Join us for Cal Day, Saturday, April 18th, from 11am-5pm, the one day each year that UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab opens its doors to the public. Shuttles will be transporting the public every 20 minutes from Hearst Mining Circle on campus to SSL.  Activities include walking tours of UC Berkeley’s cutting-edge space science research lab, as well as talks on topics such as space weather, teens doing art-science mashups, a career panel on cool jobs in space science, and hands-on activities for all ages! 

[This week's guest blogger is our own solar scientist, Dr. Claire Raftery, regaling us with Ireland's rich astronomical history in honor of St. Patrick's Day.]

Ireland, the Emerald Isle, is a land rich in lore, myths and leprechauns. Superstitions and old wives tales are as revered as the rule of law. Its lush greenery is as a result of the wet climate, and world travelers know that a visit to Ireland requires rain boots and an umbrella. Overcast skies and rain showers help to keep the Green Island so green. However, did you know that Ireland also has been a center of astronomy for many centuries—despite the rain!

[This guest blog post comes in the form of a thank you letter we recently received from the Powerhouse Science Center in Durango, CO following our week-long residency there with our program Native Universe: Indigenous Voice in Science Museums. Thank you, Jen and Sarah, for allowing us share this letter.]

Dear Drs. Peticolas & Maryboy,
We here at the Powerhouse Science Center (PSC) would like to voice our emphatic support of the Native Universe project that we have been a part of over the past years. Located in Southwest Colorado, PSC carries the vision to be a leading science center in the Four Corners region. We work closely with a number of local tribes to provide a variety of STEM programming, including field trips, after school science classes, summer camps, and field trips. Before involvement in the Native Universe project, PSC educators struggled serving youth from local native communities, due to differing learning and teaching styles. Fearful of appearing pushy or offensive, we weren't sure what steps were needed to bridge this cultural divide.

[Today's Multiverse Guest Blogger is one of the teen interns in our NASA NOVAS program. The interns created and sent an experimental balloon to the edge of space! The last blog entry was from Tanesha, describing the launch. This entry is from Brandon, describing the eventful retrieval of our space balloon payload after it safely parachuted down to Earth.]

It was hot out. And very dusty. We had just eaten pizza, (I was still hungry, LOL), and we were all psyched to retrieve the payload. We drove into the Carnegie SVRA (State Vehicular Recreation Area). We had two vehicles. The first vehicle Steve was driving with Leitha and six other interns was stopped at the entrance by four rangers. Steve explained that we had a payload somewhere on their property. He knew that because of his GPS tracker that showed him the location. The rangers took a look and determined exactly where they would need to go to find the payload. One of the guys, (Taylor), was willing to drive to the location on an ATV. But there was a catch...

[Today's Multiverse Guest Blogger is Tanesha, one of the teen interns in our NASA NOVAS program. The interns created and sent an experimental balloon to the edge of space! ]

The balloon launch was held on Sunday, October 26, 2014. It was a fun, exciting, and adventurous experience although we did go through some struggles along the process. We weren’t sure about the exact location of launch because we knew it was somewhere around the Chevron Refinery in Richmond. We kept driving until we reached the end to a private marina called Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor. First, we had to ask permission from the owner, Eric, to launch the balloon at his property. He called the Chevron Refinery and they told him if anything falls into their facility, we could get arrested. There recently was a drone that fell into the Chevron Refinery and everyone who was part of it got arrested. The homeland security were extremely upset. Our entire group got scared but we were keeping our fingers crossed so that everything goes well. Ultimately, Eric had to decide if we could conduct our experiment. Everyone thought he would say no, but he finally agreed and allowed us.