Terry Pratchett on Bromeliads and Frogs and the World (via XKCD)
RIP, Terry. You’ll be missed, but your work lives on. From XKCD.
New Baby Penguins at Cal Academy: Help Us Name Them!
We've got three, adorable baby penguins on display starting today at the California Academy of Sciences. They've been kept in quarantine for a couple of months as we get them ready to be on public display. You can learn more about how we do that in this short video. I got to check out …
Field Museum’s Simple But Profound Statement on ISIS Attack on Mosul Museum
The awesome Emily Graslie of the Field Museum of Chicago posted on her Instagram feed this simple but profound statement on the recent vandalism of the Mosul Museum by ISIS: "Imagine if all our display cases – like this one – were empty. As custodians of one of the great natural history museum collections in the world, The Field …
Coffee Imaging Take Two: Comparing Unroasted, Medium and Dark Roasted Beans
My colleagues in the Cal Academy's Digitization Team, Anne and Codie, have graciously scanned these beautiful images of coffee beans for me , using our fancy GigaMacro super high-resolution camera system (which I'm calling "Maggie" from now forward.) This was a test to show how the public can get a better understanding of the various …
Imaging Coffee Beans: Take One
One of the important responsibilities we have at the California Academy of Sciences is archiving the vast treasury of scientific specimens that we maintain, over 45 million specimens at last count. Much of those collections remain hidden behind well protected walls and shelves, inaccessible to the general public, and only available by special arrangement to …
Instagram Challenge Helps Teens Explore Black History in San Francisco
Before he was one of the best San Francisco Giants of all time, which Hall of Famer was one of the best players in the Negro League? What waterfall in Soma is dedicated to a civil rights leader? What church in SF is named after a jazz legend? Think you know the answers? Here's an …
Repping the Cal Academy at AAAS Family Science Days
This past weekend I organized staff and volunteers from across my museum to present science to the ~5,500 attendees at the AAAS Family Science Days in San Jose. Family Science Days is an annual two-day showcase for scientists and science that takes places in a different city every year, to coincide with the annual meeting …
Three Years, 15 Youth Programs, Hundreds of “Ah-Ha” Moments
Thursday, February 12th marks the three year anniversary of my work leading the Digital Learning efforts at the California Academy of Sciences. It's been an incredible ride so far. I've been fortunate enough to work with an amazing team of educators, tech experts, and scientists at the Cal Academy, starting with my first manager Puja …
Apply for Cal Academy Summer Teen Programs!
I'm excited to announce that the application is now open for teen programs at the California Academy of Sciences. So if you are a Bay Area teen or you know one, have them check out all the awesome programs we have available, including: Teen Science Game Jam: A one-day game design challenge happening on Sunday April …
Cal Academy Teens Hack Together Environmental Sensors using Arduino
On Saturday the California Academy of Sciences hosted a successful “nature hacking” playshop on Saturday with Mitch Altman (pictured above) of the SF hacker space Noisebridge! Fourteen awesome teens engaged in fun electronics hacking using the Arduino micro controller, LEDs, transistors, sensors, motors, and more. Mitch gave a quick and entertaining introduction to electronics and computing …