Science on a Sphere at Northern Illinois University Libraries

On the first floor of the Founders Memorial Library hangs what may be the world's largest disco ball.

It also may be the most detailed representation ever of Huskie hometowns around the world. Or a high- resolution view of the surface of Mars, Jupiter or any of the other planets. In fact, it can be all those things and much, much more, says Dean of NIU Libraries Fred Barnhart.

Known as Science on a Sphere, the six-foot sphere, which is located inside the main doors to the library on the first floor, just behind the escalators, is a blank canvas for images created by four laser projectors. The library has unlimited access to a collection of more than 700 data presentations created by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and dozens of other agencies, museums and planetariums around the world. The technology was originally developed by NOAA as a means to educate with 3D representations of weather events, especially climate change.

For more about this installation, see the full article at https://niutoday.info/2022/10/27/science-on-a-sphere-creates-worlds-of-p...