Every year, the nation celebrates heritage months.  The Smithsonian Institution celebrates February of 2012, along with the rest of the country celebrating Black History Month, by recognizing African American inventors.

The Smithsonian Institution prepared a bibliography of African American Inventors.  Click here to visit their site.  

• Click here to visit their virtual African American Cultural Heritage Tour. 

The Smithsonian, founded in 1846, is the world’s largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities.

• To see a complete listing of the heritage months, visit their page Celebrate History and Heritage with the Smithsonian. 

Thinking big…

“There is no such thing as an average human being. If you have a normal brain, you are superior. There’s almost nothing that you can’t do,” Benjamin Carson. M.D.

Benjamin Carson succeeded where all predecessors had failed, in separating twins joined at the head, the Binder Siamese twins, in 1987.

He graduated from high school with honors, after having a rough time in school.  He then went on to Yale University and to medical school.

Carson’s successes include:

• At age 32, he became Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
• He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in his field.

Dr. Carson shares the story of his success with young people saying, 

“You do have the possibility of controlling your own destiny if you are willing to put in the appropriate amount of time and effort.” Or, as he tells young people everywhere, “Think Big.”

• Learn more about Dr. Carson from the Academy of Achievement.   
• Learn more from The History Makers in their feature ScienceMakers. 

The University of Southern Mississippi also celebrates Black History Month by hosting several events and programs on the Hattiesburg campus through February. The national theme for Black History Month is “Black Women in American Culture and History,” established by the Association of the Study of African American Life and History.

• Click here to see a listing of Southern Miss events. 

This Sunday the biggest football game of the year, the Super Bowl, has the New York Giants in a famous rematch with the New England Patriots.

Science is all around us and sports is no different.

Think about a field goal kick, everything matters.   Range of the kicker, depth of the kick on the field, height of the goal post, and many more complex calculations go into kicking the perfect field goal.

NBC and the National Science Foundation teamed up to “unravel the science” behind professional football.

Visit their site, NBCLearn.com/nfl, to learn more.  And remember next time you are watching a sporting event, successful athletics endeavors often depend on calculations for success.

The College of Science and Technology’s own Dr. Jake Schaefer, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and curator of the University Ichthyology Collection, will speak on his expertise in the evolution and ecology of fish Monday, Jan. 30 from 6-7:30 p.m. in Cook Library’s Art Gallery, room 105 A next to Starbucks.

Click to learn more about Dr. Schaefer’s presentation.