Tuesday, June 27, 2023
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Blogpost content:
¨ Things I did during week four.
¨ Impressions I have after week four.
¨ Anticipations I have after week four.
Things I did during week four:
Juneteenth SPS student’s potluck - together with other SPS interns we have organized a themed potluck. The theme was Italian. Every one of the interns brought some food or drink for the table. There was lots of food, various pastas, salads, and a variety of desserts. I brought a hastily improvised lasagna, pepperoni pizza, and an unrefined version of caprese salad.
Astronomy at the mall – on Saturday all available SPS interns were tasked with attending an outreach event, The Astronomy Festival on the National Mall (it was hosted in Arts and Industries Building because of rain chance). The event itself was a very interesting gathering of multiple institutions and several universities were presenting something. The sheer variety of exhibits and enthusiasm of people were electric.
Natural History Museum after hours– afterthe Astronomy at the mall some of us attended a late-night exhibitions at Smithsonian Natural History Museum. This was my second time in this museum. I visited several others exhibits and a new temporary one about cell phones. Unfortunately, minerals section was packed beyond any reason and I have had no chance of enjoying it.
Impressions I have after week four:
Overall week four was pretty eventful, I really enjoyed all the activities I had. One of the most memorable things was the Astronomy at the Mall, specifically the difference in people level of science knowledge and backgrounds: one person asked me to explain how solar system is structures and where space is with relationship to earth atmosphere, and another person not only had knowledge to correct me on the demo, but also told me some interesting things about NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and how they are connected to astronomy. That was a very pleasant experience.
Anticipations I have after week four:
I have been wanting to find some hiking trail near DC for several weeks now. During week 5 I am planning to zero in on the trail and go for a hike on a weekend.
Daniil Ivannikov