Citizen science can produce reliable data

Citizen science occurs when data for scientific research is collected by members of the public in a voluntary capacity. Public participation in environmental projects, in particular, has been described as a global phenomenon.But there is a stigma associated with these types of projects. The data collected are often labelled untrustworthy and biased. Research in this area continues to show however, that data collected by what is essentially a non-professional workforce, are comparable to those collected by professional scientists.

via Citizen science can produce reliable data.

Um, What’s That Bright, Shiny Thing Curiosity Just Found on Mars? – Megan Garber – The Atlantic

The official name of the latest rover we’ve sent to Mars is not Curiosity. It’s Mars Science Laboratory. And one of the mobile lab’s primary jobs — besides photography and interplanetary telegraphy and being, generally, spunky — is to do the very scientific job of assessing the soil on Mars. Curiosity has made its mission mainly to see what Mars is made of (and how its soil varies, and whether that soil could have once supported life).

via Um, What’s That Bright, Shiny Thing Curiosity Just Found on Mars? – Megan Garber – The Atlantic.

 

Maybe it’s a litter from a Martian!

Scientists say eureka on HIV and chemical warfare

An immunity booster to take on HIV and a lab-on-a-chip device to identify chemical warfare agents have featured in this year’s Eureka awards, which celebrate innovators in Australian science.This year’s Australian Museum Eureka Prize, the 23rd, awarded $180,000 in prize money to scientists and researchers tackling some of the world’s most challenging and controversial issues.

via Scientists say eureka on HIV and chemical warfare.

NewsDaily: Tarantulas help scientists break down human fear

LONDON, Nov. 8, 2010 Reuters Life! — Scientists using tarantulas to unpick human fear have found that the brain responds differently to threats based on proximity, direction and how scary people expect something to be.A Chilean rose tarantula is shown at the environment reserve in Mexico state, one of 500 tarantulas abandoned at the airport in Mexico City this week when their owner failed to complete import paperwork. REUTERS/Henry Romero HR/HBResearchers from the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to track brain activity in 20 volunteers as they watched a tarantula placed near their feet, and then moved closer.Their results suggest that different components of the brains fear network serve specific threat-response functions and could help scientists diagnose and treat patients who suffer from clinical phobias

via NewsDaily: Tarantulas help scientists break down human fear.