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Rural residents photograph ailing chickens to monitor the spread of Avian flu, mountaineer adventurers collect scat samples so microbes in isolated locations can be identified, and sailors take water samples that reveal the plastic afloat in the world’s oceans. These citizen scientists are ordinary people who collect data in the field that support researchers warning of disease outbreaks, studying the origins of antibiotic resistance, assessing pollution levels, and tracking community health. There’s nothing amateurish about their efforts – these cost-effective partnerships lead to genuine scientific discoveries. What can we learn from this kind of crowd-sourced data?
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Health
![Meet 7 Women Leading the Way to a Brighter Climate Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/11e09403-1a70-4720-abb0-8c203f892106/GettyImages-1415703633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=738%2C0%2C3733%2C3733&w=400)
Women are crucial to the climate movement, but their voices are often underrepresented and their work goes under-supported. Meet just a few of the women from this year’s Aspen...
![10 Newsmaking Conversations from Aspen Ideas: Health 2024](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/58daefc2-333d-4d2e-b5b1-8ca0d98462be/240620_reception_001.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2667&w=400)
From the debate over reproductive rights to the epidemic of gun violence to the youth mental health crisis, this year's Aspen Ideas: Health sessions tackled many of today's mo...
![Are We Alone Out There?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/336d1ff6-e32b-4ca0-9bac-94dacbf8959b/53825023100_e70fda2b21_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C526%2C7912%2C4451&w=400)
For as long as humans have looked at the skies, we’ve speculated about whether there is life in space. Scientists, the U.S. military and the CIA have all searched for proof of...
![Can AI Power Inclusivity?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ce050571-0f55-491f-99d0-d3e755006e0b/53823507301_aa0a9a1273_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C309%2C5833%2C3279&w=400)
AI has the potential to create vibrant, inclusive communities as civil society organizations harness it to tackle inequality, industry leverages it to foster fairer practices,...
![Supercommunicators: The Science of Conversation and Connection](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4439f33b-44f3-4ce3-918c-6b7713b6017a/53825026550_67fcc31319_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=506%2C0%2C586%2C879&w=400)
Why do some conversations succeed while others stumble? The neurology and psychology of communication offer surprising explanations for why human connection goes right or wron...
![Meta Presents: Building Social Trust in an AI World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8ddf485e-1631-4696-a795-d4e3e1501612/240628_social_trust_ai_011.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C208%2C4000%2C2250&w=400)
Increasingly, AI informs our work output, our social views and our awareness of the world. Join SiriusXM host Mike Muse in conversation with Meta officials to explore the impl...
![Teens and Screens: The Unabating Scourge of Social Media](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8214379e-2ce8-4e54-ba3a-f2b5b42982f7/teensandsocialmedia.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C7382%2C4160&w=400)
America’s teenagers are facing a mental health crisis; 1 in 3 teen girls say they’ve considered suicide in the past year. Many young people, parents and mental health professi...
![Extreme Heat: The Silent Killer of Climate Change](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b5e2e176-6cbe-4d92-b593-011e59139c36/6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C97%2C4651%2C2616&w=400)
Heat is now the top weather-related cause of death in the U.S., killing more people than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. An environmental journalist and two city ch...
![There’s an Energy Transition Happening in Your Backyard](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/038a9839-e479-49fe-ab58-0fbb6194b7d8/energytransition.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2293%2C0%2C3669%2C5503&w=400)
Every transition comes with tradeoffs, and even clean energy carries negative consequences. As they mine for critical minerals or build solar arrays on sensitive land, clean e...
![The First AI Elections](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/99577b3a-ea63-463d-ab41-661af8afde41/aielections.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C279%2C5443%2C3062&w=400)
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
![The Secret of Making Hits](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/008361bf-2540-4a00-8e1f-69739f370ce8/53822660989_e5265f0505_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C307%2C5880%2C3308&w=400)
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
![Guerrilla Creativity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/24e08eb1-8bb0-4970-9930-a617d58c5f32/53821275967_e65a66da2d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C185%2C5493%2C3090&w=400)
In the last 30 years, conglomerates from Amazon to Netflix to Spotify have changed the way we interact with media, books, fashion and music. Creatives are struggling to mainta...
![A Vision for Tech Equity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d6b710dc-4837-4bae-aedc-b17d43cbe3ee/techequity.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2581%2C0%2C3093%2C4639&w=400)
The innovative philanthropist who paid off the student debt of the entire graduating class of Morehouse College class of 2019 talks about how to ensure all communities benefit...
![Artificial Inheritance: Generational Wealth for All](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1fb05c41-690c-45fc-9c51-9300850dc7ba/53820641960_8fbe5657cf_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C258%2C5912%2C3326&w=400)
Uncle Sam is rich enough that every young person in America can benefit from generational wealth transfer. Leaders from impact investing, philanthropy and the finance sector d...
![Sci-Fi or Reality? Talking Tomorrow’s Climate Tech](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/67c1104a-0ac3-459e-9a92-d199aebe8b33/53821312503_cbf498aa31_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4651%2C2618&w=400)
It sounds like sci-fi: Scientists are beaming solar energy from space, subbing seaweed for plastic and brightening clouds to reflect sunlight to lower temperatures in a warmin...
![Aspen Challenge 2024 Grand Prize Winners Showcase](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/5e99cde2-ff4a-4326-b98e-18a52cf9fcd7/HalWilliams2024-2934.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1620%2C3456%2C1944&w=400)
From climate change and mental health to hate crimes and chronic school absenteeism, no challenge is too big for young people’s community-changing solutions. Hear from teams o...
![Amazon Presents: How AI is Transforming Health Care](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/88dd2ba6-9d8d-4355-911f-e75f1e164753/240627_ai_healthcare_013.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1111%2C0%2C1778%2C2667&w=400)
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing health care by improving patient navigation, telehealth and the speed of drug development. From enhancing patient and provider exper...
![Wolves at Our Doorstep](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e1dea645-24a8-4bc1-bf3f-cabf0ac8e4c9/53821142190_64419f7b41_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C494%2C7690%2C4326&w=400)
*No food or service animals allowed in this session.* The creator of Fat Bear Week in Alaska gives insight on the importance of wildlife education, and then ecologists unpack...
![Machine Learning on Madison Avenue](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b73d579f-dd6b-4e34-b370-54954c99a65c/53821422584_66276eaa0a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
In the world of advertising, technology and creativity are shaping a new narrative. Could tech lead to more trust — not less — with younger generations? From AI-driven campaig...
![Beating Back Disinformation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b4959f0a-a376-475b-af24-e0ac67a79180/53821069721_ea42831588_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Americans’ trust in the media is near an all-time low — a crisis exacerbated by waves of misinformation, conspiracy theories, fake news, social media and AI-generated content....