May 8, 2017 9:24 pm

Tuesday, Emily Rice and Chuck Nice Explore Citizen Science with Karen Masters and Jackie Faherty.

Here on the StarTalk Podcast Network we’re always striving to bring the science to you. Well, on this week’s episode of StarTalk All-Stars, it’s your turn to become the scientist!

All-Stars host Emily Rice and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the world of citizen science with their guests, Dr. Karen Masters, Project Scientist for Galaxy Zoo and Professor at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at University of Portsmouth, and Jackie Faherty, Senior Scientist and Senior Education Manager in the Department of Astrophysics and Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

You’ll find out about the history of citizen science and how it’s been democratized to include everyone instead of just the academic elite. You’ll also find out if it’s classified as a movement, an organization, or something else. However, the most important thing you’ll find out is how to get involved.

During this episode, our crew discusses Zooniverse, one of the best places to get involved as a citizen scientist. According to their website, “The Zooniverse enables everyone to take part in real cutting edge research in many fields across the sciences, humanities, and more. The Zooniverse creates opportunities for you to unlock answers and contribute to real discoveries.”

You’ll hear about many projects on Zooniverse including Galaxy Zoo, Karen’s project that allows citizen scientists to help classify numerous pictures of galaxies across the universe, Snapshot Serengeti, Penguin Watch, where you can help identify animals and count penguins, and Jackie’s project, Backyard Worlds, where you can help scan the skies in search of Planet 9 and other unknown celestial objects.

After listening, I had to give this a try. I tried Penguin Watch and Snapshot Serengeti and they were both great experiences. It was like solving simple puzzles, puzzles that spot how many penguins where in a frame or identify animals grazing in the grasslands of the Serengeti. It was also really cool to know that I was helping with actual research. I recommend giving it a try.

Lastly, an episode of StarTalk All-Stars wouldn’t be complete without answering some Cosmic Queries from our fans. You’ll hear questions about sex in space, light pollution, microgravity cooking, and more.

Do you want to become a citizen scientist? Then please join us tomorrow night for Citizen Science, with Emily Rice at 7pm EDT right here on our website, as well as on ourAll-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen