by Bob Siederer
Hello again Science Fans!
Sometimes it is nice to unplug from the day-to-day around here and go see what is happening in the rest of the country, and that’s what I’ve been doing this past few weeks. I traveled back to the East coast, visiting old friends, experiencing real seasons, and checking an item off my bucket list. While visiting friends in Florida, I was lucky enough to see the SpaceX Heavy rocket liftoff from about 30 miles away.
But I missed a lot while I was gone too. It seems astronomers have managed to get a photo of an actual black hole in Messier 97, a huge elliptical galaxy. What a fantastic time to be an astronomer!
Despite discoveries and advances such as this Democracy has a problem with Science. This is an excellent article, which I’ll leave you to ponder without comment.
Meanwhile, physicists have observed the rarest of the rare in the XENON1T experiment.
Are you one of those people who worries about everything, including what would happen if an asteroid was about to hit earth? If so, there is good news. NASA is practicing for just such a happening this week!
As usual, we have a lot of events in the Bay Area that might interest you, although as the school year winds down the number of events is growing smaller. Here are my picks for the week:
- Wonderfest: Cultured Meat – 04/29/2019 06:00 PM in Novato
- What on earth do Maseratis, ice hockey and corgi puppies have to do with telescopes? – 04/30/2019 06:00 PM in Palo Alto
- Why are there so many big earthquakes in Alaska, and does that tell us something about California? – 05/01/2019 05:30 PM in Berkeley
Looking for a volunteer opportunity? Your help is needed for a three day event on Climate Science and Solutions. School groups will be attending May 1 – 3.
One of our favorite summer series, the Lick Observatory Evenings with the Stars and Music of the Spheres nights are announced. Most are already sold out, but three of the Music of the Spheres events still have tickets available; June 22, August 10, and August 24.
At the Academy of Sciences, a series of three moon-themed NightLife’s starts May 2. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic landing on the Moon. You can actually touch a piece of the moon on Friday at San Mateo College.
Lastly, we have listings for several garden tours next weekend.
Have a great week in Science!
Bob Siederer