Scientists Compete for Your Money: Zombie Fish Gets Cash

Scientists Compete for Your Money: Zombie Fish Gets Cash

http://news.yahoo.com/explosive-duck-penis-vs-zombie-fish-scientists-compete-204609531.html

http://www.rockethub.com/projects/3737-support-zombie-research

For the first time science can be powered directly by the people. RocketHub opened November 1^st which allows people to choose which science projects get done with their money. The SciFund Challenge allows researchers to pitch their ideas to the online crowd-funding platform RocketHub and people donate their money to the projects they think are worthwhile. The researchers have a chance to connect the public with science. The researchers can also get some baseline data needed to apply for larger grants. The SciFund Challenge runs through December 15^th.

One of the 49 projects that got funded is being done by Kelly Weinersmith, a grad student at University of California, Davis. She connected with her social network that was already interested in science. She is studying parasites that turn fish into “zombies”. The parasite, Euhaplorchis californiensis,lives on the brain of the California killifish. It changes the brain chemistry of the fish to make it behave bizarrely. It makes the zombie fish attract predatory birds which allows the parasite to breed in the guts of the predatory birds. So the parasite turns the killifish into their very own chauffeur. Weinersmith is infecting the fish in her lab and measuring changes in behavioral traits. She raised more than the $3500 that she needed and is using the extra money to get more video cameras.

The SciFund Challenge is a great way for researchers to raise funding and get the public more involved in science.