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 invited to participate in the production of this new video work about the phenomenon of ‘social influence’. They are looking for a diverse group of about 150 people to participate! The recording will take place on January 8, 2026 @ 5PM. You can find the details and RSVP via this google form. If you’re interested you can also contact Ann Meisinger (ameisinger@exploratorium.edu) for more details.
I started the Science Schmooze over 20 years ago. It was basic and done using my old email program. Since then several people have added their skill, time, and knowledge to get it to what it is today. You should recognize two of them, Bob Siederer, and David Almandsmith. I can’t begin to describe the effort Bob has put into the management of the calendar as well as coaching me through how to get these actually published. Behind the monitor support has been essential as well. This has been provided by Kishore Hari and Leonard Tramiel. The key point here is, I’m stepping away from the keyboard and we are looking for some folks to jump in and take my place. If you are already a blogger or want to be one this is your chance! If you are interested please drop an email to bayareasciencecalendar@substack.com.
Since the nights are getting less long and the winter weather is starting up, I’d like to offer up a few links to check out. The current political influence on science here and abroad stuns me. I was born before the start of the “space age”. The optimism of the time was incredible, some of my earliest memories are of some events. It was only exceeded by the fear that the USA would lose the race (it’s a good timeline without the videos)! Science today seems to be under assault by people who deny data, and evidence, and the understanding of it. In many cases, it makes the flat earth folks seem reasonable! (amazing!) With that in mind I offer up these links to try and make sense of some of what is happening…
-The War On Science, Saturday 4th October 2025 with Richard Dawkins, Alice Sullivan, John Armstrong, Alan Sokal and Amy Wax
–We must not stop talking about joy in science
-A Year in Review of Trump’s War on Science
-Science Under Attack: A case for optimism
–Authors of ‘Science Under Siege’ warn of concerted effort to discredit science
-A vaccine developer and a climate scientist walk into a bar write a book.
-‘Attack on Independent Science’: EPA Removes All Mention of Human-Caused Climate Crisis
-To put it politely…’: Harvard scientist slams Brian Cox’s 3I/ATLAS theory
-Trump admin is closing a critical research center in Colorado
-Wars on Science, Real and Otherwise
-Wyoming ranchers hoping solar can lower costs
Normally, I’d suggest a few events coming up that looked particularly interesting, that was during the non-holidays. For the next two weeks there are only a few to consider. Please scroll down and check them out.
Here’s some fun sites to check out when you are waiting for dinner to finish cooking…
-Why Do Crocodiles Not Eat Capybaras?
-Marshall McLuhan – Predicting Social Media in 1967 very short
-The Futurists (1967) | Scientists Predict The 21st Century 25 min
-How many species are on Earth?
May science and reason prevail.
Have some great holidays! Share the SciSchmooze
herb masters
“In an article entitled ‘the pragmatic and dogmatic spirit in physics,’ which appeared in the April 30 issue of nature (with strong editorial disapproval), wide publicity is given to the official nazi position on science and scientific research. In essence, the article is an attack on all theoretical physics, and, by obvious implication, on scientific theory in general.“ From December 11, 1938
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