While having free time due to the Covid-19 blockade, many people contributed their efforts to scientific research, finding missing people or pursuing criminals.

For nearly half a century, Benedictine monks in Herefordshire were responsible for recording monthly precipitation on Belmont Abbey grounds.

Why there is a bullet hole there is still a mystery.

Ed Hawkins, climate scientist at the University of Reading, led the project.

When millions of people were trapped at home during a pandemic, many were willing to volunteer for scientific projects.

Volunteers can scan satellite images to find rural homes across Africa to bring electricity to them.

Projects provide the public with a way to fight against injustice or criminals, making the world a better place without ever stepping out of the house.

"Since the outbreak, we have recorded a significant increase in the number of participants," said Adrian Korn, director of Trace Labs.

"We have some very important rules: don't use illegal hacking, everything has to be public. The information is passed on to law enforcement officials."

At a Trace Labs event in Toronto in 2019, one participant spent many hours watching videos on YouTube and discovered the video of a missing person on a car unknown to investigators.

Launched in 2017, Against Child Abuse - Tracing Items is a project of the European Union Law Enforcement (Europol), which collects information on the origin of objects and clothing.

Carlos Gonzales has been in this community for about a year.

Usually, it is difficult to find clues.

The "online detectives" look for pictures of Soviet-era industrial buildings and deduce that the house in the photo may be a boiler-like home called a kotelnaya.

Using the Russian search engine Yandex, they discovered a house in Moscow similar to the picture.

Gonzales shared his investigation process on the Bellingcat website so others could follow it, but he warned it could be difficult.

In the past, "online detectives" have made significant contributions in major disasters.

The common point of these projects is based on the goodwill of unfamiliar people to achieve a common goal.

But for idle people, monitoring climate change, fighting crime or finding missing people are reasonable ways to spend time.