Wonderfest 2010Wonderfest 2010, the Bay Area Festival of Science Saturday, Nov. 6, 1:00-10:00 PM at Stanford's Hewlett Teaching Center Sunday, Nov. 7, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM at UC Berkeley's Stanley Hall *** ENTIRELY FREE ADMISSION ***Science bends your mind at Wonderfest 2010, the oldest science festival in the United States. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Healthy Oceans Film FestivalPlease join Transition Albany and Alameda County Library for a free festival of films that celebrate the ocean and warn of risks to its health. Dr Chris Pincetich, from the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, will present films that tell stories we need to understand and show images of the amazing ...
Bill McKibben, author, educator, and environmentalist will be joined by National Park Service leaders and well-known sustainable food experts from the Bay Area for a discussion about climate change and the global and national value of local food systems. In his new book Eaarth, Bill makes strong connections between building ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $20
Monday, 11/08/10
Resourcing: The New ArchitectureGlobal interdependence, recurring financial crises and pressing environmental concerns demand that we as architects rethink our position toward resources. Sustainable architecture requires that complex solutions be built upon resource inventiveness. Accelerating the pace of innovation is especially important in regions experiencing extreme economic and environmental pressures. These challenges will be ...
Advances and New Technologies in Forensic DNADr. Nader Pourmand, assistant professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UCSC will deliver a seminar titled "Advances and New Technologies in Forensic DNA".Room 124
Converting sunlight into fuels – the role of interface catalysisEssentially all sustainable energy systems rely on the energy influx from the sun. In order to store solar energy it is most conveniently transformed into a chemical form, a fuel. The key to provide an efficient transformation of energy to a chemical form is the availability of suitable catalysts, and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
November LASER event6:30pm-6:45pm: Socializing/networking. Anyone in the audience is welcome to describe in 30 seconds what they are working on.6:45-7:10pm: Ken Eklund on "Massively Seeking Susan: Connecting Strangers Through Gameplay / ZOROP"Don't believe those who dismiss it as some sort of game. Zorop is real, and so is the Great Zoropathetic Warp ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Book Club – Proust Was a NeuroscientistWith impressively clear prose, Lehrer explores the oft-overlooked places in literary history where novelists, poets and the occasional cookbook writer predicted scientific breakthroughs with their artistic insights. The 25-year-old Columbia graduate draws from his diverse background in lab work, science writing and fine cuisine to explain how Cézanne anticipated breakthroughs ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Science at the Theater: No Excuses: 10 ways you can fight climate changePresenters:Iain Walker's research focuses on optimizing the energy use and comfort of buildings. He's a staff scientist in the Energy Performance of Buildings Group, which is part of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division. He's also executive editor of Home Energy Magazine.Cindy Regnier is a Project Manager in the Environmental ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Beyond Organic Farming This is the seventh of ten monthly Monday talks, as part of a talk series, offered by Close To Home, Seeing Connections on Nature. This talk will be given by Rick Knoll, a farmer who will be talking about the magic of the soil/plant interface. Plus the Knoll Farms beekeeper.
Where: OaklandCost: $7
Tuesday, 11/09/10
Discover Lower Tennessee Hollow WatershedJoin docent Barbara Corff on an easy one-mile walk to check on the growth of restored habitat at Lower Tennessee Hollow (Thompson Reach). See what riparian life is all about.Envision the future ecotone between the Crissy saltwater marsh and the freshwater of Tennessee Hollow Watershed. Discover Presidio history as we ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Pritzker Lecture: Ecosystem Impact of the Deepwater Horizon DisasterDr. Roopnarine will present early results of a study of the impact of the Gulf oil spill on marine life there, particularly the mollusks. The techniques used can also be applied to a variety of questions ranging from evolutionary biology to drought in the southwest.Dr. Peter Roopnarine, Curator of Geology, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 general, $10 seniors, free members
Unexpected Physics in BiologyProf. Boris Shraiman of the Univ. of Santa Barbara will give the Physics/Applied Physics colloquium entitled, "Unexpected Physics in Biology".
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Smart Computing for the Smart GridComputing content of Smart Grid is highly varied. Smart Grid has many aspects. From a compute standpoint, the most challenging is in modeling and managing the change from a bulk power distribution system to one that must accommodate bidirectional flows from many sources with the introduction of solar panels and ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free ($2 donation for refreshments)
Pritzker Lecture: Ecosystem Impact of the Deepwater Horizon DisasterDr. Roopnarine will present early results of a study of the impact of the Gulf oil spill on marine life there, particularly the mollusks. The techniques used can also be applied to a variety of questions ranging from evolutionary biology to drought in the southwest.Dr. Peter Roopnarine, Curator of Geology, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 general, $10 seniors, free members
Wednesday, 11/10/10
Computer simulations of convection and magnetic field generation in planetsIn this lecture Dr. Maccone will provide a statistical equation that we call Statistical Equation for Habitables (SEH) as well as its relationship to the Statistical Fermi Paradox. He will start by noting that the statistics of habitable planets may be based on a set of ten (and possibly more) ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Ten Myths of ICT for International DevelopmentThe past decade has seen incredible interest in applying information and communication technologies for international development, an endeavor often abbreviated "ICT4D." Can mobile phones be used to improve rural healthcare? How do you design user interfaces for an illiterate migrant worker? What value is technology to a farmer earning $1 ...
Feedback Motion Planning with Sum-of-Squares VerificationIn this talk, I will present a nonlinear feedback control synthesis algorithm which combines randomized motion planning algorithms, popular in robotics, with sum of squares optimization. In order to drive the system to a goal state or limit cycle, the algorithm systematically populates the controllable subset of state space with ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Animal, Mineral, Regulator: The Gulf of Mexico and Our Oil LegacyMeg Caldwell, Executive Director for the Center for Ocean SolutionsandDr. Larry Crowder, COS Visiting Scientist and Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Building Software Systems at Google and Lessons Learned Underlying the many products and services offered by Google are various interesting hardware and software systems. In this talk I'll outline Google's hardware infrastructure, discuss the evolution of Google's search and infrastructure software, identify some lessons learned in building these various systems, and highlight some interesting areas for future work.Speaker: ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Making Sense of Eco-StandardsThis presentation will give designers, builders, fabricators, and other building professionals the information they need to navigate the eco-standards that are out there and help to present this information to clients so they can make better informed decisions when building or remodelling.In the first part, our panel, comprised of a ...
Where: San RafaelCost: $10 Members Adv, $15 General & at door
The term "societal networks" probably makes most people think about Facebook. For Stanford Professor Balaji Prabhakar, the term applies to a broad range of human activities that are vital for a society's functioning. Transportation networks, electricity grids, healthcare networks are recycling systems are examples.Prabhakar is interested in human behavior and ...
Join us for a screening of the award winning documentary American Coyote ~ Still Wild at Heart and a talk with renowned coyote expert, Camilla H. Fox.This compelling thirty minute film opens with the return of coyotes to the San Francisco Bay area and pursues the coyote's story across the ...
Where: OaklandCost: $12-$20 General, $10-$20 Members
Growing Up with BiotechnologySusan Kramer, Vice President of Product Development at XOMA will share her career path and her experiences growing up with biotechnology.
Where: South San FranciscoCost: $17 General, $8.50 Members, $25 at door
Famed physics teacher and Maker Faire award-winner Zeke Kossover is bringing a scaled-down version of his rollicking Physics Circus to How-To Night! He'll teach us how to do cool physics and chemistry tricks in our very own homes, with minimal equipment, through demonstrations and hands-on group projects. And naturally, he'll ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
New Times, New Tech: Transforming the FutureOver the past 100 years, an unprecedented wave of industrial and technological development revolutionized society to create the fast-paced, interconnected world we live in today. Overlooked however, were the environmental consequences of our activities. With rising issues such as global warming, pollution and sustainability, it is vital to understand the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Waste Land: by Lucy Walker • 2010Artist Vik Muniz collaborates with the trash pickers of Rio's Jardim Gramacho -the worlds largest dump - inspiring them to use garbage as a medium to create images of themselves that reveal both their dignity and despair. 90 minutes. English and Portuguese with English subtitles.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Eco-Politics Strategic RoundtableAn open discussion with veterans of numerous political and ecological campaigns, in a broad attempt to think strategically about how to go beyond the narrow agendas of so many organizations, and the myopia that afflicts all too many eco-activists. From permaculture activism to eco-justice campaigns in Oakland and San Francisco, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the HeadlinesEnergy, global warming, terrorism and counter-terrorism, nukes, cancer, internet, satellites, remote sensing, ICBMs and ABMs, DVDs and HDTVs -- economic and political issues increasingly have a strong high tech content. Misjudge the science, make a wrong decision. Yet many of our leaders never studied physics, and do not understand science ...
Where: San RafaelCost: Free
Thursday, 11/11/10
A Roundtable Discussion with Gary WolfA discussion with Gary Wolf, contributing editor to Wired Magazine. Go here to read his NY Times Magazine cover story, "A Data-Driven Life": http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/magazine/02self-measurement-t.html.Room 470
Flying HighTake an imaginary trip into space. Start the excursion by speeding through a whole day in our planetarium "time machine" and then identifying the Big Dipper. Take off with the launch of a spaceship and learn how things move in space, how astronauts eat food in a weightless environment, and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $4
Moons of the Solar SystemTake a tour of the fascinating worlds that orbit Earth and other planets. Discover the reasons for moon phases and eclipses. Explore Jupiter's moons as Galileo saw them 400 years ago, and see modern images from the Galileo space probe. Learn about NASA's current Cassini mission now studying Saturn and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $4
Constellations TonightThe lore of the stars and other treasures of the sky come to Earth in our planetarium. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations of the season in the planetarium sky. Keep your map to help you find the constellations in the real nighttime sky. ...
Visual Perceptual Learning: Changing the State of the ObserverPerceptual learning improves perceptual task performance in distinctive ways. External noise tests and noisy ideal observer models can characterize the effects of perceptual learning (or attention) on an observer's performance. Across a range of tasks, two independent mechanisms can be seen: tuning of the task relevant perceptual template (external noise ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
EVOLUTION OF CIRCUIT FABRICS FOR NEW APPLICATIONS AND MODELING ISSUESScaling of integrated circuit technology continues to produce improved digital performance-complexity, low power, high performance. For many emerging areas, it is important to consider circuit fabrics and technology options that leverage these new applications.This presentation will include several examples from ongoing research in sensor-based systems. In considering technology options-for both ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
A Cosmic NightLifeNightLife is very excited this week to feature our brand-new Planetarium show: Life: A Cosmic Story, at all three of our NightLife planetarium screenings. Narrated by two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, it seeks to answer the question of how life began on Earth. The journey begins by "shrinking" down ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Bariatric Surgery: One Treatment for ObesityObesity is a complex disease, with numerous causes, and no single answer to weight loss. This talk will focus on bariatric surgery for obesity at Stanford, and will include discussion of criteria for surgery, the surgical options, outcomes and the overall process of this life-changing surgery.Call ahead to register.
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
The Birds of the Presidio ForestJoin Presidio Trust Forestry manager Peter Ehrlich for a slide talk on the breeding birds in the Presidio and the habitat relationships and niches that these birds have found within the park's forests.This is a special program of the Log Cabin Series, a year-long series of talks, multimedia presentations, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
To Set It Straight: The Story of Bacula "Bacula Babe" Jensine Olsen and her "Bacula Accomplice" Kathleen Lilienthal will join us from the California Academy of Sciences . As well as telling us how they earned their nicknames, they will tell us mammals have bacula, and perhaps why.
Where: BerkeleyCost: FREE
Friday, 11/12/10
Sandia Green-house Gas Monitoring System (GGMS) PrototypeSandia will demonstrate its GGMS Prototype which is used to explore methods toanalyze and monitor green-house grass data in the anticipation of a potentialglobal climate treaty. The prototype, developed by team of summer interns andfull-time staff, explores how information from various fixed and remotesensors can be combined and analyzed in ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Why we're so smart: Analogical Processes and Relational Language in Learning and DevelopmentAnalogy is a powerful learning process by which abstract knowledge can arise from experience. Carrying out a comparison entails a structure-mapping process (Gentner, 1983, 2003) that fosters learning in at least three ways: first, it highlights common relational systems; second, it promotes inferences; and, third, it reveals potentially important differences ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The role of demand response in renewables integrationThis talk addresses the challenge of integrating variable and uncertain renewable electricity sources into the grid, and focuses on what demand-side resources and energy storage can do to address these challenges. After discussing some of the technical barriers to grid integration of renewables, I will talk generally about several ways ...
'Inherit the Wind' in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its premiereThe National Center for Science Education and the Bay Area Skeptics present: "Inherit the Wind"The month of November 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the screening of the award-winning Stanley Kramer film Inherit the Wind, and BAS and NCSE are proud to present a free showing of this timeless movie to ...
