Sharing Tools, Expanding Knowledge

Lerman discusses California Academy of Sciences' partnership with museums across the country--and the globe--to engage more young community scientists. She states that when she first joined the California Academy of Sciences in 2013, she was surprised to learn that the brightest minds at the Na...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMuseum Vol. 102; no. 4; p. 18
Main Author Lerman, Laura
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington American Alliance of Museums 01.07.2023
Subjects
Art galleries & museums
Climate change
Museum studies
Space exploration
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Lerman discusses California Academy of Sciences' partnership with museums across the country--and the globe--to engage more young community scientists. She states that when she first joined the California Academy of Sciences in 2013, she was surprised to learn that the brightest minds at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rely on ordinary humans like sixth-graders to validate and calibrate their satellite technology. It turns out that at any given moment there are several NASA satellites orbiting Earth, taking photographs of the sky from above and collecting data to determine (among other things) how clouds may affect the planet's changing climate. While computers are better than most humans at recognizing patterns, they can be less reliable when it comes to making inferences and discerning anomalies, which means anything from smoke to snow could be misidentified as clouds.
ISSN:1938-3940