It’s about the data with the SciSchmooze 8.20.18

by Herb Masters

Hi Fans of Evidence-based Science,

I don’t have a lot to say this week because I have been at a conference/birthday party. It was a party like I have never been to! Happy 60th lap Alex! I have been a bit disconnected and delayed in getting to the Schmooze this evening so I’m going to be brief and link heavy. I’m kind of wound up with astronomy stuff this week though the continuing assault on science and resistance to using good science by our elected representatives is making my skin crawl!

Often I look at science as an art form. I think art can be described as our effort to make sense of the world/universe we live in. Here’s two links that demonstrate this: While Darwin Sleeps & The majestic Earth. If you want more coolness, check out the CalAcademy Sketchfab.

In case you are trying to decide what to do this week, I have a few suggestions:

ELIXIR | Odd Salon Tue 6:30PM San Francisco (one of my newfound hotspots!)
Ocean Discovery Talk: Marine Drones Fri 5:30PM San Francisco
Why the Bay Model is Important Today Sat 3:00PM Sausalito

Take a break for a few minutes. (We all need to do that more often.) Check out ‘Clair de Lune’ on the Moon

At the party I mentioned one of the attendees from Astronomers Without Borders brought a very cool telescope they are selling as a fund raiser. I talked with a couple of the astronomers there who actually use the Hubble, Keck, several at Lick Observatory and more. They were impressed. Especially since it costs $200!! I’ve never owned a telescope before but this one is so cool I went home and ordered one. You can do the same!

Have a blast learning new sciencey things this week!

Peace and Pedals
herbert a. masters III
ScienceSchmoozer and a shameless promoter of:
the SciSchmooze email list: www.BayAreaScience.org

“If you’re a scientist, and you have to have an answer, even in the absence of data, you’re not going to be a good scientist.”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist

Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.

Virtual Skeptics in the Pub

WHAT: Virtual Skeptics in the Pub

FOCUS: Becoming better consumers of information

This is a casual night of socializing with fellow skeptics who live in various locations around the oblate spherical planet Earth.

Please join us! This is a free event brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics. All are welcome.

WHEN: Wednesday December 25, 7-9pm Pacific (GMT-8)

HOW: Online. Join HERE. Passcode: 1023

SkepTalk

Ann Gibbons

WHAT: Lone Survivors: Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Us

In the past decade, new studies of ancient DNA from fossils have shown that, until as recently as 40,000 years ago, our ancestors shared the planet with two close relatives, the Neanderthals and a mysterious group called the Denisovans. Both of those groups became extinct, but traces of their DNA remain in the genomes of modern humans. Meanwhile, researchers are discovering diverse types of human ancestors who were living at the same time in the same fossil sites millions of years ago, suggesting that we were never alone—that there were always other types of hominins alive in Africa and elsewhere on the planet until recently. Join us for a discussion with Ann Gibbons about new research that has changed perceptions of the Neanderthals, shed new light on the mysterious Denisovans, and our place in the human family tree.

WHO: Ann Gibbons is a contributing correspondent for Science magazine and the author of The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors, which was a finalist for the LA Times best science and technology book. She also has taught science writing at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and written about human evolution for National Geographic, SLATE, Smithsonian magazine and other publications. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, she was also a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a science writing fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory.

She was awarded the 2019 American Geophysical Union’s Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, the 2018 and 2013 National Academy of Sciences Communication Awards for best magazine/newspaper article; the 2014 Society of American Archaeology Gene S. Stuart Award; and the 2012 Anthropology in Media Award from the American Anthropological Association (AAA) for a decade’s worth of stories on human origins and evolution.

WHEN: Thursday January 9 at 6:30PM PT (GMT -8)

HOW: (details coming soon)