The Michigan State Police Forensic Lab presents its own version of CSI-style crime solving techniques, only this is the real thing! Trooper Nicole Bock, Forensic Scientist Guy Nutter and Laboratory Commander F/Lt. Charles Morden will present this fascinating look in conjunction with our popular Everyone's Reading program. The forensics tie in very nicely with Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent, the original courtroom thriller. Join us in the Community Room on Tuesday, March 16, at 7:00PM for a thrilling evening.

With school back in session, homework is inevitable. Come check out the J500 section for all your science homework needs. One series we have by author Dan Green, focuses on different science topics--astronomy, rocks and minerals, biology and physics.

Because I Love Her: 34 Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond edited by Andrea N. Richesin

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Tim Egan

Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper

Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Fierce

We all know that "Going Green" saves our planet Earth. But there's an added benefit, "Going Green" can also help you build personal wealth. In The Green Millionaire: A Practical Guide to Achieving Real Wealth While Helping to Save the Planet, author Nigel J. Williams explains how small changes like programming your thermostat or switching to rechargeable batteries can lead to savings. Then learn how to turn those green savings into wealth.

Phone registration is underway for Canton author, Charles Steele, to discuss his newest book, "Discovering God in Science." Did the Big Bang create the universe? Did life start by chance, all without a cause? Does God exist? Many scientists are putting forth the God Hypothesis as an alternate theory to the origin of the universe. If you are interested in a cutting-edge debate about science and religion, then Discovering God in Science is a must-read. Join new author Charles E. Steele as he offers insight into this ongoing debate on Thursday, November 19th at 7:00PM in the library Community Room.

There has been a lot of speculation about why honeybees have been disappearing, and now scientists have a new theory: it's because of us. Luckily there are many things you can do to help foster good environments for honeybees, such as planting a diverse garden with plants that are attractive to bees. And if you're looking for honey or info on how to raise your own bees, you can't get more local than Bobilin Honey from right here in Canton.

November is American Diabetes month. 24 million children and adults in the United States live with Diabetes. 57 million Americans are at risk for type 2 Diabetes. American Diabetes Association is launching a national movement to Stop Diabetes. Learn more about this by visiting stopdiabetes.com

The wind turbine pictured here is one of 32 harnessing clean electricity on Harvest Wind Farm in Elkton, MI. (I took this photo during a summer trip to the Thumb Area.) Michigan Wind 1, with 46 turbines, is another wind farm located just north of Elkton in Ubly, MI. Major energy companies like DTE and Consumers Energy are tapping into these and other wind farms in Michigan to supply electric power to their customers. Combined, both wind farms generate about 122 megawatts of electricity — enough to power roughly 35,000 homes.

Wind, solar and geothermal are among the most promising methods to generate clean, renewable energy. You can learn more about a clean energy future by reading Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman, best-selling author and Pulitzer-prize winning columnist from The New York Times.

How smart is your baby? Possibly smarter than you think, and they learn in ways that are vastly different from the way we learn when we are age five and older. Play and interaction with caregivers are the most important ways babies learn. The good news is that this requires no special toys or other tangibles; all you need is time.

image Baby Toys by S*H*A*D*D*A*I used under Creative Commons license

This is the month for all your great ideas for a "better mousetrap" to be considered once again! Started in 1998 by the United Inventors Association of the USA, the Academy Of Applied Science and Inventors' Digest Magazine, August has been designated as National Inventors Month, celebrating invention and creativity.

Although the zebra mussel is better known to the public, over the past decade it has largely been displaced in Lake Michigan by the quagga mussel, according to an article in the online magazine Michigan Today. Each quagga and zebra mussel filters about a quart of water a day—and there are billions of them in Lake Michigan alone. The result is startlingly clear water that delights recreational boaters but disturbs scientists because the water has been stripped of life-supporting algae.

In support of Cow Appreciation Day, celebrated on July 25th, break out your creative juices...let the milk of inspiration flow. In honor of our bovine friends, create a mosaic, paint a picture, write a narrative poem, or make up an interpretive dance! If you need some artistic reference, check out this handy website all about cow art! After all, how can you not love a cow?

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. In this best-seller, Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for The New Yorker, weighs the factors that determine good decision-making. Drawing on recent cognitive research, Gladwell concludes that those who quickly filter out extraneous information generally make better decisions than those who discount their first impressions.

July 16, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the first mission to land humans on the moon. To celebrate the memory of such a momentous occasion, many websites featured Apollo and Moon-based content today. Here's the roundup:

It's hard to believe but this Monday, July 20 celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing.

It is remarkable that 40 years ago - prior to cell phones, Blackberry's, and laptops - the mission to send men to the moon was accomplished with astronauts who carried sliderules.   Astronaut Buzz Aldrin writes about his journey as the second man to step foot on the moon in his book, Magnificent Desolation.  It begins with his trip to the moon in 196

If you enjoy Heaths' Made to Stick or Godin's Small Is the New Big, you might also like:

1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Glut by Alex Wright
3. The Myth of Multitasking: how doing it all gets nothing done by Dave Cranshaw
4. Reality Check: the ir

A reseach team from the University of Colorado at Boulder announced on June 17, 2009 that "the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars" was found. Though no firm evidence suggested that life does or did ever exist on the red planet, the scientists concurred that life would have been possible.Is There Life on Mars, a 60-minute DVD, showcases the latest scientific revelations from a planet, once alien, now poised to reveal provocative new clues in the tantalizing quest to plumb its past for signs of water and, perhaps, even life.

Summer is almost here and with warmer and warmer nights it’s the perfect time to go stargazing!

What's the Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest 2009 about? The EPA, Generations United, the Dance Exchange, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., announce a poetry, essay, photo and dance contest "that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes." Entries need to be by a team of at least 2 people from different generations. Teams can be of people who are related or not related to one another.