Kishore Hari
19 January 2026

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked this question over half a century ago, and it remains as vital today as ever. Tomorrow, we honor his legacy on MLK Day, a national day of service. But service doesn’t always mean picking up a hammer or ladling soup (though those are wonderful too). Here in the Bay Area, countless organizations blend scientific understanding with community action, turning curiosity into care for our shared world.

I’ve been volunteering monthly with Refuse Refuse, helping clean up litter across San Francisco neighborhoods. Founded by the indefatigable Vincent Yuen, who has spent years picking up trash, mapping dumping hotspots, and turning everyday walk…

Bob Siederer
12 January 2026

Hello again Science Fans!

2026 is certainly off to a wild start. From the kidnapping of Venezuala’s president and his wife by the US Government, to the ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, to the psuedo-science surrounding the new inverted food pyramid, there has hardly been a quiet minute. And, of course, those aren’t the only three things that happened in the last two weeks.

The Christmas Eve rain and wind storm did very signifigant damage to Lick Observatory, a Bay Area landmark atop Mt. Hamilton. Winds that reached 114 mph tore off a part of the dome covering the Great Refractor telescope, once the largest telescope in the world. Emergency actions to protect the telescope, and the electronics that cont…

Hello again, friends of science,
Bongu mill-ġdid, ħbieb tax-xjenza,
[Spoken on Malta, Maltese is an Arabic dialect with some vocabulary borrowed from Sicilian, Italian, and English.]

It’s a new year. Our Earth completed another circuit of Sol, our star, the Sun.

The Sun, traveling at 828,000 k/hr around our Galaxy’s center, completed another 0.00000156th of a degree. Since its formation, our Solar System has made almost exactly 20 circuits of the Galaxy; each circuit taking about 230 million years.

Good news:  There are over 250 active lawsuits against the Trump Administration. Many of those aim to counter its assaults on climate initiatives and medical science. Examples: 

• The American Association of Pediatrics is suing Robert F. Kennedy, …

Plus some SciSchmooze history 

Bob Siederer
29 December 2025

Hello again Science Fans!

I hope you all got through this week’s storms without damage. It was a couple of wild nights of wind and rain around here.

I want to start today with some history, or at least my recollection of it. Herb Masters originally started what turned into the SciSchmooze about 20 years ago. He was frustrated that organizations were all scheduling events on the same nights, while other nights remained empty. So his initial newsletters were intended to help various groups around the Bay with scheduling. That goal was never achieved, however, as this is still a problem.

I first met Herb a few months after I moved to Califor…

A Winter Solstice SciSchmooze

Herb Masters
22 December 2025

Greetings Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Science, Reason, and Critical Thinking

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Science

I think I should include “Defenders of Science” in that greeting! Well here we are at the longest night of the year . Winter actually started this morning at 7:03 AM PST. This time of year is also the quietest when it comes to public informal science presentations. You will note that there aren’t a whole lot of listings for the next two weeks.

I do have two things to share with you before I go into my continuing attack on the attack on science!

The explOratorium is going to be producing a video with the artist Gabe Barcia-Colombo. You’re in…

The SciSchmooze

Herb Masters
15 December 2025

Greetings Fans and Supporters of Science, Reason, and Critical Thinking,

Before we go any farther, are you reading this on Sunday, 12.14.25? The weather hasn’t been friendly lately but, if you can see the sky tonight… “The 2025 Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night between December 13 and December 14. The Geminids are expected to produce about 120 meteors per hour at a dark site, and are often considered the best meteor shower of the year by skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere.” It may seem like it has been colder than usual for this time of year. I certainly seem to be feeling it more than I have in the past. Birds usually deal with the weather by migrating. Some of us…

Hello there, friend of science
こんにちは、科学の友よ
[It is estimated that 30,000 Bay Area residents speak Japanese.]

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If you bought this at the corner newsstand (¿huh?), instead get it FREE!  Just enter your email address at https://www.bayareascience.org/ and we will do the rest. Heck, you could even give subscriptions as Christmas presents.

The federal government’s ‘war on meritocracy’ sidelines those who achieved their merits via formal education. They are being replaced by those who have instead achieved wealth and renown: the elements of a Plutocracy.

The Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices  – ACIP – was stripped of its members who were well regarded in academia. Last week the committee moved the recommended time for t…

Hello again, friends of science,
ສະບາຍດີອີກຄັ້ງ ເພື່ອນໆວິທະຍາສາດ
Over 3 million people speak Lao in Laos.

The damage to science continues unabated.  Dr. Katelyn Jetelina – Your Local Epidemiologist – recommends people avoid the CDC website due to the misinformation residing there. 

Yesterday, Fareed Zakaria mentioned that Pakistan’s Army Head was given immunity from prosecution. He summed up with: “Welcome to America’s new democratic export: The Unchecked Executive.” He continues on to describe how the Supreme Court’s majority has approved Presidential power well beyond – and in conflict with – the U.S. Constitution and the Federalist Papers.

Fortunately, our voices and our votes are working to impede the juggernaut’s p…

Bob Siederer
24 November 2025

Hello again Science fans!

How is it Thanksgiving already? Where has this year gone? When I was growing up in the northeast US, Thanksgiving seemed like a logical progression of the weather into winter. Later, when I moved to south Florida, it appeared as a surprise every year, as it was still summery there. It couldn’t possibly be the start of the Christmas season, what with 80 degree temperatures still common!

Here in northern California, we’re somewhere between the two extremes of heat and cold, but we really haven’t had cold days until this week, at least not what constitutes cold for us!

However you adjust to the seasonal changes of November, have a happy, healthy Thanksgiving from al…

The solstice is weeks away.

Herb Masters
17 November 2025

Greetings Friends and Fans of Science, Reason, and Doubt!

You will notice that our calendar is a little less full than normal. The holidays do offer some nice diversions to the rigor that scientists practice and share with us. Don’t worry though, there is plenty of science to learn about and share.

These have been and continue to be trying times for science, scientists, and consequently everyone. Science and Democracy Under Siege Whether they accept it or not! Recently one of my astronomy friends showed me a picture she took with her cell phone showing a line of what looked like stars in the sky. The weren’t light years away though. They were a recent launch of Starlink satellites that man…