Subsurface energy production and storage play a central role in the energy transition. However, subsurface systems are inherently complex. Predicting and optimizing these systems remains challenging due to coupled multiphysics processes, multiscale behavior, and substantial uncertainty. In this talk, I will present three lines of research spanning reservoir stimulation, underground ...
Optical spectroscopy based on second-order nonlinearity is a critical technique for characterizing two-dimensional (2D) crystals, and it also finds numerous applications in bioimaging and quantum optics. It has been generally believed that second-harmonic generation (SHG) in crystals with inversion centers (centrosymmetric crystals), such as graphene and other bilayer 2D crystals, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Bird Feathers & Their Fascinating Functions - LivestreamJoin Heather Wolf, author of "Find More Birds: 111 Surprising Ways to Spot Birds Wherever You Are" and "Birding at the Bridge: In Search of Every Bird on the Brooklyn Waterfront", as she discusses the many fascinating functions of bird feathers - they’re not just for flight and warmth! Come ...
This talk explores how to push the boundaries of robotic autonomy and mobility. We review the current state of adaptive legged locomotion and navigation policies, and discuss pathways toward policies that generalize beyond their developers’ original intentions. We examine how such policies can be trained across diverse modalities and data ...
Modern tests of Quantum Electrodynamics in the strong-field regime Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a well-established physical theory and its predictions have been confirmed experimentally in various regimes and with extremely high accuracy. However, there are still areas of QED that deserve theoretical and experimental investigation, especially when physical processes occur in the presence of intense background electromagnetic fields, i.e., ...
China has emerged as the global leader in clean energy industries, reshaping the trajectory of the energy transition worldwide. This talk examines the rapid rise of China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry. I discuss how coordinated industrial policies, consumer incentives, and rapid expansion of charging infrastructure helped scale early adoption. Over ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Residential Decarbonization: the Next Climate BattlegroundWhat does it actually take to decarbonize the places we live, why does local policy matter so much? Presented by Manny's Climate ClubResidential buildings are one of the largest sources of climate pollution, and the transition away from fossil gas toward clean electric homes is already underway. But this shift ...
The Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative is dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of children affected by rare genetic diseases. Our group has compiled some of the largest pediatric cancer RNA-sequencing databases, and we leverage this tool to employ genomic and transcriptomic analyses to identify diagnostic and therapeutic options for ...
Join Chabot astronomers for a live watch party of the magnificent Total Lunar Eclipse from Chabot’s Observation Deck. Bring your friends & family and a lawn chair to enjoy Eclipse-themed crafts and demonstrations, then get bundled up with a cup of hot cocoa to watch this stunning celestial show. During ...
Where: OaklandCost: $15 General, $7 Kids, free for members
Precisely Controlled Macromolecular Architecture by ATRPVarious well-defined polymers with precisely controlled macromolecular architecture were prepared under environmentally benign conditions, with ppm of catalysts, in an aqueous environment, and in open-air with temporal control by light, electrical current, mechanical forces, or benign chemicals such as ascorbic acid. The dynamic exchange between active radicals and dormant species ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AI, Cyber & Systemic Risk: Securing the Digital FrontlineNicole Perlroth, former NYT journalist and cyber investor, explores how AI is amplifying threats and reshaping defense - implications for risk, resilience, and governance.Attend in person or on Zoom (see weblink)
Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) hold promise to advance mental health equity by addressing provider shortages, reaching individuals who might not seek services in traditional healthcare settings, and making evidence-based treatments available 24/7. However, DMHI science to date has rarely involved members of historically marginalized groups in the development, testing, ...
The proliferation of marine algae in the Neoproterozoic Era is thought to have stimulated the ecology of predatory microbial eukaryotes (protists) and the evolution of more modern marine food webs. Paleontologists and geochemists have predicted that these algae-eating microbial predators would have been restricted to well-oxygenated marine waters, and would have been near-absent in anoxic ...
In this talk, several recent developments in the study of fractionalized states of matter will be reviewed. The focus will primarily be on the condensed matter physics perspective, presenting a theoretical approach to the Fractional Chern Insulator (the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect without a magnetic field), its unique properties, and ...
Polaritons are hybrid light-matter states that arise from strong interactions between the confined electromagnetic field of an optical cavity and an ensemble of intracavity molecules. Molecules under such strong cavity coupling appear to demonstrate distinct reactivity and photochemistry from molecules in free space, but the mechanisms and scope of these ...
Advancements in quantum computing have enabled the development of small-scale quantum computers and simulators that adhere to the principles of quantum physics. Despite its rapid progress, those devices are not yet flawless and errors accumulate, posing serious challenges to their application to interesting problems. In this talk I will first ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Amazing Nature of Animal SensesJoin POST for a special evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong, author of the New York Times bestseller An Immense World. In this captivating lecture, Ed explores the extraordinary sensory worlds of animals - from the echolocation of bats to the magnetic navigation of sea turtles - revealing ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $45 General $25 Seniors, Students, Youth
The asteroid (16) Psyche may be the metal-rich remnant of a differentiated planetesimal, or it may be a highly reduced, metal-rich asteroidal material that never differentiated. The NASA Psyche mission aims to determine Psyche’s provenance. How did we choose the science instruments we’d need, when there was not even a ...
Over the course of the Pleistocene, the Bering Sea has alternated many times between a marine gateway connecting the Arctic and Pacific Oceans and a land bridge connecting North America to Asia. However, very few sediment cores for paleoceanographic or paleoenvironmental reconstructions of this region have been collected. Some have ...
This seminar will present an innovative approach to co-design fundamental biogeochemical science that aligns with policy and community priorities. The framework will be explored through case studies on ocean-climate stressors, mitigation, and solutions. This presentation will focus on the fundamental research of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide and ...
Glaciology is driven by two fundamental goals: to understand how ice sheets will evolve in a warming climate and contribute to future sea-level rise, and to understand how ice sheets behaved in the past, providing insight into Earth’s possible climate states. Both goals require observing how ice flows and deforms??"ideally ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Book Talk: 'Rebooting Tech Culture'Join us to hear Telle Whitney speak about her book, Rebooting Tech Culture, in conversation with John Wawrzynek and the Berkeley Society of Women Engineers. Reception and book signing will follow.Telle Whitney is a senior executive leader, an entrepreneur, an author, and a recognized advocate and expert on women and ...
China looms large in US conversations about AI policy. But often the stories that spread about Chinese AI are oversimplified - “China is poised to overtake the US in the AI race,” “DeepSeek proved that chip export controls have failed,” “AI is one area where the US and China should ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
After Dark: Wondrous FungusCalling all fungi fans! Join us for an evening of spores, stalks, and species galore.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95
NightLifeThursdays hit different at NightLife. The museum comes alive after hours - wilder, more curious, and full of exciting creatures. Grab your friends, grab a hand-crafted drink, and let yourself wander into whatever weird or wonderful corner calls you. You never know what you’ll stumble into next, and that’s the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
Friday, 03/06/26
Computer Vision for Sustainability ResearchThis session will cover:Core computer vision methods and emerging approaches (e.g., image segmentation, object detection, foundation models)Applications across climate adaptation, energy systems, agriculture, urban resilience, conservation, and moreOpportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborationMany sustainability challenges depend on extracting insights from visual data at scale??"from monitoring ecosystem change to assessing climate risk. This ...
Thermal radiation plays a central role in energy conversion, yet it is rarely treated as a designable resource in solid-state systems. In this talk, I will discuss how controlling radiative energy exchange with materials and optical structures enables new routes for power generation beyond conventional photovoltaics. I will first describe ...
Macrocyclic arene compounds have played a fundamental role in the development of supramolecular chemistry. Research on these systems have laid the foundations to explore and establish non-covalent interactions, e.g., hydrogen bonding, pi···pi stacking, C-H···pi interactions. My research group has taken the basic principles of macrocyclic arenes to design architectures enforcing ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
First Friday Nights at CuriOdysseySwing into the weekend with science, animals, music, food trucks, and fun! On the first Friday of every month, parents and kids celebrate together at CuriOdyssey.Dance to some of your favorite hits, while enjoying animal presentations and science activities. Activities and programs are different each time, so make it a ...
Tucker Jones will talk about early galaxies observed with the James Webb Space Telescope,andEmily Silich will speak about what happens when clusters of galaxies collide.
Where: DavisCost: Free
Climate-Resilient Bay Area - LivestreamWe welcome Charlie Onorati of SaveSFBay giving us a status update on the Bay Area’s climate resilience, with a focus on sea level rise.Charlie will share key resources to help attendees understand the Bay’s preparedness for sea level rise, explore regional biodiversity, and examine nature-based infrastructure projects that reduce flooding ...
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a high mountaintop in Chile, is equipped with an 8.4-meter primary mirror and the largest digital camera in the world, the LSST Camera. Rubin Observatory will soon begin an unprecedented 10-year survey that will repeatedly scan the entire Southern sky every three to ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 03/07/26
Life’s Six Great Ways of BeingUnderstanding how all of life is organized and interrelated remains fundamental to biology and evolution. Advances and applications of molecular phylogenetics and other tools continue to fascinate, inspire questions about common ancestry, and invite reexamination of traditional classification systems and the Kingdoms of life. Please join us to hear from ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free, donations encouraged
Butterfly Garden Volunteer Workday at the EECJoin us in this volunteer opportunity to help the educational native plant gardens and trails at the EEC!Help us with maintain and improve the habitat and trails at the Environmental Education Center at the Don Edwards SF Bay NWR! Activities may include removing invasive plants, picking up litter, or maintaining ...
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point BluffJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by POST ambassadors who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve which hosts tide pools ...
The North Bay Science Discovery Day is a one-day, free community science festival to spark curiosity and wonder in children and families. The festival brings together 100+ organizations and 10,000 attendees - supported by 70 sponsors and 150 volunteers - for youth to talk with scientists and engineers while exploring ...
First Saturday Tours are a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the Arboretum or to deepen your knowledge of the Arboretum’s plant collections. Each tour is a little different depending on the time of year, the interests of the tour guide, and the people who join in. For example, you ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Sunday, 03/08/26
Marine Science Sunday: Amazing MigrationsWe're celebrating the animals that love to travel! Marine mammals like gray whales and northern elephant seals are famous for their epic migrations along the California coast. During this Marine Science Sunday, you'll learn about some of the ocean's best swimmers.Talks at 10:30 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PMSpace is ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free with advance registration
