Hubble takes a lot of photos, so many that astronomers need help categorizing them. That’s where Galaxy Zoo comes in. It’s a social computing site where users learn the difference between spiral and spherical galaxies and then, once they prove their skill at labeling sample galaxies, are set free on actual data. Moon Zoo is similar, but with sorting moon images (thus the name).
EyeWire.org from MIT works on the same principal of a division of labor. This time, though, the user fills in the gaps of a neural network inside the retina. A computer has started the work; a human finishes it (take that, Cylons). MIT is trying to track how messages travel from your eyes to your brain. They are also trying to discover more ways in which the human brain functions. Not everyone gets a chance to be a research scientist, but now you have a chance to help out.
EyeWire.org is like Galaxy Zoo and Moon Zoo
April 10th, 2012 by Brian Leave a reply »
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