Aerosols on the Ancient Earth: Lessons from Saturn's Moon TitanAn organic haze layer in the upper atmosphere of Titan plays a crucial role in the atmospheric composition and climate of that moon. Photochemistry in the atmosphere of the early Earth shortly after the time of planetary formation may have led to a similar haze. However, due to differences in ...
Europa's surface records a complex history of geologic activity including fracture systems driven by tidal stress, which varies daily as Europa executes its eccentric orbit. Obliquity, physical libration, and non-synchronous rotation would also contribute to the pattern of tidal stress on Europa. Hence, we can use observed fracture systems to ...
The Fifth Sense: Innovation Powered by PurposeMany have concluded that innovation is not moving at the pace required by social and ecological realities. Werbach presents a model of bottom-up innovation, particularly present in Asia, that ties together network organizing, social purpose, cultural awareness, nanopractices and consumer insight that may be a guide for the quicker adoption ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Quantified Self: The Practice of Personal ScienceThe scientific revolution that began four hundred years ago was powered by the uncanny visibility of things that had long been hidden: celestial objects through telescopes, cells through microscopes. Today, new instruments are bringing hidden aspects of human life into view. The rise of automatic systems to track and monitor ...
Using Technology for Social GoodGrassroots civil society organizations around the world use technology to build their capacity, engage their community, and deliver needed programs. TechSoup Global, a 23-year-old U.S. nonprofit organization, helps other NGOs around the world better manage and use their own technology. This talk will focus on the challenges and opportunities organizations ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Beyond Watson and Crick: Recent advances in the use of DNA as a building materialNearly 30 years ago, Ned Seeman proposed to use DNA as a set of programmable molecular tinkertoys. His goal was to create three dimensional latticeworks for protein crystallography and scaffolds for nanoelectronic devices. Today, such crystals have been achieved---and much more. We can now fold long strands of DNA, origami-like, ...
CALGreen - What You Need to KnowDescription: As the nation's first statewide mandatory green building code, the 2010 California Green Building Standards Code establishes mandatory regulations that will achieve major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and water. Adopted by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, CALGreen goes into effect January 1, 2011.In ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 General & Door, $10 Members in advance
The Food Revolution Meet the man who said "no" to ice cream. Heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, Robbins choose to walk away from the multi-million dollar ice cream business to pursue a healthier and ecologically balanced lifestyle. He outlines why eating is not just a culinary act, but one with profound political, economic ...
Evidence is mounting about the long-term health and environmental effects of chemical pollutants, and global chemical production is doubling every 24 years. Groundbreaking policy initiatives in the European Union and California, however, are beginning to change the forces that drive the design, use, and disposal of tens of thousands of ...
In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge rose high above the Bay Area, linking the urbanity of San Francisco with the wild headlands of Marin County. Join Kevin Starr, one of America's most celebrated historians, as he provides a lyrical account of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. Discover the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $17 Members, $10 Students
Seeing Stormwater: How Green Streets and Rain Gardens Help San Francisco BaySeeing Stormwater: How Green Streets and Rain Gardens Help San Francisco BayWednesday, February 2nd, 7pm-8:30pmEl Sobrante Library Meeting Room, 4191 Appian Way, El SobranteLisa Owens-Viani from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership will give a presentation on How Green Streets and Residential Rain Gardens Help San Francisco Bay. Matthew Freiberg, The ...
Where: El SobranteCost:
Seeing Stormwater: How Green Streets and Rain Gardens Help SF BayLisa Owens-Viani from the San Francisco Estuary Partnership will give a presentation on How Green Streets and Residential Rain Gardens Help San Francisco Bay. Matthew Freiberg, The Watershed Project's Greening Urban Watersheds Program Manager, will discuss innovative and community-run stormwater management projects that are currently happening in our watershed and ...
South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project Science Symposium Dear friend of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, Please mark your calendars.The next South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project Science Symposium will be Thursday, February 3, 2011 at the USGS facility in Menlo Park. More information on the symposium will be distributed and posted to the website as we get closer to ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Crucible in the Courtroom: The Scopes Monkey Trial and Clarence DarrowThe 1925 trial in State of Tennessee vs. John Scopes was a litigation test of First Amendment freedoms that became a national symbol of the tension between supporters of religious fundamentalism and advocates of evolutionary science. This lecture will explore the social background of the case, and highlight the trial ...
Where: LafayetteCost: $10
Younger Lagoon Reserve Tour Experience the wildlife and natural beauty that make Younger Lagoon an exceptional local treasure on this docent-led tour to the lagoon and its beach habitat. Learn about the ongoing research and habitat restoration work that help this vital habitat thrive. Tour includes a short hike and is best suited for ...
The Invention of the Integrated Circuit2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the world's first silicon monolithic integrated circuit product. This was Fairchild's MicroLogic Type F flip-flop announced in March 1961. We take this opportunity to review the events leading to the integrated circuit invention with a special emphasis on the crucial work of ...
Richard Feynman in his famous lecture from 1959, "There's plenty of room at the bottom," presented a wild idea of swallowable surgeons where tiny surgical robots are put inside the blood vessel, travel into the heart, look around, and send the information back to an external controller. These robots can ...
The 2011 Conradin Von Gugelberg (CVG) Memorial Lecture on the Environment features keynote speaker Dr. Marcia McNutt, Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Science Adviser to the United States Secretary of the Interior. Dr. McNutt will speak on crises management during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.A ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Cafe InquiryMeet up with rationalists, skeptics, and freethinkers south of San Francisco. Beers and Books is a social event co-hosted by the Center for Inquiry|San Francisco. We'll meet at Cafe Borrone http://www.cafeboronne.com/ between Kepler's Books and the British Banker's Club! Look for the black balloon.
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Clean Local Energy Opportunities for CaliforniaGovernor Brown's Clean Energy Jobs Plan calls for 60 percent of new clean energy generation to come from energy systems located in our communities. Learn how a Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) contracts program for California can create three times more jobs than our current policies, create new revenue ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $14
Exploratorium After Dark: Get SurrealExperience life After Dark, an evening series exclusively for adults that mixes cocktails, conversation, and playful, innovative science and art events. Not a theater, cabaret, or gallery, After Dark contains aspects of all three. Each evening showcases a different topic-from music to sex to electricity-but all include a cash bar ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, Free Members
Wendy Northcutt, author of the Darwin Awards books, comes to NightLife to share some of the tales which have made her books a runaway success, "honoring those who improve the species...by accidentally removing themselves from it!" The Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Nature has wired us to worry, Dr. Rossman explains in The Worry Solution, so it's futile to try to stop. The good news is that worry itself is a neutral function of our imagination - a reflection of the brain's ability to look at a problem from many different angles ...
Sophie Webb: Artist Reception & Book SigningThere will be an artist reception for Sophie Webb with mammal and bird plates from her new book: "Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast". Sophie and her co-author Sarah Allen will sign books after a short talk before the reception.
Color categories in language and thoughtAlthough the color spectrum is physically continuous, color categories are present in both language (i.e., color terms) and thought (e.g., categorical perception of color). In this talk, I will outline a series of developmental studies that investigate the origin of colour categories. I will present converging behavioural and electrophysiological evidence ...
Electric power grids have become a critical national infrastructure, and will likely remain so for a long time. Having changed only incrementally from the 1890s, when Tesla's AC systems prevailed over Edison's DC system, transmission and distribution (T&D) architecture could continue to evolve in its own image, perhaps just getting ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AstrobiologyDr. Lynn Rothschild, NASA Ames Astrobiologist, will speak on Astrobiology.Member social begins at 7:30.
The search for life in the universe relies on defining the limits for life and finding suitable conditions for its origin and evolution elsewhere. From the biological perspective, a conservative approach uses life on earth to set constraints on the environments in which life can live. Conditions for the origin ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 02/05/11
Cool Tools for Learning by East Bay Computer Using EducatorsEast Bay Computer Using Educators (CUE) presents Cool Tools for Learning. KQED's QUEST Education staff will be presenting one of twelve fabulous hands-on workshops. Join us for a fun-filled day! Download the registration flyer to view the wide selection of sessions. To register for Cool Tools, please visit East Bay ...
Where: HaywardCost: $60
Saturday Science SeminarSaturday Seminar is a free Science & Math professional development opportunity for teachers of grades K - 8 offered in partnership by the Bay Area Math Project (BAMP) and the Bay Area Science Project (BASP) from the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Community Free DayThe Seymour Center is open to the public, free of charge.
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
SMCAS Star Party Come out and bring the kids for a mind expanding look at the universe.Setup of telescopes begins around sunset, with observations beginning about 1 hour later.
Where: San CarlosCost: Free
Monday, 02/07/11
Open InnovationSpeaker: Frank Piller, Chair & Director of Technology & Innovation, RWTH Aachen UniversityRoom 250
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
James Van Allen: The First 8 Billion MilesAstrophysicist James Van Allen barely had time to savor the launch of America's first satellite, Explorer I, in 1958 when colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory told him his cosmic ray detector onboard wasn't working. The instrument kept blanking out. Van Allen discovered in the blanks evidence for the earth's ...
In America's Heartland, where many if not most are skeptical about climate change, a tiny nonprofit has successfully promoted energy solutions. While we certainly wish to change policy, we know that policy alone is not sufficient – the will to implement must be steadfast as well. So we have worked ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
REACH FOR THE STARSFuture rocket scientists aren't the only ones that need a good foundation in science and math. In today's world, all students do -- but our education system is failing them. Nearly two-thirds of 18 year-olds are showing up for college or career unprepared. Fully 80% of the jobs in the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Book Club: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam KeanThe Periodic Table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in "The Disappearing Spoon" follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, ...
