Tag archives: science
Jerry Lettvin was one of several treasured mentors in my life. He was an MD and an electrical engineer, holding positions in biology and electrical engineering at MIT. I was a student in a most unique program he ran at MIT called “Concourse.” We did the usual classes, but we were in a smaller group, […]
Westmont’s science professors have obtained a new tool for their teaching and research. The biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics departments will all use the Hitachi scanning electron microscope (SEM), housed in Winter Hall. Its focused beam of electrons interacts with atoms in the sample to produce an image. Ben Carlson, assistant professor of physics, employs […]
We feel so lucky to live in Montecito, a beautiful community with great neighbors and friendly dogs. And you owe me $30,000. This is what I was forced to spend on legal and engineering fees trying to stop your company from ripping out our landscaping and killing our trees in order to put a large, […]
Adam Belt explores the point where art, science, and spirituality converge in an exhibition, “Adam Belt: Wish You Were Here,” September 1 through November 5 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. Belt, who was born in Seattle and grew up in Albuquerque, began his career as a landscape painter before shifting his interests to […]
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass The Santa Barbara Unified School District is failing in its most fundamental responsibility – teaching all of its students to read. Currently (and pre-pandemic as well), barely half of the students in SBUSD read proficiently meeting the district’s standard. The percentage is […]
Dancing lights, clay formations, and wiggling dresses – just some of the many wonders being worked on at UCSB’s Media Arts & Technology Program (MAT). Attention techies x media artists (and just anyone curious): It is time for the annual MAT Grad shows featuring the latest inventions from their hardworking graduate students. We recently attended […]
Climate change has been in the news a lot, what with extreme weather, wildfires, and the recent international negotiations in Scotland. What I thought I could do here is go into the science behind what’s happening to the climate system and to leave the policy implications to my fellow citizens and their representatives; kind of […]
Since I was a child, I have asked big questions about life, the universe, and everything (credit to Douglas Adams for that expression). I was fortunate to have a scientist father and a psychologist/philosopher mother to offer helpful answers. Out in the real world I discovered that people will often offer “helpful” answers that are […]
Science and quantum physics-based author, speaker, and consultant Pam Oslie is a professional psychic intuitive and aura expert. She has been a guest lecturer at TEDx American Riviera, the International Forum on New Science, Fortune 500 companies, and at seminars for professionals in the psychology, education, and health fields. Her TV guest appearances include ABC, […]
I’m tired of this right brain, left brain nonsense. First, we have to address that this “creative self” and “logical self” segregation is a complete fiction. But it’s doubly misguided when used as propaganda in the wildly artificial arts-science divide; humanities scholars must be analytical, and science people must be creative. Here to serve as […]
It’s open – and it’s beautiful. On Monday, September 27, there was a ribbon cutting and VIP guest reception for the new 5,500-square-foot Center for Science and Innovation at Laguna Blanca School’s Hope Ranch campus, which houses the Nakamura STEM Research and Innovation Lab, the updated Jackson Physics Labs, the Mosher Foundation Outdoor classroom, Gainey […]
Attention all stargazing scientists and students, sharpen your galactic pencils to apply for the first equity grant in astrophysics to work with the Rubin Observatory’s LSST (Legacy Survey of Space and Time) Project newly constructed 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey 3-mirror telescope and 3-billion-pixel solid state detector digital camera. The camera records time-evolution 6-color images for both […]
Your faithful correspondent finds collaborations compelling, whether between artists in various genres or among cooperating venues. Both are in play with the current showcase series at Santa Barbara Center for Art, Science, and Technology (SBCAST), where three of its Artists in Residence are staging weekend exhibits of installation art, design, multimedia projects, and performances. The […]
Much like how an interest can form and spread, a crystal begins from a seed point and grows from there. For Maria Constanza Ferreira, her interest in crystallography and animation has led to her own life growth with her award-winning films and artworks being displayed around the world. Maria has had a deep fascination for […]
As far as believing goes, it’s hard to know what to call myself. I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist, or even an Agnostic. But, to some extent, I admire and envy people who do have strong beliefs — so long as they don’t try to impose them on other people. But there’s […]
MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, came out of lockdown this month, featuring its newest interactive sci-art exhibit titled, “LunchBoxing with Lasers,” by veteran laser artist Mike Gould. Found on the second floor in a darkened room, the lasers are constantly creating a moving visual, with varying brightness, shapes, and speeds. The lasers […]
Soft light flooded through a wall of windows casting Peter Pan-like shadows of the small children dashing by. An aura of excitement bubbled around the children as they entered the MOXI Museum. One especially enthusiastic boy, who couldn’t have been much more than two years old, rushed through the doors. His eyes settled on the […]
A new media arts x science exhibition launched in March, 2020, and is nested in a retail-shop-turned-museum at La Cumbre Plaza called The Museum of Sensory & Movement Experiences or MSME (“miss me”). This interactive all ages exhibition allows one to get “lost” in time, imagery, sound, and perception of what really can be transmuted […]
Every organization had to pivot to produce programs during the pandemic. But for the MOXI museum, innovation comes with the territory. Indeed, that’s what the “I” in the nonprofit’s name (Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation) stands for. “What the pandemic forced us to do is to take what we do best — which is […]
On July 20, 1976, seven years to the day after humans first walked on the moon, a bunch of us new employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory trooped over to Caltech’s Beckman auditorium (the one that looks like a circus tent) to see the first landing of a spacecraft on another planet. Viking 1 was […]
