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| © TOBIAS SCHWARZ - Getty Images Your phone can help track earthquakes, scout out the universe for extraterrestrials, and help you pinpoint which bird is chirping so early in the morning. |
We live in an unpredictable universe, and making sense of it all can be exhausting. Luckily, our phones are packed with helpful tools that can help us understand our ever-changing world.
There’s no question our phones are powerful. (An iPhone 5 with 16 gigs on memory has 240,000 times more memory than the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Imagine! An iPhone 5!) But would you be surprised to find out your phone can help track earthquakes, scout out the universe for extraterrestrials, and help you pinpoint exactly which bird is chirping so early in the morning?
Here are seven of our favorite science apps (and a few bonus ones) that are guaranteed to help you make the most of your time on this pale blue dot.
Here are seven of our favorite science apps (and a few bonus ones) that are guaranteed to help you make the most of your time on this pale blue dot.
1. Flyover Country
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| © Flyover Country The Best Science Apps |
Ever been on a long flight and wondered what on Earth that thing on the ground 40,000 feet below you was? Flyover Country is the app for you.
The app is super intuitive, and allows you to plot your route and save it offline, so you don’t have to spend money on WiFi during the flight. (Depending on how long your path is, the guide can take up to 30 minutes to download, so make sure you do this before the inflight safety demonstration.)
This is critical: Along your route you can explore volcanoes below you, read up on geologic events that have happened along your path, and learn cool facts about fossils on the ground. The app also includes a cloud visual guide that helps you spot your favorite puffballs—hello, cumulus mediocris—with images taken both inflight and from the ground as well as a landscape guide with satellite images of everything from ski slopes to impact craters. It's the perfect distraction for a long flight.
The app is super intuitive, and allows you to plot your route and save it offline, so you don’t have to spend money on WiFi during the flight. (Depending on how long your path is, the guide can take up to 30 minutes to download, so make sure you do this before the inflight safety demonstration.)
This is critical: Along your route you can explore volcanoes below you, read up on geologic events that have happened along your path, and learn cool facts about fossils on the ground. The app also includes a cloud visual guide that helps you spot your favorite puffballs—hello, cumulus mediocris—with images taken both inflight and from the ground as well as a landscape guide with satellite images of everything from ski slopes to impact craters. It's the perfect distraction for a long flight.
2. Rockd
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| © Rockd The Best Science Apps |
Rockd is another great geology app that gives you detailed information about the fascinating geologic features in your region.
What fossils are near you? Are there cool minerals in the area? What geologic rock formation is your home or work located on? (Here in rural Pennsylvania, for example, Popular Mechanics lies atop the Epler Formation, which dates as far back as 485.4 million years to the Ordovician period, when marine invertebrates like trilobites swam the seas.)
Find a weird-looking rock? Log in and record observations as you encounter cool features throughout the world. The app also recommends trips you can take and notable geologic attractions in your area, shows you observations that others have made, and reveals what your location looked throughout geologic history. And there's even a built-in Brunton Compass, a tool geologists use to measure the direction of a rock layer and the angle at which it is slopes into the earth.
The app itself is super easy to navigate, and there’s an in-app guide that helps explain how to get the most of out it.
What fossils are near you? Are there cool minerals in the area? What geologic rock formation is your home or work located on? (Here in rural Pennsylvania, for example, Popular Mechanics lies atop the Epler Formation, which dates as far back as 485.4 million years to the Ordovician period, when marine invertebrates like trilobites swam the seas.)
Find a weird-looking rock? Log in and record observations as you encounter cool features throughout the world. The app also recommends trips you can take and notable geologic attractions in your area, shows you observations that others have made, and reveals what your location looked throughout geologic history. And there's even a built-in Brunton Compass, a tool geologists use to measure the direction of a rock layer and the angle at which it is slopes into the earth.
The app itself is super easy to navigate, and there’s an in-app guide that helps explain how to get the most of out it.
3. iNaturalist
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| © iNaturalist The Best Science Apps |
Funded by a partnership between National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences (Full disclosure: This writer used to work there), iNaturalist allows you to snap pictures of plants and animals and post it to your profile. Other users, be they scientists or science enthusiasts, are then able to help identify the organism in your picture. You can see other observations in your area and learn more about your local ecosystem. (If you’re lucky, you could even end up discovering a new species.)
Identifying weird bugs in your yard is cool. Even cooler? You can participate in citizen science projects that help researchers do everything from track cougar sightings to spot nudibranchs, and you can sign up to run a Bioblitz event, where you and other nature fans try to identify as many species as you can.
Ever been on a hike and wondered, “What is that?” Now the answers are finally at your fingertips.
Identifying weird bugs in your yard is cool. Even cooler? You can participate in citizen science projects that help researchers do everything from track cougar sightings to spot nudibranchs, and you can sign up to run a Bioblitz event, where you and other nature fans try to identify as many species as you can.
Ever been on a hike and wondered, “What is that?” Now the answers are finally at your fingertips.
4. MyShake
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| © MyShake The Best Science Apps |
UC Berkeley's MyShake is an app that harnesses the power of movement sensors in your phone to record small shifts in Earth’s surface. A neural network in the app then uses this data to learn how to better differentiate between earthquake and non-earthquake movement.
Smartphone sensors are incredibly sensitive. Researchers tested MyShake and found that the sensors were able to pick up quakes as gentle as magnitude 5.0 within roughly 6 miles of the epicenter. So, you know, don’t go for a run while the app is on.
If you feel an earthquake, you’re able to submit an in-app report, which can help scientists learn more about the quake’s duration and intensity. Scientists at MyShake are currently testing an in-app early warning system, which they hope to roll out in California this fall. But the best part is simply watching the sensors do their thing.
Smartphone sensors are incredibly sensitive. Researchers tested MyShake and found that the sensors were able to pick up quakes as gentle as magnitude 5.0 within roughly 6 miles of the epicenter. So, you know, don’t go for a run while the app is on.
If you feel an earthquake, you’re able to submit an in-app report, which can help scientists learn more about the quake’s duration and intensity. Scientists at MyShake are currently testing an in-app early warning system, which they hope to roll out in California this fall. But the best part is simply watching the sensors do their thing.
5. BOINC
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| © BOINC The Best Science Apps |
BOINC is another project from UC Berkeley that lets you participate in a number of incredible scientific experiments. The best part is it works while you sleep.
The app lets scientists tap into your phone’s unused computer power to hunt for extraterrestrial life, scan the skies for blinking pulsars, and explore new proteins in three-dimension. Crunching all that data takes a lot of computer power; when connected to a vast network of other users, your phone helps get the job done. The app hosts 35 different projects—there’s something for everyone—and multiple scientific research papers on the results from these projects have been published.
It’s incredibly easy, too. All you need to do is choose a project, register, and you’ll be ready to go. In order for BOINC to work, though, you’ll need a solid WiFi connection and a phone charger.
The caveat: Unfortunately, it’s only available for Android and PC users.
The app lets scientists tap into your phone’s unused computer power to hunt for extraterrestrial life, scan the skies for blinking pulsars, and explore new proteins in three-dimension. Crunching all that data takes a lot of computer power; when connected to a vast network of other users, your phone helps get the job done. The app hosts 35 different projects—there’s something for everyone—and multiple scientific research papers on the results from these projects have been published.
It’s incredibly easy, too. All you need to do is choose a project, register, and you’ll be ready to go. In order for BOINC to work, though, you’ll need a solid WiFi connection and a phone charger.
The caveat: Unfortunately, it’s only available for Android and PC users.
6. Merlin Bird ID
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| © Merlin Bird ID The Best Science Apps |
Merlin Bird ID has a super easy user interface, and has to be one of the best apps for beginner birders. Here’s how it works: First, you’ll have download the appropriate bird guide for your area. Then, once you spot a bird, you’ll be prompted to describe what you saw by filling out an in-app questionnaire. Did it have big talons and a red tail? Was it flitting around in the bushes or swimming in an estuary? The app helps to narrow down a list of birds that you most likely saw. You can also explore the list of birds in your area, listen to their calls, and see their range.
Plus, it also has bird calls. This is important. If you’ve ever been jolted awake by the screech of a barn owl while camping in the woods, you know how unsettling it can be to hear strange, unidentified sounds. And if you’re feeling particularly competitive, you can download the companion app, eBird, and track the birds you spot.
Plus, it also has bird calls. This is important. If you’ve ever been jolted awake by the screech of a barn owl while camping in the woods, you know how unsettling it can be to hear strange, unidentified sounds. And if you’re feeling particularly competitive, you can download the companion app, eBird, and track the birds you spot.
7. Moon Atlas 3D
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| © Moon Atlas 3D The Best Science Apps |
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced earlier this year that the U.S. plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2024. Just about every major player in the space industry is aiming their sights at the moon, and in particular, the South Pole, where we’ve found evidence of water ice, a necessary resource if we want to build a lunar community.
So now is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with every hill, crater, and crevice on the lunar surface. Moon Atlas 3D lets you zip around our planet’s closest neighbor and explore all of the lunar landing sites (a double-tap takes you to the mission’s Wikipedia page). It doesn't have the latest Chang'e 4 mission, which landed on the far side of the moon in January. Hopefully, future updates will include that.
The level of detail is pretty incredible, as you can choose a lunar phase and control how many crater labels are shown. (There are a lot of craters.) There’s also a cool “advanced map” that reveals a vintage paper map-style view of the moon. We’re definitely dreaming about colonizing the moon one day. This app will hold us over until that happens.
Bonus:
ISS Spotter
This one is fun and simple. It tracks the international Space Station and alerts you when it’ll be flying over your location, so you can pop outside.
Sir David Attenborough’s Story of Life
This is just a collection of historian Sir David Attenborough’s best clips, sorted into categories such as 'Unique Species First Filmed,' 'Thrilling Hunts Caught on Camera' and 'Clever Animals Use Tools.' Need we say more?
