Category: Science

February School Break Events for Kids

Posted on by Phoebe Acheson

Tuesday February 20, 11:00 AM: Falmouth Osprey Project. Join us in the Hermann Room as the founders of the Falmouth Osprey Project tell us about their work helping ospreys nest safely! All ages are welcome and children should be accompanied by an adult. Please register.

 

Tuesday February 20, 1:30-3:00 PM: Family Game Play. Join us in the Children’s Room for drop-in game play for families including children of all ages.

Wednesday February 21, 11:00 AM: Amazing Animal Ambassadors. Meet, observe, and learn about four exotic animals under the guidance of certified handler Bethany Jakubson. In the Hermann Room. Aimed at children; small children should be accompanied by an adult. Please register. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Wednesday February 21, 1:30-2:30 PM: CAP Therapy Dogs: Tales to Tails Program. Come read to a certified therapy dog in the Children’s Room! Tales to Tails is a drop-in program so no registration required.  All ages are welcome.  

Thursday February 22, 2:00 PM: Family Friendly Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Join us in the Hermann Room for a screening of this PG-rated film with a run time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. All ages are welcome and small children should be accompanied by an adult. Please register.

Friday February 23, 1:00 PM: Pitter Patter Puppet Show. Join us in the Hermann Room for silly songs and interactive puppetry, great for ages 2 and up and charming for their adults! Please register. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Lethal Tides with Catherine Musemeche

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us on Wednesday, November 9th at 6:30pm in the Hermann meeting room as we welcome author Catherine Musemeche.  She will be speaking about her latest book Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II.  To register for this author talk and book signing, click here. 

“Weaving together science, biography, and military history, Lethal Tides is a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of oceanography and naval strategy, and – more importantly – chronicles the gripping story of an unsung woman who was pivotal to the U.S.’s success against Japan in WWII.”  

Catherine Musemeche is a graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas and the University of Texas School of Law.  She has been a pediatric surgeon for more than three decades.  Catherine’s first book, Small, was longlisted for the E.O. Wilson/Pen American Literary Science Award and was awarded the Texas Writer’s League Discovery Prize for Nonfiction in 2015.  Her second book, Hurt, was named one of the top ten EMS books of the decade.  She has also contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times’ “Motherlode” blog, KevinMD.com, Creative Nonfiction magazine and EMS World.

This event is free to the public and copies of her book will be available from Eight Cousins for purchase at the event.

Webb Space Telescope Community Events

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor
The Falmouth Public Library will be hosting two Webb Telescope Community Events for NASA’s release of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JSWT) first full-color images!  
 
Stop by on Tuesday, July 12th between 10:30am-1:30pm  for an open house with NASA Solar System Ambassador Marie Zahn in the YA room.  Everyone is welcome to join us for some fun activities as we view the first JWST images together!  Marie will also help answer your space questions and will talk about the Webb Telescope. 
 
Then join us on Saturday, July 16th from 3:30pm-4:30pm in the Hermann meeting room as we stream an online expert panel of Webb scientists!  They will answer audience questions and examine and explain the first images from JWST.
 
“The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.” – NASA

Below the Edge of Darkness Book Discussion with Allan Adams: A WHOI & FPL Community Read Event!

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us on Wednesday, May 25th from 7pm-8pm via Zoom to discuss the 2022 WHOI & FPL Community Read, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea by Dr. Edith Widder, in a group setting!  We will have a special guest, Allan Adams, joining us.  Allan is an Adjunct Oceanographer at WHOI in the Applies Ocean Physics and Engineering Department. 

This event is free to the public and registration is required.  Register online by clicking here or by calling the library at 508-457-2555 x7.  

Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea  takes readers deep into our planet’s oceans as Widder pursues her questions about one of the most important and widely used forms of communication in nature.  In the process, she reveals hidden worlds and a dazzling menagerie of behaviors and animals, from microbes to leviathans, many never before seen or, like the legendary giant squid, never before filmed in their deep-sea lairs.  Alongside Widder, we experience life-and-death equipment malfunctions and witness breakthroughs in technology and understanding, all set against a growing awareness of the deteriorating health of our largest and least understood ecosystem.   

Come pick up a copy today at the library!  Below the Edge of Darkness is also available for purchase at Eight Cousins and the WHOI Bookstore!  The 2022 WHOI & FPL Community Read is part of Dispatches from an Ocean Planet: A Celebration of Film and Literature presented by the Yawkey Foundation and WHOI.

Pseudoscience & Archaeology

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Pseudoscience & Archaeology

How the Media Blends Fact & Fiction: ‘The Indiana Jones Effect’

Join the Falmouth Public Library on Wednesday, May 18th via Zoom from 7pm-8pm for the online lecture of Pseudoscience & Archaeology: How the Media Blends Fact & Fiction ‘The Indiana Jones Effect’ by Marie Zahn.  Registration is required.  To register online click here or call us at 508-457-2555 x7.

Marie will discuss how the evolution of science fiction has affected the public view of archaeology. Throughout the history of sci-fi, archaeological plot lines have become more popular in recent times. While this has furthered public interest in archaeology, the science fiction origins of the “ancient alien theory” have tarnished the view of legitimate archaeological studies. From H.P. Lovecraft to Indiana Jones and Doctor Who, the impact of the entertainment industry on archaeological research is examined.

Marie Zahn, a Cape Cod native, is the Director of the Brooks Academy Museum and A. Elmer Crowell Decoy Barn Museum for the Harwich Historical Society, as well as serving as the Administrator for the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth. Prior to this, she spent several years working on an early 18th century shipwreck as an archaeologist, conservator, and science education coordinator.

This free, online lecture is sponsored by the Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library.