Citizen Science Goes Mainstream

SciStarter is a new project by Darlene Cavalier (Founder of Science Cheerleaders) that connects science enthusiasts with projects they can do to make a real difference. Think of it as a Kickstarter for citizen science connecting regular people to real science they can do. SciStarter brings together the millions of citizen scientists in the world; the thousands of projects offered by researchers, organizations, and companies; and the resources, products, and services that enable people to pursue and enjoy these activities.

Best of all, you get to have a blast while helping with research. There are even big prizes to win like $10K for finding the most defibrullators in Philly. PARTY RESEARCH ON!

Massive Symphony Will Create an Orchestra of Smartphones

On Thursday November 11, 2011, smartphone users across the world will have the opportunity to participate in what promises to be “the largest orchestra in the world.” Massive Symphony is a volunteer-run project that aims to turn the world’s smartphones into a massive orchestra on Nov. 11, 2011 (11/11/11) at 11:11 (GM+1). The free app is currently available for Android and the iOS version will be available soon. The app will synchronize all the devices on which it is installed, down to the exact millisecond. At exactly 11 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds and 111 milliseconds, the devices will begin performing one minute of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony—arguably the most famous piece of classical music ever written, so quite the natural choice for this project. Users can either join in the first symphony, or alternatively, the music will repeat every hour until 10:11 “so that every time zone on the Earth is able to join in the great symphony.” After the song is played, a map will show the number of people in each country that have participated.



At the time of this writing, the Android app has a little over 3,000 downloads. We can only hope that as this week progresses, the project will gain momentum. “Play to change the world,” the video proclaims, emphasizing the project’s overarching message of cooperation. “Change is here…Together.” It’s a lofty goal, but it’s certainly one worth working toward. The digital age we live in offers a myriad of possibilities, changing the way we live, the way we work, and the way we work together. The makers of Massive Symphony are hoping to show that it’s a change for the better. EM.

Life in a Day Now Available on YouTube

Life in a Day, YouTube’s experiment in crowd-sourcing a feature-length film, premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, but it is now available on—where else?—YouTube. The film, for those of you who are not familiar with it, describes itself as “a historic film capturing for future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.” It is a 90-minute documentary-style movie pieced together from 4,500 hours of YouTube user-submitted footage from July 24, 2010.

What’s so special about July 24, 2010? It’s a tricky question to answer. The date itself is unremarkable—no holiday, no major historical event, nothing—it was simply chosen out of convenience. But through the experience of viewing the film, it becomes clear that it’s nevertheless incorrect to say that there is nothing special about July 24, 2010. Some of the moments captured in the film are mundane, and some are life-changing, but taken together, these moments create the impression that being alive on July 24, 2010 is all at once beautiful, funny, sad, joyful, and so much more.

Life in a Day is the first film of its kind, and it represents a pivotal moment in both cinema and digital media. As director Kevin Macdonald said in an interview with National Geographic, “The film is doing something that wouldn’t have been possible pre-Internet, specifically pre-YouTube. The idea that you can ask thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people all to contribute to a project and all to communicate about it and learn about it at the same time belongs essentially to this age that we live in. Life in a Day couldn’t have existed 100 years ago, 20 years ago, even 6 years ago.” EM