Help crowdfund scientific research!

Over the next two months, you can fund scientific research through Rockethub.

The SciFund challenge runs from November 1 through December 15. Essentially, it's an experiment by a group of scientists who think that they might be able to use crowdfunding to fuel their research. Forty-nine different projects, in a wide variety of disciplines, have signed on to the challenge.

You can browse the projects, decide which ones you'd like to help support, and make a donation. As a bonus, many of the projects are offering nice little gifts for crowdfunders. For instance, if you donate $75 to help researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst study the biology and physics of duck sex, you'll earn a pass code to access a regularly updated research blog, a collection of duck postcards, a "Duck Force!" mug, and a USB flash drive loaded with videos of explosive duck ejaculations that the scientists filmed for their research. (Naturally, this is one of the projects that have currently raised the most money.)

Not interested in duck sex? You're a rarity on the Internet, but there are plenty of other options. There are studies on depression, urban butterflies, cellulosic biofuels, and the mathematics of direct democracy.

Check out all 49 projects. And pledge your support to science!

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Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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Guest

Being a UMass alumni, I have to say the campus ducks must have a LOT of sex. There are an abundance.
- Mona Morgan
  
  I went to Mt Holyoke! Just came in to say how much I miss the Pioneer Valley.
Aditya Rao

“Not interested in duck sex? You’re a rarity on the Internet” FTW! :D
http://www.facebook.com/jamiesueaustin Jamie Sue

I just took a tour through some of the projects. The Smart Delivery project for Tanzania is interesting.
http://twitter.com/jebyrnes jebyrnes

(Hi! #SciFund cofounder here! Excited to see this posted!) I’ll let you in on the secret #SciFund Agenda – better links between scientists and society – particularly for academic scientists! We’ve got a project blog at http://scifund.wordpress.com where participants are posting about what it means to participate in this project for them and for the future of science. Hope you guys enjoy – the videos in particular are just a wonderful collection of passionate scientists communicating about their work!
show me

Actually, Maggie, if it runs from Nov 1 to Dec 15 it is a month and a half, not two months, so YOU ARE WRONG. ;)
Ted Stevko

Does this remind anyone else of Bruce Sterling’s Distraction: specifically the concept of science as a popular and/or group supported endeavor?
Kevin Fomalont

Hello all. Please check out my project, “Depression – An Illness of the Whole Body.” I am preparing to collaborate with a researcher in Russia and need funds for equipment. There are also cool photos on my website. Thanks! http://rockethub.com/projects/3799-depression-an-illness-of-the-whole-body

- Kevin Fomalont
http://twitter.com/DianeAKelly Diane A Kelly

And while a $75 donation would be great for our project, you can earn the passcode to follow along as we build and test our duck oviduct models for the price of a coffee and muffin ($5).