Contact – MA Space Week 2025 Space Film Festival Evening # 4 [with Open Captions] (Main)
Join us for a special MA Space Week 2025 Space Film Festival screening of Contact, followed by an expert panel discussion exploring the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, interstellar communication, and the intersection of science and policy.
About the MA Space Week Space Film Festival
The MA Space Week Space Film Festival is a statewide celebration of space in cinema, featuring films that highlight the wonders of space exploration, astronomy, and our place in the universe. Each screening is paired with expert insights, making space science accessible and engaging for all audiences. This year’s Massachusetts Space Week theme, "Life in the Universe", explores humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life. Contact, based on Carl Sagan’s novel, is the perfect film to spark this discussion.
CPL Nature Club: Medicinal Plant Walk at Alewife Reservation (O'Neill)
Join clinical herbalist Mo Katz-Christy for a walk around the Alewife Reservation to learn about the medicine, botany and magic of medicinal herbs. We will discuss medicinal plants in Cambridge and their specific indications and properties. Bring a notebook as we delight in the bounty of our neighborhood!
Registration is required.
We will meet at the seating area on the bike path near the Alewife Brook Pathway and DCR Wetland Boardwalk: https://maps.app.goo.gl/CC32nJqG1Xk3b5zDA. It is a 6 minute walk from Alewife MBTA station, accessible by bus or by the Red Line. There is no parking available on-site. Parking is available at Alewife MBTA station, the Alewife Reservation lot on Acorn Drive or limited on-street parking on Cambridgepark Drive.
Mental Illness, Homelessness, and the Struggle for Care on Boston’s Streets: An Evening with Dr. Jim O’Connell (Main)
What happens when mental illness meets homelessness and there’s nowhere to turn? What does healthcare look like when you’re sleeping outside, alone, and invisible?
Join NAMI Cambridge/Middlesex and the Cambridge Public Library for an unflinching look at healthcare on the margins as Dr. Jim O’Connell, founding physician and President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) shares stories, insights, and hard truths from a lifetime spent caring for patients—not in pristine clinics but in shelters, on sidewalks, and under bridges.
Moderated by Dr. Rich Parker, this one-night event will explore the barriers so many in our community face when mental illness goes untreated, housing is out of reach, and support feels out of sight. Cosponsored by Cambridge Public Library.
Registration is required.
Have You Seen The Giant Deer In Inman Square?
A crane carefully swung “Edge of the Forest,” a 12-foot-tall steel sculpture of a deer, into place in Vellucci Plaza, the heart of Cambridge’s Inman Square, on July 18. The sculpture's creator, Mark Reigelman watched as workers anchored it into place.