Several types of evidence from past Mars missions lead us to believe that Mars used to be much different from the dry, cold place we find today. Ancient gullies and canyons look as if they were carved by flowing water, minerals that can only be made in standing water have been found, and ancient volcanoes …
There is no way around it- we live in the sun’s extended atmosphere. The dynamic activity of the sun and its changing behavior impacts us all. Why this might concern the citizens of Earth is that solar storms, however beautiful, can be a threat to our planet- specifically our electrical grid and technologies such as …
The Library’s curators and specialists are gearing up and pounding the pedals for an exciting tour of the Library’s collections related to the history of cycling for visiting historians of the International Cycling History Conference. On Friday August 8, 2014 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. the Mumford Room, in the Library’s Madison Building, will be the hub …
Today’s post is authored by Constance Carter, head of the science reference section. Connie has written for Inside Adams before- see her posts on Civil War Thanksgiving Foods, Food Thrift, the Chocolate Chip Cookie, LC Science Tracer Bullets, and her mentor Ruth S. Freitag. Knowing my interest in all things presidential, a colleague recently left a copy …
With the recent finale of the revamped Cosmos television series where Neil deGrasse Tyson drove the spaceship of the imagination, you might be wondering where you can get your next planetary science fix. Look no further, the Library of Congress NASA Goddard lecture series can help. On Thursday, June 26th Dr. Carrie Anderson, Associate Chief at NASA …
Here are two words to add to your lexicon: caliology and oology. Caliology is the study of bird nests- yes, there is a science for this! Birds are amazing architects and can build all sorts of nests depending on species and geography. There are scrape, hole/tunnel, platform, aquatic, cup-shaped, domed/roofed, mud, hanging/woven/stitched, mound, and many …
Much of the universe that we’d like to study is far away and faint. To ‘magnify the universe’ scientists use a variety of techniques. In an illustrated talk at the Library of Congress on April 22 , Dr. Jane Rigby, an astrophysicist and deputy project scientist for operations of the James Webb Telescope, will discuss …
The following is a guest blog post by science reference librarian and eggs-pert Margaret Clifton who has been collecting egg art since she was nine years old. Margaret has written for Inside Adams before on the topics of astronomy, Carl Sagan, time and Antarctica. How do we know when Spring is here? Officially, which is …
We have all marveled at the gracefulness of a cat leaping in the air, the swift movements of a hummingbird’s wings, the determined salmon swimming up river, the incredible precision of the marching feet of a millipede and the power of a galloping horse. Animals exhibit all types of movement- they walk, run, creep, hop, …
