Grab Your Hat! You’re About to Become a Space Archaeologist.

What if you could have a hand in preserving some of the world’s most ancient history from the comfort of your own living room?

Better yet, what if you could call yourself a “Space Archaeologist”?

Source: Pixabay

Long-term readers may remember an article we wrote in 2016 about the Space Archaeologist, Sarah Parcak. That year she won the TED Prize for her project GlobalXplorer, a remarkable platform, and one of the most interesting websites we’ve found out there, that uses satellite imagery and the wisdom of the crowd to help protect and discover archaeological sites.

 23 MINUTES

Want to Be a Space Archaeologist?

Growing up a great number of us probably wanted to be an astronaut or an archaeologist, but what if you could have been both? Yes, space archaeology is here, and soon, we will be able to become citizen space archaeologists!

It’s been a few years now since GlobalXplorer was launched, and the techniques in play on the site have helped locate: “17 potential pyramids, in addition to 3,100 potential forgotten settlements and 1,000 potential lost tombs in Egypt.” 

So, yes, it’s cool that “Space Archaeologist” is something that kids can aspire to be when they grow up, but why should you or I try our hand at a project like GlobalXplorer? Well, we can actually have a big impact on the rate at which archaeologists are able to make discoveries, and, in addition, we can help to preserve these sites and save them from looters!

In every one of Dr. Parcak’s TED Talks, her enthusiasm is impossible to ignore, and today we share with you one of our favorite talks that, we promise, will leave you excited to grow up to be a space archaeologist in your own way!

Do we have you convinced yet?

We love GlobalXplorer, and I have spent many hours on the site myself trying my best to earn my Space Archaeologist badge. The platform is an easy to use way for each one of us to contribute to the whole of human knowledge, and the preservation of our history.

It’s a way that every one of us can “give back” and really, pay it forward to future generations. GlobalXplorer is such a wonderful example of the internet’s positive power. Not only are we able to harness the collective power of hundreds of thousands of brains to solve problems, we are also able to inspire generations of individuals to engage and get excited about a topic that influences us all.