exploratorium

Spectrum: Science

Igniting curiosity and inspiring conversation, Spectrum brings you the latest news and perspectives from across the Exploratorium.

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NOAA PMEL carbon buoy
Science and the Federal Shutdown

by Mary Miller • January 18, 2019

We love our science agencies and the dedicated public servants who work for the American public, we’re feeling their absence in small and large ways.

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Peanut Afraid: Overcoming a Life-Threatening Food Allergy

by Chad Lange • February 7, 2018

Three million Americans have allergies to peanuts or tree nuts, but scientists are learning to desensitize the body and prevent severe reactions. Follow one patient's journey from peanut fearer to peanut conqueror. 

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Waves of Data for Maverick’s Surf Competition

by Mary Miller • February 1, 2018

Surfers for the Maverick’s surf competition near San Francisco are pinning their hopes on Pacific storms, lots of data and some well-honed algorithms.

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Adults and children interacting with the Sediment Trapping exhibit, a flume flowing with Bay water and sediment.
Modeling Sediment in San Francisco Bay's Tidal Marshes

by Kevin Boyd • January 22, 2018

A new exhibit in the Exploratorium's outdoor North Gallery lets visitors investigate how sediments build up around plants in a tidal marsh. 

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Smoky air creates vivid sunrise in the Bay Area.
With Fall Comes Easterly Winds, Fires and Smoke in Northern California

by Mary Miller • October 18, 2017

Fall, not summer, is fire season in California. The aftermath of rainless but foggy summers and a shift in the winds that normally bring cool, moist air from the Pacific but instead blow from the dry, warm interior create the perfect recipe for fires. That weather pattern exploded this October into deadly wildfires that affected air quality all over the Bay Area. 

 

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Cassini Mission Flames Out, Right on Schedule

by Liz Ball • September 14, 2017

On Friday, September 15 at approximately 4:54 a.m. PDT, after twenty years in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will go down in a blaze of glory.

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5 cosas que probablemente desconocía acerca de los eclipses solares

by Eileen Campbell • July 10, 2017

La Tierra es el único planeta de nuestro sistema solar desde donde se puede observar a la perfección un eclipse total de Sol. Una curiosa coincidencia lo hace posible.

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Guía para ver eclipses del Exploratorium

by Eileen Campbell • July 10, 2017

Para las personas que estarán en la franja de totalidad durante el eclipse, les brindamos algunas indicaciones para que puedan aprovechar al máximo su experiencia.

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Writer Mary Roach Reveals How to Read a Cardboard Box

by Mary Roach • May 24, 2017

Box tattoos and bees? Writer Mary Roach spent time with our Welcome to WildCard exhibition team then made some surprising discoveries about cardboard boxes. 

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Dig Deeper into the Discovery of DNA

by Exploratorium Staff • April 25, 2017

Read between the lines of the scientific paper that started a revolution. Explore the personalities, politics, competition, and collaboration that fueled it in our annotated version of Watson and Crick’s seminal description of the double helix.

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