Since it's been 3 years since the conception of SteemSTEM, it's time to drop a new, detailed update on how we work. We've been seeing a bit more activity since the latest hard fork from new users, as well as from returning users. It might therefore be useful to provide them with a reference post on how things are done today. Things have changed over the years, after all, and new information has come to light!

In a Nutshell

It's not necessary to give a full FAQ; a sufficient one can be found here and the About Us is found here.

However, in the shortest possible way, we are a curation project which curates STEM subjects (Science, Engineering, Technology, Maths), and is supported by a thriving community of authors, delegators, trailers, manual curators and more to keep our project afloat.

However, defining STEM can be somewhat controversial, with people arguing whether or not this or that subject is included, and to what degree. Here's a quick rundown as far as we seem to agree upon:

Science

Science is, of course, a pretty broad term, and in most people's minds includes the core subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. However, you also have subjects such as Neuroscience, Marine Biology, Theoretical Physics and beyond. These should be self-explanatory whether or not they fit into STEM.

Moreover, we also accept social sciences and other branches that may not be considered 'core sciences', such as economics and political science - providing they are consistent with our guidelines, including proper references and a general academic theme.

This means History, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Medicine and Musicology are also acceptable posts that you will find SteemSTEM curating.

_{Image taken from Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration}

To be clear, we do NOT support some well established Pseudosciences such as topics relating to flat earth, electric universe and a number of other conspiracy-based ideas. This is not due to the fact that we believe they are wrong, but because they do not follow the established practices that make up the rigorous system we call science. These ideas are often based on anecdotes, shifting the burden of proof elsewhere, or often disreputable researchers who are typically unqualified and have found their position of success through popularism via the release of a self-published book or some airtime on TV.

It is the nature of methodology that results in these posts being avoided and unfortunately for these authors, one cannot typically be separated from the other.

We believe it's important to make this distinction because there are practices such as TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) which often blur the lines between fact and fiction. As many readers may know, I (@mobbs) have written extensively about the dangers, corruption, ecological and economic damages and much more that TCM can have around the world, but there are also a few instances in which TCM has some legitimate scientific backing. Should a user write about these instances properly, they may still get the vote, even when somebody such as myself may disagree with supporting it.

Technology

Our technology curation does not include what you might largely find when you google the word technology, or when you browse the technology tag here on Steem. We don't support, for example, unboxing videos of the latest iPhone, or pictures of the latest GTX graphics card or whatever the cool kids use nowadays.

Technology still has to have an academically themed tone, with well-sourced text and objective views based on facts and data. That's not to say you can't be entertaining and easy for the every day reader to understand - we always encourage this - but when considering technology, you might think of Robotics, IT, Mechanics, Programming, Systems Development, Artificial Intelligence, and so forth. We are also happy to curate news on the latest technology in a given field - if written according to our guidelines.

Flickr - CC BY 2.0

Engineering

Engineering covers a surprisingly wide range of subjects and we'd like to see more of it come to our attention in the future. Engineering is not simply people struggling to draw mathematical contraptions on a greasy notepad. Engineering takes what we learn from Science and molds it into a tangible creation that often transforms the world as we know it.

Such subjects in Engineering includes Aerospace engineering, Electronics, Biomedical, Civil, Marine, Nuclear and the list goes on. In any area of society where things need to be made, some kind of engineering can be found and written about in a way that is valuable to the collective human understanding and appreciation of how the world around us works.

_{Wanna sail a boat downhill? Engineering. Wiki Commons}

Mathematics

Perhaps the rarest of the STEM blogs, mathematics is the often dreaded subject for many, and lacks, for the most part, tangible aesthetic or charisma. This makes it harder to make an engaging post with mathematics at the centre. But, it's not unheard of. Mathematics is of course the foundation of basically the entire Universe, so if done right, you could pretty much write about anything in existence.

More realisitically though, we often find maths in Programming-based posts, Probablility and Statistics, Geometry, and more. Users may also write about core math subjects such as Calculus and Algebra, but in the case of all of these, it should not simply be a Wikipedia article on what those things are, but something that makes use of them to create something more readable and practical. Since most of this maths is already well-established with little to update, the burden of a unique approach is especially heavy on maths posts, as there is little value explaining what various well-known symbols mean.

Pixabay

What about…

Photography?

In some cases, photography can and often is curated. Self-made images of celestial objects are quite popular, and images of medical processes and the natural world are also seen often enough. Once again though, these posts must have some kind of academic theme. A photo by itself will not suffice, Full explanations and/or data with sources again is a must!

Art?

Yep, it may surprise you, as it surprised us, that in 2018, the USA signed a bilateral agreement that architecture will now be considered a STEM subject. Though this subject may seem closer to the arts to some people, You can't have architecture without the STEM. In fact, architecture uses all four in the profession.

Art may also be acceptable if it is a comissioned piece of work to supplement the works of another author. This is something we set up some time ago, and any artist is welcome to join our Discord and supply their own style to authors who need something customised and unique.

More academic subjects are also welcome, such as Art History, of course.

Music?

Music can be very involved in STEM, anything from technology to psychology, history and anthropology, sociology, ethnomusicology and beyond. The academic world of music is still vastly unexplored and thus, encouraged.

Education?

Absolutely. (much, much more on this at some mysterious point in the near-ish future…). In fact, one may turn a simple mathematics concept into an admirable teaching method for other teachers and professors to use and this can be supported by us too cough (according to guidelines) cough.

Humanities?

Often, yes - some, such as geography and history, have already been mentioned, but within reason many other humanities subjects can be curated. Of course, things like religion, journalism and media will have a pretty difficult time spinning the subject to something that fits into STEM, but I think it's clear what we can accept now.

Science Fiction?

There is not much precedent of Sci-fi writers using our tag for curation, with the exception of @suesa, but this is overall something we welcome should the fiction be based on scientific realities that are backed up with the usual guidelines.

Conclusion

In short, almost anything can be written about from an informative, academic and valuable perspective and nobody is required to hold 7 PhD's in order to be a part of it. All you need is a bit of passion and at least one finger for typing. Or use your tongue - be creative.