4 ms·

Show HN: Petridish.org, a kickstarter for scientific research

79 points by ilz 15y ago

cing 15y ago
U.S. only?
emeltzer 15y ago
Why is there no link to information about the team under About?
- ilz 15y ago
  It's on our todo list to add info about the team, but here are our profiles on the site: Matt Salzberg: http://www.petridish.org/users/2 http://www.petridish.org/users/2 Ilia Papas (me): http://www.petridish.org/users/1 http://www.petridish.org/users/1
  - evoxed 15y ago
    Where in New York are you guys? Do you need interns?
    - msalzberg 15y ago
      Sure, we could potentially use interns. Send us a message through our contact form and we'll talk about it.
      - evoxed 15y ago
        Done, even if potential means you weren't really considering until somebody asked!
davedx 15y ago
Awesome idea, I'll be watching it for interesting projects.
SamLR_66 15y ago
Are the various proposed projects vetted at all? This seems like the sort of thing that would result in lots of pseudo science getting funded or is it buyer beware in that respect? Also do you envisage any way of helping fund less glamorous projects?
- cing 15y ago
  I'm not sure about Petridish but SciFund is implementing a "peer review" for their next round of science crowdfunding: http://scifund.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/adding-a-mild-review-process-to-scifund-why-the-change/ http://scifund.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/adding-a-mild-review...
- msalzberg 15y ago
  Hi, Sam. This is Matt from petridish. We are doing a first pass at vetting in the sense that we are looking for projects that we think the public will be excited about, run by researchers with good credentials / affiliations, and that don't include obvious "junk science." Ultimately, though, our model puts the power to pick projects in the hands of the public!
- pgroves 15y ago
  I'd actually be more concerned about trying to define "junk science" than having a bunch of psychics running experiments. What is the harm in someone putting their own money into a pseudo-science experiment? It will fail if it's an incorrect hypothesis either way. In fact, the feedback loop between a "believer", their money, and reality, seems like a feature not a bug.
psylence519 15y ago
I hope someone is working on a Kickstarter for Kickstarter clones, huge market opportunity there.
- yread 15y ago
  It could be called Kickexchange!
wgrover 15y ago
My favorite thing about this is how it exposes non-scientists to the first (and IMHO most exciting and least appreciated) phase of research - thinking up experiments.
- msalzberg 15y ago
  Thanks!
  - irollboozers 15y ago
    Good luck! I'm glad more people like you (VC's) are stepping into the game. And in fact, this is going to require a lot of hands on experience. By the way, have you been a researcher before?
- cing 15y ago
  It also exposes your research plan to other scientists when your work is at a stage where it's the easiest to be scooped. I have a science project idea to be crowdfunded, but I'm still a bit skeptical...
  - wgrover 15y ago
    That's a real risk. But the longer I'm in science, the more I believe that "ideas are cheap, follow-through is everything." If I'm scooped, it's not because someone else had the same idea (probably lots of people had that same idea); it's because I didn't reduce it to practice first. If getting funding from Petridish helps you reduce your idea to practice first, maybe it's worth the risk of getting scooped.
possibilistic 15y ago
I was working in this space part-time but got beat to the starting line. I still think I have something to offer since I am a scientist. I don't want to port the conversation I'm having in another news item here, so would anyone be kind enough to offer me some advice in the following thread? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680207 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680207 I could also use some 1-on-1 advice via chat if it can be spared. edit: Thanks to everyone who has commented and emailed me thus far! All of your advice is wonderful and really encouraging. I still appreciate new comments, and I'd really love to hear from Atlanta-area Python/JS hackers.
- irollboozers 15y ago
  We are launching Microryza, which is still differentiated enough, but is pretty much the same thing. http://www.microryza.com/ http://www.microryza.com/ We got beat by 4 days. But, screw it, we're going to launch anyways because we feel we have a better product. Though, of the 14 competitors in this space, these guys flew under the radar pretty damn well.
  - possibilistic 15y ago
    Wow, best of luck! It'll be hard to compete with VCs, but if you're a scientist you speak a language that isn't easy to learn. That could be a deciding advantage.
eli_gottlieb 15y ago
You mean like Fundageek?

79 points by ilz 15y ago

cing 15y ago

U.S. only?

emeltzer 15y ago

Why is there no link to information about the team under About?

ilz 15y ago
It's on our todo list to add info about the team, but here are our profiles on the site: Matt Salzberg: http://www.petridish.org/users/2 http://www.petridish.org/users/2 Ilia Papas (me): http://www.petridish.org/users/1 http://www.petridish.org/users/1
- evoxed 15y ago
  Where in New York are you guys? Do you need interns?
  - msalzberg 15y ago
    Sure, we could potentially use interns. Send us a message through our contact form and we'll talk about it.
    - evoxed 15y ago
      Done, even if potential means you weren't really considering until somebody asked!

davedx 15y ago

Awesome idea, I'll be watching it for interesting projects.

SamLR_66 15y ago

Are the various proposed projects vetted at all? This seems like the sort of thing that would result in lots of pseudo science getting funded or is it buyer beware in that respect? Also do you envisage any way of helping fund less glamorous projects?

cing 15y ago
I'm not sure about Petridish but SciFund is implementing a "peer review" for their next round of science crowdfunding: http://scifund.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/adding-a-mild-review-process-to-scifund-why-the-change/ http://scifund.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/adding-a-mild-review...
msalzberg 15y ago
Hi, Sam. This is Matt from petridish. We are doing a first pass at vetting in the sense that we are looking for projects that we think the public will be excited about, run by researchers with good credentials / affiliations, and that don't include obvious "junk science." Ultimately, though, our model puts the power to pick projects in the hands of the public!
pgroves 15y ago
I'd actually be more concerned about trying to define "junk science" than having a bunch of psychics running experiments. What is the harm in someone putting their own money into a pseudo-science experiment? It will fail if it's an incorrect hypothesis either way. In fact, the feedback loop between a "believer", their money, and reality, seems like a feature not a bug.

psylence519 15y ago

I hope someone is working on a Kickstarter for Kickstarter clones, huge market opportunity there.

yread 15y ago
It could be called Kickexchange!

wgrover 15y ago

My favorite thing about this is how it exposes non-scientists to the first (and IMHO most exciting and least appreciated) phase of research - thinking up experiments.

msalzberg 15y ago
Thanks!
- irollboozers 15y ago
  Good luck! I'm glad more people like you (VC's) are stepping into the game. And in fact, this is going to require a lot of hands on experience. By the way, have you been a researcher before?
cing 15y ago
It also exposes your research plan to other scientists when your work is at a stage where it's the easiest to be scooped. I have a science project idea to be crowdfunded, but I'm still a bit skeptical...
- wgrover 15y ago
  That's a real risk. But the longer I'm in science, the more I believe that "ideas are cheap, follow-through is everything." If I'm scooped, it's not because someone else had the same idea (probably lots of people had that same idea); it's because I didn't reduce it to practice first. If getting funding from Petridish helps you reduce your idea to practice first, maybe it's worth the risk of getting scooped.

possibilistic 15y ago

I was working in this space part-time but got beat to the starting line. I still think I have something to offer since I am a scientist. I don't want to port the conversation I'm having in another news item here, so would anyone be kind enough to offer me some advice in the following thread? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680207 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3680207 I could also use some 1-on-1 advice via chat if it can be spared. edit: Thanks to everyone who has commented and emailed me thus far! All of your advice is wonderful and really encouraging. I still appreciate new comments, and I'd really love to hear from Atlanta-area Python/JS hackers.

irollboozers 15y ago
We are launching Microryza, which is still differentiated enough, but is pretty much the same thing. http://www.microryza.com/ http://www.microryza.com/ We got beat by 4 days. But, screw it, we're going to launch anyways because we feel we have a better product. Though, of the 14 competitors in this space, these guys flew under the radar pretty damn well.
- possibilistic 15y ago
  Wow, best of luck! It'll be hard to compete with VCs, but if you're a scientist you speak a language that isn't easy to learn. That could be a deciding advantage.

eli_gottlieb 15y ago

You mean like Fundageek?