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David Almandsmith

A Good News NewYear SciSchmooze

akinbostanci/Getty Images

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 scien


SciSchmoozing for Real Science

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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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 eleme


Comet 3I/ATLAS trajectory

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 b


SciSchmoozing Quantum Steampunk


Quantum Steampunk Power Generator (Halpern/Rosenbaum)

Hello again, friend of science,

Ndewo ọzọ, enyi sayensị,
[Over 40 million people of Nigeria speak Igbo]

Let’s start with a bit of science fun. The above Quantum Steampunk Power Generator was designed by quantum thermodynamics physicist Dr. Nicole Yunger Halpern. Built in collaboration with artist Bruce Rosenbaum, the “Generator” above is a facsimile of an engine that could extract energy by breaking quantum entanglement. The Steampunk Generator helps Dr. Halpern explain how a 'real' quantum generator would work. The Steampunk motif ties in nicely with Halpern’s book,

A Meteoric SciSchmooze

Dave Almandsmith
20 October 2025

Hello again, friend of science,
Yá’át’ééh dóó t’áá íiyisí nihíjí’ígíí naaltsoosí, shí k’ehjí éí.
[Navajo is the most widely spoken Native American language in the U.S.]

The Orionids Meteor Shower peaks Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Find a nice dark location miles from a city, bundle up warmly, and expect to enjoy the show peaking for several hours beginning around 11 PM, brought to you courtesy of Halley’s Comet.


SCIENCE in the CROSSHAIRS

SciSchmoozing Another Headache

Hello again, friends of Science,
Halò a-rithist, a charaidean Saidheans,
[About 80,000 people speak Scottish Gaelic]

In the escalating war on science, our Secretary of Health & Human Services has once again shown his disdain for – or ignorance of – epidemiology by warning pregnant women off of Tylenol. “Hogwash” comes to mind, except that’s a slur against our porcine population. However, i’m not going to burden you with details – you can read about them in Nature magazine. Quick summary: A single study found a difference of 0.0009 in the number of autisms diagnosed with mothers who took Tylenol versus those who did not. That tiny difference disappeared when comparing children with the same mother, i.e. siblings. Other studies failed to find any differences. 

SciSchmoozing & Marching, All of us

Credit: David Bacon

Welcome friends of science,
विज्ञान के मित्रों का स्वागत है,

(Vigyaan ke mitron ka svaagat hai)

About 200,000 people in the Bay Area speak Hindi. Languages spoken in India: Hindi (43.6%) · Bengali (8.30%) · Marathi (6.83%) · Telugu (6.70%) · Tamil (5.70%) · Gujarati (4.58%) · Urdu (4.19%) · Kannada (3.61%).


I walked behind the above banner on Labor Day along with a brass band, government representatives, union reps (from at least 7 unions), federal employees & admins, teachers, students, families, children, et al. The photo shows some of the hu


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


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