News acorns

Great Walden BioBlitz at Minute Man NHP

Join the National Park Service, Walden Woods Project, and naturalist Peter Alden in a mega-bio-blitz on Saturday, July 6 from 2–4 p.m. at the Hartwell Tavern lot area, 106 North Great Rd., Lincoln. Observe and identify plants, birds, insects, amphibians, and other living organisms, and learn to use the iNaturalist app and contribute to our goal of recording 2,000 species in a day. Naturalist-led tours in the park depart at 2 p.m. from the Hartwell lot. For more information, visit www.waldenbioblitz.org.

Watch the GearTicks robot in action

There’s now video available of the Lincoln GearTicks robot that recently competed at the FIRST World Championship in Detroit. Students from teams all over the world had to design robots that could deliver “minerals” (gold cubes and whiffle balls) from a “crater” into the “lander” (an elevated box with separate containers). Click here to watch on YouTube (the GearTicks segment begins at 1:23:00 and the GearTicks “Rover Ruckus” robot is labeled 6055), or click here to download a 30-second video. The original story has been updated to include these link.

Summer hours at the library

The Lincoln Public Library will be open on Saturdays during July from 10 a.m.—1 p.m. (weekday hours remain the same), and the library will be closed on Saturdays during August. Regular Saturday hours (10 a.m.—5 p.m.) will begin on September 7.

Mass Audubon photo contest under way

Picture This: Your Great Outdoors, the Lincoln-based Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photo contest, invites shutterbugs of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to share the natural beauty of the Bay State through their photography. The competition, which continues through September 30, has two age divisions (18 and older, and under 18) and six subject areas: people in nature, birds, mammals, other animals, landscapes, and plants and fungi.

Contestants may submit up to 10 images apiece. Photographs must have been taken any time prior to or during the 2019 contest period, but must have been shot in Massachusetts or at Mass Audubon’s Wildwood Camp in Rindge, N.H. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded a $250 gift card and will be featured in Mass Audubon’s member newsletter, Explore. Eleven winners will receive $100 gift cards, and at least six honorable mentions will receive $50 gift cards. Additional honorable mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the judges. To enter and to review contest information, including rules and how to submit photos online, visit massaudubon.org/picturethis.