The SciSchmooze
Lili Galilean
10 May 2026

Greetings, fellow science enthusiasts,

As this Mother’s Day comes to a close, it is only fitting that we trace the literal and metaphorical "threads" that bind us to the maternal—from the cellular engines inherited from our mothers to the self-regulating breath of Mother Nature herself.

The Matrilineal Engine: Lynn Margulis and the Adopted Guest

While our nuclear DNA is a shuffled deck from both parents, our Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is an unbroken heirloom, passed exclusively from mother to child. This Mother’s Day, we salute the late Lynn Margulis, the radical visionary who proved t

The SciSchmooze

Greetings again, friends of science,
Sempa xitlajpaloca, nohuampoyohua tlen ciencia,
Nearly 2 million people speak Nahuatl (Eastern Huasteca) in Mexico

Every year with the coming of the month of May, the catchy tune of the Lusty Month of May becomes an earworm. The song is from Lerner & Loewe’s Broadway musical “Camelot” starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet. (The above link, however, is for a slightly bowdlerized version of the song from the 1967 Warner Brothers movie of Camelot.)

On Saturdays, i join a group of folk at the Grocery Outlet in San Pablo at 11AM to protest actions of our current federal administration. The number of protesters keeps growing. The percentage of the drivers of passing cars that honk or wave keeps

The SciSchmooze

Greetings again, friends of science
Mwapoleni nakabili, ifibusa fya sayansi
[About 6 million people in Zambia, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo speak Bemba.]

ENVIRONMENT

Last Wednesday - Earth Day - a bill was scheduled for approval in the U.S. House of Representatives: The Endangered Species Amendments Act. The bill called for fast-tracking the removal of protections from endangered species whose numbers were recovering. It was an act of hubris to put this to Congress on Earth Day, but fortunately it was withdrawn at the last minute

Every week is climate week, but especially this week.

Kishore Hari
20 April 2026

Greetings science fans!

This Wednesday is 56th anniversary of Earth Day. The theme this year is “Our Power, Our Planet,” a call to unite around clean air, clean water, and renewable energy, and a reminder that when communities act together, they can become an unstoppable force. It is a fitting theme for a week that also happens to be SF Climate Week, when more than 650 events and 1,000 speakers are descending on the Bay Area to do exactly that.

Earth Day has deep Bay Area ro

Lili Galilean
13 April 2026

Greetings, fellow Group 14 travelers!

This week, we follow one thread through the cosmic tapestry: Silicon (Si). From the 'ghost sand' clogging our local turbines to the 'primal grit' forged in the first galaxies, Silicon is a paradox of materials science. The way we manage it determines whether it remains a hurdle to clear or becomes the backbone of the telescopes that let us see forever.

The Earthly Nuisance: Siloxanes and the “Glass” in the Gears

In Silicon Valley, we usually treat silicon as the hero—the “brain” in our semiconductors. But in our landfills and wastewater plants, it plays a villainous role in the form of Siloxanes