SteemSTEM Distilled #58
Welcome to the 58th issue of SteemSTEM Distilled, a curation effort by the members of the @steemstem team.
SteemSTEM aims to make Steem a better place for STEM, a task which we believe crucial for the long-term development of the blockchain. Our goals consist in invigorating and inspiring the minds of a community of STEM aficionados on Steem, targeting on the long-term the upgrade of SteemSTEM as a real platform for science communication. In the meantime, this goes through the support of quality, interesting and cutting-edge STEM content.
For more details, a recent update on the SteemSTEM project is available here. If you want to discuss with us, please do not hesitate to join the steemSTEM discord server.
In order to support the best STEM content on Steem, our team scours the blockchain and read more than a couple of thousands of STEM-related posts per week. We hence support about 200 of these posts, and present in this distilled our top 8 handpicked choices for the last Thursday-Sunday period.
Thursday
Extrusion process; making "impacts" that shape our world
Thursday brought us an amazing post by @adetola on the process of extrusion. Read it to learn more on what extrusion involves and how widely it is used.
Engineering the Infrastructure - City Planning Basic Education
@alexdory has given us another excellent post and this time he discusses the basics of city planning and how some changes could benefit our lives.
Friday
The War Against HIV: How Close Are We To Victory ?
Moving on to a different field, @kingabesh discusses the HIV plague and advances in its treatment. Are we close to finding a cure? Are we ever going to eliminate the virus? Read his post for more.
Work in progress (paper three of the PhD)
A post that is actually part of his job is here by @nonzerosum. Do you know what Psychology of Vaccination involves? Read on to learn more about what his PhD is about.
Saturday
Frequently Asked Questions regarding SteemSTEM
Something not so "sciency" but of great value to the community is here, the ultimate FAQ SteemSTEM guide by @katerinaramm! This post will answer all your questions if you are a newcomer, so make sure you study it carefully! And don't forget, our discord server is always open for more information!
Junk science makes my blood boil and feeds mosquitoes
An interesting piece by @o1o1o1o talks about the fraud behind sonic mosquito repellents and other aids in the war against those little blood sucking insects.
Sunday
Do Parents Stereotype Their Children's Gender?
We missed @alexander.alexis and his extraordinary Sex Differences posts. This episode is about parents and how their behavior stereotypes the gender of their children. For more details you know which link to follow! ;)
The colour of vehicle and hyperthermia death in Kids
And our week closes with a clever post by @steep2308 on heatstrokes and how the color of a car could be even fatal to a passenger left in the vehicle for a long time.
For some time, the editorial team behind this distilled series is made of a one-woman-team, @ruth-girl, and she chooses her favorite posts (potentially discussing with other curators and/or the management). Posts written by the SteemSTEM team are excluded from the nomination process.
Please do not be discouraged if you did not make it on this issue. We are picking up in total 14 posts a week out of more than 200. The chances are thus low ;) In the meantime, you may wish to check these guidelines for extra tips on how your writing could be more effective.
In the spirit of being transparent about our actions that are now supported by @utopian-io, @curie, our delegators, our trailers and our manual curator supporters, we release every week the list of authors who have caught the attention of the @steemstem curation team.
From June 3 to June 10, we rewarded 156 different authors who have written a total of 227 different articles. The 129 authors who received votes from @steemstem, @utopian-io and @curie all together that week are:
@abdulmath, @addempsea, @adetola, @agbona, @ajpacheco1610, @akiripromise, @albatar, @alexaivytorres, @alexdory, @alphajeez, @anaestrada12, @anomalogy, @arac, @ari16, @astrophoto.kevin, @aurackle, @bollutech, @caracasfrases, @charlesx, @chloroform, @clement.poiret, @conas, @conficker, @cristi, @cryptoitaly, @dandymee, @dannybravo94, @davidrhodes124, @dbroze, @deboas, @dedicatedguy, @derbesserwisser, @dragibusss, @drifter1, @effofex, @egotheist, @elektr1ker, @eleonardo, @eliaschess333, @elvigia, @eniolw, @eurogee, @fabiob, @fancybrothers, @felixrodriguez, @filotasriza3, @florae, @galacticstone, @germanmontero, @henrychidiebere, @highonthehog, @hogarcosmico, @humbledeen, @ideas-abstractas, @irelandscape, @jamesub, @jfermin70, @jimmassa, @joelagbo, @joeycrack, @joseangelvs, @josedelacruz, @joseg, @joseleogon, @kelos, @kingabesh, @lauch3d, @lawkay, @lemony-cricket, @lesshorrible, @lianaakobian, @lordneroo, @lulafleur, @mactro, @marynes5, @masterwriter, @masterwu, @menoski, @michaelwrites, @mirrors, @mountainwashere, @mrbreeziewrites, @nakary, @noble-noah, @olajidekehinde, @oluwabori, @omaqiin, @osariemen, @pangoli, @phage93, @prettyprecy, @procrastilearner, @purelyscience, @real2josh, @rharphelle, @rubies, @saintgentle, @sakura1012, @samest, @samminator, @sathyasankar, @semilore, @snakecharmer03, @sogless, @sooflauschig, @spaghettiscience, @star-vc, @starrichie, @steempsych, @steepup, @supersoju, @suzanrs, @svemirac, @synick, @temitayo-pelumi, @tfcoates, @tomastonyperez, @tundevet, @ugonma, @understando, @vanecsamusic, @viagaby, @viannis, @vjap55, @whileponderin, @wisdomdavid, @writeit, @ydavgonzalez, @youssef.sed, @zoricatech
[Credits: @elvisxx71]
All curation rewards earned will be used to fund @steemstem project functioning and activities.
See you all next Thursday!
Today, some statistics with respect to steemSTEM user retention.
In summary:
[upvoted for visibility]
The question now is, how to move that blue line back in the upward direction? Doing so in a bearish crypto market would be a very strong sign.
Even the stability we've seen is a good sign I think since SBD has steadily decreased in value over the past several months.
SBD is still worth too much
The next weeks may be crucial. And also the indicators we use. I can show other indicators that are not so positive :D
The bull tends to motivate some to write more. But it'd be awesome to see that ATH on this bearish market.
Just an idea:
Create a steemSTEM for discouraged people in which shorter and less scientific people could post and get smaller rewards. Small reward being 3% VP, medium being 5% and large being 10%. This would mean more voting which means more reading :(
Hence it's not a solution given the specifications at the time of the steemSTEM hiatus, but a thing to pay attention to in the future. I have talked about steemSTEM to everyone in my community, they all say they will try to write but nobody actually does. And when they see my blog (the usual "look what i am writing about", they are all saying the same thing "i could never write something like this". But they are just discouraged and in the economy for attention, the contests and challenges always win.
We need to have a broader talk about goals and organic growth, this time with some psychology insight. We are on a good track but we should be able to do more. I am still digesting solutions, I will try to come with a better idea.
So... you want us to work more? I am sorry but... not a good idea. I am only OK to work more for extremely good posts. For the passable ones, we have the small votes. Just tell your friends to target something smaller. This is a start. After some time, they may move to the larger votes :)
I already said it's not a solution. I am just giving you feedback from ~100 people :D
Don't shoot the messenger!I will come with better ideas, so far nothing else has hit me.
I don't shoot, I barely nicely react. The 100 people should learn to reach the 5% upvote as a started (pelase send them this :p). The gap is small.
If you have an answer, please share it :D
Some recent comment based initiatives may help, but those users wouldn't be included in these statistics. This is for author retention not necessarily user retention. ...
I would start with author retention, personally. This is where we can probably do something.
woosh
I am sure I said something you didn't know :D
Wow. This is a good representation of what has been happening. Masterpiece!
Good I don't know. It represents what I said it represents, with all the biases :)
Looking at persisting author graph, I'd say it hit an all time high in the beginning of this year and is rising again to that. And yes, we lost as many authors as new authors popped up. It is almost like playing a game of whack-a-mole, the more an old author goes away, a new one pops up :)
The flux is constant. This is already something. But as I said above, other indicators may give not so nice results.
Pretty incredible!
Statistics by itself is enough to get me excited, combined with a positive trend line is great to see
Let's see how we will resist to the lower and lower STEEM price. I hope we will! :)
I think many communities have a lot of value beyond what happens with STEEM. But yes I'm not opening coinmarketcap these days!
The nice point is that this brings a natural filter allowing to identify those who are here for the money :)
Let’s hope the trend will continuously moving up!
Yep! Let's hope :)
Congratulations to everyone who made it in this issue and those whose work wasn't featured today! :)
I like the new layout @lemouth! :)
Just a personal observation regarding steemit in general, I think people have been discouraged by the fall in the prices. We should not be here just for the bucks, remember we are here to interact and have fun with each other.
Congrats
I Have been having fun since i joined, but at this moment i cant even see sufficient fund to buy data.
Since, I joined Steemit, I have not earned a dime
Patience is the key @ikchris, keep on writing quality post, and I can assure you that you will soon smile. Meanwhile, steemstem owed us no upvote, the curators have being trying their best, they are human.
Ok sir
I will remain focused and avoid piracy as i have always done
Thanks bro
It takes a lot of time, effort and persistence until you find your way and start "earning"
If you see it as a way to make money and don't just engage and meet others, I don't think success will come (and by success I don't mean make it to the trending page, but at least in the beginning making more than 2$ was a huge success for me)
Well said, @ruth-girl! I think the low price is demotivating people from posting as well, but it might not be the only reason why there are less authors around. So let me propose an alternative hypothesis (this is SteemSTEM after all). I think summer might play a big part in the reduction of authors who post. I know that this is very true for me. When it's cold and dark outside I really enjoyed spending my evenings with papers and text editors to make posts.
However, now it is summer, and I much rather spend my time outside, and by the time I'm back inside I'm too tired to write. I remember that the same thing happened to me last years as well, and my average posts per week is generally a lot lower during the summer months.
I don't think this is the only reason for the decline, but I do believe that it has at least some effect on the amount of authors.
You know what, @valth? You have a point! Summer is taking our minds away. Especially in Greece that summer came a bit early, it is hard to focus and write with 32 C and the beach only a few kilometers from home ;)
It feels like we need something to "revive" the tag though, things are pretty still... how about some SUMMER SCIENCE?? :P
Summer came early to pretty much all of Europe from what I understood, so it's definitely not only you Greeks who got a nice June ;) We have actually been having 30+ C here in Norway as well, which is very rare for early June!
It would absolutely be cool to have something like a "Summer Science" event. I have actually been secretly hoping for events before, where everyone wrote about roughly the same topic, or at least have their own spin on a topic. I remember @suesa hosting this type of event in the form of a contest a while back, and it was a lot of fun.
I can totally see how a "Summer Science" topic could bring in some more activity, and a lot of fun posts!
My next contest is already planned :P
Oh, that's exciting! I'm looking forward to reading about it, and hopefully participating.
I am also expecting a decrease due to the summer break. But we are a little bit early for that, IMO.
Yeah, it's probably a bit early for most people to have vacation, so it might get worse. I'm mostly basing my assumption on the fact that a lot of European countries have had an amazing summer from the last week of May, which certainly shifted some of my summer plans a month early. I'm thinking it might be the same for a lot of other people as well.
But as I said in the original comment, I do believe that the low price for Steem is also a big part of the reason, and the summer inactivity being an added effect.
I am sadly agreeing with you :(
Nothing motivates like a bullish market :)
I like the new layout too!
But I like the graph even more! It's pretty and very clear.
Just a note on that, I was absent (in writing but not reading) due to totally unrelated factors to bear markets and such.
As long as you come back once in a while, I am happy :)
I agree with @lemouth! We almost had a Silver Alert on you! :P
I don't know what that means! Is that the color scheme mobbs wrote about? I guess I must download the extension...
I thought you had something similar in Cyprus :P
www.lifelinehellas.gr
No, I don't think we do. That's a nice initiative.
I don't know either :)
Thanks for the comment on the layout. I believe this is nice on any browser, unlike the previous one^^
Concerning your observation: only the best will stay :)
I agree! It looks more "tidy"
Hopefully they will! :D
Thanks aplenty @ruth-girl
Congrats to everyone who were chosen! Well done.
I really like the new design by the way :)
One woman team this is always what gets me...#TheGreekgodess... Its an honor to have my post featured on this episode.
To all contributors and authors great job and to the management keep soaring.
Rofl! @ruth-athena (the upgrade of @ruth-girl) :D
Ooooh! @ruth-athena!!! I loooove it! <3
Good job @adetola! Keep it up that way!
you can still create the account :)
Ahaha, you think?
Of course. On steemconnect.
Nice way of putting it. I still suspect you guys of chaining her onto a table to do this all day long.
And @ruth-girl is probably forced to reply that she's alright.
I remain sceptical.
#steemspiracy
#steemsidejob
You envy the chains, don't you? :D
I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the information requested but, hypothetically, if such data were to exist, the subject matter would be classified, and could not be disclosed.
¯\ _ (ツ)_/¯
bla... ;)
I am alright! (If you see my mum tell her that I love her)
Another distilled feature for me. Ah, good work @ruthgirl. Fully appreciative of the curators and management who make this happen 😋
Congratulations mate! Well deserved!
Thanks @kingabesh! And congratulations for your good work!
Congratulations to all handpicked authors! Thank you to everyone for their efforts! Special thanks to our one woman team @ruth-girl!
Always a pleasure to put the distilled together, my Lord!
See you around! :D
Another great privilege to be part of the awesome community
Congratulations to all the authors.... @steemSTEM Management more grace to keep up the good work
@ogapatapata@lemouth weldone sir
@ruth-girl nice picks
arf... the come back of the ogapatapata! :D
Congratulations to the featured authors. @ruth-girl this is 👌
@eurogee of @euronation and @steemstem communities
Thank you @eurogee! Those authors deserved a place here! :D
Whao!! This is such a nice pick. Am humbled to be featured on distilled again. @steemstem management are really doing a great job. Congratulations to all the authors featured in today's distilled, let keep on doing great and quality work. Well done @ruth-girl our one-woman team 😁 for her effort. @lemouth well done , You are all really good. @utopian-io , and @curie, thanks for your usual support, and all the delegators well done. All curators well done to you also for always keeping your eyes on the screen looking for steemstem post. You all rocks!
Thanks for your nice message!
We are together.😁👏
We thank you! All of you who make this happen and help make a change on this platform by bringing in quality and setting a friendly and engaging community! :)