Science Week is a celebration on the Internet.

I was puzzled by humanity's profound celebrations of mere traditions and superstitions. Instead of adopting those, I decided to celebrate something that really is profound, wonderful, and central to our happiness and well-being: science, the human act of finding things out.

People harness science every time they use a computer or smartphone, a bicycle or a car, a camera or a light switch. We increasingly understand life all the way to the microscopic level, and we combat disease and live longer with medicine. We know more than ever about the universe, the galaxies and stars that span it, and the planets that orbit so many of them. Science benefits us, stirs us, and brings out the best in us. Few endeavours could be more deserving of continuous, worldwide celebration.

Yet people seldom celebrate it. Science is not only under-appreciated, but sometimes purposely attacked by people and organizations who aim to deny, obfuscate or shake confidence in the idea that humanity can reliably find things out.

So this week became my most cherished annual thing: a sequence of days to celebrate science, the keys to what abundance and quality of life we have, and our only avenue from wonder to discovery. Aside from reflecting on my own, I write a simple post and share it on the Web.

How do you participate?

We post simultaneously! Write a little about anything about science you appreciate: a detail about the natural world or universe, a hypothesis, a famous discovery or figure, or just thoughts about science itself. It doesn't matter what you pick – what's important is to convey why you picked it, so people have the chance to read your own thoughts.

If you have a personal site or blog, post it there. If you mainly use social media, post it there. If you use both, use social media to link to your post. If hashtags are appropriate where you're sharing, use the hashtag #ScienceWeek. (This tag is used for at least a couple of other things, but that's okay. Since this "Science Week" occurs on the Internet, perhaps it can even become the primary usage.)

One post is enough to say you participated, but you can also post all week:

Let's share each other's thoughts!

I would love to link to your post! If you're participating, I encourage you to do any of the following:

• Link to this page to share it with others who might want to participate too.
• Contact me and let me know where you posted so I can feature it here.
• Do the same for others – if they share with you, link to their posts too!

Previous years!

I've been doing this on social media since 2017, and here for a couple of years. Feel free to browse for examples.

2023

• Day 1 – A fine feather itself
• Day 2 – Phobos from Mars
• Day 3 – A micro-engineered cancer treatment: cells upon cells
• Day 4 – A word with the Impossible Burger guy
• Day 5 – How much saliva does a cow produce in a day?
• Day 6 – Does a ping-pong ball sink or float in zero gravity?
• Day 7 – Localized entirely without your kitchen

2023 (by Lexie)

• Day 1 – Scientia Potentia Est
• Day 2 – Animal Crossing's Museum: Making Science Part Of Your Daily Play
• Day 3 – The Magic Of Now
• Day 4 – It Came To Me In A Dream
• Day 5 – It's Hard To Be Depressed While Tripping On Psychedelics
• Day 6 – Mars' History May Have Included Life
• Day 7 – Science Is For Everyone

2022

• Day 1 – The tree of life, illustrated!
• Day 2 – Aligning Webb's mirrors
• Day 3 – A tour of the cell
• Day 4 – A recursive vegetable
• Day 5 – Atoms to scale
• Day 6 – How binary is sex?
• Day 7 – Discover the cosmos!

2021

• Day 1 – Evolutionary concestry
• Day 2 – The E-ELT
• Day 3 – Reconstructing the coronavirus
• Day 4 – James Randi and the empirical test
• Day 5 – The path of BepiColombo
• Day 6 – Mario and the future of augmented reality
• Day 7 – Mars Perseverance landing

See you on February 12!

And once again: here's to finding things out.