Halloween Treats for Young and Old

Science has a magical quality, and some fields, such as chemistry and astronomy, can trace their origins to less-than-scientific beginnings. Potions, spirits and ghoulies abound at this time of year and many of this week’s offerings have a Halloween theme:

Children can enjoy some of the animals popularly linked with this holiday as Wildlife on Wheels brings its “Halloween Menagerie” of spiders, snakes and a raven to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Call (213) 744-3534.

The Los Angeles Valley College Planetarium will be haunted with ghost stories, myths and legends of ancient astronomers in “Spooky Skies--Myths and Misperceptions,” on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 4 and 5:30 p.m. Call (818) 781-1200, Ext. 335.

Witchcraft is not a subject normally found at Caltech, but the Seminar on Science, Ethics and Public Policy will feature “Tests for Witchcraft: Experimental Science and the Paranormal in 17th-Century England,” on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Judy Library. Call (818) 356-4652.

The Skeptics Society, a group that studies pseudoscientific claims, will present a “Skeptical Seance: Magic and the Paranormal in Honor of Houdini and Halloween,” with demonstrations revealing the methods of psychic phenomena at Caltech’s Baxter Lecture Hall on Saturday at 2 p.m. Call (818) 794-3119.

MARINE SCIENCE

The American Cetacean Society, Los Angeles Chapter, will feature marine mammal photographer Peter Howorth discussing his work at the chapter meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Cabrillo Marine Museum. Call (310) 548-8500.

SCIENCE FOR KIDS

November has been designated “Environmental Awareness Month” at the Kidspace Museum, and children can cast their votes for a better planet while learning about the environment during “Elect Earth!” day, Sunday beginning at 12:30 p.m. Call (818) 449-9144.

ASTRONOMY

Griffith Observatory staff artist Don Dixon will take the audience beyond the Milky Way with his astronomical paintings at the Santa Monica College astronomy program on Friday at 8 p.m. in Room 214 of the Art Building. The program follows the 7 p.m. Night Sky Show. Call (310) 452-9396.

The telescopes of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will be trained on the Andromeda Galaxy on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Palmer Observatory, weather permitting. The galaxy is more than 2 million light years away. Call (805) 682-4711.