Get in touch with your inner science writer: announcing the Armchair Taxonomist Challenge!
Humans have probably been naming things and making lists since our earliest ancestors began to separate "Stuff That Tastes Good" from "Stuff That Killed That Other Guy That One Time".Trouble is, a lot of information about living things is hidden behind paywalls or scattered across random sources where the general public cant easily get to it. Thats where you come in! The Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org) is hosting a challenge. The goal: bring information about animals, plants, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria to the world. Contestants are asked to research and write short descriptions of some of nature's most fascinating species. Those descriptions will be reviewed by curators for inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Life. And here's the kicker: the best descriptions will earn their writers a place in history a private behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History is up for grabs. Check out the contest details at BoingBoing (http://boingboing.net/2013/04/22/armchairtaxonomist.html), and visit the contest entry form (http://eol.wufoo.com/forms/armchair-taxonomist/)to get started.
