Research has shown that light pollution causes problems for both wildlife and humans. In the Star-Spotting Experiment  we also want to learn more about what we can do to reduce light pollution and use light in an optimal way. At Jönköping University in Sweden researchers are working with these questions. Myriam Aries is a Professor in Lighting Science, and we asked her to answer a few of our questions.

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The Star-Spotting Experiment, VA’s 2019 citizen science project to investigate light pollution, was shortlisted for the 2019 Falling Walls Science Engagement of the Year competition. Project manager, Lena Söderström was invited to Berlin in November to present the project in the final of the competition at the Falling Walls Conference. Here we talk to her about the experience.

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This year’s European Researchers’ Night, known as ForskarFredag in Sweden, took place in 30 cities across the country. Participants engaged in the Swedish events included 17,122 visitors, and 550 researchers and PhD students.

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This weekend, thousands of researchers across Europe will be inspiring the public by showcasing the fascinating world of science at this year’s European Researchers’ Night.
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This year’s Swedish Researchers’ Night mass experiment – the Star-Spotting Experiment – is to be run in Ireland, Spain, the UK and Sweden this coming autumn and winter.

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The Star-Spotting Experiment, this year’s citizen science project in connection with the European Researchers’ Night events in Sweden, is now well underway. Members of the public across Sweden are helping scientists to measure light pollution by counting stars in the sky and recording the data in a specially-designed app. Here we catch up with Lena Söderström, Project Manager at VA (Public & Science), who is coordinating the Star-Spotting Experiment, to find out how the project is progressing.

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Street lamps, illuminated signs and buildings – lights at night improve safety and make cities more attractive, but have also been shown to have negative effects for humans and animals. The more light there is, the fewer stars you can see in the night sky. In this year’s mass experiment, more than 11,000 pupils, families and other members of the public will help scientists measure light pollution by counting stars in the sky.

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Biodiversity is under threat. Can an app that recognises different species of ladybirds help provide a solution? Pupils and members of the public from across Sweden are being invited to get involved in real research to find out in a mass experiment being run as part of the 2018 Researchers’ Night in Sweden. The Ladybird Experiment is joint initiative between the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the civil society organisation VA (Public & Science).

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Press Release 24 October 2017

How credible do teenagers think the news in their digital news feeds is? And where do they get their news from? Around 6,000 pupils have been helping researchers to investigate these questions in a citizen science project involving schools across the whole of Sweden.

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In 2015, Swedish school pupils helped scientists to bury over three thousand tea bags in the countryside. The Tea Bag Experiment is a mass experiment to investigate soil decomposition rates in different parts of the country and how the process is being affected by climate change. The results have now been published and show that the first phase of decomposition is particularly affected by a warmer climate.

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