from the desk of Dave Almandsmith
Dear Science Fans,
Out in our solar system neighborhood, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter is about to be released from the underside of the Perseverance rover. NASA’s official description of Ingenuity’s role says it will be decommissioned after a month of test flights. Sorry, folks. I do not expect the world’s population will sit idly by while Perseverance trundles off abandoning the cute little ‘copter in the brutally co
from the desk of Bob Siederer
Hello again Science Fans!
Tonight the moon will rise full, and it will be the first of four “super moons” in a row. Super moons occur when the moon isfro at its closest to Earth and appears larger than usual. This one is known as the Worm Moon as, according to some Native American folklore, March is when the earth thaws and earthworms come out.
Further from home, our exploration of Mars continues. The image above was taken 196 miles from the surface of Mars by the
From the desk of Herb Masters Greetings to all who value science, So here we are, a year of incredible challenges continues to challenge. Spring '21 has come but Day and Night weren't equal! We may be on the brink of success in taming Covid-19, but we are still at risk, especially by those who can't accept the science and facts of the disease and how to control it. Consider some of the history of scien
Hello Science Fans, Wow there's been a lot going on. This year the debate over DST is getting almost as much mention as how we lost an hour of sleep last night. Mars continues to inspire and surprise. Of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention that today is π day. Did you know that Larry Shaw and the explOratorium founded π day? Here's a few more articles worth knowing about. It has been
From the desk of Dave Almandsmith Percy (Perseverance Rover) has been feeling its oats, doing calisthenics, and moving about at its landing spot dubbed “Octavia Butler Landing.” ((Butler’s 1998 book, Parable of the Talents, tells of the election of the populist, misogynistic, xenophobic Andrew Steele Jarret to the White House, whose rallying cry is “Make America Great Again.” During President Jarret’s administration, white supremacist groups grow powerful.)) Jump forward a few decades and there may be a plaque placed at Octavia Butler Landing. Jump forward a few centuries and it might be a tourist site. ((I keep falling into the error of imagining that the surfa
I just bought 25 raffle tickets for a multi-day orbital journey. Since each orbit takes about 90 minutes, i’ll make 16 orbits each day while i’m up there. First, however, i need to win the raffle. ¿Would you like to buy a few tickets? Just donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Each dollar you donate in February gives you one raffle ‘ticket.’ The winner will ride in a SpaceX Dragon capsule with three other folk. Because of olfactory fatigue, you shouldn’t be too concerned about spending a few days in an unventilated capsule with three others - - and no bathroom - - and no DoorDash deliveries. (Hmmm. ¿Have you read or seen “No Exit” by Jean-Paul Sartre?)
Mars Missions:
It ain’t over with the SciSchmooze
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Murmurations - © Irish Post
A Slice of π Schmooze
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SciSchmoozing to the Future
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The Undertaught Element of Critical Thinking
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The Foundation for Critical Thinking has an excellent definition of “Critical Thinking”:
[T]he intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
Note that the above definition is no less accurate when we separate it into two elements:
Element #1:
The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication.
Element #2:
The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, and synthesizing evaluated information as a guide to belief and action.
Element #1 skills, also known as critical evaluation skills, are not usually required to judge the quality or veracity of the information students receive in class; sch
Sputnik to Sputnik with the SciSchmooze
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from the desk of Herb Masters
Greetings Science Students!
After all I think that if you are a supporter of science or a scientist you never really stop being a student. What an amazing time we are living in. Do you remember the statement that started with "If they can put a man on the moon"? It seems like such a naïve question these days.
Today we face massive challenges that may very well change how we live on the planet in our lifetimes. Some would say that it all started back in
Travel to Mars with the SciSchmooze
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from the desk of Herb Masters
A Belated Happy Valentine's Day Science Fans,
This is a bit late for actual Valentine Day Science but it's not like we don't have the opportunity of extending some fun these days. It's hard to imagine that we have been in the Covid-19 mode for a year now. As they say, "it's been a hell of a year" between politics and science (note the date on that!). These days deciding what and who to believe can be a challenge. There are so many people with so many different ideas
SciSchmoozing into Orbit
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from the desk of David Almandsmith
Truthiness and the SciSchmooze
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from the desk of David Almandsmith
[Beginning of rant]
Let’s face it - our education system is to blame for a citizenry where so many believe the election was stolen, vaccinations are harmful, Democrats are pedophiles, Antifa led the Capitol attack, astronauts never went to the moon, mass shootings were staged, homeopathy heals, and
