Science reporting relevant to current events with an emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area
Happy New Year. Thank you for joining me today. As technology promises better and longer lives, the ‘situation on the ground’ is dismal for much of the world’s 8 billion people – but over the long arc of history, “it’s getting better.” As we and our neighbors and our children tune into how alike we … Read more
Dear reader, so glad you’re reading this. Let me start by laying out some work we need to do. I love maps of all kinds. The map above is based on Pew Research data of the percentage of people who agreed that “certain people can cast curses or spells that cause bad things to happen … Read more
Lunar Eclipse – Election – Asteroid Hello, my fellow Earthlings. So glad you are reading this. Tuesday at 0-dark-30 the entire moon will be fully covered by Earth’s shadow. (2:17 a.m. Pacific) It will begin emerging from the shadow at 3:42 a.m. Andrew Fraknoi has provided an informational page on the event Tuesday at 7 a.m. … Read more
Hello again, dear science fan, No one – arguably – knows more about ghost hunting than Kenny Biddle. At this year’s SkeptiCal, he shared stories from his ghost-hunting forays, including the techniques and the electronic instrumentation he used. Some years ago, however, Biddle did a turn-around, climbed out of the ghost-hunting rabbit hole, and became a … Read more
Happy Labor Day dear reader, I recall the first time i saw a geochron clock on the wall of my hometown bank. Instantly i knew where in the world there was sunrise, sunset, night, and day. It lifted me for several minutes from living in a town in California with a few thousand others to … Read more
Hello again science fans, Daniela Rößler (‘ß’ is a double-s symbol used in Deutschland) has gathered fascinating data suggesting that jumping spiders might actually dream while sleeping. ¿Sleeping spiders? Well, yes. Just about every animal has been observed in behaviors that seem to indicate sleep. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is associated with dreaming in humans, … Read more
Bless you, Étienne Klein, for bringing levity and wisdom to us last week. Levity came in claiming that his photo of a slice of chorizo was a JWST photo of Proxima Centauri, and the wisdom came in the physicist’s following Tweet: “Well, when it’s time for the aperitif, cognitive biases seem to have a field … Read more
Hello again, student of reality, Wow, what a life to celebrate. Daughter of the town mayor, dancer, singer, model, actress, and for most of us, Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek. Nichelle Nichols had roles on stage, television, and in more than 25 movies. She worked to interest children in science and she recruited a number … Read more
Dear science fan, thank you for joining me. The Declaration of Independence extolls “safety” and “happiness” so please enjoy a safe and happy Fourth of July. The privileged white male Declaration signers accepted this passage: “… merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Six of … Read more
It was given knowledge that a musk ox is protected from concussive brain injury by having an intracranial air pocket and a very broad horn. Research now shows they suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy – just like boxers and American football players – and may suffer some degree of dementia. The researchers surmise that mild dementia in … Read more