Thursday’s massive solar flare

Hello again Science fans!

We’re into the meat of the holiday season and the number of events on our calendar is quite reduced through the end of the year. But don’t let that stop you from finding interesting science things to educate you, or your family.

On December 26 - 28, the San Mateo County public library system is hosting several telescope viewing nights at various library locations around the county. See our listings for the locations and times.

Still looking for a science gift? Plenty of tickets remain for “The Physics Show” (January 6 and 7, 20 and 21) as we go to press tonight. But the January 20 shows are selling the


Look up in the Sky with the SciSchmooze

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 10, 2023

Greetings Science Fans, Acceptors, and Supporters!

As we are nearing the winter solstice there are a lot of really fun and inspirational things going on. I think an interesting social challenge we are facing in so many areas in and out of science is reflected in the Audubon's 124th Christmas Bird Count that starts this coming week. Earlier this year there was a bit of a flurry in the news about the Audubon Society changing it's name. It decided not to, but they are going to 

SciSchmoozing at COP28

Heads of state at COP28 in Dubai — Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Dear reader,
Welcome aboard for a flight on this week’s SciSchmooze. {Snacks optional.}

CLIMATE

¿Why is the climate conference taking place called “COP28”? Because it’s easier than calling it the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference Of the Parties #28. ¿And why is it being held in Dubai, a country where fossil fuels account for over 4% of its revenue?  [The United States is the world’s largest producer of fossil fuels - Ed.]; a country that denies entry to travelers who ‘might’ protest government policies?; a country that does not confer upon its own citizens the right to protest? However, things change - at least temporarily. 

Thanksgiving Weekend SciSchmooze

One thousand galaxies belonging to the Perseus Cluster with more than 100,000 additional galaxies visible farther away. Each can contain up to hundreds of billions of stars. Credit...European Space Agency/Euclid Consortium/NASA; image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi

Hello again Science fans! I hope you all had enough turkey (or whatever you chose to eat)! When I was in school, we were told that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by Native Americans and European settlers to give thanks for the harvest. While that celebration did happen, that isn’t really the origin of the Thanksgiving holiday. It was about Union progress in the Civil War! Historian Heather Cox Richardson explains.

It is about time to ta


Celebrate Thankscience with the SciSchmooze

In the 1920's, Edwin Hubble recognized that our universe is expanding. The Hubble Space Telescope is names for him.
Researchers prepare to deploy buoys below the frozen surface of Siberia’s Lake Baikal as part of a telescope to detect neutrinos from space.

Hello Science Lovers and Shoppers, and Happy Birthday Ed.

I have not paid much attention to what is coming up on the calendar for awhile. Needless to say I had no idea t


Drifting along with the SciSchmooze

Storm Ciarán flooding, Dorset, England - Courtesy Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Dear science fans,

Storm Ciarán bashed England and left many thousands without power across Western Europe last week. 

The Panama Canal is restricting shipping since a drought left the region without enough fresh water to operate the locks for normal ship traffic. Some container ships had to off-load enough containers to meet weight restrictions. The container


SciSchmoozing There & Back

LIGO Quantum Squeeze Apparatus - Credit: Georgia Mansell/LIGO Hanford Observatory

Dear science fan,

The above Quantum Squeeze Apparatus made me laugh. It looks like a far more complex version of one of my goofy grammar school inventions that i assembled from bottles, cans, defunct car parts, light bulbs, wires, and batteries. My inventions didn’t ever do anything - but i always hoped they would lead to some major discovery. The above apparatus actually does something - so they say - that allows greater sensitivity in detecting gravity waves at higher frequencies and at lower frequencies - but not both at the same time. If you believe you can get me to understan


Perusing the Universe with the SciSchmooze

Bob Siederer
OCT 23
Mosaic of 42 galaxies from the Siena Galaxy Atlas (Credit:CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/J. Moustakas)

Hello again, Fans of Science!

There are lots of things around us that we take for granted, yet are scientific marvels. Take, for instance, glass. We look through it. It shelters us from the elements in windows. We drink from vessels made from it. But what is it, really? Is it a solid? Liquid? The answer to both may be yes, as glass is a bit of a scientific mystery! This article will get you thinking!

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