Photo by Sarah Deragon, PortraitsToThePeople

I am lucky enough to live in Hayes Valley, I’ve been living here for about four years now and have been privy to great community engagement; especially around the park at Hayes and Octavia. There is such a diversity of people that congregate in the park and one of the new neighbors has definitely added to the charm of the environs – Smitten Ice Cream.

The first flavor I tried was salted caramel, and it was hands down the best ice cream I had ever tasted. Since then, when I have guests visiting, I make sure that one of the local stops is Smitten. The ice cream is made to order only using the freshest local ingredients and it is frozen within 60 seconds using liquid nitrogen with a freezing point of -321 degrees F or 76 degrees Kelvin giving it a unique texture.

I heard Robyn Sue Goldman, owner of Smitten and Cory Bloome, the engineer responsible for fine tuning Robyn’s first prototype to mix the ice cream, speak about Smitten on Wednesday, January 18th at Nerd Nite. Smitten’s story from wagon to the Hayes Valley location is a great blend of quality and innovation. Robyn’s initial vision with Smitten was to get closer to the cow. With traditional ice cream that is frozen with conventional techniques, the texture is often stabilized with additives, emulsifiers or preservatives which mask natural ingredients. Old-fashioned ice cream in contrast has a few simple ingredients but takes quite some time to freeze. Introducing liquid nitrogen enabled Robyn to create ice cream the old fashioned way without the wait time.

The first ice cream machine was created and tested by Robyn through trial and error over many years. One of the major hurdles was to create a mixing apparatus that could properly and consistently mix the ice cream, without over-freezing or under-freezing any portion of it, which is easy to do with liquid nitrogen. She developed and later patented her creation of two swirling mixing arms with a helix design. She named the unique, patented mixer "Kelvin," giving tribute to the measurement of intense cold. Kelvin’s design, with the help of liquid nitrogen, creates a lower ice cream-freezing temperature while perfecting the mixing technique, resulting in the formation of smaller ice crystals in the finished product. These exceptionally small ice crystals are the reason why Smitten Ice Cream is so intensely creamy. To test her invention, Robyn initially hit the streets of San Francisco with Kelvin strapped on top of a Radio Flyer wagon and made incredible ice cream to-order. Popularity for Smitten Ice Cream grew, and the need for a store became tangible.

Before a store could be created, Kelvin needed to be refurbished and approved by UL, the regulatory agent. That is where Cory Bloome came in, affectionately dubbed “The Kelvin Doctor. Cory was the engineer who took Robyn’s prototype and list of improvements and fabricated the next generation of Kelvin’s for the store.

The four Kelvins are now busy mixing at the Smitten storefront at 432 Octavia St. (@ Linden St.). Try it for yourself if you find yourself in the neighborhood. Ice cream is served each day starting at noon. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, the ice cream is put away at 9pm; yet, Friday and Saturday you can come as late as 10pm for your fix.

Do you have a unique voice that sets you apart from the crowd? Contribute your stories to QUEST!

KQED QUEST is looking to add new voices to our blog, which already offers commentary from our producers, reporters, and local writers from our partner institutions at Chabot Space & Science Center and The Tech Museum.

We're looking to include folks who are actively involved in the science, environment and nature blogging community – e.g. have a blog, guest post on others' site, and comment / participate in relevant discussions. And we're looking locally. Our blog has a strong SF Bay Area focus, though we do occasionally cover and/or perform analysis on how this stuff elsewhere that affects the Bay Area.

What we cover

QUEST’s geographic coverage is from Mendocino to Monterey and from Sacramento to Santa Clara, and generally covers 9 content areas: astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, environment, geology, health, physics and weather.

Requirements

• Original posts, 3-500 words with at least 1 image. Schedule determined on availability, but weekly or bi-monthly is preferred.
• Posts should relate back to at least one of our 9 themes for the program: Astronomy, Chemistry, Engineering, Physics, Weather, Geology, Biology, Environment, Health.
• Topic should be something about which you have some expertise and/or passion.
• A unique voice and ability to follow our QUEST writing guidelines (see below).
• Experience with WordPress or similar blogging platform.
• Willingness to occasionally be assigned a post topic by the editor as current events dictate.
• Respect for copyright and fair use.

Would I get paid?

Yes – we offer a small stipend on a per post basis.

Alrighty, then. How do I apply?

Email us a note and bio to questeditor@kqed.org explaining what you'd like to write for us. Please also include some links to relevant blogs you admire, and/or participate in, and why. Send us a writing sample or two (links are fine), and we'll review it in the next couple weeks. Last day to submit is February 1st. Our hope is to bring aboard a few new bloggers by mid-February.

Some beats we're interested in

Although we want to hear from a wide range of writers, here are a few coverage areas we're keen on in particular:

• Bay ecology background and issues
• Science education
• Silicon Valley / engineering innovations
• Hacks, DIY, and hands-on science activities
• Hiking and outdoors (with a science focus)
• Food science
• Convergence of art & science
• Nature & science photography

Writing Guidelines

(As laid out by our managing editor, Paul Rogers)

Why does my grandmother care? A key requirement of QUEST bloggers will be to explain scientific and environmental issues in a way that the general public can understand. Our audience is mostly made up of people who aren’t scientists or environmental activists. Posts should explain why the topics they are writing about are relevant to Bay Area residents.

Get to the point. Studies have shown that readers spend only a minute or two on most web sites before moving on. The average reader reads about 200 words a minute. Write tight, and lively. Keep it interesting and informative.

Avoid jargon. The purpose of good writing is to communicate clearly. Don’t use complex, esoteric scientific terms. Instead of saying "non-point source pollution," say "polluted runoff." Instead of "extravehicular activity," say “space walk.”

Be personal. Relate personal experiences. Speak in the first person. Tell them where you saw the blue herons or which movie best depicts what a real moon base might look like. Find your own voice and write in a compelling, approachable way.

Be passionate. Write about subjects and topics that you care about. Please don’t feel you have to stick to a script or formula. Express yourself.

Drive traffic to the blog. Place a link in your correspondence and comments to the blog. Mention it on other web forums.

Write for the bigger picture. Don’t view the blog as a place just to promote your institution or pet cause. Keep in mind your audience is made up of a wide diversity of people, with wide interests.

Speak your mind, but check your facts. Or your audience will do it for you with painful results.

Know your fellow bloggers. You'll be part of a vibrant community with fresh ideas and discussions nearly every day. Don't be afraid to comment on their posts, or link to their entries. Have fun with it! Dreary bloggers or insufferable policy wonks need not apply.

From hackerspaces to banana slugs, flying telescopes to cheese — it's been a quite a diverse year of storytelling here at QUEST. Here's a round-up of the top 10 video and audio stories and blog posts (based on page views) that you've enjoyed from the past year. Please let us know what other stories you've enjoyed in the comments section below, and if there's anything you'd like to see in the coming season!



VIDEO:

Nanotechnology Takes Off

Stem Cell Gold Rush
Science on the SPOT: Banana Slugs Unpeeled
Berkeley Lab Physicist Shares Nobel
Science on the SPOT: Open Source Creativity – Hackerspaces
Super Laser at the National Ignition Facility
The World's Most Powerful Microscope
The Science & Art of Cheese
Mt. Umunhum: Return to the Summit
The Fierce Humboldt Squid

AUDIO:

Up All Night on NASA's Flying Telescope</a>

The Lost Lagoon
Energy-Saving Windows Get Smarter
The Amazing Transformation of San Francisco's "Sludge Puddle"
Supercomputers Hit an Energy Wall
From Tunnel to Tap: Quake-Proofing Our Water Supply
"A Big, Captivating Idea": The Bay Area Ridge Trail
Architecture for the Birds
Gulls Threaten South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Work
In a Sea of Energy Data, Utilities Try to Inspire Conservation

BLOG:

Explosive hypothesis about humans' lack of genetic diversity
Diet Sodas May Not Be As Harmless As You Think
Health Officials to Consider Tightening Vaccine Exemptions
Scientists Understand Heart Disease Better, Still Give Bad Advice
The Megalodon's Descendants
Famous African American Scientists & Innovators: Part II
Swine Flu – A Virus or a Bacteria?
Cyber Wolves in (Fire)Sheep Clothing
Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears?
15 Months Later, Rediscovered San Francisco Plant Thrives

Photo by Dimaano Photography

On Monday night, I caught myself, while waiting at a crosswalk, squinting at the oncoming traffic and studying the difference intensities of light coming off of car headlights. I was trying to figure out which headlights were LEDs and which ones were incandescents. I missed my signal to cross and had to wait for the next light change because of my musings.

My musings were inspired by a 90-minute walk through a hilly region of the city led by Robin Marks. Robin, a biochemist, science journalist and former science tinkerer at the Exploratorium, started Discovery Street Tours this past July. The website describes the tours as “more than just a walking tour. It’s an urban investigation of the science under your feet, in your food, and in your life. You’ll demo the science for yourself with hands-on activities, eat some tasty treats, and meet other folks like yourself—curious, active, and a little beyond the ordinary.”

Science got festive on the night of Sunday, December 11th as 18 of us, bundled against the cold and misting fog headed up 20th Street for the The Science of (Holiday) Light preview tour. Through the up-and-down mile and half route, we took frequent stops to admire holiday handiwork, discuss the history of holiday lights, view the different types and understand how our brains were taking in light signals.

My favorite part of the tour was when we stopped at a corner house strung with both LED and incandescent holiday lights. We were encouraged to look closely and notice the difference in both the quality and brightness of light. While incandescent bulbs use a filament to produce light and heat, LEDs (light emitting diodes) are lower energy semi-conducters. LEDs shoot out light in a straight line. After learning this, I was able to identify the LED string of lights not only by the light but the crystal cut bulbs around the light that enabled the straight line of light to be refracted — making the iconic twinkling glow associated with holiday lights.

As a nerd herder and being generally inquisitive about science, this was a very satisfying tour. I was able to ramble through the city taking in wonderful panoramic scenes in one instance and then turn around and look closer at the mundane with awe at how I was seeing it with new insight and understanding. My fellow tour-goers raised other questions about light and color, as our curiosity was further sparked by what we were seeing and learning. One conversation that got started involved pollinators; which insects and birds are attracted to the red over white flowers, and the effects the visible spectrum they see have on how they pollinate species of flowers.

As this was a preview, the inquisitive can still put science in their step. Robin will be leading The Science of (Holiday) Light tour several more times in December, including Christmas Eve and the evening of Christmas Day. Tours start at 6:30pm and all the dates, more details and booking information can be found online.

Every day our lives are affected by the work of chemical engineers who specialize in solving problems through the use of polymers. Simply put, polymers are long “macro-molecules”, formed by combining carbon or silicon atoms with other elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The combinations form long chains of repeating chemical structures, each with a unique set of chemical properties and characteristics. Depending on the atoms used and their arrangement, engineers and chemists use polymers to create almost anything from a soft toothbrush bristle to a tough bullet-proof vest.

Some polymers occur in nature, like cellulose, amber, shellac, and natural rubber. Other polymers are manufactured by chemists and engineers, and are referred to as synthetic polymers. In an ongoing quest for better and more useful materials, these scientists aim to make substances tough enough to work in the bitter cold of Antarctica or under the immense pressures encountered thousands of feet below an ocean’s surface.

Becki Ramsay, Chemical Engineer at Parker- Hannifin Corp. in Cleveland, Ohio.

As a part of the “Great Job!” series that highlights exciting careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), a production crew with WVIZ/PBS ideastream®, in Cleveland, Ohio, spent a day with Becki Ramsay. Becki is a chemical engineer with the Hose Products Division of Parker-Hannifin Corporation. She and her team create hoses from synthetic polymers to meet the design specifications they get from mechanical engineers.

During our interview, Becki expressed to us why she decided early on to become an engineer.

Eventually, Becki decided that she was interested in polymers so she continued her studies to eventually become a chemical engineer.

As a result of her work with Parker, Becki and her team create hoses that remain flexible and convey power through hydraulic fluids while operating under the most extreme environmental conditions, whether it’s sub-zero temperatures or in an application that will pulse it millions of times. These hoses are absolutely critical in the operation of machinery used in industries such as construction, mining, forestry, transportation, and more.

Inside this Burst Test Chamber, hoses are filled with water and pressurized until they explode.

Every day, Becki works with chemists and other engineers to create and test the quality of new materials. On the day of our shoot, we visited the Burst Test Chamber. The chamber is made of armor-plated steel and bullet-proof glass. Inside the chamber, hoses are filled with water and pressurized until they explode. Many of the hoses have bursting points in excess of 14,000 pounds per square inch. That would be like getting hit by an explosion with more than 15 million pounds of force, or having to lift three space shuttles! During one of the tests, the hose exploded at nearly 16,000 pounds per square inch!

It was a fascinating day for us. Sometimes we take so much for granted that we don’t think about the interesting careers and interesting people who change our world with their inventions every day. Look around your house. If you look closely enough and think deeply enough, you’ll be amazed, too, by the number of everyday conveniences we have because of the ingenuity of chemical engineers like Becki Ramsay and the many other polymer scientists just like her.

In the last 12 years, researchers have isolated taste receptors for sweet – as well as the lesser understood basic taste – umami. Umami (pronounced: ew-mommy) is often at the heart of intuitive succulent cooking. Grandmothers in southern Italy, for example, toss a handful of cherry tomatoes into a clear broth, or slip the rind of parmesan cheese into a pot of simmering beans.

“Without consciously knowing what they're doing, they add the taste of umami to the dish,” says Brooklyn-based cookbook author Rozanne Gold.

Wild mushrooms, fresh picked corn, dried seaweed and fish sauce all have lots of savory umami taste, and high levels of an amino acid called glutamate. Glutamic acid tips off the taste buds, and then an umami alert rushes to the brain.

Umami deepens flavor and adds meatiness, says Gold, who calls herself the "Diva of Simplicity."

Her latest book is Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease.

“When you only have three ingredients to play with each one really counts, so instinctively I work with foods that are umami rich,” she said. “What MSG does for a dish, that already exists naturally in some foods.”

The concept is age-old but a Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda coined the term “umami” in the early 1900s. Everyday taste testers struggle to categorize umami, says neuroscientist Alexander Bachmanov, because the taste rarely stands alone. And that, he says, may explain why a scientist, not a chef, finally gave umami a name.

You can put a sugar cube on your tongue to sample pure sweet, or lick sodium chloride to explain salty. Umami is harder to single out, says Bachmanov, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

“If it's glutamic acid, it will also have some sourness in addition to umami. If it is monosodium glutamate (MSG), it will have a little bit of saltiness in addition to umami,” he said.

That something else, is now considered the fifth taste. When scientists isolated the first umami taste receptor in 2000, umami officially joined the big four–sour, salty bitter and sweet.

Bachmanov says our taste buds are “tuned-up” to taste glutamic acids, and there's likely an evolutionary reason why most people perceive umami as pleasant.

Our sense of taste is like a detection system, constantly analyzing and helping us decide whether to eat or avoid a food. Glutamic acid–the tip-off for the umami taste–is a building block of protein.

“If a food is sweet, it likely contains carbohydrates. If it has umami taste is probably has protein. Our body gets the indication that the food contains protein, that it's nutritious, good for us,” Bachmanov said.

Herbert Mehnert a Cline Scholar at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute spent his summer researching Comet Photometry and Morphology. Herbert was introduced to PARI by one of his college professors and jumped at the opportunity to work at the former NASA research institute.

"People don't look up anymore," explains Herbert Mehnert.

Herbert spent the summer of 2011 working at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute as a Cline Scholar student comet photometry and morphology.

"I think it's partially because the exposure to space and astronomy is much less than it used to be, with government programs being cut and all. When you take someone out here to a dark sky sight and tell them you can see the milky way, they get excited."

When Herbert was introduced to PARI by his college professor, Don Smith, who took them on a field trip to the remote research institute in Rosman, NC, Herbert was excited to know there was a community and research institute full of people interested in the same topics as him, particularly optical astronomy.

Herbert studies Comet Photometry and Morphology. Comet Photometry uses telescopes and cameras to measure the brightness of a comet, which provides scientists with information about its surface, craters, pits, valleys and mountains. The brightness of comets are more difficult to map than stars because the data involves using the nuclear condensation, surrounding cloud or coma and one or more tails extending outward from the comet. Comet Morphology studies the projected velocity and direction of a comet, based on its orbit, trail and size.

What's the difference between a comet and a meteorite? A comet is a structure composed of ice, dust, and elements such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and methane, that orbits around the sun. As it comes close to the sun, the nucleus begins to melt and turn into gas, forming a coma, or cloud. The radiation from the sun pushes this cloud away from the center of the comet, forming a dust tail. The most famous comet, comet Halley, travels around the sun every 76 years, and will reappear in the year 2062. Meteorites on the other hand are solid rock formations found in space. When meteorites enter the earth's atmosphere they heat up and turn into a fire, and appear as a shooting star.

Visit the PARI Sky center for more information and up-to-date celestial news. Also recommended are NASA's page on comets or the Comet Photometry website.

Clay minerals found naturally in soils around the U.S. and world form the three main types of clay used in pottery: porcelain, earthenware, and stoneware. A unique combination of the minerals kaolin, illite, chlorite, sepiolite, and smectite are collected into each ball of clay to determine the type, glaze, structure and color used in a single piece of pottery.

Potters base their mixture of clay on the plasticity of each material. Plasticity is “the ability to undergo deformation without cracking." The easiest way to determine a clay’s plasticity is using the “coil” test where a sample of clay is taken, rolled into a coil, and tested for its deformability. The chemical make-up in each clay mineral determines the particle size, permeability, and firing temperature for a piece of pottery. Between the five main minerals found in clay, kaolinite is the most common.

Kaolinite holds the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4 and is an aluminum silicate material with a low “shrink-swell” capacity. It is a soft, white mineral but is often colored orange or red by iron oxide found in the soil. Kaolinite is found all over the country and is the most common clay in the Mountain and Piedmont regions of North Carolina. It is the most prominent mineral found in kaolin, or porcelain, pottery.

Illite is a white clay mineral that was first discovered in Calhoun County, Illinois. Its composition is (K,H3O)(Al,Mg,Fe)2(Si,Al)4O10[(OH)2,(H2O)]. Illite has an absence of swelling due to its tightly interlaced molecular spacing. It is a common mineral found in sediments, soils, and metamorphic rock.

Chlorite, found in large quantities in Wales, is actually a group of silicate minerals with similar properties. Chlorite, typically found as a pale green to grey color, is composed of (Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2.(Mg,Fe)3(OH)6. The combination of minerals allows chlorite to hold a great range in composition, temperature and pressure conditions. It is most commonly found in hydrothermal ore deposits and has a soft, flexible consistency.

Sepiolite is a clay mineral found throughout in high quantities in New England, Arizona, and California. Its chemical makeup Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O contains a hydrous magnesium silicate, causing a non-swelling, lightweight, porous clay. Sepiolite based clays are stable in high salt environments and are typically found as dull, white colored deposits.

Smectite clay minerals are unique in their ability to interaction with liquids and their finite crystal shape. The composition (Na,Ca)0.33(Al,Mg)2(Si4O10)(OH)2·nH2O causes a high plasticity allowing Smecitite clays to absorb and swell easily. These can be found as white, pale green, pink and yellow deposits.

Watch Science on the SPOT: Salt Glaze Pottery to learn how ceramicist Ben Owen III creates unique works of art.

Ben Owen III has been making pottery since he was big enough to sit at a potter’s wheel. Some of his earliest memories are of him with his grandfather learning to control clay, center it, open it and create a piece of art.

“A lot of people ask me, how long did it take you to make this pot?” explained Owen. “30 years”. For nearly three decades, Owen has been creating pottery and has traveled around the world and has been commissioned to create artwork for Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ronald Reagan.

One of Owen’s most unique and popular styles of pottery, salt glazing, requires extensive precision, accuracy, and chemical reactions.

Salt glazing is a unique process different from bisque pottery because it involves one single firing. These pots used to be essential for sanitary purposes in cooking, aiding in pickling and food storage.

The art and science of pottery requires skills and techniques acquired over generations of trial and error. The combination of the Owen family’s experiential knowledge of pottery and his university education – he graduated with a BFA in ceramics with honors in 1993 – make him a unique seasoned artist. Owen now employs additional scientific knowledge about how elements, chemical reactions, barometric pressure and temperature affect and improve his works of art.

“When you grow up in a family tradition, you learn things from family experience. People have the answers for you, but understanding what combinations of formulas work, what works based on temperature – If you don’t know how to recreate it, if you don’t know the science, you can’t reproduce it.

"Back when I was a teenager, we did things just because they worked. I asked a lot of questions: Why are we losing all these pots? What did we do wrong? Did we heat the kiln too fast? Being exposed to other potters, artists in a formal university setting, a lot of those things come out that help you realize what you did back then and why it didn’t work.”

Creating a piece of salt glazed pottery is a lengthy process. Before the glazing can begin, Owen must create the shape and pot itself.

“We place the clay on the wheel, center it, open it, form it into a bowl or cylinder adding water throughout the process until our piece is formed. After creating the shape and piece of pottery, we allow them to sit and dry for a couple of weeks."

After the pots are properly dried, the loading and firing process begins. The firing and heating of the kiln takes several days because the pots need to be warmed slowly to drive off moisture and water inside the core of the clay walls. If the pots are warmed too quickly, the moisture becomes steam and the pots start exploding inside the kiln.

The kiln is heated in stages, 200 degrees per hour, until it reaches 2300 degrees. Once the pottery is nearly molten, rock salt is thrown into the kiln. When salt is introduced into the kiln, it starts melting and becomes a glass, and then a vapor. This vapor is attracted to the silica in the clay and begins coating the surface of the pots, creating a unique orange peel texture. Test rings are used and dropped in water to see if the salt is building up properly and is creating the signature glassy appearance on the exterior of the pots.

The salt-glazing process takes seven days to complete, including two overnight shifts where Owen regulates the temperature of the kiln all night. Even though he's been firing his kiln for nearly 30 years, Owen still feels that there’s always room for improvement.

"No matter how many times you’ve done it, no matter how many times you’ve practiced doing it, I’m not doing surgery on a patient or somebody but I’m doing surgery on clay and I’m wanting that clay to be successful and be healthy when it comes out. So in a way, I’ve got to learn, I need to learn more about my materials to the extent that I can hopefully be able to make and determine the right decisions along the way that can solve some of these problems.”

Additional Links:

Seagrove Area Potters Association

Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Be amazed at the Bay Area Science Festival! Photo: Bay Area Science Festival.

The Bay Area Science Festival, a 10-day celebration of science, starts this week. There are over 50 exciting events throughout the Bay Area, including hikes, lectures, and concerts. From a day of hands-on activities with Stanford’s Genetics department to a hawk talk in the Marin Headlands, from an exploration of food at the farmers’ market to a screening of the movie Contact with astronomer Jill Tarter (on whom Jodie Foster’s character was based), there is something for everyone.

Here are some of the highlights: MythBuster Adam Savage will talk with author Mary Roach about her book Packing for Mars. Science writer Carl Zimmer will talk with two UCSF scientists about tiny friends and foes in Gut Check: The Hidden World of Microbes. RadioLab will be live at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall.

Check out Dinosaurs vs. Robots at the Lawrence Hall of Science on Sunday, October 30.

At Dinosaurs vs. Robots at the Lawrence Hall of Science, you can do hands-on activities to see for yourself which is the most awesome: paleontology or engineering. KQED will moderate a discussion, The Challenge and Promise of Artificial Intelligence, with researchers from Microsoft and Google at the Computer History Museum in San Jose. And there are three Discovery Days, packed with free shows, exhibits, and games. The Discovery Days are at Cal State East Bay (10/29), Infineon Raceway (11/5), and AT&T Park (11/6). If you go, keep an eye out for QUEST’s table! Find more fun stuff on the calendar—be sure to click over to see the events in November, too.

The Bay Area Science Festival is part of a growing movement to celebrate science in the community. The festivals bring together different organizations and individuals to engage diverse audiences in science. The Bay Area Science Festival is organized by the Science and Heath Education Partnership at the University of California, San Francisco—along with dozens of partners. Science festivals started in the UK; now there are annual festivals in Philadelphia and Cambridge, Mass. And last year the first USA Science and Engineering Festival descended on the National Mall in Washington DC. To find a science festival near you, check out this map.

I’ll be representing the Lawrence Hall of Science at the Discovery Day in AT&T Park on Sunday November 6—the Festival’s finale. Hope to see you there!