of Ice Watch Canada . <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=icewatch-usa>[More]</a> More Science,Society & Policy,Science in Service,Ecology,Science Education,Climate,Environment,Everyday Science Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:15:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5c17395b2956139149f05f5269704845 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=zooniverse-snapshot-serengeti <p>University of Minnesota researchers set up hundreds of cameras to cover more than 2,500 square kilometers throughout Africa&rsquo;s Serengeti ecosystem initially to study lions. Now the researchers are looking to expand their knowledge via the Snapshot Serengeti citizen science project to better understand how competing species coexist in a shared environment. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=zooniverse-snapshot-serengeti>[More]</a> More Science,Environment,Ecology,Science Education,Biology,Science in Service Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:20:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c6929a0853b493a1ee7d96e1f7383252 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=rinkwatch-outdoor-skating-hockey <p>Here&rsquo;s one for hockey fans. In 2012, scientists in Montreal warned there will be fewer outdoor skating days in the future. Their predictions are based on the results of data taken from weather stations across Canada over the last 50 years. In some regions, they warn there may one day be no more backyard rinks at all. Remember the story of how Wayne Gretzky learned to play hockey on the backyard rink his father made for him in Brantford, Ontario? The scientists&rsquo; report says some day that will no longer be possible &ndash; at least, not in Brantford. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=rinkwatch-outdoor-skating-hockey>[More]</a> More Science,Society & Policy,Science in Service,Climate,Science Education,Environment,Everyday Science Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:30:00 EST http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=61da0257cdd86f7aabccb28ba9634d19 http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=louisiana-bucket-brigade <p>Formed in 2000, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) is an environmental health and justice organization working with communities that neighbor the state's oil refineries and chemical plants. The group&rsquo;s mission is to support communities' use of grassroots action to create informed, sustainable neighborhoods free from industrial pollution. <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=louisiana-bucket-brigade>[More]</a> Health,Chemistry,Environment,Society & Policy,Ethics,Everyday Science,Science Education,Clean Air Policy,Ecology,Green Living,Biology,Science in Service