Zooniverse

Gargamel · 04-15-17, 07:30 AM

Zooniverse

This is a wonderful site. It is basically the crowd sourcing of scientific research.

Basically, a scientific research project will have a very large set of data or photographs. These sets of data or photos are unable to be processed by computers directly. Usually the computers will do the rough sorting of the data, but a human eye is required to make a final decision on the data.

So you logon to the site, pick your project, and start analyzing the data.

I've been doing most of my work lately on the K2 project, analyzing light readings from distant stars using the Keplar Space Telescope. We're looking for planets passing in front of their host stars.

There a number of other astronomy based projects, too.

Quite a few biology observation ones. A lot of zoos and such have set up trail cameras in their regions, and need help classifying what animals they see. It's been a cool way for the 7 year old and I to learn more about African wildlife!

But what this forum will probably be interested in, is the historical analyis projects they are running. They have some projects that you literally follow victorian Era ships on their explorations and transcribe their logs into digital format for weather sciences. There's transcribing the diaries of the Anzacs from WWI. And another that is deciphering codes and telegraphs from the American Civil War.

You don't have to log in to try it, you can play with a project for a bit first.

It's a great time killer, as each one I've done only takes like 15 seconds per photo to look at. It's a great way to waste time without getting committed to something. And it helps out science!

04-15-17, 07:30 AM	#1
Gargamel Lucky Sailor Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Rome Posts: 4,273 Downloads: 81 Uploads: 0	Zooniverse Zooniverse This is a wonderful site. It is basically the crowd sourcing of scientific research. Basically, a scientific research project will have a very large set of data or photographs. These sets of data or photos are unable to be processed by computers directly. Usually the computers will do the rough sorting of the data, but a human eye is required to make a final decision on the data. So you logon to the site, pick your project, and start analyzing the data. I've been doing most of my work lately on the K2 project, analyzing light readings from distant stars using the Keplar Space Telescope. We're looking for planets passing in front of their host stars. There a number of other astronomy based projects, too. Quite a few biology observation ones. A lot of zoos and such have set up trail cameras in their regions, and need help classifying what animals they see. It's been a cool way for the 7 year old and I to learn more about African wildlife! But what this forum will probably be interested in, is the historical analyis projects they are running. They have some projects that you literally follow victorian Era ships on their explorations and transcribe their logs into digital format for weather sciences. There's transcribing the diaries of the Anzacs from WWI. And another that is deciphering codes and telegraphs from the American Civil War. You don't have to log in to try it, you can play with a project for a bit first. It's a great time killer, as each one I've done only takes like 15 seconds per photo to look at. It's a great way to waste time without getting committed to something. And it helps out science! __________________ Luck is a residue of Design.