Galaxy hunt draws massive traffic (BBC) {distributed computing project}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

An online initiative which asks members of the public to classify galaxies recorded unprecedented traffic in its first 48 hours.

The venture is a follow-up to the Galaxy Zoo project launched in 2007.

Co-founder Dr Chris Lintott said the website had been getting 12 clicks per second in its first two days.

He said members of the public had answered some two million questions about galaxies in the database during that same period.

"To put that in perspective, we think it would have taken a PhD student working non-stop nearly eight months to match that," Dr Lintott, from the University of Oxford, told BBC News.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7899658.stm

[Peace Patriot]

1. Hey, I'm a Galazy Zooite, working on this project! It is great fun, and what you get

to see of the Universe is just awesomely, staggeringly beautiful.

It's easy. It's a great project, similar to the SETI data crunching screensaver project, except that this is interactive. They want HUMAN EYES on these amazing objects in outer space, because computers cannot make the fine judgments needed to classify these extremely variable galaxies and other objects. And it's a great learning experience. I can now tell you all about gravitational lenses and disturbed spirals and discern the difference between an edge-on galaxy and a mere cigar-shaped elliptical (streak of light)--well, more often than not. It's got tutorials, and lots of active blogs to help you participate.

www.galaxyzoo.com

[Canuckistanian]

3. Link is wrong

It's

https://www.galaxyzoo.org/

[Peace Patriot]

6. Oops! Thanks for the correction! nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I want to try it with my kids. I also forwarded the link to ElderGreenKid's science teacher as

they are studying the universe this trimester.

[phantom power]

4. I love these distributed computing projects.

An example of the Internet actually allowing us to do science that would be otherwise difficult or unaffordable.

[Bill McBlueState]

5. "it would have taken a PhD student working non-stop nearly eight months"

I am utterly surprised that they took this approach, instead of actually telling a PhD student to work non-stop for nearly eight months. The fact that the professor had this calculation at hand is a good sign that, yeah, they were considering that option.

:rofl:

[Posteritatis]

7. Well now they can tell that PhD student to work on something else nonstop for nearly 8 months! (nt)