Galaxy Zoo

[supremespleen]

I'm sure everyone here has heard of the various distributed computing projects out there, SETI, Folding, etc. There's a new one out there, but instead of using your computer it uses you.

"Welcome to GalaxyZoo, the project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky.

Why do we need you?

The simple answer is that the human brain is much better at recognising patterns than a computer can ever be. Any computer program we write to sort our galaxies into categories would do a reasonable job, but it would also inevitably throw out the unusual, the weird and the wonderful. To rescue these interesting systems which have a story to tell, we need you."

For those of us that are interested in astronomy (or just need something to do during coffee break), this is a fun diversion. I've spent quite a bit of time listening to the EVE Online OST and identifying galaxies. You've got to take a little test to make sure you're not galaxy-retarded, but it is really fairly simple. And, you get to feel like you're helping some sort of cause. There is a bit of quality control - most galaxies are identified three or four times by different people, just to keep trolls from mucking with the system.

Galaxy Zoo.

If they implement a team feature, I'd love to start an ocremix team.