The Irish News: Citizen scientists track humpback whale travels with help of social media . “Humpback whales are known to make vast migrations between their breeding and feeding grounds, and are increasingly being seen in UK seas. Now the first ever confirmed record of a UK-sighted whale hundreds of miles away in its summer feeding grounds in the high Arctic has been revealed, after its picture was spotted on Facebook by volunteer ‘citizen scientists’.”
citizen science
Nature: Citizen science could map snakebite risk
Nature: Citizen science could map snakebite risk. “Snake bites kill an estimated 81,000–138,000 people and disable 400,000 globally every year. The World Health Organization and the Wellcome Trust are both taking action … We suggest that citizen science could also help to reduce the toll.”
BBC: Scotland-led study into plastic pollution impact on birds
BBC: Scotland-led study into plastic pollution impact on birds . “Pictures of birds entangled in plastic and nests built with the waste are being collected by Scottish researchers. They want people from around the world to contribute to the ‘citizen science’ project by uploading their images to a new website.”
Florida International University: Citizen scientists collect vital data on microplastics – from their yachts
Florida International University: Citizen scientists collect vital data on microplastics – from their yachts. “As part of a new collaborative project, dubbed the S.A.R.A.H. initiative, privately owned yachts become platforms for FIU scientists to conduct field research. Special nets are towed behind the vessels to gather samples of plastic debris in the water. They are designed to collect even the tiniest bits of plastic – that can be smaller than a grain of rice – known as microplastics.”
EurekAlert: Mapping the ocean’s unseen heroes, one microbe at a time
EurekAlert: Mapping the ocean’s unseen heroes, one microbe at a time. “Invisible to the naked eye, the health and movement of marine microbes that drift as part of the plankton is difficult to picture even for scientists – let alone everyday citizens. This challenge, to visualise the range of conditions that drifting marine microbes encounter, brought a group of expert scientists and visual designers together on a path to create the online citizen science project Adrift. Adrift is a portal that connects the public with the lives of microscopic marine microbes as they are propelled around the globe by ocean currents, with temperature and nutrient availability changing along the way.”
Lifehacker: Track Rare Cicadas With The Cicada Safari App
Lifehacker: Track Rare Cicadas With The Cicada Safari App. “A better way to track and document the cicadas in your area is to download the Cicada Safari app (free on Android and iOS) from Mount St. Joseph University. Right now, I can check a map for sightings, and as soon as my local cicadas begin to emerge, I can snap pictures of them for cicada scientists to study.”
Nature: Mystery of deadly Indonesian tsunami cracked using social-media videos
Nature: Mystery of deadly Indonesian tsunami cracked using social-media videos. “A super-fast tsunami that ravaged an Indonesian island last year, killing thousands, was almost certainly triggered by underwater landslides, according to a detailed reconstruction of the disaster using surveillance-camera and video footage harvested from amateur posts on YouTube and other social media.”
