Today’s Solutions: February 09, 2025

From analyzing distant galaxies in order to help astronomers better understand the universe to protecting the coral reefs from climate change, there are plenty of cool ways you can contribute to science these days. And if you have been particularly attentive to the nature around you while in quarantine, there is a way to turn those observations into data that can power scientific research.

Here’s how: If you’re able to spot animals and plants, you can log them on iNaturalist, a website, an app run by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society, which gathers observations from millions of people around the world and makes them available for researchers.

If you don’t have wildlife nearby, or you’re yearning for something more exotic than backyard critters, you can contribute to one of the projects on Notes from Nature, which relies on volunteers to transcribe handwritten notations on museum specimens so they can be available to scientists worldwide. Current projects range from Florida plants and California flowers to butterflies and other bugs—even parasites if that’s your thing.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, participation in both of these citizen science projects has spiked, showing an increased interest from people to collaborate with each other and build community.

This story is part of our Best of 2021 series highlighting our top solutions from the year. Today we’re featuring science solutions.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Blue whales gather in record numbers off San Francisco coast

Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, like to gather off the coast of San Francisco to feed on krill in the Greater Farallones ...

Read More

Lab-grown meat to become cheaper than conventional beef by 2030

From steak cuts to chicken burgers, lab-grown meat is showing promising potential to transform the meat industry and shift it towards a more ethical ...

Read More

The pandemic may have eliminated two common strains of the flu

While few things about the Covid-19 pandemic have been good, scientists have discovered a possible silver lining: public health measures such as physical distancing ...

Read More

Canada’s largest airline purchases electric aircraft

Conventional fuel for transport (air travel, in particular) is one of the most significant contributors to CO2, making the electrification of travel high on ...

Read More