SciSchmooze it too!
| herb masters 11 March 2025 |
Greetings Fans of Science, Reason, and Critical Thinking,
I don’t think I need to remind you that these are not the best of times for science in any evidence based form. There are still good things happening, for instance, McGill’s Office for Science and Society received the 2024 James Randi Educational Foundation Award. James Randi was one of the amazing leaders of the modern skeptics movement. However, the President of the United States has a bit of history with his war on science. He has certainly taken his assault to new levels this term. There is so much information available, I’m not going to rehash it here. Just… Please take action, support your local science museums, science based education institutions, environmental organizations, medical research institutions, and there are so many to choose from. There have been and will continue to be protests and/or rallys all across the country.
As always there’s far more going on than any of us can keep up with. Here’s some items that I think might be of interest to you or someone you would like to share the SciSchmooze with… (these are tough choices to make. π to eclipse in 2 days!)
–Artificial Art – AI vs Human Composers – 03/12/2025 06:30 PM
swissnex San Francisco San Francisco
–Deliberation corrects: The case of conspiracy theories – Livestream – 03/13/2025 06:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
–Total Lunar Eclipse – 03/13/2025 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
–Lunar Eclipse Observation – 03/13/2025 10:00 PM
Foothill College Los Altos Hills
–Lunar Eclipse Watch Party – 03/13/2025 10:00 PM
Lawrence Hall of Science Berkeley
–Pi Day – 03/14/2025 11:00 AM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
–KALW LIVE: Pi Day with Science Friday featuring Ira Flatow – 03/14/2025 05:00 PM
Minna Gallery and Event Space San Francisco
–Keeper Academy at CuriOdyssey – 03/15/2025 08:30 AM
CuriOdyssey San Mateo
There were so many items I had to choose from this week!!!
Put this on your calendar! Music of the Spheres* Lick Observatory brings popular musicians and expert astronomers to the summit of Mount Hamilton for a musical night to remember. These are great evenings to spend on the mountain at Lick Observatory. There are programs for almost every taste in music. Tickets go on sale Apr 9 for members and Apr 16 for everyone else. WARNING: If you want to get tickets you need to be ready and prepared. They usually go on sale at 0900 PDT and are gone within 2 or 3 hours!
Landing on the Moon is hard! The Odysseus lunar lander has landed sideways on the moon.
We’re Charging Our Cars Wrong!… If there’s one thing we could do now to hasten the transition to electric vehicles, it’s this: Build a robust public EV-charging infrastructure.
You may have heard of the Glass Brain found in Herculaneum.
You may recognize this number… 3.14159. Convert it to a calendar format and you get 1:59 PM (AM too) on March 14. Two really cool museums that I encourage everyone to support (along with so many others!) are celebrating not only π-day but π-week! They both created a cool way to celebrate a really important irrational number. Curiodyssey got a jump on π-Day essentially starting π-Week at their First Friday event on Mar 7. You can still donate as many π$ as you would like at their donor site, you do the math! The explOratorium invented π-Day! They have a special support option that does the math for you! Donate for the Love of Pi (π) here. It all started at the Exploratorium with former staff physicist, tinkerer, and media specialist Larry Shaw. If you go to π-Day this Fri at the explO you will get a chance to see one of the original ambassadors of π present more than you could imagine about π in a fascinating presentation, in addition to actually eating π! (Note: he has a cool place to smash that button)
Nobody can escape AI in the day to day discussions we have, or news we hear and read. Here’s a great alternative! Check this one out too… This Mushroom Can Fly | Deep Look
What if Women Were the True Architects of Human Evolution?
Maybe this is why science seems so misunderstood by so many… Many people know how to read, but struggle to understand what they’re reading and this… The Ideological Hijacking of Science Funding
There is so much going on in the news about science, anti-science, how we are learning about how the universe works, and just plain cool stuff. Take some time to cherish the times we live in and the opportunities we have. Remember though, there are obligations that come with such richness.
Have a great week learning cool new stuff and celebrating stuff you already know!
herb masters
Note: Please share this with the science inclined folks you know. Encourage them to subscribe.
“Science can give mankind a better standard of living, better health and a better mental life, if mankind in turn gives science the sympathy and support so essential to its progress.” Vannevar Bush
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