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Category: Lunchtime Lectures and Videos

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The Arctic Voyage of HMS Investigator, 1850-54

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Today’s guest post is by ST&B’s upcoming speaker Glenn “Marty” Stein, a maritime and polar historian who will be at the Library on October 29 to talk about his recent book “Discovering the North-West Passage: The Four-Year Arctic Odyssey of H.M.S. Investigator and the McClure Expedition” (McFarland & Co, 2015). Stein has researched maritime and …

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Scouting for Exoplanets with TESS, Lecture on October 8

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

The first exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, were definitively discovered in the 1990s, although the idea of other worlds like ours goes back to the ancient Greeks, and their existence had been theorized by Giordano Bruno in the 16th century and Isaac Newton in the 18th. The first direct images of exoplanets were produced in 2008. …

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Icy Volcanism in the Outer Solar System Lecture on September 16

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Did you know that there are frozen volcanoes that spew icy particles and water vapor, instead of fiery molten rock? You’ll have to travel millions or billions of miles into the outer solar system to find icy volcanism, also known as cryovolcanism. Many of NASA’s missions to the far-reaches of our solar system have provided evidence …

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NASA Looks at Landslides, Lecture on August 11

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

When we think of natural disasters, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires and floods often come to mind, but landslides are one of the most prevalent hazards that exist. NASA scientists study all of these, and the next speaker in our NASA/Goddard lecture series, Dalia Kirschbaum, specializes in the remote sensing and modeling of landslides. Dr. Kirschbaum will …

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Understanding Magnetic Storms Throughout the Universe, Lecture on June 11

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

The universe is full of plasma and magnetic fields actively swirling, spiraling, and colliding. These mighty magnetic mysteries can cause gigantic explosions of energy such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and geomagnetic storms which often enhance the Earth’s auroras. Space weather is influenced by these highly charged events which can then cause havoc with …

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How Community Gardens Can Save America: Book Talk and Lecture, May 19

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

LaManda Joy wants to inspire everyone she meets to grow their own food. She is an author, national speaker, award winning master gardener, and considered the “Best Urban Farmer in Chicago.” Her rallying cry “We can grow it!” recognizes the influence of the past while invigorating the American can-do spirit to create a positive future. …

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Upcoming Book Talk on the Mediterranean Diet, May 13

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Author, chef, and television personality Amy Riolo has written the following guest post about the history and benefits Mediterranean cuisine for her upcoming book talk on May 13 – “The Mediterranean Diet: Delicious Food Prescriptions for Transforming Illness.” Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food (Hippocrates) Almost daily we are learning how …

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The Plant Hunters

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

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 Presidential Food, Presidential Wheels, Civil War Thanksgiving Foods,  Food Thrift, the Chocolate Chip Cookie, LC Science Tracer Bullets, and her mentor Ruth S. Freitag. Plant hunters were adventurous, passionate, and innovative. They were …