When the Rising Star Cave and Homo Naledi were discovered in 2013, the science world exploded—and so did the technology and maker communities. What the scientists did with the discoveries of those bones was unheard of: they opened up the information quickly, and shared 3D files of their discoveries, making them available to everyone to download and print.
Why was this such a big deal? It had never been done before. Sharing information from scientific discoveries was very expensive and took years to do. Info that was usually only open to limited groups is now available to the public. As a result, the Create Space at the Hilton Branch Library was able to print some of the models shared from this expedition for the Ideas Festival program Secrets Skeletons Tell on Tuesday, March 22 at 4 pm at the Main Library. The program is for ages 5 and up, and is free and open to all.
Scientists around the world can now conduct research without the costliness of traveling or the long wait for expensive models. And now kids can now get a hands-on look at how science really works. The Library is bringing in a team of experts to speak about how scientists and detectives gather evidence and clues to figure out what happened in the past. Join children’s nonfiction author Marc Aronson, New York Times Science writer Jon Gertner, science teacher John Mead, and a Detective Raith of the Maplewood Police Department as they share their experiences and knowledge!
Read more about the Maplewood Ideas Festival.
