#citizen scientists

[cognitivejustice]

Indonesia’s community living lab boosts sustainable farming

A group of farmers in Malang District, East Java, has developed a community-based Living Lab as a horticultural farming solution to address

A group of farmers in Malang District, East Java, has developed a community-based Living Lab as a horticultural farming solution to address the impacts of climate change. Farmers act as active contributors conducting research and real-world trials for sustainable agriculture.

According to Karmukit, the program has evolved into a community-based research center. Ideas are tested, simple technologies applied, and innovations born from collective efforts to advance sustainable farming practices.

Innovation continues through the use of solar panels to power water pumps, drip irrigation, and sprinklers. TAMENG also operates a waste management facility that helps process both organic and inorganic waste.

Harvest waste is converted into plant boosters, biological agents, and animal feed. Edible vegetables are turned by farmers’ wives into snacks such as noodles, chips, and sweets, which are sold in local stalls.

Inorganic waste is handled by a local waste bank and sold to recyclers, while hazardous waste is separated for safety. Farmers have also diversified their income by raising sheep, fish, and azolla, and cultivating worms for compost and fish feed.

[mindblowingscience]

Citizen scientists help discover new mantis species

James Cook University researcher Matthew Connors has discovered two new praying mantis species with the help of citizen scientists. The find

James Cook University researcher Matthew Connors has discovered two new praying mantis species with the help of citizen scientists. The finds have been published in Zootaxa. One of these new mantises is not just a new species but an entirely new genus—the classification level above species—and was discovered thanks to citizen scientist Glenda Walter. "We have named the new species Inimia nat—I. nat for short—as it was discovered thanks to the citizen science platform iNaturalist—also iNat for short. "It's a tribute to a new way of doing natural science. With a far greater number of people able to survey a much broader span of both time and space, citizen scientists can provide a wealth of data that would not otherwise be feasible," said Connors. He said if someone were to go outside and find three different insects, there's a good chance that at least one of them would be a new species.

Continue Reading.

[sewickedthread]

If you live in the SE US

Scientists want your help winter 2024

Monarch butterflies' migration patterns are changing. Scientists want you to help

Researchers in the South want people to report Monarch butterfly sightings this winter as more butterflies seem to skip the long migration t

[delicatelysublimeforester]

The Urgency of National Wildlife Week: A Call to Action for Biodiversity Preservation

View On WordPress

[zespaceblog]

95 Brown Dwarfs found locally

Citizen scientists have helped the professionals detect 95 brown dwarf stars in our local area. Using the Backyard Worlds : Planet 9 project they assisted in classifying objects as these small very dim “failed stars”. 

A brown dwarf is a cross between a gas giant and a star, massive enough to be a super giant, but not quite enough for the fusion of hydrogen to kick off and create a star. There is however a small amount of fusion going on, and it’s enough to make these objects glow and emit heat.

Theorised in the 1960′s, it wasn’t until 1995 that the first brown dwarf was detected, and now we are finding them everywhere. 

 http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/new-brown-dwarfs-solar-neighborhood-08758.html

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/marckuchner/backyard-worlds-planet-9

[bonniegrrl]

Your discarded sourdough bread starter could help science

Bad at baking bread during lockdown? 

Help researchers studying microbes by sharing data on sourdough starter mishaps. 

Read more in my CNET article here.

[lunasong365]

A Totally New Type of Aurora Has Been Documented in The Northern Sky

A collaboration between physicists and amateur stargazers has yielded the discovery of what researchers say is a previously unknown kind of aurora phenomenon.

it's an inspiring story of how anybody can get involved with science, helping out to investigate strange and exotic phenomena – the understanding of which benefits everybody, a point the authors themselves are eager to emphasise.

"Our paper adds to the growing body of work that illustrates the value of citizen scientist images in carrying out quantitative analysis of optical phenomena, especially at small scales at sub-auroral latitudes," the researchers say.

"Further, the dune project presents means to create general interest toward physics, emphasising that citizens can take part in scientific work by helping to uncover new phenomena."

[alxndrasplace]

(NASA) The Aurora Named STEVE

For the first time, scientists have ground and satellite views of STEVE (short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), a thin purple ribbon of light. Scientists have now learned, despite its ordinary name, that STEVE may be an extraordinary puzzle piece in painting a better picture of how Earth's magnetic fields function and interact with charged particles in space.

The Aurorasaurus team, led by Liz MacDonald, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, conferred to determine the identity of this mysterious phenomenon. MacDonald and her colleague Eric Donovan at the University of Calgary in Canada talked with the amateur photographers from the Alberta Aurora Chasers, the people who first captured images of STEVE. Other collaborators on this work are: the University of Calgary, New Mexico Consortium, Boston University, Lancaster University, Athabasca University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Alberta Aurora Chasers Facebook group. 

Music credit: Bright Patterns by Gregg Lehrman, John Christopher Nye 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Genna Duberstein