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Sun, Nov 07, 2010, 8:56 pm CST
Hello Everyone,
My name is Jacob Shiach and I am organizing the creation of a quarterly magazine called The Citizen Science Quarterly.
The magazine will contain articles by and about citizen scientists, and cover things from How-tos to interviews to gene samples.
Is this something anyone here would be interested in being involved with as a writer (or reader)?
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 7:22 pm CDT
What's the focus? All science, or specifically Bio sciences?
I'd be interested in participating - if you think what I do fits.
Have you a website, or a pitch, or something to that effect?
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 7:52 pm CDT
Sounds like fun, I'd be happy to contribute to the party :)
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 8:51 pm CDT
I'm too profane for citizens, I'll pass but I really like the concept.
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 10:02 pm CDT
The focus is all science being done outside of normal labs.
We do have a website at TheCitizenScienceQuarterly.com though it's rather vague at the moment, our kickstarter is a little more informative.
@rift: Psychology is sometimes considered science (translation:psychology is a science)and seeing as how it has a lower cost of entry(referring to assumed research expenses) than some other fields, I think it would be suitable for "amateurs". As long as they were focused on the research and not the clinical side of things.
@evie and who ever else is interested in putting together something for the first issue, If you already know what you'd like to do let me know asap so I can start reserving pages. My email is kingjacob (at) gmail.com. Also If you don't know exactly what you'd like to cover, let me know and we can brainstorm something you'd be interested about doing.
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 10:20 pm CDT
What do you mean by a lower cost of entry? That a PhD is easier to obtain than in another field?
I understand that clinical psychology does fall short on many benchmarks of science, but all experimental psychology is based on falsifiable hypotheses. Cognition? Attention? Comparative? Are these topics not 'science'?
Perhaps this forum is not the area to discuss such arguments - I'll open up a discussion thread under general and see what people think.
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 10:28 pm CDT
Molecular Gastronomy? Oh man, do you have anyone covering that yet? If so, whom? And are we talking more lab or kitchen focused MG? Herve This & Hal McGee or Ferran Adria & Grant Achatz? Or some middle ground between both?
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 10:39 pm CDT
I was actually referring to the lower cost of the research itself. An amateur or citizen scientist wont be doing their work in a university or industry lab so alot of research can be cost prohibitive. Alot of pscyhological research can be done with pen and paper which is alot more wallet friendly than say molecular biology where enzymes cost more than gold.
JaySeeDub, I have a biochem/chef friend of mine working on the MG how-to. We're talking about lab stuff that is delicious. I'd say Herve as he seems to care about the science behind it where as Ferran just seems like a chef who makes odd food.
Mon, Nov 01, 2010, 11:52 pm CDT
There are other BCM/Chef nerds out there? That's badass. I always fell into the "too much of a scientist" grouping around other guys on the line, and "too interested in finished product" around other lab monkies playing with textures and flavors. I'm really intrigued by this project now.
Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 10:39 am CDT
"Psychology is sometimes considered science and seeing as how it has a lower cost of entry than some other fields, I think it would be suitable for "amateurs". As long as they were focused on the research and not the clinical side of things."
/facepalm
There are so many things wrong with this statement, I'm not sure where to begin.
Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 1:35 pm CDT
Jason, please elaborate. I'm not familiar with alot of the costs incurred doing psychological research.
Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 1:48 pm CDT
Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 2:33 pm CDT
Let's get back on topic here. Science rocks. All fields of science are just as awesome as all the rest.
Jacob, What kind of stories are you looking for?
Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 4:51 pm CDT
Stories of individuals doing quality research in their garage(hackerspace,closet,...), your favorite open science protocol, a design for a piece of lab equipment, research papers,interviews with non-scientists that have ties and insight into citizen science(FBI agent, patent lawyer,etc), "Under-recognized" Scientist of the Month, easy to understand how-tos, even art. The goal is to get a smorgasboard of useful information from a variety of fields, so we can inspire scientists (even those who dont think they are one,yet) to think outside the normal way of doing things.
Also, For the first issue we have a quasi theme of "How to start". but only a portion will be related to the theme, so don't worry if you want to submit something thats above a beginners level.
Sun, Nov 07, 2010, 8:09 pm CST
So scientists aren't citizens? WTF! What's all this about "open protocols" and such? Anything published in the scientific literature has an "open protocol". And what's the deal with the DNA samples?
This proposed publication sounds like it is full of this bullshit "us vs. them" hacker mentality. As if science was such a closed operation performed in secret labs by giant corporations inaccessible to mere "citizens". If this dude really wanted to see how science really works he should be reading all of these science blogs that show that scientists are normal people, in the real world, doing normal jobs. This idea of "let's hack science" it total crap and shows a short-sighted misunderstanding of what science is really like.
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