Bob Siederer
27 September 2026
Hello again Science Fans!
Despite the temperatures forecast for this week, we’re now officially in Autumn. I was in Lowes two weeks ago and Christmas decorations were already on sale!
Before we get into the news, a reminder that Andrew Fraknoi’s six-session class on Aliens in Science and Science Fiction starts this Wednesday. Look at our listing for the first session for instructions on how to register, if this intrigues you. This is a hybrid course, with in-person or online options.
Weather, Climate, and Energy
Historically, September is the peak month for hurricanes. The season has been quite prolific over the Pacific Ocean whereas the Atlantic hasn’t seen a single storm. Yes, El Nino has a lot to do with this anomaly. Hawaii has been feeling the brunt of this, where up to 25 inches of rain are expected from hurricane Nolo. Take a look at why this season has been so strange.
A while ago, we published a link to a story about a plan to put solar panels over California’s agricultural canal system. Benefits included not only electricity generation, but significantly reduced evaporation from the canals. So how has that been going? Like many things, this seems like it should be a simple solution, but isn’t. Not all canals are the same width. What do you do with the electricity generated? The pilots look at three different situations, with different challenges. But the good news is that solutions exist for each, and the project continues.
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, a solar venture is testing putting panels between the railway tracks! And it works. There are more than 3,000 miles of railways in Switzerland, and the real estate between the rails is wasted space, for the most part. France, Italy, and South Korea are also experimenting with this new technology.
We also wrote several times about the removal of dams along the Klamath River in Oregon to aid salmon growth. The first fall runs of chinook salmon have exceeded expectations.
Uses of technology
Google recently published a complete map of the 166,000 neurons in the brain of a fruit fly. Given this now-public information, some internet users have made simulated fruit flies do some incredible things. Perhaps my favorite anecdote in this story is the software developer who programmed a fly to use a car’s blinkers when turning because he was frustrated what so few human drivers do. “Even a fly could do it.”
Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, a steel bridge was 3D-printed over a canal. The bridge was in everyday use and over 100 sensors were built into it to measure strain, vibration, load, and other things. But don’t go looking for it in Amsterdam now. It was only permitted for 2 years and has since been removed. The experiment was successful, proving the concept.
Artificial Intelligence
Just what is AI, exactly? I’d be hard pressed to describe AI to someone, given how complex it is and how it has now made its way into our daily routines. Recent warnings by tech executives that the technology might signal the end of humanity have raised anxiety around the world. AI was a significant topic at the opening sessions of the UN General Assembly this week. The Administration doesn’t want to regulate it. Given the unintended consequences that have emerged from so many of the Administration’s decisions, that should be a red flag.
This article from Axios attempts to answer the “what is AI” question. While it does get deep rather quickly, it also explains what AI is, and isn’t, in fairly clear terms that most non-technical people can understand. It does not define a few terms that it uses, however. It also raises some pretty scary questions about just how much control we need. Worth a read.
Space
The McGetchin crater on the moon is brand new. It formed sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024 and is the largest newly-formed crater discovered anywhere in the solar system. Two new studies detail the ejecta thrown across the Moon’s surface when the crater was formed, as well as the physical alteration of the Moon’s surface. Scientists rarely get to see a pristine crater such as this, let alone one that’s 222 meters across and as deep as 40 meters. Phil Plait has some more details on the crater and what it means for astronomers.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was successfully launched by NASA and is now on its way to Lagrange point 2. Nancy Grace Roman herself was instrumental in getting the Hubble Space Telescope built and launched, and we all know how much that telescope has advanced our understanding of the Universe. This new scope is named in her honor and scientists are waking up the systems and testing them. So far, everything looks better than expected.
But success was never assured. The Administration tried to zero out the budget for this telescope, calling it wasteful and unnecessary. Congress allocated the funds anyway. And the scientists designing the scope pushed the project’s schedule, coming in 8 months early and under budget, despite (or because of) threats to the funding.
Elections
The mid-term elections are a little over a month away. The usual confusing array of ballot measures include the Billionaires tax, three measures to restrict or disable that tax, and others. Please do your homework and read about these ballot measures so you can cast an informed vote.
Another important local measure is Proposition RTM, the regional transit funding measure intended to avoid major service cuts to BART, Muni, Caltrain, and AC Transit.
Here are some resources to educate you on the need for this measure:
- Bumper to Bumper, a report on how service cuts could affect Bay Area traffic, affordability, and carbon emissions, researched and published by SPUR.
- Coverage from KQED
In case you aren’t familiar with SPUR, they are the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (that’s a mouthful of a title!), a nonprofit public policy organization.
Have a great week in Science!
Bob Siederer
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