Hello Fans of Science, Reason, and Critical Thinking,
As we move through another holiday worried about who will get sick or infect our friends and family, there are many things to celebrate and to learn about how we got here and where the boundaries of science might be found. Something to think about now is peaking on Monday night. Dr. Filippenko reminded me that the Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night of December 13/14 (Monday/Tuesday), and it is visible all night. Good luck with the weather, though you should be able to find a few sites offering real-time viewing on line. In case you miss it, maybe you would like to spend some time with some Forces of Nature.
A couple of weeks ago I was challenged by Kelly to take the Science Schmooze into another very hot and divisive topic. Here at the Schmooze we discuss and share info on topics that might not be “accepted” by everyone who reads it. Sometimes we hear back when someone disagrees. Let’s just say that some don’t warrant a response! I have pondered this and had to learn more myself. You may be pro-choice or anti-choice for a variety of reasons. Science can be used to make arguments for or against this by people on each side. There is good science to be learned on both sides. I hadn’t heard much about the science of abortion but there are many who make false claims about it. I have learned that CPC is not an acronym for many places that cite science, no matter what they say. Being a less-young guy who never went down the father path of life, I really can’t say much about the intensely personal decision a woman may have to make. I have learned one thing reading for this. There is plenty of science that refutes any medical or scientific claim that abortion is dangerous when compared to not having one. I haven’t found any science that says that having a baby is the safest choice. Sadly, often without the other half of the equation, a woman has to make a truly difficult and personal decision by herself. You might argue that it is biology but it does seem that politics is what is interfering not science. What I can say is… How dare anybody prevent her from making this decision and acting on it. Everyone who is directly involved deserves courtesy, respect, and empathy.
Here’s an important story as long as we’re talking about women and science. One of the Most Egregious Ripoffs in the History of Science
This coming week is another quiet one, thanks to christmas coming up. That doesn’t mean there are no cool opportunities to learn. Here are some that I think you might find interesting…
Climate Change, Technology and Innovation: Views from Korea and Japan Tue @ 6:00
Countdown to Launch! New Eyes on the Sky with the James Webb Space Telescope Tue @ 7:00
interesting back story… Shadowed by controversy, NASA won't rename its new space telescope
What the Christmas Bird Count Tells Us About Birds
Science has been misused and misrepresented to make bad decisions. Controversy may inform or cloud what we understand. Some scientists may not have lived up to our expectations of them both in their professional lives and their personal ones. It is important for everyone to be able to recognize when this is happening. So I am offering some links I have seen recently that I couldn’t fit in the regular SciShmooze format. I hope the titles will make you curious! You might want to check some out during our upcoming stormy weather.
How to Spot Misinformation Online
Experiment Eleven: an extraordinary case of scientific deceit
Were the Dinosaurs Wiped Out by a Mass Subluxation Event?
When The Law Catches Up To The Science On Opioid Litigation
Pseudoscience and COVID-19 — we’ve had enough already
You don't have to worry about covid vaccines being "unnatural" or "synthetic"
How Vaccines Improved Our World In One Graphic
Have a great week learning new science and enjoying the rain.
herb masters
“Listen to the pregnant woman. Value her. She values the life growing inside her. Listen to the pregnant woman, and you cannot help but defend her right to abortion.”—Ayelet Waldman
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 12/13/2021
Geminid Meteor Shower Watch Party - CANCELED - 12/13/2021 11:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Join us on our observation decks and be dazzled as we make our annual trip through the Geminids Meteor shower. The Geminids, named for the radiant or location where the shower appears to originate, is one of the best meteor showers to catch this year. The culprit and source of the shower is Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a small asteroid about 3.17 miles (5.10 kilometers) across. Our astronomers will be on hand to answer questions.
Complimentary hot chocolate will be served. Bring warm clothing or optional blankets, chairs or sleeping bags.
Event has been canceled due to inclement weather.
Tuesday, 12/14/2021
Preserve Stewardship: Why, How & What - Livestream - 12/14/2021 10:00 AM
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Michelle Cooper will talk about the critical role stewardship plays in maintaining healthy ecosystems. She will share briefly about the natural communities living on the Modini Preserve and the threats facing them. Her talk will focus on how stewardship helps mitigate the impacts of human caused disturbance resulting in wildfire, invasive species, and climate change.
Climate Change, Technology and Innovation: Views from Korea and Japan - Livestream - 12/14/2021 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event
Korea and Japan are two of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet. In September 2021, the Korean National Assembly passed legislation mandating carbon neutrality by 2050, becoming the 14th country to legislate commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Earlier in May 2021, Japan’s parliament passed an amendment to Japan’s framework climate law to legally enshrine the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 previously announced by its prime minister.
What are their policies for achieving their goals? How will technology and innovations help achieve their goals?
Join us to hear experts from Korea and Japan discuss these important subjects as the world addresses ways to meet their climate change targets.
Speakers: Dr. Sung Woo Kim, Private Environment & Energy Research INstitute; Dr. Kenji Yamaji, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth; Dr. Stephanie Siehr, University of San Francisco, Moderator
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Countdown to Launch! New Eyes on the Sky with the James Webb Space Telescope - 12/14/2021 07:00 PM
Hay Barn Santa Cruz
The long-awaited launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, successor to Hubble, is finally here. This next generation space telescope is at the launch site in French Guiana and is expected to take off as early as December 22nd. With Webb, astronomers expect to see further, fainter, and with more detail than ever before to explore the most distant galaxies, the nearest planetary systems, and everything in between.
Come learn from UCSC astronomers about this new space telescope, what big questions we expect it to answer, and how UCSC scientists will use it to understand our universe. Event includes speakers, audience Q&A, exhibit tables and kid friendly activities. We also plan to have telescopes set up for viewing the night sky if conditions allow.
Please register here as seating is limited to 150 guests.
UC Santa Cruz has new COVID-19 guidelines for on campus visitors and guests. When you arrive at the event, please provide the following:1. Proof of vaccination OR a recent negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours of the start of the event (must be a lab PCR test; home tests/antigen tests are not valid).2. Email confirmation for completing the UC Santa Cruz symptom checker (this should be completed the day you come to campus).Questions? Please contact Deana Tanguay at dtanguay@ucsc.edu.
Weblink to event page at UCSC.
Wednesday, 12/15/2021
Solving Venus’ mysteries, three missions at a time - Livestream - 12/15/2021 05:00 PM
SETI Institute
After years of waiting, an armada of spacecraft are headed to Venus. In June, NASA approved not one, but two new missions named VERITAS and DAVINCI to our closest planetary neighbor and ESA quickly followed suit and approved its own mission called EnVision.
Venus has been a forgotten planet for too long, especially if we compared the number of missions which explored it to the ones which visited Mars.
These missions will not only answer key questions about Venus, but on comparative planetary science, the science of comparing planets and their evolution over time. One of the fundamental question since we visited Venus in the 1960s is why are Venus and Earth so different. Venus could have been our twin planet but instead it has become a hellish sister with surface temperatures that are hot enough to melt lead.
Venus’ atmosphere has traces of water today, but the history of water is unclear. Did Venus have an ocean and if so when was it lost? Is there still water deep in the interior of the planet? Answers to these questions will give us clues on the past habitability of Venus.
We discuss the potential of those missions to answer to those questions and others, we invited Dr. Sue Smrekar, a senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology and principal investigator for the newly selected VERITAS, together with Dr. Thomas Widemann, scientist at the Observatoire de Paris and Professor at University Versailles Saint-Quentin and Deputy-lead Scientist of EnVision.
This conversation will be conducted from New Orleans at the American Geophysical Union Meeting where astronomers and geophysics gather to discuss the recent findings in the field. Franck Marchis, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute will meet these colleagues to discuss the missions, their goal and objectives and, of course address the tantalizing possibility that there is life on Venus.
Register at weblink to receive connection information.
Not so Fast Supernova: Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays Detected in Star Clusters - Livestream - 12/15/2021 07:00 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
It’s not just light we receive from the Universe. We receive cosmic particles on the Earth that have travelled enormous distances at incredibly high speeds. Some of these particles carry extreme energies, millions of times higher than we can achieve using man-made particle accelerators, like the Large Hadron Collider, here on Earth. Half a century after their first discovery, these cosmic rays remain mysterious. Where do they come from? Is there a smoking gun signal from their origin? How does nature manage to accelerate them to such high energies? This talk will tell you about these energetic messengers and what they say about nature’s accelerators, including the star clusters.
Speaker: Ke Fang, University of Wisconsin - Madison
See weblink for Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook Live instructions.
December Science on Tap: Deep Sea Mining - 12/15/2021 07:00 PM
Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz
Astrid Leitner, a researcher from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, will inform us of the future emerging industry of mining in the deep ocean. Demands for materials to build electronics are projected to increase, and thus it is crucial that deep sea mining be carried out sustainably.
Thursday, 12/16/2021
What the Christmas Bird Count Tells Us About Birds - Livestream - 12/16/2021 05:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Started in 1900, Audubon's Christmas Bird Count is the largest and longest-running citizen science project in the world. Discover the history of the count locally and globally, what we've learned, and how this data has helped drive conservation efforts, including understanding how climate change is affecting birds.
Speaker: Glenn Phillips, Golden Gate Audubon
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
After Dark: Motion Pictures - 12/16/2021 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The warm glow of the projected image invites us to in-between worlds where imagination can roam and new perspectives on the world around us may emerge. Tonight, we celebrate visual storytelling - and the light that makes it possible. From early photographic experiments that led to the development of motion picture technologies to inventors that tested the potential of lasers for immersing viewers in a cinematic landscape, we invite you to bask in the glow of a few of the many forms cinema can take.
Virtual Telescope Viewing - 12/16/2021 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live and YouTube live from Chabot’s Observation deck!
Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be available for an open forum for all of your most pressing astronomy questions.
See weblink for Facebook Live and YouTube links
Friday, 12/17/2021
Planet Nine from Outer Space: A Status Update - Livestream - 12/17/2021 07:30 PM
Tri-Valley Stargazers
Over the course of the past two decades, observational surveys have unveiled the intricate orbital structure of the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. In addition to a host of readily-predictable orbital behavior, the emerging census of trans-Neptunian objects appears to display dynamical phenomena that cannot be explained by interactions with the known eight-planet Solar System alone. Specifically, the observed physical clustering of orbits with semi-major axes in excess of ~ 250 AU, the detachment of perihelia of select Kuiper belt objects from Neptune, as well as the dynamical origin of highly inclined/retrograde long-period orbits remain elusive within the context of the classical view of the Solar System. This newly outlined dynamical architecture of the distant solar system points to the existence of planet with mass M9 ~ 5M? on a moderately inclined orbit with semi-major axis a9 ~ 400-800 AU and eccentricity e9 ~ 0.4-0.6. In this talk, I will review the observational motivation, dynamical constraints, and prospects for detection of this proposed object known as Planet Nine.
Speaker: Konstantin Batygin, California Institute of Technology
See weblink for Zoom instructions
Free Telescope Viewings - 12/17/2021 07:30 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Join Chabot astronomers on the Observatory Deck for a free telescope viewing! Weather permitting, this is a chance to explore stars, planets and more through Chabot’s historic telescopes. Chabot’s three large historic telescopes offer a unique way to experience the awe and wonder of the Universe. Our observatory deck offers breathtaking views 1,500 feet above the Bay. Three observatory domes house the Center’s 8-inch (Leah, 1883) and 20-inch (Rachel, 1916) refracting telescopes, along with a 36-inch reflecting telescope (Nellie, 2003).
Are the skies clear for viewing tonight? Viewing can be impacted by rain, clouds, humidity and other weather conditions. Conditions can be unique to Chabot because of its unique location in Joaquin Miller Park. Before your visit, check out the Weather Station to see the current conditions at Chabot.
Saturday, 12/18/2021
Passing the Baton from Hubble to Webb, A James Webb Telescope Launch Party - 12/18/2021 10:00 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
The largest space telescope ever made is scheduled to launch soon! This new instrument will unveil invisible mysteries of the universe never before captured in infrared radiation from the early universe and the birth of stars to distant other worlds. Join us for an illuminating celebration with special activities, infrared demonstrations and talks about the telescope with our Educators, Galaxy Educators, Volunteers, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, SETI and the East Bay Astronomical Society.
Editor's Note: As we post this, the launch of the James Webb telescope has been postponed due to a vibration incident while the telescope was undergoing readiness for launch. The new launch date is tentatively scheduled for December 22 in the very early morning. The weblink at Chabot should be updated when the new launch date is announced.
Free Telescope Viewings - 12/18/2021 07:30 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Join Chabot astronomers on the Observatory Deck for a free telescope viewing! Weather permitting, this is a chance to explore stars, planets and more through Chabot’s historic telescopes. Chabot’s three large historic telescopes offer a unique way to experience the awe and wonder of the Universe. Our observatory deck offers breathtaking views 1,500 feet above the Bay. Three observatory domes house the Center’s 8-inch (Leah, 1883) and 20-inch (Rachel, 1916) refracting telescopes, along with a 36-inch reflecting telescope (Nellie, 2003).
Are the skies clear for viewing tonight? Viewing can be impacted by rain, clouds, humidity and other weather conditions. Conditions can be unique to Chabot because of its unique location in Joaquin Miller Park. Before your visit, check out the Weather Station to see the current conditions at Chabot.
Tuesday, 12/21/2021
Mushroom Dies - Livestream - 12/21/2021 07:00 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco
Monday, 12/27/2021
Wonderfest: Starship Reality-Check: The Science of Deep Space Travel - 12/27/2021 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
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