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The Best Way to Procrastinate in the Zooniverse

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Procrastination feels like an inevitable part of getting anything done these days. It really should be called procrastihate, as I always hate myself afterwards, whether I've spent an hour on Facebook scrolling through photos of a wedding I wasn't invited to, or lost 40 games of spider solitaire in a row.

But I've found a way to waste time in a way that's fulfilling: by helping researchers identify animals online.

Yesterday, the Zooniverse, a citizen science hub, launched its latest project, called Snapshot Serengeti. Using motion sensing cameras, University of Minnesota scientists have taken more than 3 million photos of African wildlife in 3 years--an amount of data that would take the rest of their careers to sift through. So instead of doing it all themselves, they have enlisted the public to help them sort through the photos, identifying zebras, gazelles, lions, elephants, hyenas and other species to advance their study of Serengeti ecology.


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The process of sorting through the photos is surprisingly engaging. Snapshot Serengeti presents a photo or a series of photos and, using their animal ID guide, you simply select the number of each species you see in the photo. And to lift some of the pressure--"what if I get it wrong?"--each photo is presented to at least 5 participants. If they all agree, the identification is deemed correct; if there's disagreement, it's left in the pool of photos and given a closer look by the researchers.

The process is a perfect replacement for standard procrastination methods. After you get the method down, it's relatively brainless, but has moments of excitement: "OH MY GOD a baby elephant!" is not dissimilar from "OH MY GOD that guy from high school got fat!" And it certainly gives instant gratification as you scroll through the photos, successfully completing each one.

The big difference is that I don't hate myself after an hour of identifying African animals. Instead, I feel like I've done some good in the world.

Of course, the whole process can be incredibly engaging and a worthwhile hobby beyond procrastination. You can star your favorite photos for later and create collections (such as my praise-worthy collection of animal butts). And in the forum, you can talk to other participants and scientists about a cool photo or to ask about animal behavior, troubleshoot IDs, and learn more about the research.

Don't care for charismatic megafauna like giraffes and cheetahs? Then get into Seafloor Explorer to help identify marine crustaceans and mollusks, sort through whale songs on WhaleFM, moon photos on MoonZoo, or galaxies on GalaxyZoo. I swear it will make you feel better than losing at spider solitaire again.

Hannah Waters is a science writer fascinated by the natural world, the history of its study, and the way people think about nature. On top of science blogging, she runs the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal, a marine biology education website, and is science editor for Ladybits.

Hannah is a child of the internet, who coded HTML frames on her Backstreet Boys fanpage when she was in middle school. Aptly, she rose to professional science writing through blogging (originally on Wordpress) and tweeting profusely. She's written for The Scientist, Nature Medicine, Smithsonian.com, and others.

Before turning to full-time writing, Hannah wanted to be an oceanographer or a classicist, studying Biology and Latin at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She's done ecological research on marine food webs, shorebird conservation, tropical ecology and grassland ecosystems. She worked as a lab technician at the University of Pennsylvania studying molecular biology and the epigenetics of aging. And, for a summer, she manned a microphone and a drink shaker on a tour boat off the coast of Maine, pointing out wildlife and spouting facts over a loudspeaker while serving drinks.

Email her compliments, complaints and tips at culturingscience at gmail dot com.

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