The Awesome Power of Citizen Science

You don't have to be a professional scientist to make a contribution to our collective knowledge. Today, we look at several projects that have benefitted from the power of citizen science! Get started at SciStarter.org and find thousands of searchable projects that match your location, interests, and skills!
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Sources:
www.citizensciencealliance.org/
www.scientificamerican.com/cit...
scistarter.com/finder
www.zooniverse.org/projects
History of Citizen Science
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
www.science20.com/anthrophysis...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
scistarter.com/page/Citizen%20...
books.google.com/books?id=FbS...
Ecology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
fwspubs.org/doi/pdf/10.3996/na...
www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/about/
www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs....
www.ace-eco.org/vol5/iss2/art13/
SETI@home & Galaxy Zoo
setiathome.berkeley.edu/sah_ab...
seticlassic.ssl.berkeley.edu/a...
www.galaxyzoo.org/#/story
www.zooniverse.org/about/publ...
zoo1.galaxyzoo.org/Team.aspx
mnras.oxfordjournals.org/conte...
www.sdss.org/
www.ukidss.org/
www.illustris-project.org/
EteRNA
fold.it/portal/
www.scientificamerican.com/art...
www.nature.com/nsmb/journal/v1...
www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/sci...
www.eurekalert.org/pub_release...
www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/0...
science.sciencemag.org/content...
www.eternagame.org/web/about/
www.biochemist.org/bio/03702/0...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/...
Images:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@EugeneKhutoryansky]

Citizen scientists can actually be more productive than professional scientists, as they don't have to worry about "publish or perish", and hence they can devote more energy to topics that aren't trivial. Albert Einstein was just a patent clerk when he developed the Special Theory of Relativity in his free time.

[@JoeCrush_]

Wow 420 blaziken bro

[@CaminoalInti]

+Youknowmyname You speak no sense-i

[@dpo357]

+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky dude I love your videos :D

[@QuackersMcCrackers]

+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky Yep, aren't limited by silly academics xD

[@danheidel]

+Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky Especially in biology, there are still a lot of fundamental unanswered questions that aren't even looked at since there is little financial incentive. For example. S. cerevisiae is probably the best understood biological organism in existence at the molecular level. It was the first free-living organism with a sequenced genome and is the workhorse of modern biology. We know it lives on grape skins, eating the sugars that leak out when they are ripe. Where does it live the rest of the year? Not known. I've seen some hypotheses about it living on tree bark but it's a big unanswered question. I have a set of small books called _Research Problems in Biology_ that were published in 1965. They asked prominent biologists of the time to come up with scientific questions that were significant and that an amateur could do in their home. I've read through these books and now, over 50 years later, this is the result. About 1/3 of those questions have been answered. About 1/3 turned out to be poorly thought out problems that later research showed to be unimportant or actually very complicated problems. About 1/3 are still important unanswered problems that could still be done by an amateur.

[@viennajordan9279]

I helped count grass for the Ecology Project in Yellowstone

[@oblivious_raccoon1750]

Wyoming right?

[@viennajordan9279]

+Alva2121 yeah : )

[@S.A.M11]

How long did it take you?

[@lifeswonderable]

There's another great video game for citizen science is called EyeWire, where people help researchers at Princeton University map the structure of retinal neurons in mice. All you need is an internet connection and a knack for finding missing pieces of a puzzle. :) I've been a part of this project for 3 years now and that community is growing as well.

[@R-MD]

Citizen scientists, not to be confused with self proclaimed experts, especially on the topic of health. Eg: food babe.

[@davidriveragoveo409]

aye arecibo! grew up in Puerto Rico and I've actually visited that science center where the telescope is, it's MASSIVE

[@995Coco]

Hank, your shirt has H2O bonds. That's amazing. I love it.

[@teatoxic8563]

+Cortney Veronica Hi i'm very handsome!

[@nikkibishop8025]

Most entomologists would be classed as 'amateur' but have an incredible knowledge of their chosen taxon. They also have to collaborate a fair bit, because one person cannot be a specialist in more than a few orders.

[@coolmdj111]

Okay I'm just gonna say this now.. Hank, since I've found your channel, this video is probably one of the best ones (if not the best) you've put up till now. This video is truly inspiring and I'm going to share it with lots of people that I want to encourage towards the sciences. You've captured a lot about ethics and how humanity should work together to help prolong its own future for the better. The interests & ideals of an individual don't matter if their energy or resources can be added into working towards science as a unit. You've convinced me now to even sign up as a Patron after this episode... Keep doing what you do!

[@FootysMaXeD]

He convinced me to play more games. Not that I needed convincing...

[@lunealexandre6788]

Citizen Science sounds awesome! I want to become a Citizen scientist!

[@TheOtterOutdoorsman]

Then there are people like me, who aren't currently able to go for a higher degree or land a science job, but still practice/research it in our free time.

[@machiel5888]

Anyone who is struggling to finish an end of the year presentation for school should analyze the structure of scishow videos. It can be very useful

[@Aj11117777]

Machiel de Groot I plagiarize videos because it is basically impossible to catch. Even with designed software

[@richardvanwinkle2391]

Machiel de Groot Vsauce is great as well

[@stellarfirefly]

I'm surprised one of the very latest game-ified citizen science efforts was not mentioned, namely Project Discovery within the game EVE Online.

[@seashell1286]

I sign up for several study for my cancer treatments. Especially, a study to prevent CDiff. I told my family that when I die I want to become a cadaver to help med students. True story.

[@Wingedshadowwolf]

The university near where I live has a citizen bat patrol. You sign up and if they have openings in your area they give you a bat-radar thing to put on your car and you drive around at dusk looking for and recording bat calls! I haven't done it, but I'm considering it.

[@braindeadgenius2]

EVE Online has Project Discovery, a minigame linked to real life research centers where the object is to identify cellular structures. Computers have a really tough time and a terrible track record. We, as the players, are not only sifting through and cataloguing data, but TEACHING the A.I. how to do what we do :D

[@teatoxic8563]

+Travis Flagg EVE Online is still alive?

[@monkemind420]

+Travis Flagg on wow they studied how viruses spread or something like that. similar concept.

[@DJJR617]

I love this message. Thanks! Favorited, liked, subscribed!

[@rigrentals5297]

Happy 420 SciShow. Wish you would put out more marijuana-science videos.

[@ramylynch383]

+john vidal also Hitlers birthday.

[@dannajensen2912]

I guess peace and love do conquer all!

[@deathsythelui]

I am (sorta) upset that amateur astronomy wasn't mentioned in this episode. If someone with a telescope finds something in the sky that wasn't found before, be it an asteroid or comet or planet or star or anything, they get official credit by the IAU for their discovery. That should count for this episode, eh?

[@flipsandblades69]

2:23 "to astronomical surveys" he breifly mentioned it, so quit whining

[@mustysheep3977]

stfu comic book guy

[@SciShow]

You don't have to be a professional scientist to make a contribution to our collective knowledge. Get started at SciStarter.org and find thousands of searchable projects that match your location, interests, and skills!

[@suchitrasridhar5313]

Using this video for the Environmental Club I have started. Very grateful to have such brilliant resources to refer to as a novice teacher. Thank you!

[@VikingPickles]

I love distributed computing. It's the coolest.

[@JohnPellman]

+Steven Davidson It's pretty neat, but you also need to keep in mind that it isn't really free- there are costs from electricity usage and wear-and-tear on your hardware (see boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Heat_and_energy_considerations ). If this isn't something you're willing to live with, other citizen science projects such as those at the Zooniverse might be a better option. edit: I guess you could say that in some ways, because of heat considerations, it isn't quite the coolest.

[@sugarfrosted2005]

Not gonna lie using phrases like "these data" rather than "this data" to reflect that data is used as a collective noun is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

[@TheAndroidAssassin]

+sugarfrosted I don't know where you're referring to, but I would assume he is talking about multiple pieces of data so his tense would be correct in that situation.

[@delusionnnnn]

+TheAndroidAssassin "This data" is correct. It is used exactly the same way as "information". Nobody would say "these information" or "these information". Or "these collection", though "these collections" would be correct when used differently, to refer to separate, discrete collections. Language "is" how it's used, and only a very small minority of people use "these data". www.google.com/trends/explore#q=this%20data%2C%20these%20data&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4

[@VectorShiftZero]

i had plans for a system that would solve bigger problems than just observations, it would allow "citizen science" reach the next level while gaining the ability to become a "professional scientist" based on contributions. the one issue is gaining the influence or funding for the first steps for this system. you can know how to solve problems but convincing people to give you the ability is a much bigger and complex issue.

[@GarethField]

It probably *is* difficult to secure funding when you don't have a basic grasp of written language.

[@VectorShiftZero]

can not be good at everything, if i ever get the money i will hire professional writers to make sure it is 100% correct. everyone knows writing at a professional level is the definition of intelligence. always need to pander to the prescriptive language.

[@thatoneguysteve85]

HAPPY 420 SciShow fam

[@gubberfuck]

I used to participate in SETI@home. It was awesome. When your computer hibernates or sleeps you get a screensaver showing what section of the sky they are currently scanning using your CPU!

[@angeldude101]

EteRNA might be near the top of my list of favourite puzzle games alongside Portal. [EDIT] GG, Scishow. You broke EteRNA!

[@angeldude101]

***** Zelda is my favourite franchise that features puzzles prominently. They may be amazing, but I wouldn't call them puzzle games; they're action adventure games.

[@shinkoryu14]

I actually participated in a citizen science thing- it's called "QuestaGame," an app game created to study biodiversity by encouraging people to take photographs of various fauna and flora in the world around them, and awarding points based on how rare the particular sighting is to the given area. Earlier this year a QuestaGame player found a completely new species of spider previously unknown to science, and had it named after him!

[@StarSong936]

I used to donate computer time to a college research project called fold at home. They designed computer simulations for studying protein folding as it occurs in cells, and were studying diseases that arise from how proteins miss-fold, such as prion diseases and Alzheimer's. I donated about 3 years of computer time from 4 computers to this project. If I wasn't using the computer, it was taking jobs from the project.

[@blandantey]

Nothing is stopping you! Tottally agree!

[@maxximumb]

I'm off to do science now by playing Quantum Moves.

[@CaptmagiKono]

You should also mention the "Discovery Project" that has recently been added to the game "Eve Online."

[@Luzarioth]

+CaptmagiKono yeah... a SPACE sandbox game with a Citizen Science mini game build in.... i am rly disappointed Hank !

[@RaeneDroppe]

Thank you guys! ♥ I've been wanting this topic done for awhile.

[@andypampreen8906]

This needs to be the most watched and liked video on KZbin NOW

[@paullemus3630]

+SciShow +GamesWithHank EyeWire is a neuronal mapping game used for connectome research (Sebastian Seung). You guys have talked about the connectome before, so I think it'd be awesome if you guys added it to the description! Seriously,this game lets you make 3D models of neurons and their connections from 2D slides. Please do add it for everyone to enjoy. PS. Hank. uh, science AND games! This was meant for your other channel (EyeWire, FoldIt, EteRNA)!

[@BarbarianGod]

I'm in a spelunking club and we always record things like the number and types of animals we encounter in caves :D

[@samuelstrachan2726]

Birds!!!! Finally all the bird citizen science gets recognition! Cornell lab and Bird Studies Canada has many great projects.

[@wolvenmoonstone8138]

one of my favorite citizen science games is eyewire, in it you are given slides of brain tissue made with an electron microscope and use it to produce 3d models of brain cells making a super detailed brain map the scientists use to learn how the brain functions on a cellular level

[@professorx4047]

Is there a way for non-producer people to be on SciShow talk show?

[@professorx4047]

*cough*me*cough*

[@DudeWhoSaysDeez]

I want to

[@Twilord_]

+GamerX Make a significant contribution to science or donate a lot of money? Or gamify surveys?

[@jacobburton1213]

They should bring JR Foxley on if it were based on huge amounts of donations

[@rook5826]

+GamerX I am sure that SciShow would let you do anything. You just haft to pay them the right amount....

[@garrettgriggs3684]

there is actually a very interesting gamer based data research, its called project discovery (eve online is the name of the game) and very involved in the game. we processed so much data for them in the first few hours we ended up breaking there servers =D

[@SeismicDragon]

Wait what? I got that PhD in science for nothing!?!?!

[@mosttriumphantvideos]

Nice video. I did some research on Math curriculum sequencing, "double-dosing" 9th graders in algebra 1, and high-stakes teacher evaluations. That kind of work is fun!

[@Neverlent]

Another great passive way to be a citizen scientist is by donating your computer(s) to SkyNet! (Granted the main way I know about this is because my best friend used our college's computers to process data, which made him like 3rd in the most processed list, and the college didn't like that, but I never said this)

[@jonassamuel4376]

4:50 "credit and maybe responsibility."

[@oharaandrew314]

You just reminded me to sign up for SETI@Home. Now they have 12 overclocked logical cores helping them out!

[@Ashtarte3D]

I assumed this would be related to the newest citizen science project, the quantum computing game, and it's breakthroughs. Guess it's just a timely video instead, as it's still tangentially related.

[@cjaquilino]

Citizen Science has been in the news lately. The White House just launched citizenscience.gov to list projects and funders.

[@blackkittyfreak]

I went to download SETI@Home and saw that they use a software called BOINC, and I instantly thought of Calvin and Hobbes. "Scientific progress goes 'BOINC.'" XD

[@bleachsanchoblastk]

I really liked the crowd sourced radiation map they did in Japan. A bunch of people had these giger counters with GPS built in. When they took a reading it was paired with the location. It really helped to understand the impact of the nuclear accident at Fukushima.

[@LorcanMcSharp]

I wish I could just replay my teacher, like I do hank. It would definitely help

[@Jaccobtw]

What about the awesome power of broscience?

[@mrobusto1010]

+Jaccobtw Reps for Jesus.

[@TheKimpula]

+Jaccobtw BROFORCE!

[@itsSebastianl0lz]

Sounds awesome, I'm definitely going to check out some citizen scientist projects!

[@modernlacuna]

My parents helped with the Danish breeding bird survey in the nineties. :D

[@Paraneoz]

I work with a few citizen science labs in Melbourne, Australia. Definitely going to post this video up its a great explanation!

[@Kiwi-ICU-RN]

There's also this cool thing where you can analyse data from radio telescopes to see when stars dim (evidence that there may be a planet moving in from of it. The name escapes me at the moment.

[@Psillytripper]

more games need to be tailored to solving world problems and still being fun and envoloping we need to stop playing games like warcraft and start playing games like eteRNA

[@mohindersuresh9194]

Portal and Portal 2?

[@jasscat7645]

+Psillytripper which warcraft?

[@Laff700]

There should be some virtual online community thing with avatars, explorable worlds, and whatnot where you can make virtual money by doing various citizen science things on your computer. It would create a potentially large community of gamers/citizen scientist which people would join cause it's fun(like other such communities on the internet). When new citizen science games pop into existence they will be shown to and used by the already large community. Such a community could even make citizen science games much more popular. Also the whole virtual money thing would create more of an incentive to do citizen science games.

[@dragony3931]

thank you for this video, citizen scientist Hank

[@MrGeekGamer]

Expect a flurry of papers on "chemtrails" and the like.

[@jacwindsor5552]

I am an environmental citizen scientist it is a lot of fun, met interesting people, and even had free tickets to places and attend posh events.

[@dillonbrooks7807]

One of my favorite videos!

[@zachlemberg]

Thanks Hank, Love the episode. Galaxy zoo will be my new past time.

[@Mateus01234]

SETI@Home is such a waste of computing time. Folding@home or PowerSleep are much better ways to help.

[@megalofyia9280]

Im involved in a citizen science project in the UK at the moment, where we're trying to find out if seeds which have been to space grow at different rates to those that haven't. Fittingly, they're Rocket seeds.

[@IrritatedBear]

Doing that at my school too

[@tootz1950]

Go Gamers!!

[@MWall711]

Don't forget about weather spotters!

[@hb5552]

Another passive program you can download if you want to help out researchers is GIMPS, or the great internet Marsenne prime search. It uses your computer when you're not to help mathematicians find larger and larger Marsenne primes.

[@louiskohnke2343]

You can't unsee the reflections in his glasses.

[@SuperNerd707]

I participated in a lot of citizen science projects as an ecology student and post graduation as well, but it eventually felt a lot like unpaid labour rather than a hobby or learning experience. Finding a project where you feel valued can be tricky.

[@cjaquilino]

Me too. I'd liken it to contributing to open source software or wikis.

[@vi8445]

that's sad :(

[@StrunDoNhor]

+Supernerd7 Same here. Maybe it's just a bad batch of people, but I sure as heck don't feel like "one of the team" most of the time. Is a shame too, because these are the kinds of projects that I want to work with for the sheer enjoyment of it. As you said though, oftentimes it just feels like unpaid labour.

[@jisookim6904]

Supernerd7 I am studying biochemistry but I would like to do taxonomy whenever I can. Collecting animals and plants and cataloging my findings. That is a part of biology that even though it is vital for our understanding of our environment is horribly underfunded nowadays since the focus is on molecular biology. I am not very intrigued by citizen science projects though since most of it seems like it's either very low quality research or just a huge hassle that you won't see anything for.

[@garethjones3227]

Galaxy Zoo is awesome been using it since it came out, i classified 1000's of galaxies! You're welcome Science, you're welcome!

[@DudeWhoSaysDeez]

All of our brains computing things together is like a mega computer

[@chaoticwhenever1457]

This episode feels like a crash course episode I love it :)

[@lawfulparasite]

could you start a weekly series outlining citizen science projects to help spread the word about them?

[@NzUddin]

Loved this one!

[@moxy82]

1:31 Albert Einstein: the only person able to avoid criticism for missing the dress code.

[@asherael]

As an archivist, I just wanted to point out, that "archives" the noun always has an s on the end. Even when you'd expect the singular, like, "this belongs in an archives."

[@kimberlyrachels3566]

Would have been neat if he would have talked about the role citizen science played in tracking the migration of monarch butterflies

[@happypsycho7753]

That is a very hydrated shirt! (the pattern looks like H20)

[@gracebailey-hinks9177]

Doing my dissertation on SDSS this made my day!

[@utkrishtsahai4782]

scishow have derek from veritasium over for talkshow once again , his talkshow was for me the best , i love the way he explains and also the way you expain nd make some physics videos or on some scientific principle or concept such as your videos on fundamental forces or some of other earlier vids , recent ones are gennerally related to bio. big fan since 2-3 years

[@penguin295]

I love these videos of what I can do and my involvement!

[@sherylhosler9487]

Yay! Citizen science is literally one of my favorite things! I'm so glad you did an episode on this - I've shared a few citizen science projects on my channel already, too :)

[@stevenlabree2706]

for anyone interested SETI also has an app for android (not sure if apple) BOINC uses your smart phone or tablets computing power when its plugged in, above 80% charged and not in use to

[@michael2351]

What's better than being a citizen scientist? KNAWLEDGE!

[@DreamsCatcher101]

I used to run seti on an old computer, it used to run while i was asleep, bonus was the running screen was sooooooo boring it knocked be out cold, but now i share the time using boinc between asteroid hunting and medical research.

[@Plystire]

They should present historical findings in science as though it were happening today, and presented by Hank.... they'd revolutionize education. Kids could just watch videos of Hank slowly but surely bring them up to speed with reality while simultaneously acclimatizing them to watching the news! -- and creating an epidemic addiction in children to watching online videos... not like that isn't already happening xD

[@T3sl4]

Shoutouts to amateur chemists, who face so many challenges in their art -- as you might imagine, there are so many chemicals involved in illegal activities (schedule I drugs or precursors, explosives), it is very difficult for them to do anything without stepping on a legal landmine!

[@uhohhotdog]

World community grid. Use your computer resources to help cure cancer and other diseases. Also helps with projects like clean water to find better ways of purifying water

[@ExossCitizenScience]

Congrats for the video

[@rubenpulles7382]

Dear Scishow, could you guys please do an episode on how our perception ended up how it is right now??? I've already been thinking about colour and wether our internal experience of it would be the same. But what about the other senses? How do I even know wether your experience of smell isn't actually the same as my experience of hearing?

[@MerthanE]

kurzgesagt made a video on how our eyes developed vsauce made a video about people experiencing colors differently

[@rubenpulles7382]

+Merthan E. (M. E.) I've seen the one from vsause multiple times, lovely video. It really inspired me. But still thats only the visual system. And I know we're talking about qualia here, but I'm hoping modern research might be bringing us a little further, cuz the one from vsauce is pretty old already.

[@Pr34lyfe]

I look forward to a SciShow episode everyday :D

[@jaedenrotondo3373]

Same here! 😊

[@Arxielle]

I'm so honored that a town from the island I'm from, Puerto Rico, has been mentioned here!! I love this KZbin page tons... Running out of videos to watch made by them!

[@---Free-Comics---IG---Playtard]

Outstanding episode! +1

[@chrisk8208]

Citizens are using basic electronics to build radiation detectors to measure radiation from Fukushima and uploading their results. I hope similar projects are set up for people to monitor other pollutants globally. Maybe uploading home made weather stations. Products like Arduino allow citizens to both enjoy simple microprocessor electronics and help out.

[@potatogod9737]

Nice shirt, Hank.

[@wodell586]

9:02 most motivational sentence ever!

[@SamBskate]

Can this channel just be a substitute for school?

[@toranksu2751]

Find out next episode.

[@xyzqwth]

Crash course, Alternate History Hub, Scishow, Vlogbrothers, Vsauce 1-3, and ASAP Science could probably replace school

[@xyzqwth]

all together of course

[@firebird9594]

+The exe Virus In a nutshell, minute earth.

[@stardreamer8996]

+SamBskate Too many SJWs in the school system. It would be amazing if it could be a substitute no politics just science

[@Denology]

I never did SETI@home but I did do folding@home back around 2002ish. I've got to look into doing that again.

[@PappaLitto]

+Denology Just download BOINC and choose whatever project you want

[@Metal4everYAY]

As an ecologist who focuses on birds I feel so happy to have been mentioned kind of :D!!

[@HarshSingh-zf6br]

How have I never heard about this before?! I'm signing up!!!

[@rchandraonline]

It can be as simple as recording precipitation for climate scientists/hydrologists (www.cocorahs.org/) There is a framework for donating your computer power, BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing), used by several projects, one of them SETI@home. I used to participate in S@h, but then I realized how much more power I was sucking/had to pay for :-( . I'm sure computing has gotten a lot more efficient in energy usage since then, so hmmm....I may start again sometime.

[@caseydouglas2657]

I teach citizen science to kids in Americorps. It's awesome. Thanks SciShow for making this video.