SciStarter’s Search for Truth

Image by PDPics from Pixabay

This post was originally published as a SciStarter newsletter. Sign up to receive bi-weekly citizen science in your inbox!

We swim in an ocean of data, from both reliable and questionable sources. The citizen science projects featured below help us learn how to identify and label misleading information, ground-truth geospacial data and advance research about our own biases…all in our search for truth.

Cheers,
The SciStarter Team

An illustrative cartoon image of a person holding an oversized pencil up to an artfully rendered webpage.
Image credit: Public Editor

Learn how to identify over 40 different types of reasoning error. Then, label misleading information in news articles by joining Public Editor.

On 10/4 at 10 AM PT, Public Editor is hosting a training with SciStarter. Tune in live or watch the recording later.

Location: Online

Get Started!

Play games on your phone and answer questions about your mental health to conduct the largest and most detailed study of YOU that has ever been attempted. By playing games and telling Neureka how you feel, day-by-day, you can help them figure out how mental health issues evolve over time.

Location: Online

Get Started!

Help researchers learn how Twitter messages can predict upcoming pandemic waves! Analyze tweets about COVID-19 to discern between descriptions of acute symptoms versus general comments about the disease. Your work enables scientists to use social media to identify COVID-19 hotspots.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Location: Online

Get Started!

Participate in research on subconscious thoughts by noting your preferences for more than 90 different topics, ranging from pets to political issues, ethnic groups to sports teams and entertainers to styles of music. Project Implicit provides a safe and secure virtual environment to investigate psychological issues.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Location: Online

Get Started!

OpenStreetMap is a free, interactive map that allows anyone to add to, use and groundtruth geographical data. By validating geographic data about your school, village or favorite landmark, you can support humanitarian relief, social services and economic development. Visualize your community and participate as a spatial citizen.

Location: Online

Get Started!

If you live in the European Union, you can help identify the connection between social media and attitudes toward vaccination. Complete and return the anonymous survey to help a researcher complete this fascinating degree thesis.

Location: European Union

Get Started!

This weekend, follow along on Twitter @USANPN as Nature’s Notebook takes you through the steps of documenting the seasonal activity of plants and animals.

Then, welcome fall with Nature’s Notebook in a zoom event on October 8 at 3 PM PT to help scientists make sense of the phenology data you shared.

Get Started!

Thanks to support from the National Library of Medicine, SciStarter is partnering with libraries across the country to host virtual events that provide real-time, step-by-step project instructions, Q&As with project scientists and engaging discussions about citizen science across all levels of experience. Join us for the online events!

Get Started!

Whether you’re in St. Charles, Illinois or just a curious person anywhere in the world, you’re welcome to join SciStarter and staff from the St. Charles Public Library on zoom for an introduction to citizen science. RSVP for a special two-part event on October 7 & October 8.

Get Started!

Join SciStarter and Bradley Beach Public Library on zoom to learn about citizen science and how YOU can accelerate Alzheimer’s research by playing a game. All are welcome! RSVP to join us on October 21 at 3:30 PM ET.

Get Started!

Visit SciStarter at SciFest 2020!

SciStarter is featured at this year’s SciFest All Access – a Virtual STEM Expo – brought to you by the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Until October 31, come visit the SciStarter and Science Cheerleader booths, online!

New on the Blogs

8 Fun Science Experiments You Can Easily do at Home, via the SciStarter Blog

Is Rainwater Safe to Drink? Runoff Collected by Volunteers Offers Clues, via Discover Magazine

3 Ways to Help Save Monarch Butterflies, via Science Connected

More from SciStarter

Discover more citizen science on the SciStarter calendar. Did you know your SciStarter dashboard helps you track your contributions to projects? Complete your profile to access free tools. Want even more citizen science? Check out SciStarter’s Project Finder! With citizen science projects spanning every field of research, task and age group, there’s something for everyone!

Categories: Citizen Science, In the News, Newsletter

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About the Author

Bob Hirshon

Bob Hirshon

Bob Hirshon heads up Springtail Media, specializing in science media and digital entertainment. He is Principal Investigator for the NSF-supported National Park Science Challenge, an augmented reality adventure that takes place in National Parks. Hirshon headed up the Kinetic City family of science projects, including the Peabody Award winning children’s radio drama Kinetic City Super Crew, McGraw-Hill book series and Codie Award winning website and education program. Hirshon can be heard on XM/Sirius Radio’s Kids Place Live as “Bob the Science Slob”, sharing science news and answering children’s questions. At SciStarter, Bob edits the Citizen Science Podcast.