Citizen Science

Ever wonder if you have the right stuff to become a scientist? You may be able to find out with these cool citizen science projects. For space lovers, SETI@home harnesses the computing power of millions participants to search for extraterrestrial life. Galaxy Zoo: Hubble enlists volunteer astronomers as classifiers of heavenly objects.

For budding naturalists, The Great Sunflower Project is for you. Citizen scientists take 15-minute counts of the number and types of bees visiting sunflowers and other plants in yards, gardens, schoolyards, and parks. The information submitted helps shed light on the health and numbers of ailing honey bee populations.

Are you a puzzle solver? Try Foldit. You may end up helping research teams at the University of Washington and Harvard University in developing pathogen capture proteins to seek out and remove circulating invaders such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus.

For even more space, climate, nature, and humanities citizen science projects check out Zooniverse. I'm headed there now!