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.]

¿NOT A SUBSCRIBER?
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…

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, Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow.

Now for a bit of not-so-fun science: last week the current Administration eliminated the…

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

Last May, the Executive Branch published an Executive Order titled, “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” Although much of the Executive Order seems admirable with requirements that science is “conducted in a manner that is: reproducible; transparent; communicative of error and uncertainty; collaborativ…

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. There is no …

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 hundreds of us on MacDonald Avenue in Richmond.

Speeches and signs covered a gamut of demands: a living wage for workers, affordable health care and housing, fully funded schools, a more progressive tax code t…

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 technology.
• The Administration halted research and support of renewable energy because it claims wind and …

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 point out that I didn’t go searching for articles on all this…they just showed up in my feeds, and leading me to make this topic the main one for this w…

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 love it that Swedish for “Glad” sounds like “Cool.” ¿Bohemian worldliness?]

The picture above was compiled from over 200 photos taken from satellites. In reality, it’s not all dark. Half of Earth is always in sunlight. But the title of this week’s SciSchmooze also refers to the perspective that regardless of current wars, injustices, natural disasters, authoritarian regimes, and too many instances of man’s inhumanity to man, most of us enjoy the brightness that c…

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 GoodTroubleLivesOn

I asked an AI about recent cuts to research in medicine and other sciences. Here is a summary:

• The National Institutes of Health budget faces a proposed 40% cut, po…