Just recently, NASA announced exciting progress on a new program that uses two space probes to image the sun's surface while facing away from Earth. STEREO ("Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory") uses the satellites are still floating into position for full viewing, but they are already returning images of never-before-seen sun horizons.

In order to download and process the future image data around-the-clock, NASA would like to establish a "mini-Deep Space Network" comprised of experience HAM operators from around the world who can collect signals through 10m X-band antennas. This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of cutting-edge solar science and will support critical early detections and forecasting of solar storms.

The first (of two) solar eclipses of 2009 begins late tonight, and will be visible over the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia. So, even if you are not floating on a boat in the middle of the ocean early in the morning, you can still watch the eclipse live thanks to an array of telescopes being made available through the South Africa National Node of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 program.

The viewing will be available begining around 12 midnight (CST) (the annular path begins in the South Atlantic at 06:06 UT), so take a brief nap this evening and stay up late to watch the beautiful sight!

Mac Cowell, the co-founder of the growing do-it-yourself amateur research biotechnology virtual collective is interviewed by Seed Magazine for an interesting look into his push to bring real scientific experiences out from the halls of academia and into the inquisitive masses.

The program is an online infrastructure called DIYbio.org and is reaching out to anyone who is interested in tinkering with a little biology in their own garage. Be inspired by the exciting opportunities DIYbio can bring to your home wet lab and how you can participate in this new, and exciting open collaboration of biotech enthusiasts and serious amateur scientists.

As a deeply interested individual in brain science and neurotechnology myself, this particular report has instantly inspired my own future plans for new directions in amateur research and citizen science at my own home.

Tim Marzullo, a recent PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, has been working on a project to develop a very low-cost amateur neurological recording device. Along with his friend, Greg Gage, they are nearing success on a prototype, and even presented their work at the recent Society of Neuroscience conference in Washington, D.C.

With a home-made micro-manipulator, a classic bandpass filter with amplifier, and a willing bug, they will soon be recording neuronal action potentials in their own garage for under $100.

In only a few days (or less), my wife and I will have our second child, a son named Andrew. I have a deep interest in the human brain as well as the underlying functions that give rise to what we consider human consciousness... a natural phenomenon that remains completely out of the range of current scientific explanation.

I hold the hypothesis that human beings actually develop consciousness well after delivery into this world, and that there is a transition into this higher functioning state. Starting with the birth of Andrew, I will work on a journal of observations to record his development in an attempt to identify this transitional process. Although these observations will be entirely subjective and experiential, I do anticipate that we might find just a glimpse into the development of this one infant human brain and how it interacts with and evolves in our world.

Follow along with the journal in Neuron News from Dynamic Patterns under the Topical Category "Raising Consciousness," and let me know what you think as well as provide me with any guidance or suggestions you might have during my observational experiment.

Recently, one of our brave Endeavour astronauts inadvertently let a tool bag slip through her fingers (it wasn't properly attached initially and so caught her unexpectedly). The bag was assumed to be lost to NASA, but it has been recently sighted by amateur astronomers as a reasonably bright satellite.

Only a pair of binoculars are required to view the tool back, and it is currently being tracked online at Spaceweather.com. Enter your zip code to see when you can spot the tools in space!

Last spring, citizen science activities received a wonderful feature the The Christian Science Monitor. Focusing on some of the largest nation-wide citizen science programs as well as a brief interview with Dr. Carlson of SAS, the article is another positive reflection that amateur research activities are growing and will continue to be encouraged.

"'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change" :: The Christian Science Monitor :: April 10, 2008 :: [ READ ]

A thorough guide created by past directors at the Great Smokey Mountains Institute at Tremont and published by the Association of Nature Center Administrators is a wonderful resource for program leaders around the world who are interested in developing new and improving existing citizen science projects.

In addition, this guide will prove to be useful for the individual amateur researcher to help organize personal projects and stimulate ideas for getting involved within the community and even within ones own backyard.

A partial version is available for download below (16 pages of 88), and the complete document may be purchased for $20 directly from the ANCA.

"The Director's Guide to Best Practices in Citizen Science" :: Copyright 2007 :: [ DOWNLOAD ]

Scientists from the University of Montana and the University of Calgary reported in 2007 on their use of local citizens to monitor and record observations of wildlife crossings of Highway 3 in southwestern Alberta, Canada. The data is being used to better understand wildlife movement in the area and how a planned highway improvement project might impact the environment.

This is a wonderfully useful approach for data collection in order to provide a potentially more broader look at a long-term natural pattern. What is particularly interesting about this report, however, is that is does address what will ultimately be the most critical issue for citizen science programs to overcome: how to guarantee that data collected from unregulated and potentially biased and subjective observers can be filtered into a set of data that can be considered scientific.

Citizen science data may never be considered as "real science" unless biases and unintentional errors can be monitored or filtered out. As long as the data collection sets are sufficiently large, then statistical analysis against a known, accurate sub-set of data can be used. Of course, once statistics is brought into the picture, then some generalizations are typically required, which can lessen the viability of the data.

I do believe that this is "legitimacy issue" is fundamental, and must be addressed by program leaders in the crowdsourcing citizen science projects.

So, it might be less frightful and more magical, but the planets will be aligned this Halloween night for a great show for all of the trick-or-treaters and their parents. Be sure to look up toward the sunset this Friday evening -- in between doorbell rings and candy looting -- to witness a fantastic early evening alignment of the crescent moon, Venus, and Jupiter.

More great Moon-planet alignments will be visible over the next month, and you can read more about these great observing and photographing opportunities with the article below...