  The newest generation of radio telescopes are able to survey large areas with
high sensitivity and cadence, producing data volumes that require new methods
to better understand the transient sky. Here we describe the results from the
first citizen science project dedicated to commensal radio transients, using
data from the MeerKAT telescope with weekly cadence. Bursts from Space: MeerKAT
was launched late in 2021 and received ~89000 classifications from over 1000
volunteers in 3 months. Our volunteers discovered 142 new variable sources
which, along with the known transients in our fields, allowed us to estimate
that at least 2.1 per cent of radio sources are varying at 1.28 GHz at the
sampled cadence and sensitivity, in line with previous work. We provide the
full catalogue of these sources, the largest of candidate radio variables to
date. Transient sources found with archival counterparts include a pulsar
(B1845-01) and an OH maser star (OH 30.1-0.7), in addition to the recovery of
known stellar flares and X-ray binary jets in our observations. Data from the
MeerLICHT optical telescope, along with estimates of long time-scale
variability induced by scintillation, imply that the majority of the new
variables are active galactic nuclei. This tells us that citizen scientists can
discover phenomena varying on time-scales from weeks to several years. The
success both in terms of volunteer engagement and scientific merit warrants the
continued development of the project, whilst we use the classifications from
volunteers to develop machine learning techniques for finding transients.
