Map

SPHEREx’s Concentric Cones

NASA’s SPHEREx observatory is oriented in a horizontal position, revealing all three layers of photon shields as well as the telescope. This photo was taken at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in April 2024.

Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx will create a map of the cosmos like no other. Using a technique called spectroscopy to image the entire sky in 102 wavelengths of infrared light, SPHEREx will gather information about the composition of and distance to millions of galaxies and stars. With this map, scientists will study what happened in the first fraction of a second after the big bang, how galaxies formed and evolved, and the origins of water in planetary systems in our galaxy.

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Astronauts to Check for Microbes Outside the Station #Paranormal

On Thursday January 30th, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are doing a 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Among other goals, they’ll be collecting surface samples from the station to analyze for the presence of microbes, reports universetoday.com. The ISS “surface swab” is part of the ISS External Microorganisms project. It was developed to understand how microorganisms are transported by crew members to space. It also seeks to understand what happens to those “mini-critters” in the space environment. The “bugs” that the two astronauts bring back in for analysis will come from areas on the space station near…

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Consider the Consequences! in 2025

In creating Consider the Consequences! authors Doris Webster (1885-1967) and Mary Alden Hopkins (1876-1960) were toying with a new idea: write a book that provided readers with narrative options. The result was the first choice-based novel ever printed as well as the precursor to the Choose Your Own Adventure book series that would become popular later in the 20th century.

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Neuroscientist Teaches Lab Rats to Drive #Paranormal

Kelly Lambert: We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat. As expected, rats housed in enriched environments – complete with toys, space and companions – learned to drive faster than those in standard cages. This finding supported the idea that complex environments enhance neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change across the lifespan in response to environmental…

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Could We Ever Decipher an Alien Language? #Paranormal

Olaf Lipinski: In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently – with some assuming they convey a threat. If humanity ended up in such a situation today, our best bet may be to turn to research uncovering how artificial intelligence (AI) develops languages. But what exactly defines a language? Most of us use at least one to…

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Celebrate GIS Day and Ocean Mapping at Live! At The Library, Thursday, November 21st! #Map

Celebrate Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day at the Library of Congress on Thursday, November 21st from 5pm to 8pm with Mapping Our World, a special Live! at the Library event diving into ocean mapping and exploration! This event will feature a collections display, interactive games and crafts, and a talk by Dr. Vicki Ferrini of Columbia University on the history of ocean mapping.

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