4 ms·

I'm so glad companies and in this case a university are reaching out to youth to get them excited in these fields. Just wish it was more widespread. Can you ima

I'm so glad companies and in this case a university are reaching out to youth to get them excited in these fields. Just wish it was more widespread. Can you imagine being credited on a scientific paper while you're in middle school? I know they probably didn't do a lot of the hard work, but when you're that age, working with adults and being encouraged like that, I'm sure it's an amazing feeling.

tetris11 2y ago
there are many citizen science projects out there
- jstanley 2y ago
  "Citizen science" is kind of a demeaning term, as if the only way to do "Real science" is to work for a university.
  - whythre 2y ago
    Well, yeah. Everyone knows you aren’t pulling in millions in grant money or making millions off of patentable discoveries, you aren’t a real scientist.
    - evan_ 2y ago
      do you think that grad students doing research at a university are pulling in millions in grant money
      - hundchenkatze 2y ago
        I think they were being facetious
- ziddoap 2y ago
  I don't think many citizen science projects credit the citizen contributors on the resulting paper(s), do they? The only few that I have contributed to did not, but I'm not super familiar with what the norm is. I think being a student and seeing your name on the resulting paper is a big part of the encouragement and excitement.
  - tetris11 2y ago
    the few that I've been part of have, but I guess it depends on the PIs ultimately
ericmcer 2y ago
It would be weird to find such success at such a young age. Same thing with young athletes/musicians. It must be bizarre to be so celebrated when you have so little autonomy and your consciousness is barely online.
- csa 2y ago
  > It must be bizarre to be so celebrated when you have so little autonomy and your consciousness is barely online. I think you’re right that it’s “weird” for most folks that age. That said, folks with good parents/mentors/coaches will be properly humble, realizing that they basically achieved table stakes for “playing the game” (literal or figurative) at the next level. In sports, I think the Mannings in general and Arch Manning in particular have been kept properly grounded despite a great deal of fanfare over anything they did. In academics, I have seen quite a few professor’s kids who are keenly aware that early achievements that are sometimes celebrated by a wide audience will eventually be just one brick in the wall of their career.
IG_Semmelweiss 2y ago
>>> I know they probably didn't do a lot of the hard work Actually it looks some work was done and made the wrong finding , but there was serepindity involved in finding a new thesis along the way: > (student sample) contained a strain of bacteria called Pseudomonas idahonensis. The students interpreted the > bacterium's bioassay data and concluded it had antibiotic activity and produced a never-before-seen compound. > Then, the university researchers determined the compound's molecular structure using nuclear magnetic > resonance and mass spectrometry, named it orfamide N after the family of molecules it belongs to, and investigated its biological activity. Although orfamide N was not responsible for the antibiotic activity that the team initially observed from P. idahonensis, the compound inhibited the growth of human melanoma and ovarian cancer cells in culture tests. So if i read the above correctly, it seems like the students identified a new compound to do A, scientists took that new compound and tested for A, then after scientists realized it did B instead of A.

tetris11 2y ago

there are many citizen science projects out there

jstanley 2y ago
"Citizen science" is kind of a demeaning term, as if the only way to do "Real science" is to work for a university.
- whythre 2y ago
  Well, yeah. Everyone knows you aren’t pulling in millions in grant money or making millions off of patentable discoveries, you aren’t a real scientist.
  - evan_ 2y ago
    do you think that grad students doing research at a university are pulling in millions in grant money
    - hundchenkatze 2y ago
      I think they were being facetious
ziddoap 2y ago
I don't think many citizen science projects credit the citizen contributors on the resulting paper(s), do they? The only few that I have contributed to did not, but I'm not super familiar with what the norm is. I think being a student and seeing your name on the resulting paper is a big part of the encouragement and excitement.
- tetris11 2y ago
  the few that I've been part of have, but I guess it depends on the PIs ultimately

ericmcer 2y ago

It would be weird to find such success at such a young age. Same thing with young athletes/musicians. It must be bizarre to be so celebrated when you have so little autonomy and your consciousness is barely online.

csa 2y ago
> It must be bizarre to be so celebrated when you have so little autonomy and your consciousness is barely online. I think you’re right that it’s “weird” for most folks that age. That said, folks with good parents/mentors/coaches will be properly humble, realizing that they basically achieved table stakes for “playing the game” (literal or figurative) at the next level. In sports, I think the Mannings in general and Arch Manning in particular have been kept properly grounded despite a great deal of fanfare over anything they did. In academics, I have seen quite a few professor’s kids who are keenly aware that early achievements that are sometimes celebrated by a wide audience will eventually be just one brick in the wall of their career.

IG_Semmelweiss 2y ago

>>> I know they probably didn't do a lot of the hard work Actually it looks some work was done and made the wrong finding , but there was serepindity involved in finding a new thesis along the way: > (student sample) contained a strain of bacteria called Pseudomonas idahonensis. The students interpreted the > bacterium's bioassay data and concluded it had antibiotic activity and produced a never-before-seen compound. > Then, the university researchers determined the compound's molecular structure using nuclear magnetic > resonance and mass spectrometry, named it orfamide N after the family of molecules it belongs to, and investigated its biological activity. Although orfamide N was not responsible for the antibiotic activity that the team initially observed from P. idahonensis, the compound inhibited the growth of human melanoma and ovarian cancer cells in culture tests. So if i read the above correctly, it seems like the students identified a new compound to do A, scientists took that new compound and tested for A, then after scientists realized it did B instead of A.