NASA needs YOU! Okay…not NASA, but Oxford University. The scientists at Galaxy Zoo need you to help them classify galaxies by their shape and movement. Think that is a tough assignment? Well, if you can tell a spiral from a blob and know the difference between clockwise and counterclockwise then you are their perfect candidate. They have collected tons of pictures of galaxies and need your assistance. The human eye is better at this task than a computer, but Galaxy Zoo only has so many eyes. With just a few minutes worth of time visitors can help these scientists with a very significant project. Thanks to Roy for telling me all about this!
Joe
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There are other efforts under way to use the efforts of people on the web to do tasks that computers currently can not do very easily…such as classifying images in databases. Google has been doing some of this kind of work and presenting it on the web as a game between individuals on the web. Check out the recent article on Wired, http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/15-07/ff_humancomp
“For Certain Tasks, the Cortex Still Beats the CPU.”
This article got me thinking…how could we use this stragegy with students for learning in our schools?
no problem! it is way cool! can’t wait till they get the stats working!