Dave Almandsmith
August 19, 2024

Hello again science fans,
سلام بازهم علاقمندان علم
(Over 50,000 Bay Area residents speak Persian at home. Only about 60% of Bay Area residents speak English at home.)

ARCHAEOLOGY

BOB SIEDERER
12 August 2024

Hello again Science fans!

These past few years have put us all through a bit of a wringer. Prior to the pandemic, 11% of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to the Household Pulse Survey, a tool of the Census Bureau. Then came COVID, and that number increased to 42.6%. Today, it is down to 20.7%, but that is still almost double pre-pandemic numbers. The political climate certainly contributes to this, I’m sure. But the biggest component seems to be young adults. According to “The Morning” newsletter from the New York Times on August 8, the percentage of young adults reporting symptoms had been rising for around a decade before COVID. Uncertainty about their future, inflatio

Hello again science fans,
안녕하세요 과학 팬 여러분, (Over 60,000 Bay Area residents speak Korean at home.)

BIOLOGY

Above is an artist’s representation of a flagellar motor that spins a bacterium’s flagella. The spinning flagella propel the bacterium through water. The colorful squiggly things represent proteins. The big wheel isn’t big. It would take 10 million of them side by side to span a single centimeter (0.4 inch). A typical rate of spin is 30,000 rpm, or 500 times a second. When you get the chance, come back here to watch this über-fascinating 23-minute vid

BOB SIEDERER
29 July 2024

HERB MASTERS
July 22 2024

Greetings fans of Science and Reason,

It is hard to accept that humans first walked on the moon 55 years ago today and that humans last walked on the moon about 50 years ago! Yet still, like the flat earthers there are a bunch of folks that think 

HERB MASTERS
July 19 2024

Greetings Science Based Deciders (usually),

I want to point you to SkeptiCal 2024. It starts tomorrow, Friday 7.19 with the world’s first Global Skeptics in the Pub and continues on Saturday and Sunda

A Blast from the Past

KISHORE HARI
Jul 15 2024

Herb had some technical challenges this week, so I’ll be your guest editor. It’s only been seven years since my last turn at the wheel - let’s see how this goes!

It’s been over 20 years since the Human Genome Project was “completed” - a monumental scientific achievement marking the successful sequencing of the entire human genetic code. This groundbreaking milestone ushered in a new era of genomic discovery that continues to revolutionize healthcare and scientific research to this day. One story caught my eye about the history and legacy of that work. In an incredible invest

DAVE ALMANDSMITH
8 Jul 2024

Hello again science fans. विज्ञान प्रेमियों को पुनः नमस्कार।. (120,000 Bay Area residents speak Hindi at home.)

BIOLOGY / ETHOLOGY

Occasionally, ants get injured by predators, or from fighting, or from skate-boarding. Rather than drag around a broken, bleeding leg, an injured ant will request an amputation by another ant. Afterall, it’s p

DAVE ALMANDSMITH
30 JUN 2024

Hello again science fans! Xin chào một lần nữa những người hâm mộ khoa học! (2% of Bay Area residents speak Vietnamese at home)

I keep humming to myself, “Oh Lord, stuck in orbit a-again.” (With props to John Fogerty, a former El Cerrito teen) Not only is the Starliner crew - Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore - stuck in the orbiting International Space Station, none of the crew can even take a stroll outside since the ISS 

Bob Siederer
24 June 2024

Hello again science fans!

This is the first SciSchmooze of the astronomical summer, what with the solstice having occurred this past Thursday. Different countries refer to the start of summer at different times, some May 1, Some June 1. In the US, we tend to say it starts on Memorial Day. The astronomical start is celebrated by some as Midsummer’s Day.

Last Wednesday was Juneteenth. What seems like a recent holiday has roots going back to 1865. Heather Cox Richardson explains the history, as well as efforts since then to get around the freedom Juneteenth represents.

I want to follow up on two stories I’ve writen about in the past.