Coronal heating and acceleration and NASA's Solar Probe Plus missionThe thermodynamic temperature of the Sun's atmosphere rises from ~6000K at the visible surface to millions of degrees in its outer atmosphere, the corona. This hot coronal plasma then expands supersonically to become the solar wind; this wind acceleration process is ongoing to very high altitudes (~10 solar radii) There ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Emerging Wireless Applications In BiomedicineIn recent years, we have become fascinated by the idea of tiny surgical robots that can be introduced into a blood vessel, travel through the patient's body, exchange information with an external controller for detailed diagnosis, and perform local interventions. They might even be permanently resident in the body for ...
Understanding the Deep Sea - Oceanography Meets BusinessOur community is increasingly asking demanding questions on the prediction of the natural world. What useful chemicals will be discovered from the ocean and ocean mud? Will the steady trend in movement of California precipitation from snow to rain continue, or accelerate? What is the average recurrence time for earthquakes ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students
Tim O'Reilly - Birth of the Global MindTim O'Reilly presents: Birth of the Global Mind"The history of civilization is a story of evolution in our ability to build complex 'multicellular minds,'" says Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media (books, conferences, foo camps, Maker Faires,Make magazine.)Speech allowed us to communicate and coordinate. Writing allowed that coordination ...
Finding paths for sustainable energy production is one of the foremost challenges as worldwide demand is quickly growing and increased concern of climate effect due to increased concentration of greenhouse gasses. One promising direction, especially for production of liquid transportation fuels, is re-engineering the metabolism of microbes like baker's yeast ...
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 ecosystem thrive. Tour includes a short hike and is best suited for ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Design Aspects and Performance Parameters of Microwave Signal SourcesSignal Sources are critical parts of many test and measurement systems. They are required to generate well-controlled and calibrated signals to stimulate the device or the system under test to generate a calibrated response that can be measured to determine the device or system performance. Signal sources have evolved from ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Cafe InquiryMeet up with rationalists, skeptics, and freethinkers south of San Francisco.Cafe Inquiry is a social event hosted by the Center for Inquiry|San Francisco. We'll meet at Café Borrone http://www.cafeborrone.com/ between Kepler's Books and the British Banker's Club!
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
BERC Water Entrepreneurs WorkshopInterested in water issues? How about the latest innovations in consumer technologies that are helping to drive improvements in water use efficiency? If so, please join BERC for the annual Water Entrepreneurs Workshop, co-hosted with Imagine H2O (http://www.imagineh2o.org/). We are excited to have a stellar group of panelists including Andrew ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 until 9/24, $30 General, Free Students
Energy Upgrade California Program Homeowner WorkshopThe purpose of this workshop is to introduce home performance and provide information on the Energy Upgrade California Program to homeowners, as well as to familiarize them with the Energy Upgrade California web portal.
Science and creativity in the city of innovationSan Francisco's creative nature inspired innovation long before the silicon chip: Some of the world's most influential inventions were dreamed up by San Franciscan tinkerers. On this tour, we explore seven surprising stories of innovation that exemplify San Francisco as a hotbed of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Pay-what-you-can First Friday
Building Innovation Gary Dillabough, Managing Partner, Westly Group Ann Hand, CEO, Project Frog Kevin Surace, Founder, Serious EnergyOffices and homes waste a lot of energy and leave a lot of money on the table. A new generation of startups aim to change that by bringing innovative technology and finance to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $65 General, $45 Members
Speaker: Cliff Federspiel is the CTO and founder of Vigilent,a Bay Area company that focuses on building intelligent and automated energy management systems for data centers and large building facilities. Dr. Federspiel began his career in R&D at Johnson Controls after receiving his BSME from California Polytechnic State University San ...
There is a need for photovoltaic technologies with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) exceeding 20% that can be produced with a module cost under $0.50 per Watt. We believe that making hybrid tandems with organic solar cells on top of silicon or CIGS solar cells is one of the most promising ...
Go Wild! Kid's Nature ProgramDid you know that there is a 30,000 acre wildlife refuge right here in the South Bay? That it is home to over 280 species of birds each year? Join us as we learn more about Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge with stories and fun activities.
Lonesome Wolf: The Life and Times of OR-7Charismatic and controversial, the gray wolf has been the subject of ongoing political battles and intensive recovery efforts in the United States. Against a backdrop of intrigue, policy and wolfish romance, we will learn what this majestic animal is all about. Steep yourself in an evening of wolf history, biology, ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: FREE
Science Set Free: Dispelling Dogmas & Opening New FrontiersMany scientists believe that science already understands the nature of reality, in principle. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. The impressive achievements of science seem to support this confident attitude. But recent research has revealed unexpected problems at the heart of physics, cosmology, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $16 Members
Space is not Just a Vacumn: The Case for Continued Space ExplorationExploration of space is not just about increasing knowledge of the solar system and universe, though those are important reasons. It's also about addressing the challenges that we face as a society and civilization, such as energy supply and resource acquisition. But more immediate concerns can also be addressed, including ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Houge Park Start PartyMeet with members of San Jose Astronomical Society for a Star Party, weather permitting.
Join PRBO educators for an opportunity to learn about the conservation and protection of threatened Snowy Plovers and beach habitat and participate in PRBO's largest annual fundraiser, the Bird-A-Thon*. The walk will be 3 hours, 9 am - 12 pm, in order to identify and count as many species as ...
Where: Point ReyesCost: $35
Free Public Hike at Pepperwood Preserve!Join us for a FREE general introduction to the natural history and land management of Pepperwood Preserve. This is a moderate 4-5 mile hike with an elevation loss and gain of about 750 feet. Participants should be in good health and able to hike over hilly terrain. All hikes are ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: FREE
Science Set Free: Dispelling Dogmas & Opening New Frontiers WorkshopMany scientists believe that science already understands the nature of reality, in principle. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. The impressive achievements of science seem to support this confident attitude. But recent research has revealed unexpected problems at the heart of physics, cosmology, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $155 General, $124 members
Festival SaturdaysCheck out hands-on science activities on the second Saturday of every month. Explore the "magical" properties of matter and energy, solve medical mysteries, and explore creatures of the sea at our inspiring tabletop festivals.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory Hawk Talk and Banding DemoCome to Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands and get an up-close view of the fall raptor migration with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO), a cooperative program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and National Park Service.A GGRO docent gives an hour-long talk about hawk monitoring and identification ...
Seismic forces that shaped the citySan Francisco is famous for its hills, which lend the city its character and breathtaking views. On this tour, we'll explore the unique qualities that have shaped San Francisco's distinctive terrain, while munching through edible seismic activities and getting up close and personal with the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $30 with discount code 'Schmooze'
San Mateo County Astronomical Society Star PartyThe City of San Carlos Department of Parks and Recreation and the San Mateo County Astronomical Society have open Star Parties twice a month.Reasons to AttendIf you have kids interested in space or planets bring them here for a real life view of planets, nebula, star clusters and galaxies.If you ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free
Sunday, 09/09/12
EcoFair MarinCome celebrate Marin's leadership in sustainability. A rich experience is waiting for you - from our speakers and exhibitors to music and activities for the whole family.
Where: San RafaelCost: $5 General, under 17 Free
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory Hawk Talk and Banding DemoCome to Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands and get an up-close view of the fall raptor migration with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO), a cooperative program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and National Park Service.A GGRO docent gives an hour-long talk about hawk monitoring and identification ...
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 ecosystem thrive. Tour includes a short hike and is best suited for ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Monday, 09/10/12
Recent Results from NASA's Kepler Mission: Good Planets are Hard to Find and Vice Versa Kepler vaulted into the heavens on March 6, 2009, initiating NASA's search for Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars in the habitable zone, that range of distances for which liquid water would pool on the surface of a rocky planet. In the 1000+ days since Kepler began science operations, a flood ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Silicon Convergence: Creating system solution by merging coarse and fine grained programmable hardwareWhile continuing semiconductor miniaturization enables ever more complex systems, the cost and complexity of system innovation becomes increasingly out of reach.A standard solution consisting of high performance processors, hardened peripherals, and a programmable logic fabric is ideal to address system integration challenges. Complementary to similar advances in software, a host ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
September LASER EventSchedule:6:45pm-7:00pm: Socializing/networking.7:00-7:25pm: Hana Mori Bottger (USF Architecture) on "At the Intersection of Beauty and Strength: Earthen Structures that Survive Earthquakes"An overview of the variety of earth-composite structures throughout the world.7:25-7:50pm: Jennifer Dionne (Stanford Univ) on "Lights, Nano, Action!"Imagine a world where cancer is cured with light, objects can be made ...
When some stars die they produce remarkably bright "supernova" fireworks. Supernovae, the main source of the iron in our bodies, have had a profound impact on science for centuries. More recently, some types of explosions-called "Ia" supernovae-were used to make precise measurements of distance that revealed the mysterious acceleration of ...
In the early days of the Human Genome Project, there was significant skepticism that the project would produce useful information. Yes, it would produce plenty of information about our DNA, but how would we extract meaning from all of that data? Identifying the genes within a genome and predicting their ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Delta - Oil's Dirty Business Tiburon International Film FestivalDocumentary, Greece Director: Yorgos AvgeropoulosAt the Delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, where a vast proportion of the planet's oil is excavated, bomb attacks, abductions and murders form part of the daily routine. The documentary portrays the image of "development", as giant multinational petroleum companies leaks in the River ...
