Citizen Science

I've been subscribing the Scientific American's Citizen Science blog. This is a blog describing ways that labs need observers for specific project. Often, there needs to be an aggregate of observations that are beyond any one researcher or lab. This is, and always has been, the role of the Citizen Scientist. Now, with the internet, people have a great opportunity to volunteer.

Here are a bunch:

Beespotter: Observer the pollination activities of honey bees and bumble bees.
Global Amphibian Blitz: world wide census of amphibian species.
Stardust @ Home: Use the powerful mechanism of the human brain to detect comet particles in aerogel.
The Great Sunflower Project: Bee pollination study attempting to discover the cause and process of bee decline.
Citizen Sky: Observe a long lived eclipse in the constellation Auriga.
The Lost Ladybug Project: Where have the native lady bugs gone? Science wants to know.

This is real science. These are real projects. You can help.