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Category: Astronomy/Mathematics

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300 Years of Imaginary Space Ships: 1630-1920

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

The following is a guest post from Trevor Owens, Special Curator for the Library of Congress Science Literacy Initiative and Digital Archivist in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.  He is also the author of the Inside Adams post on Envisioning Earth from Space before We Went There. While humans didn’t build apparatus capable of traveling to the …

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Wit and Lucidity: Carl Sagan’s Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Today’s post is from science reference librarian Margaret Clifton. In light of recent discussions about ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering, and math) education floating in and around government lately it is worth noting that scientific educational outreach, that is, science communication from the scientific community to the public (or at least to a captive youthful audience) …

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Our Place in the Universe

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

We are happy to report that the Library’s science lecture Our Place in the Universe – Cosmology from the Ancient Greeks to Today with astrobiologist Michelle Thaller will continue as scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 23rd at 11:30 a.m. in the Library’s Mary Pickford Theater of the James Madison Building. [Update 4/11/2014- The Our Place in …

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Envisioning Earth from Space Before We Went There

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

The following is a guest post from Trevor Owens, Special Curator for the Library of Congress Science Literacy Initiative and Digital Archivist in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.  Few images are as powerful as the 1968 Apollo 8 Earthrise photo and the 1990 Pale Blue Dot photo from Voyager 1. Seeing the Earth from space …

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Exotic Earths: Exploring Planets Around Other Stars

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Are we alone in the Universe? That’s what we often wonder as we look up at the stars of the night sky. We may become particularly fascinated with this question after reading a great science fiction novel or watching a film that centers on the exploration of other planetary systems (e.g. The Star Trek franchise). …

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Live Tweeting of April 16th Mars Curiosity Rover Lecture. Can’t attend? Tweet your questions!

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

I do not need to convince you that the interest in the Mars Curiosity Rover is sky-high!  On Tuesday April 16, 2013 we are hosting a lecture at the Library with NASA’s Dr. Pamela Conrad who will discuss habitability on Mars based on findings from the Curiosity Rover. For those of you who cannot attend, …

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Location! Location! Location! on Mars with the Curiosity Rover

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

ST&B & NASA Goddard Speakers Series begins its 7th Year on April 16, 2013 with Extraterrestrial Real Estate Assessment: Measuring Habitability on Mars with the Curiosity Rover with Dr. Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist and mineralogist, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. [Update– For those of you who cannot attend, our Twitter account @librarycongress will live tweet Dr. …