Many questions can arguably be answered with some type of response having a root in science. SciAnswers.com is a science related questions and answers (Q&A) site that provides members the opportunity to ask and answer questions by simply entering and submitting a question to one of the many science categories. Replies to submitted questions or entire categories of questions can be followed via RSS feeds. In addition to asking questions, members can also answer questions that fall under their area of expertise. Custom search engines integrated into the site allows for searching of existing questions and replies by keyword or phrase search. The site also pulls in possible matches from Wikipedia, PubMed and Google to include in results to keyword quires, as well as when a member submits a question. Although the site is intended for science related questions, non-science related questions can be asked and are grouped within an “uncategorized” category.

Members can also enter a social media environment, where a question can privately be asked to a selected member or broadcasted to multiple members. This environment also provides a place for members to just mingle, blog, etc.

Membership is totally free.

No, this is not Facebook, but there are some noteworthy features available within the “Social Media” environment, including:

Private Messaging

Private messaging works like internal site email. Members can message people on their friends list as well as forward and reply to received messages.

Each member will have their own individual Inbox, Sentbox, and Drafts folder. They will be notified of new messages by a new message count as well as email notifications if enabled.

Friends

Members can be connected together by one member adding another as a “friend” and then the other member accepting the friendship request.

Each member has a visible list of their friends on the site. Friends lists are browsable and members can click on each friend to see more information – or add them as their own friend. Profiles are not restricted as a whole.

The ability to search for members by any piece of profile information is also included in with the built in members directory.

Activity Streams

Activity streams aggregate all of your activity. All of your friends activity is also recorded so you can check what others are doing on the site.

Every component can make use of the activity stream component, which means any sort of activity can be recorded. Wire posts, blogs posts, new friendships and blog comments are among the most popular activities recorded.

Blogging

Members are allowed to create blogs. Blogs having spammy, non-family friendly titles or other inappropriate content will be deleted without warning.