Crosscurrents

When scientists started studying genomes, and then sequencing them, their work was hailed as revolutionary. But, they were mostly done in connection with Caucasian genes and some African and East Asian populations. One of the races no one studied was the Persian race. That is, until last year. Stanford researchers received a $250,000 grant from a Persian American foundation called PARSA to study the Iranian genome. The idea is to learn more about the history and varied cultures of the Iranian people, and to explore the field of personalized medicine.

SF Chronicle // Starbucks has bought the Bay Area based chain La Boulange Cafe and Bakery for $100 million. Starbucks plans to start to replace its current pastry selection with La Boulange products in 2013. There are 19 La Boulange cafes across the Bay Area...

Today we are featuring the lusty sounds of The Barbary Ghosts. Their musical inspiration comes from San Francisco’s history of sea-faring fortune-seekers and general social misfits.

They’re one of the scores of musicians and instructors taking part in this weekend’s Free Folk Festival at Presidio Middle School in San Francisco.

The festival starts at noon and goes until 10pm both Saturday and Sunday on June 9th and 10th.

Last week, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park launched a major new exhibit called “Earthquake.” It has a walk-through model of the earth, an interactive space to teach earthquake preparedness, and even live ostriches. (Apparently, there’s a connection.) There’s also an earthquake simulator resembling an old Victorian home, bringing us right back to the big one in 1906.

The psychology of racial profiling in policing; a wrongfully convicted man is still fighting to save his name after prison; remembering the 1906 Earthquake; and Storycorps: A monumental wedding.