Imagine. Explore. Discover. In addition to its fascinating Gold Rush past, the Sacramento area is rich with an amazing array of state-of-the-art museums and historic sites that offer visitors the chance to explore California’s fine art, history, science, and wildlife treasures all year long. With summer nearing its end and a new school year beginning, many of the 30 members of Sacramento Area Museums (SAM) offer special programs and activities that stimulate problem solving abilities and help add context to what is learned in the classroom.

While virtually every museum and destination offers elements that extend hands-on learning, a sampling of some of the special educational offerings (many of which must be scheduled in advance) includes the following:

California’s plan to cut energy consumption by 80 percent by 2050 cannot be achieved with current proposed policy changes because most solutions focus on changing technologies rather than changing behavior, a new University of California, Davis, study suggests.

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Astronomers have spied the short-lived blue glow from a giant companion star struck by a spectacular supernova. The discovery offers compelling evidence for a leading theory about the origin of Type Ia supernovae — that these enormous explosions occur when a white dwarf steals matter from a larger star.

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Summer may mean the emergence of some creepy, crawly (and slithery) critters, but that isn’t always a bad thing, UC Davis experts say. From many-legged creatures commonly found around your home during the summer to legless animals you might see out on a summer hike, here’s what our experts say about the critters of summer — and what our wet winter means for many of them.

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