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SciSchmoozing Scienceploitation

Greetings Science Fans,
問候科學迷們
Wènhòu kēxué mímen (Mandarin)
Man6hau6 fo1hok6 mai4 (Cantonese)
[Over half a million Bay Area residents speak Chinese at home.]


Scienceploitation” is the misuse of science to influence the governed. Examples:

  • Fossil-fuel-industry-picked climate-crisis deniers wrote the government’s 2025 Climate Synthesis report. [Note: Direct U.S. government subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry is about $140 per person per year.]
  • David Geier, a conspiracist who claimed vaccines cause autism, heads an HHS study on the links between vaccinations and autism spectrum disorder.
  • The Administration halted mRNA vaccine research because of imagined “limitations” of the technolog

The Ostrich and the SciSchmooze

Bob Siederer
25 August 2025

Hello again Science Fans!

In the month since I last wrote the SciSchmooze, I’ve been collecting articles, as always, that might interest you, our readers. I’ve noticed quite a trend, and today’s SciSchmooze will take a look at it. This trend deals with the current administration’s approach to science, and the damage that approach is causing.

While there are several areas where real science is being ignored, or replaced with very questionable science, much of what I found deals with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the organizations under his control.

I should poin


The SciSchmooze Says It’s Not All Dark

Earth at Night — NASA

Glad you are reading this, dear friend of Science,
Kul att du läser detta, kära vetenskapsvän,
The Bay Area boasts the Swedish American Hall, the Swedish Women’s Educational Association of San Francisco, The Scandinavian School and Cultural Center, the Swedish Society of San Francisco, and more. [I


SciSchmoozing Good Trouble

Red Sprite as seen from the ISS, Nichole Ayers, NASA

Hello again, supporter of science,
Üdvözlet ismét, tudománypárti!
[Over 5,000 people in the Bay Area speak Hungarian at home.]

Show your support for science this Thursday (July 17) by joining one of the hundreds of “Good Trouble Lives On” protests. Thursday is the 5th anniversary of the passing of civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis. He coined the term "Good Trouble" as the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change. Find the location of a nearby protest at 

Bob Siederer
30 June 2025

The Virgo Cluster, from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (NSF/DOE)

Hello again Science Fans!

I’ve been traveling a lot these past few months. It always brings me a fresh perspective, seeing other parts of the US and the world.

It also reminds me that no matter what you are going through, someone is worse off than you.

Today we celebrate the first images released from the Vera C. Rubin observatory in Chile. They are loaded with fantastic


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