Dark days ahead? December 16, 2009
Posted by sarah in: astronomy, politics . 4commentsThe British astronomy community is bracing itself for bad news due to arrive tomorrow from its funding council, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, or STFC. Since its creation in 2007, STFC appears to have stumbled from one crisis to the next. An announcement will be made by the council tomorrow about deep cuts in the astronomy budget to fill a 70 million pound hole that has resulted from increased contributions to ESA on the one hand, and a debt that needs to be repayed to the government dating back to the merger that created STFC in 2007.
The Zooniverse December 13, 2009
Posted by sarah in: astro 2.0, astronomy . 1 comment so far
Today saw the launch of the Zooniverse, home for the growing number of Zoo projects that have spawned from the success of Galaxy Zoo. The site contains info on all the projects, how to join, where to go for more info, and how to get new projects into the Zoo.
The Zooniverse project is run and maintained by the Citizen Science Alliance, whose new website also launched today.
Congrats to Chris, Arfon, Pamela and all the other Zookeepers for a great job on all these projects! Extra points for getting a Mighty Boosh reference into an astronomy project.
More links December 13, 2009
Posted by sarah in: dotastronomy . 1 comment so farI’ve just added an extra page with a bunch of links to projects and sites that fit well within the context of .Astronomy - open astronomy, astronomy in social media, citizen science, web-based outreach and education projects. I’ll maintain the list as well as I can, as things change and new projects are set up. Take a look and let me know if you have something to add.
Gonzo .Astronomy December 12, 2009
Posted by sarah in: astro 2.0, dotastronomy . Add a commentBrilliant footage of the .Astronomy workshop by Ed & Hailey Gomez
.Astronomy Day 5: Reaching out December 8, 2009
Posted by sarah in: astro 2.0, dotastronomy . Add a commentThe final day of .Astronomy was devoted to those who work to bring astronomy to a wider audience. As I’m still suffering with the .Astronomy bug, I’d just like to post a couple of videos from talks I particularly enjoyed.
Finally, thanks to everyone who came along to the meeting. It was fab.
