James Portnow, Seattle-based game designer and co-creator of Extra Credits, a web series on pro-social game design.
Raised over $125,000 from over 4,000 people.
James and Extra Credits were featured at SXSW, Gamasutra, and the homepage of Reddit.
Meghan Sebold, Brooklyn-based social entrepreneur and designer.
Raised $5,000 for a sustainable clothing line that uses the textiles and talent of Ghana, West Africa.
Her fashion line, AFIA was featured in EcoSalon, TreeHugger, Refinery29, and is now available in boutiques across NYC.
Aram Bajakian, NYC-based avant-garde guitar player.
Raised $4,000 from fans and strangers to fund his album.
Lou Reed heard Aram and chose him as his new guitarist while Aram's album is now released by John Zorn's Tzadik record label.
Darko Lungulov, Serbia-based award winning international filmmaker.
Raised $9,000 from movie buffs for feature film project Here and There.
Film won "Best New York Narrative" at Tribeca Film Festival, featured in Variety, L.A. Times, New York Times, and was a top-10 indie box office theatrical release.
When Last We Flew, NYC-based Off-Broadway theatrical production team.
Raised $7,000 from theatre fans for the premiere Off-Broadway run.
Show sold-out at NYC Fringe Festival, won a GLAAD Media Award, and was featured in New York Times, Bloomberg, and American Theatre Magazine.
Regan Wann, Kentucky-based small business owner.
Raised $5,000 to expand her tea shop business.
RocketHub campaign featured in the Wall Street Journal exposing her business to millions.
Laura Boyd, NYC-based portrait and landscape photographer.
Raised $6,000 architectural photography project on location in Paris.
Photos featured in Artsicle Photography Show in the heart of Chelsea, NYC via LaunchPad.
Joshua Reuben Lewis, NYC-based singer-songwriter.
Raised $7,500 to record his first album.
Showcased at The Gibson Showroom and made A&R connections at Sony, Warner Music Group, and EMI via LaunchPad.
Paul Davis, Berlin-based fashion designer.
Raised $8,000 from fans and strangers for a new fashion line.
Clothing line featured at Berlin Fashion Week.
Caira Conner, Tennessee based NYU Master of Science.
Raised $2,000 to study Brazilian land and infrastructure development.
Featured in Americas Quarterly, completed innovative research, and submitted successful academic thesis.
In Partnership With:
Share this widget on your site or blog by copying and pasting the code above. Need a little help?
Reach out to us.
Support Status
Time Remaining
Any contribution of $20 receives: A few times a week for up to a month I’ll send you an awesome parasite factoid by e-mail. It’ll be the greatest parasite-knowledge-enhancing month of your life (unless you’re a parasitologist). I’ll also thank you on my Twitter account for your donation. 33 Fuelers!
Any contribution of $50 receives: Parasite factoids by e-mail for a month (see $20 reward), PLUS a series of e-mails containing pictures I have taken while doing research. The pictures will be accompanied by information about the featured organism. 21 Fuelers!
Any contribution of $100 receives: As requested, Zach and I will record and send you the link to a personalized "Thank You" video for your donation. 4 Fuelers!
Any contribution of $200 receives: Is there some parasite that you’d like to learn more about, but want a scientist to do the research for you? Then this is the option for you! For $200 I’ll write a blog post of at least 3,000 characters about a parasite of your choice. I’ll put the post up on my blog at Weinersmith.com, and will mention that the post is being written in your honor. 1 Fueler!
Any contribution of $500 receives: Let’s be honest, lots of you are probably here because Zach Weiner, creator of the comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, linked to my video proposal. For $500 Zach will draw you anything you wish. Carl Sagan riding a unicorn you say? You got it! We’ll e-mail you a colored PDF of the artwork, and will send the original artwork drawn by Zach via snail mail. 4 Fuelers!
Started by Kelly Weinersmith October 31st, 2011
Help me to understand how brain-infecting parasites control the behavior of their hosts!
Tweet
UPDATE:
We've already raised over $3,500 FOR SCIENCE and we have over a month to go! Internet, I'm so overwhelmed by your generosity. The idea that scientists can receive funding for their research directly from the public is just so, so exciting. This project is the culmination of the last 7 years of my scientific career, and as every PhD candidate can tell you, finding a way to live while funding your research can be a serious challenge. You're making it possible to do this research, my life's work, the way it SHOULD be done. To everyone who has donated: THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! You are all SCIENCE SUPERHEROES!
I've begun sending out the reward e-mails! If you have sensitive spam filters, please add WeeklyWeinersmith@gmail.com to your "Not Spam" list. :)
-------------
You know what's awesome? Parasites.
You know what's even more awesome? Parasites that infect the brain of their host, and make their hosts do crazy things that benefit the parasite. Yeah, kinda like zombies.
In the picture for this SciFund project you'll see a fish's brain, and completely covering that brain are thousands of tiny oval-shaped parasites (they're mostly clear, with a white spot on one far end). This parasite, known as Euhaplorchis californiensis or EUHA for short, lives on the brain of California killifish, and from here it changes their brain chemistry and gets them to act in really bizarre ways. These strange behaviors attract predatory birds, which then eat the infected killifish. This is great news for the parasite, as EUHA can only breed in the gut of predatory birds. They've essentially turned the killifish in a chauffeur, which drive the parasites to the parasite-equivalent of a nightclub where they'll meet their mates and breed.
The coolest thing about these parasites is that they've had millions of years to figure out how killifish brains work, and to figure out how to change the fish's brain chemistry in order to get the fish to behave in a certain way. I'm trying to figure out what the parasite has learned about how brains work and about how stuff going on in the brain affects behavior. At the moment, I'm infecting fish with the parasite and measuring how a lot of different behavioral traits (including activity patterns and social behavior) change following infection. I really need some new video cameras, lighting equipment, tanks, and metal racks so I can record fish behavior. With your help we can get a better understanding of nature's zombies!
This project is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. The parasites I study are endlessly awesome, and the equipment you're helping me to buy will allow me to work more quickly and collect much better information. If I surpass my funding goal then I will buy more cameras, which will allow me to complete more experiments in a shorter amount of time. I will be eternally greatful if you help fun my zombie research!
Follow me on Twitter so I can thank you for your donation!
NOTE TO THOSE NEW TO ROCKETHUB:
1. RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from me.
2. It's an All & More funding mechanism: if I don't reach my financial goal I get to keep what I raise. But if I do reach my goal, I get access to exciting opportunities.
