Bob Siederer
15 June 2026
Hello again Fans of Science!
Before we get into the news this week, a few housekeeping items:
- Lick Observatory, one of the South Bay’s hidden gems, sustained substantial damage during the winter when winds as high as 114 mph tore much of the roof off of the dome over Christmas, 2025. Recovery work has been ongoing, and the Observatory is happy to announce that a modified summer program schedule is happening. Usually, Lick holds talks and concerts on select weekend nights that include viewing through both the 140+ year old, 36 “ Great Refractor and the Shane Reflector telescope. While the Great Refractor was not damaged, it is out of commission as construction continues on the dome. So instead of the usual program, Lick Observatory is offering behind-the-scenes tours on most weekends this summer. While most of these events are already sold out, tickets remain for two nights, Sunday 8/16 and Friday, 9/25. These two dates will sell out quickly, so get yours now if you want to go.
- We monitor a large number of websites for various organizations around the area to gather our calendar listings. We use several tools to gather this information. From time to time, organizations change schedules that the tools don’t catch, or we list something incorrectly. We assume that, unless specifically stated otherwise, events are open to the public. A few weeks ago I was reminded that some events restrict audiences when one of our readers tried to go to a talk at SLAC and was turned away. Apparently, SLAC Colloquium events are not open to the public, and we’ll endeavor not to list them in the future. Their website is silent on this, however. We strongly recommend that you click through from our listings to the linked website to verify the event is actually happening before you head out to attend. Many include contact information should you have questions. We don’t sponsor or conduct events ourselves, with very rare exceptions.
Milestones
This is a year of many milestones, both personally, and for our nation.
July 4th marks the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, or the 250th anniversary. Semiquincentennial is a mouthful. I saw it called the quarter-millenium, which is much easier to say and remember. I got the idea to schmooze on this topic while reading about preparations for the American Freedom Train for the bicentenial in 1976. This special train visited all 48 contiguous states pulled by three historic steam locomotives. Here in the western states, ex-Southern Pacific 4449 lead the train. More than 7 million visitors walked through the exhibit cars as it toured around the country.
Unfortunately, no such train is running for the 250th due to lack of financial backing and logistical hurdles. The Union Pacific railroad has been running the world’s largest steam locomotive around their system, UP 4014, a type known as the Big Boy. 4014 was originally retired in 1961 and put on display in Pomona, CA. In 2013, The UP relocated it to their shops in Cheyenne, WY where they finished restoring it to operation in 2019. Seven other Big Boys (from the original 25) remain on display in various locations around the US.
The stated reason for the tour this year is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The transcon, as it is known, opened the West to settlement, expanding the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Goods manufactured in the east could now be moved westward by train. People too! Prior to this, horse-drawn wagons did the job.
There’s another, less obvious reason; The UP is awaiting approval of a merger with Norfolk Southern, one of two major east coast railroads, and the tour includes visits to much of the NS, including a stop in Philadelphia over Independence Day weekend, as well as runs around famous Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, PA. It marks the first time this locomotive has returned east of the Mississippi since it was built. The spectacle is meant to generate positive support for the merger.
All this got me wondering why we celebrate certain milestones more than others? A little research shows that these are natural markers in life, points by which we measure the passage of events.
For me, this year is also quite significant. I have volunteered at a professional golf tournament in Akron, OH for much of my life, and this July marks my 50th time. It will most likely be my last as the tournament organization has announced it will be the last year for the tournament. While they are looking to replace the current event with something else, it is unlikely that will happen without breaking the streak of 73 consecutive years of professional tournament golf at Firestone Country Club. Only Augusta National (home of the Masters) and Pebble Beach have longer streaks. I hadn’t decided if this would be my last year or not, but the powers that be have made up my mind for me. Each year, no matter how chaotic, for this one particular week I know where I’m supposed to be what I’m supposed to do. It has been an anchor in a sea of constant change.
It is also my 25th anniversary of volunteering with Habitat for Humanity here in the Bay Area. I’ve lost count of the number of homes I’ve helped to build, but it is well over 200 and is the most significant, meaningful thing I’ve done in my life.
The convergence of these milestones seems to be telling me to pay attention and be open to a new life phase. I don’t know what that will look like yet, but I feel good about it.
Scientific Method
One of our recurring topics here is scientific communication…how to clearly and understandably communicate science to the public. We’re horrible at it. In the current environment, where social media has become the source of news and “facts” for most people, anyone with a camera and a phone or computer can become an “expert” and make statements others will believe due to their lack of scientific education.
I vividly remember starting high school science classes. The very first thing we learned was the Scientific Method and why it was important. Dr. Jessica Knurick recently published this explanation of the Scientific Method on Instagram, and it should be required listening for everyone. As a registered dietary nutritionist, she is fighting misinformation about nutrition and public health. There’s a lot to fight. Here she talks about cuts to WIC fruit and vegetable benefits (a program providing nutrition support to pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children), the business behind Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs), changes to the recommended vaccine schedule being pushed by RFK Jr., why Medicaid work requirements sound good, but don’t actually work, and the dismantling of the Ocean’s Early Warning System (more on this later). She also looks at why the fallacy behind the USDAs boasts about removing 4.3 million people off the SNAP program.
Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, also has some thoughts on how to debunk bad science (this link may only get you a part of the article as it is part of his subscription tier).
The Environment
El Nino is here. It has the potential to be the strongest one since 1950.
Much of the weather in the world is driven by ocean temperature and currents. For years, the US has monitored ocean conditions in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to help predict climate changes. This system was put in place 10 years ago, and the Administration is now removing the observation hardware. When asked why, a spokesman for the National Science foundation said it “aligns with N.S.F.’s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure.” That’s bureaucratic double speak for sticking the organization’s head in the sand. If they discontinue data collection, they can honestly say there’s no data to support climate change.
Fortunately, Europe is stepping into the void, pledging they will invest more in their version, saying it is a “necessity”.
National Science Foundation
Another part of the National Science foundation dealing with social, behavioral, and economic sciences is also on the cutting block. Repeating what has now become a playbook for the Administration, 22 members of NSF’s board were fired. This board must approve any major change at the agency. So far, the board has not been replaced, so no changes can take place…yet. Read here what might be lost if Congress goes along with this cut request…so far they have resisted such cuts.
How big?
Just how big is Space? The actual sizes are so huge that we can’t really easily comprehend them. Once again, Phil Plait has come up with a way to make this more understandable (kinda, as he says), using the Astronomical Unit.
Artificial Intelligence
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX went public this week. It is the largest initial public offering ever, by far, and has made Musk a trillionaire, on paper at least. His AI company, xAI, is part of SpaceX.
Here are seven ways we’re trusting AI too much, and what it is costing us.
All that AI consumes vast computing resources, and could soon use 3% of the world’s electricity, and more water than we need to drink!
One of the latest trend in the corporate suite is executives creating AI Agents of themselves that employees can query. A digital doppelganger. What can possibly go wrong? “Why did you fire me? Your AI said it was ok to proceed with my idea!”
Have a great week in Science!
Bob
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