This is seriously awesome. Researchers with the Mastadon Matrix Project need help sifting through “matrix” — the dirt that a fossil is embedded in. Join the Project, and you’ll be sent a kilogram of matrix from a mastadon dig in New York State. You can do the analysis with inexpensive, easy-to-find equipment, and then send your discoveries back to the scientists. It’s a great chance to do real, valuable scientific research in your school or home. Check it out! (Via Karen Traphagen)