Want to be a Scientist?

April 11, 2020

by Pops Jamison • Jamison Books

There are a lot of great things online now to let us play with science and learn more about things. But what if there were places online where we could DO real science, and work right alongside real scientists to DO things that could really make a difference? Now, THAT would be cool!

I have found two places that do just that. One of them has activities for those interested in Astronomy, and the other has lots of different Science fields to explore. And, most important, you will be doing real science activities and may even help make some real discoveries right from your computer! And, they are FREE!

GalaxyCruise

As you might guess from the name, Galaxy Cruise is all about Astronomy and real research you can do to help real astronomers learn about the galaxy. Here is what their website says:

"In GALAXY CRUISE, you will work together with professional scientists to conduct research. Whether you are at home or on the go, anyone who has registered can participate in the project from a PC or tablet. Your contribution as a Citizen Astronomer is the driving force behind this spectacular voyage.

"You can freely explore the vast Universe and contribute to the classification of galaxies using the intuitive, game-like interface. The collected data will then be analyzed by scientists. The path you traveled and your galaxy classification activities will be recorded. You can check your history at any time by going to your Voyage Log."

After signing up and going through the brief training, I got to work looking at real photos from the Subaru Telescope to try and identify the features of other galaxies. It was awesome to know that my work would be used by real Astronomers to do their work.

Zooniverse

Zooniverse has an activity to let you look for asteroids using the Hubble Space Telescope, or use other scopes to hunt for supernovae, but there are a lot more than just Astronomy.

I’m going to try “Bash The Bug!” and help the scientists test antibiotics being created to treat Tuberculosis and fight antibiotic resistance. Some of the other projects include “Penguin Watch”, “Seal Count”, and the “Pelicams”, real science activities to help scientists monitor and learn more about those creatures. There are a LOT of other activities on Zooniverse, and remember, these are all REAL science activities you can participate in to do REAL science!

Thanks for reading! I need to go back to my computer now…I have galaxies to explore!

- Pops Jamison • popsjamison.com