David Almandsmith

Hola, fans de la ciencia, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Hurricanes and tornadoes and floods, oh my! ¿Tornadoes in California? Yes. Nine tornadoes were documented in California during 2023 with Los Angeles County getting three of those. A friend’s house in SoCal had part of her roof torn off during … Read more

Hello again science fans! I hope your new year is off to a pleasant start and i trust the new year will bring joy along with a few minor unavoidable travails and challenges. And if learning new things brings you joy – read on! ¿If an advanced species of vertebrate arose hundreds of millions of … Read more

Big Basin Redwoods State Park Dear science aficionado, Another journey around the Sun is at its end. It is safe for me to say that each of us experienced delights and suffered hardships in this latest orbit, but unlike rocks and boulders we undoubtedly learned a little during our year. Hopefully during the journey you … Read more

Dear reader,Welcome aboard for a flight on this week’s SciSchmooze. {Snacks optional.} CLIMATE ¿Why is the climate conference taking place called “COP28”? Because it’s easier than calling it the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference Of the Parties #28. ¿And why is it being held in Dubai, a country where fossil fuels account … Read more

Dear science fans, Storm Ciarán bashed England and left many thousands without power across Western Europe last week.  The Panama Canal is restricting shipping since a drought left the region without enough fresh water to operate the locks for normal ship traffic. Some container ships had to off-load enough containers to meet weight restrictions. The containers … Read more

Dear science fan, The above Quantum Squeeze Apparatus made me laugh. It looks like a far more complex version of one of my goofy grammar school inventions that i assembled from bottles, cans, defunct car parts, light bulbs, wires, and batteries. My inventions didn’t ever do anything – but i always hoped they would lead to some … Read more

Dear SciSchmoozers, A 6.1 earthquake topped off my birthday this month in Oaxaca, Mexico (and abruptly terminated a huge outdoor rock concert). Since the quake was located 108 kilometers below the terrain, there was almost no damage – except to nerves. The Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 was a 6.9 magnitude event. The San Francisco … Read more

Dear reader,I’ve assembled some ideas and information you might enjoy. SPACE On Tuesday, go outside at 1938 hrs (that’s nerd-notation for 7:38 PM) to watch the ISS make a 6-minute pass over the Bay Area. (NW horizon to directly overhead (86°) to SE horizon) Astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin returned … Read more

Dear Reader,Below are a few items of interest: discoveries, ideas, and issues. Pick and choose as you wish and click on links for deeper stories. CLIMATE Many thousands of Emperor Penguin chicks died because some ice shelves where they hatch broke up before chicks fledged out to their waterproof plumage. Those ice shelves normally break up … Read more

Unused shared bikes in Xiamen, China  Credit: Reuters from The Atlantic Bike sharing rentals seemed like a great idea and many millions of these bicycles were manufactured in China, clogging sidewalks and streets. Excess bikes numbering in the millions were rounded up and scrapped. This created tons of non-recyclable waste. This was a tiny trickle of … Read more