Announcing Philadelphia’s newest citizen science project: MyHeartMap Challenge!

Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

This project aims to crowdsource the first-of-its-kind map of Automated External Defibrillators in Philadelphia by photographing AEDs.

When someone collapses and stops breathing, an automated external defibrillator or AED can save their life. [Home AEDs are available for purchase.] In Philadelphia, PA, a city with about 1.5 million people, AEDs are all around us. Near our homes, workplaces, and even grocery stores! Currently, there is no comprehensive map, and, as a result, AEDs are often not used when they are most needed. With the crowdsourced information collected from this contest, the organizers will build a map of AED locations in Philadelphia that can inform 911 services and the public.

The MyHeartMap contest will officially go live January 31, 2012 at 9am! Until then, you can download the app from the iPhone store and Android marketplace and start submitting entries. Clues will be posted at the project website myheartmap.org and philly.org. The contest closes on March 13, 2012, at 6pm ET!

There are three ways to play:

1. Find and photograph the most AEDs in Philadelphia County before March 13, 2012 and win the $10,000 grand prize. The team or individual that finds the most “confirmed,” “eligible” AEDs by the contest end date will receive the grand prize of $10,000.

2. Be the first to submit a photograph of a “Golden”AED and win $50. The organizers have identified between 20 and 200 AEDs in Philadelphia County as “Golden” AEDs. These are unmarked, and you won’t know it’s a winner when you photograph it. Clues will be posted at the MyHeartMap project website.

3. Want to help but not compete for a prize? Submit addresses of locations without AEDs or that you wish had an AED – this is just for fun, and it will help with the map.

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Amateur scientist of the year, Ruth Brooks, and her test subjects. Photo: BBC

Ruth Brooks, a gardener with a soft spot for snails, has just won the BBC’s “So You Want to Be a Scientist?” contest. You may recall that she was our favorite when we reported in April on the four finalists for the contest.

Brooks’s ground-breaking (if slow) project showed that, contrary to what many scientists thought but gardeners suspected, snails have a homing instinct. The clever mollusks, she found, will return to their home gardens even if they’ve been relocated 100 feet away.

Brooks was helped in her research by Dave Hodgson, an ecologist at Exeter University, who described the experimental plan in this video:

Brooks has not yet determined the maximum limits of snails’ homing range, but, according to the BBC, she had this to offer gardeners who can’t bear to murder the creatures:

“I would say that on the evidence that it would be safe to take your snails away beyond 100m [330 feet] or further and put them somewhere nice with some food and you can be almost certain that they won’t come back.” She added: “I shall certainly be following that advice.”

You can follow Brooks’s continuing experiments on Facebook. And let us know–do her adventures spark any science project ideas for you? Add your comments here.

BBC Radio 4's amateur scientist contest

Do girls prefer pink because they can see farther into the red end of the visible light spectrum? Could playing music to bees increase their honey output? What’s the homing range of snails–in other words, how far away do you have to move them to keep them from returning to your garden?

These are just some of the burning questions that citizen scientists have decided to pursue in the quest to become BBC’s Amateur Scientist of the Year. Earlier this year, a panel of judges culled the 1,300 entrants down to a short list of 10. Today on Material World–the BBC’s weekly science broadcast–host Quentin Cooper announced the four finalists. They are:

• Croupier Sam O’Kell, who hypothesizes that the densest part of a music concert crowd is 6 to 10 feet from the barrier. He’ll test his thesis by wading into the mosh pit wearing a pressure-sensitive vest.

• High school student Nina Jones, who wants to know how and why people choose their Facebook photo.

• Photographer John Rowlands, who thinks there’s a connection between solar activity and noctilucent clouds (very high, night-shining clouds).

• Retired tutor Ruth Brooks–our favorite–who can’t stand to murder the snails in her garden and instead wants to figure out a humane, but foolproof, relocation plan.

Each of the Fab Four will work with a researcher to complete their projects. In September, they will present their results at the British Science Festival, where judges will choose the Amateur Scientist of the Year.

The best part of the whole thing is listening to the would-be scientists describe their ideas: Their sense of curiosity and wonder is contagious; from observation and anecdote to hypothesis and method, they show that science is simply a way of looking at our world. Reminds you that we’re all scientists–of one sort or another.

To get us all in the mood to celebrate the start of Firefly season, check out Owl City’s Fireflies music video.

The Museum of Science, Boston, kicks off each year of its Firefly Watch citizen science project with a day-long celebration in honor of everyone’s favorite insect and the volunteers who help monitor their populace so researchers can learn more about these fascinating little buggers. This year, the official Firefly Watch season starts on April 24th!

If you are in the Boston, MA, area, visit the Museum of Science and enjoy special presentations from firefly scientists and a host of children’s activities. No worries if you can’t make it to the Museum. Sci4Cits has partnered with the Museum of Science to present a contest! Between now and May 7th, create a Sci4Cits member blog (from the homepage, click on the Member Blog tab, then sign-in, to  get started) and post a picture, drawing, or video of a firefly–or any interpretation of a firefly–with a creative caption of your choosing and you will be entered into a random drawing. Five winners will receive a Museum of Science T-shirt AND have their blog post  featured on the homepage of ScienceForCitizens.net.

Think it’s too early to spot a Firefly? Not so! Here’s a member blog post from Don Salvatore, the creator of the Firefly Watch, in which he describes a daylight, cold-weather tolerant, Firefly species!

Good luck. If you have any questions, just email us at info@scienceforcitizens.net and we’ll help you get started with your very own Member Blog post.