News/Views
News on Facebook:
Beyond Plastics is launching a virtual plastic pollution film series that starts TONIGHT! Tune into your PBS station or PBS.org starting at 10 pm to watch Plastic Wars, a joint investigation from FRONTLINE and NPR on how plastic makers have publicly promoted recycling for decades, despite privately expressing doubts that widespread plastic recycling would ever be economically viable.
See the full line-up for the film series here: beyondplastics.org/article/plastic-pollution-film-series/
And stay tuned for more from NNC about Beyond Plastics - we have something exciting in the works!
As the clouds clear somewhat for the rest of the week, it’s the perfect time to look up at the planets and constellations currently visible in our night sky. Jeff has updates for you on what to look for in his blog post, “What’s Up in the Night Sky?” nurturenaturecenter.org/education-moves/whats-up-in-the-night-sky/
Nurture Nature Center programming - now online! We are excited to be offering 2 virtual events this week - a webinar presentation of "Trees for a Small Garden - A Tree for Every Purpose" by Easton city forester, Rob Christopher, on Wednesday and an interactive Science Cafe to gather with other curious minds and discuss timely science topics on Friday evening. Please join us digitally - invite some friends too!
Trees for a Small Garden webinar: www.facebook.com/events/2625760964323047/
Science Cafe: www.facebook.com/events/2929590720433167/
With hundreds of datasets to explore, covering science and cultural topics from astronomy to geology to population and transportation, it is hard to pick one favorite Science on a Sphere dataset. In this series of posts, NNC staff and docents will describe their favorite dataset and why it is their top pick.
Outreach Coordinator Jeff Mucklin: “Some of my favorite datasets are ones that show surprising connections and few display this better than Wikipedia: Global Connections - 1800 - 2012. When the dataset begins we see a globe studded with white dots and white lines connecting many of them like a sparkling spiders web. As the image changes we see dots and lines appear and disappear around the globe as we witness history unfold before our eyes. Developed by Dr. Kalev Hannes Leetaru, this dataset was created by searching 4 million Wikipedia articles that reference a location and date. The location will appear as a dot in the year mentioned. If the article mentions multiple locations they will be connected by white lines. I like to point out major historical events that cause flashes of dots to appear, like the eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1815 or the California gold rush 1848 - 1855, or the intense flashes that occur during the two world wars. Sometimes I will notice a dot and see if I can figure out what event has caused me to notice it. I do not always succeed; why does Norway light up like a christmas tree in 1838? As the dataset approaches the modern day, individual events become impossible to discern as the world becomes ever more interconnected. Our shared history is one marked by ever increasing levels of cooperation and global action. By working together, our global community can face any challenge.”
Will you be participating in Earth Hour tomorrow? Read Jeff's article to learn more about "The Upside of Darkness"!
nurturenaturecenter.org/education-moves/the-upside-of-darkness/