The Colossus Project: Designing an optical/IR instrument to detect life outside the solar system This talk describes an effort to detect life, and even conduct a planetary census, in our cosmic neighborhood. I'll describe some results from the Colossus group, an interdisciplinary science and engineering team, working to show how telescopes much larger than the TMT or EELT could be built today by relaxing ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Can We Cope with Sea Level Rise?Climate change is affecting sea levels around the world. In Australia a rise of around a meter by the end of the century is predicted. The impacts of this are likely to be significant in a number of ways. Planners need to carefully consider the location of future coastal developments. ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Shock-Bubble InteractionWhen a shock wave propagates across the interface between fluids of different acoustic impedance, two fundamental events follow: the refraction of the shock wave across the non-uniformity, and the baroclinic generation of vorticity on the interface. This latter, in turn, causes the development of distinct vertical structures which lead to ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Changing Shores: What the Bay's Past Can Tell Us about Its FutureThe Save the Bay moment of the 1970s was a premier regional effort at environmental protection and presented a model to the world. It remains an unfinished project, however, for the San Francisco estuary, like all shores, is what Rachel Carson called an "elusive and indefinable boundary," which can never ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students
Things should be things and not computersWho wants to reboot their thermostat? Garage door opener? That's where we're heading because most Internet of Things (IoT) vendors have taken a "Honey, I shrunk the computer" design approach. That's wrong. The danger is that the commonly used Internet architecture, that was designed in ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $10 General, $5 members at door, free in advance
Since 1999 Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang have collected more than two tons of plastic trash from 1000 yards of Kehoe Beach along the Point Reyes National Seashore. For Finding Meaning in the Mess, their exhibit at the Bay Model, they have transformed this debris into engaging works of art that raise awareness of the sheer ...
Dr. Shaffer's uses novel smart technologies to study long-range movements, distribution, and behavior of wild seabirds and marine mammals in Alaska, Antarctica, the Arctic, and the tropical Pacific. This new form of biotechnology is shedding light on the secret lives of marine animals that range widely over the open sea. ...
Northern Sierra Nevada Water FundMuch of the northern Sierra Nevada provides water supply to California and Nevada. Climate change predictions in this region call for less snow and more rain, and increased catastrophic wildfires. In addition, US Forest Service lands contain many overly dense forests at risk of high intensity fire, but without funding ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
History of MarinshipJoin Ranger Bill as he facilitates an in-depth discussion on the history of the Marinship Shipyard at the Bay Model built by the Bechtel Corporation at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt in March of 1942. Learn about the 93 ships built here during WWII.
Who Owns The FutureStanford EE Computer Systems ColloquiumRoom B03Speaker: Jaron Lanier, Microsoft Research
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Solar Enlightenment: Why Solar Energy is a Bright IdeaAre you bummed about climate change? Think there's nothing you can do to make a real impact? Do you wish solar energy was a tangible solution, but remain unsure? Then make sure you come to this installment of Rooted and Rising to learn how solar energy is changing the ways ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Science and Reason with Skeptics in the Pub, West BaySkeptics in the Pub, West BayFiddlers Green, MillbraeIf ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the film-flam man, and if ye drink, drink with us, your friends. If ye shun the brewer's art, at least help us lay waste to bangers & mash!Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly ...
George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral, the On the Same Page selection for 2013, will give the keynote lecture to kick off this fall's program.Dyson is an author, boatbuilder, designer, and historian of technology whose interests have included the development (and redevelopment) of the Aleut kayak (Baidarka, 1986), the evolution ...
The Dark Side of the UniverseThe Universe appears to be dominated by an unknown form of matter, known as "dark matter", responsible for pulling matter together and for holding together galaxies such as our own Milky Way, and by an even more mysterious form of energy, known as "dark energy", which governs the fate and ...
Three years ago, browsers started to add Do Not Track features, and users flocked to the Do Not Track approach. Business, however, was not so eager. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) gathered over 100 stakeholders to come to a consensus decision of what a site should do when a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Forensic Medical Examiner InvestigationsForensic investigator Rosa Vega from the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's Office will come to San Jose State to deliver a seminar on death investigation.
As part of the On the Same Page program, distinguished panelists will discuss the Turing test and how it fosters the exploration of the boundaries between human and artificial intelligence. Panelists will describe the development of Berkeley's own version of the test, the Turing Test Tournament, and discuss how being ...
This week, NightLife travels back in time to the roaring 1920s in honor of Steinhart Aquarium's 90th anniversary.Old-timey cocktails and the vintage vinyl stylings of DJ Tanoa set the mood, while African Hall transforms into a swinging speakeasy with swing dancing lessons nearby from Lindy in the Park.Artifacts from the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
'Rabid' talk and book signing with Bill Wasik and Monica MurphyA maddened creature, frothing at the mouth, lunges at an innocent victim... It's a scenario that underlies our darkest tales of supernatural horror, but its power derives from a very real virus, a deadly scourge known to mankind from our earliest days. In this fascinating exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: FREE
Sleepless Nights: Sleep Problems and DisordersLearn about sleep and sleepiness, how to recognize common sleep problems and sleep disorders, and receive treatment for them. Dr Kushida will also share some do's and don'ts for good sleep.Speaker: Clete Kushida, MD, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine
A longstanding challenge is to design molecular structures that fold and function in the crowded, complex environment of the cell. My lab is developing methods to repurpose natural RNA structures that have the intrinsic ability to fold stably inside cells and to bind small molecule or protein ligands. These engineered ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Net: Utopia vs. DystopiaJoin us for an enlightening and provocative evening as we explore the Internet's double-edged sword: its ability to spread knowledge and democracy and its potential risk to civil liberties and personal freedoms. This exciting evening will feature prominent speakers with diverse viewpoints on the impact the Internet has had on ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25
Black Holes: The Science Behind the Science FictionLick Observatory hosts a Summer Visitors Program (SVP), inviting the public to observe through both the 36-inch Great Lick Refractor and Nickel 40-inch Reflecting Telescope. Each evening also features two speakers, who present programs even if clouds or fog prohibit viewing.Lick astronomers present multimedia lectures on their research or ...
Where: Mt. HamiltonCost: $9.50
Houge Park Start PartyMeet with members of San Jose Astronomical Society for a Star Party, weather permitting.
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Saturday, 09/28/13
Being Human 2013The 2nd Annual Being Human conference will examine human nature a variety of evolutionary, scientific and philosophical perspectives.Designed to foster a deeper understanding of what it means to be human, this thought-provoking event will present groundbreaking insights from a spectrum of leading scientists, philosophers, educators and thinkers on the frontiers ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $50.00 - $257.00
Eye-Opening Science: Conversation and Controversy Earth 2.0: Where is it...Can We Visit?NASA scientists from the SETI institute will be discussing their latest research with Academy Fellows & Scientists and would like to invite you to join them for a small gathering in an intimate Saturday morning setting. Come join them in the conversation while enjoying pastries, coffee and tea. The topic ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $35 General, $25 Members & Seniors
While new treatments are offering hope where there once was none, the reality of age-related vision problems is daunting. Conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts can have a devastating impact on quality of life. As options for activities dwindle, and as vulnerability to falls and injury increases, the ...
Where: NovatoCost: $10 Donation
Science Saturday: Sea OttersCelebrate Sea Otter Awareness Week at the Museum! Find out if you'd rather have otter fur or blubber, see what it's like to eat like a sea otter, examine real otter fur, make a craft to take home, and more! Discover just how important otters are to Monterey Bay as ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Exploratorium's Fog FestivalCelebrate the enigmatic and ever-changing nature of fog and explore the science behind what is one of San Francisco's most salient meteorological phenomena at the Exploratorium's first-ever Fog Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, September 28, 2013 inside the museum and in its Outdoor Gallery. From the science behind ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Included with museum admission
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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
The Little Carquinez Strait Boat Race at the Bay ModelThis is an activity for kids 5-8 who enjoy racing homemade boats. It is amazing what wads of aluminum foil and a little imagination can produce. Tin foil provided. Come and create your own ship design and sail your boat from Suisun Bay to the mouth of the Napa River ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Fog City: The Talk ShowFilmmaker Sam Green has been exploring the intersection between cinema, performance, and public programs for several years. In this latest iteration of his form-blending practice, Green will present a live talk show on the subject of fog and San Francisco, using materials and several of the subjects from his documentary film ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 for adults; discounts available
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
Across a Sea of Suns: Charting Other Worlds, Distant EarthPrograms include concert, a talk by a University of California astronomer about current research, and (weather permitting) viewing through the historic Great Lick Refractor and the Nickel 40-inch telescope. Knowledgeable local amateur astronomers outside the buildings provide additional telescopes and informal astronomy discussions.Due to safety concerns, children under the age ...
Where: Mt. HamiltonCost: $40 General, prefered options available
Have you ever thought about the history of the atoms that make up your hand or your heart? They existed long before you did, and astronomers can actually trace back their story to ancient times and ancient processes in our cosmic neighborhood. In this non-technical talk, Andrew Fraknoi will discuss ...
Where: Pleasant HillCost: $20 adults, $10 children
Stacking the Space ShuttleOn our quest to land astronauts on Earth's moon we built the most massive and most powerful rockets to reach our goal. Assembling such vehicles require a specialized building where it all comes together. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) was built for this purpose. The ...
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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Monday, 09/30/13
Mini Monday - Home in the BurrowSpecial morning featuring the newest exhibit at Lindsay Wildlife Museum - The Burrow. Crawl into the burrow and discover wildlife that live in a world of darkness beneath our feet. Encourage your young naturalist's curiosity at Mini Monday, a special day for children and their caregivers. Animal encounters, activities and crafts ...
Where: Walnut CreekCost: $15 for 1st Child ($8 museum member)
Robot Morality: Can a Machine Have a Conscience?Can we out-source morality to a robot? This isn't just a question from a sci-fi movie. Instead it's a question that comes from rapid advances in the field of robotics. Engineers, for example, have tried to program robots to make moral decisions – and to make such decisions when confronted ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how Learn how to be a naturalist! Each month a new nature skill will be presented. October's skill is Stones, Spiders and Scum -- Up Close! Explore the hidden side of everyday things by learning to use a microscope. Variations of the monthly skill will be available each week. This program ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Academy admission
S4: SMALL SATELLITES FOR SECONDARY STUDENTSKevin John ('07) of Sonoma State's NASA Education and Public Outreach group will talk about an exciting ongoing project to teach STEM principles to middle and high school students, through the thrill of building electronics and launching them on high-powered rockets.
New materials afford access to novel physical effects and are a constant source of disruptions in photonic device functionality and performance. Significant opportunities exist in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum; while it is rich in vibrational absorption bands of gaseous chemicals and atmospheric transmission windows, devices remain underdeveloped ...
Poverty and profit tend not to mix. Yet, the alleviation of the former is creating a tremendous opportunity for the latter. Close to one billion people have risen above the poverty line over the past twenty years, entering the global consumer marketplace. The trend is anticipated to continue – potentially ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
BaySci Science Education ForumThe 2013 BaySci Science Education Forum will focus on science discourse (argumentation) as a critical scientific practice illuminated in the Next Generation Science Standards. A panel of language arts and science education experts and Bay Area district leadership and teachers will present examples and strategies for encouraging successful student discourse ...
"A Reason for Reason" skeptical speaker series toys with immortality in September... Please join us and tell fellow critical thinkers!When people complain about aging, they are actually complaining about are age-related diseases. "Aging" is a mental construct, a mass hallucination, a convenience of language. The scientists focused on curing aging are ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Tuesday, 10/01/13
Exploring Complex, High-Dimensional Data For Hidden StructureHow does one search for a needle in a multi-dimensional haystack not knowing what a needle is and not being sure there is one in the haystack? Solving this sort of problem might seem to be impossible, yet this is exactly what Dynamic Quantum Clustering (DQC) manages to do. Several ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
FREE Educators' Open House and Resource FairEnergize your teaching for the new school year by attending the free Educators' Open House at Lindsay Wildlife Museum. Explore and learn about our new exhibits - The Burrow and Hive Alive. Learn about Lindsay Wildlife Museum's school programs, which can be scheduled at the museum, at your school site, or ...
Where: Walnut CreekCost: FREE
Hydrodynamics and Topological Defects in 'Living Liquid CrystalsActive matter is a distinct category of nonequilibrium matter where energy injected at the scale of microscopic constituents is converted into organized motion and function at the macroscopic scale. Examples are bacterial suspensions, epithelial cell layers, the cytoskeleton of living cells, and self-propelled colloids. In this talk I will describe ...
When biologist Aaron Hirsh leads twelve college students to a remote fishing village on the Sea of Cortez, they come upon a bay of dazzling beauty and richness. As the group pursues various threads of investigation-ecological and evolutionary studies of the sea, the desert, and their various species of animals ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Don't Fade Away: Saving the Vivid Yellows of Matisse and Van GoghThe masterpieces of Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat and many of their contemporaries are currently undergoing catastrophic changes, including paint discoloration and loss. This damage, which threatens many works of art of our cultural heritage, is associated with three specific yellow pigments: cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, and zinc ...
Fighting an Environmental Trigger for ALS, Alzheimer's and other Tangle DiseasesIn a remarkable scientific detective story, Cox and his colleagues journeyed to small islands in the Pacific, high lakes in the Andes, remote villages in Japan and markets in western China in search of an elusive killer. Their studies of tribes with the highest known rates of the "tangle" diseases ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students
Robotic Surgery - Engineering from a Surgeon's PerspectiveRobotic surgery has made considerable strides in the last 15 years. FDA-approved robotic systems have revolutionized surgery by giving surgeons better visualization and precision. However, even with the most sophisticated systems, the limitations of surgical robotics are clear to the surgeons who use them. Technologies that are new or greatly ...
Drawing allows the designer to directly reach an audience. In the digital age, however, the tool has seen profound changes in a relatively short amount of time, altering not just how we draw but how we design. Four experts share their thoughts on the communicative power of drawing.Panel:+ John Kriken ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 General, Free for Members
Following the discovery of methane trapped in naturally-occurring gas hydrates (NGH), their energy potential has led to increased research. Being largely (>99%) methane, the energy contained is the cleanest possible from a fossil fuel source. For countries with limited energy resources, such as Japan and India, methane trapped in NGH ...
Extreme Weather in a Changing ClimateExtreme weather and climate events can have serious impacts on human and ecological systems. Changes in the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather associated with changes in the average climate are likely the most serious consequence of human induced global warming. Understanding what the future portends is vital if society ...
Computer Virus-antivirus Co-evolutionOver the past twenty-five years, computer malware (viruses, worms, targeted attacks, etc.) and anti-malware software have engaged in a complex dance - a co-evolution - with the black-hats inventing ever more creative infection and evasion techniques, and the white-hats responding in-kind with ever-more innovative defenses. In this talk, Professor Nachenberg will provide a fascinating ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
How the Universe Went from Smooth to Lumpy: The Modern Origins StoryThe talk will provide an overview of the modern understanding of our origins in astrophysics. The story begins in the infant universe, which we now know was remarkably smooth compared to what we see around us today, with only tiny differences in its properties from one part to another. By ...
Distinguished actor and writer Peter Coyote, a passionate advocate for wildlife and wild nature, will be joined by Camilla Fox, Project Coyote Executive Director, and Bob Crabtree, Project Coyote Science Advisory Board Member and Yellowstone Ecological Research Center's Chief Scientist, in a rare Bay Area event! Peter, Camilla, and Bob will share their ...
Acupuncture has an undeserved reputation as one of few effective SCAMs (Supplements, Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Discover what THEY don't want you to know: acupuncture is based on fantasy, is not effective, and cannot be effective.Speaker Mark Crislip, M.D., has been a practicing Infectious Disease physician in Portland Oregon since 1990. He ...
Join the Climate Change and Health IdeaLab (CHIL) for a conversation with Kristin Aunan, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research-Oslo (CICERO), about her work on climate mitigation and human health in China.Dr. Aunan's research focuses on the co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation (benefits to ...
High Frequency Design On PCBSonoma State Engineering Science Lecture SeriesSpeaker: Mr. Tamir Moran, Principal Hardware Engineer
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Lawrence Hall of Science Educator NightJoin us for this special after-hours event. Explore the Lawrence Hall of Science and the resources we offer to help you get the most out of your school year, from field trips to curriculum to professional development. Enjoy wine, beer, and snacks while you do hands-on science activities and connect ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free for Educators
Cafe InquiryMeet up with rationalists, skeptics, and freethinkers south of San FranciscoCafe 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! Look for the black balloon.For more information or if you have questions please ...
Fog is the stuff of legends, extolled by writers, expounded upon by filmmakers, and studied by meteorologists across the globe. Swirling, beautiful, and occasionally creepy, fog is a salient part of San Francisco's identity-something we may love, or hate, but which we rarely ignore.After Dark: Fog, the Exploratorium's adults-only (18 ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15; $10 for members
Sharktoberfest NightLifeTake a bite (and a sip) out of NightLife this week as Sharktoberfest returns!Sample local beers from the brew masters at Ale Industries, Almanac Beer Co., Anchor Brewing, Calicraft Beer, Drake's Brewing Company, Mad River Brewing Company, Social Kitchen and Brewery, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Triple Voodoo Brewing, and others ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Chronic Low Back Pain: Causes and TreatmentsLow back pain is one of the most common causes of chronic pain having an astounding impact on the individual, their family, and society as a whole. This talk will review the causes of low back pain with specific attention to both serious causes that need immediate attention, and those ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Electricity: It's AliveRobert Porter will spend a few minutes taking some of the mystery out ofelectricity. Many people find this awesome power to be incomprehensible. It'sinvisible and you cannot taste it. But when you get shocked you know it! Itpowers our Prius and our brains. Porter will talk about the few elements ...
Where: SebastopolCost: $5
Friday, 10/04/13
Field Botany FridaysCome hike with ACR staff. While we hike, we may identify plants, survey for rare plants, photograph wildflowers, discuss ethnobotany or other trailside botany. Takes place the first Friday of every month.Please dress for the weather and bring at least one quart of drinking water. You may also wish to ...
The Importance of Sustainable Forest Management in CaliforniaSandy Dean describes the history of his involvement with Mendocino Redwood Company and Humboldt Redwood Company in California. Hear about changes from traditional industrial forestry to Forest Stewardship Council - certified management, the social challenges of changing forest practices, and recent legislative activity around California forest management policy. There will ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Public Astronomy Nights at Sonoma State: Perseus, Pegasus, & AndromedaTo find the Observatory: Follow the signs from the freeway to the campus. The Observatory is located inside the stadium area at the SE corner of the campus (East Cotati Avenue and Petaluma Hill Road, 2 miles east of U.S. 101 at Cotati). Call before coming if it appears likely ...
Guided Nature WalkExperience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve. Our half-day guided nature walks are on Saturdays throughout fall and spring. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained Bouverie volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral. Guided Nature Walks range ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
Shark Day!MSI loves sharks! Our special Shark Day invites one and all to learn about these amazing creatures, from the Great Whites that swim just off our ocean shores, to the gentle Leopard Sharks that are common in our Bay. For 420 million years, sharks have roamed the world's seas. Join ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: $10 - $20 RSVP online.
Hawk Talk and Banding Demo - CANCELLEDCome 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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Robert Ferguson Observatory-Public Solar ObservingThe Robert Ferguson Observatory (RFO) is open to the public for Daytime Solar viewing: Solar telescopes are set up so you can safely look at and listen to our favorite star, the Sun.Admission: FREEParking: $8.00 Park Use FeeHandicapped Parking is available at the entrance to the Observatory
Where: KenwoodCost: $8.00
Science Saturday: Frog in the Fog, Part 1Amphibians, the first land vertebrates, contain over 7,100 known species and are the most threatened group of vertebrates today. In just the last two decades an emerging infectious fungal disease has caused declines and extinctions of amphibians on a scale that has never been seen in human history. Vance Vredenburg's ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Trekking the ModelJoin a ranger guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5 acre hydraulic model of San Francisco Bay and Delta. Discover the stories of the two major operations that took place at this location between 1942 – 2000.
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Fish Feeding FrenzyHelp Ranger Bill feed the hungry inhabitants of our fresh and saltwater tanks. Watch the different feeding styles of rock cod, sea stars, and steelhead trout.
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Intel Museum - Free Binary Beading Class Engages KidsWhat are all those 1s and 0s that make up binary code? And for that matter, what's binary code? Students ages 7 and up learn how computers use this 'digital' language to send, process, and receive information. By using beads to represent a switch's on and off states (1 and ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
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. These events are held in Crestview Park, San Carlos California. Dates and Sunset times are below. Note that inclement weather (clouds, excessive wind and showers) will cause the event ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free
A Monkey on Your Back!To date, there is no airplane or helicopter that can carry NASA's Space shuttle as freight inside its cargo bay; enter the Boeing 747 to do the trick. We'll discuss the exceptional skills needed by the crew and the aerodynamic, stability, and vibration challenges that raise the stakes when performing ...
Where: OaklandCost:
An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist With the 2006 publication of The God Delusion, the name Richard Dawkins became a byword for ruthless skepticism and "brilliant, impassioned, articulate, impolite" debate (San Francisco Chronicle). His first book, The Selfish Gene, caused a seismic shift in the study of biology by proffering the gene-centered view of evolution. It ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $20 General, $20 Perferred
Robert Ferguson Observatory-Public Star PartyStar Parties: Starting at dusk, the Observatory's three main telescopes are open for your viewing. Docents set up additional telescopes in front of the building, while presentations on astronomical topics are given in the classroom throughout the course of the evening. Friendly and knowledgeable docents are available to answer your ...
Where: KenwoodCost: $11.00
Sunday, 10/06/13
Free Day of ScienceFirst Sundays are FREE! OMCA is free all day the first Sunday of every month. Tour the building with members of the Museum's Council on Architecture at 1 pm and enjoy a Docent-led tour of the Gallery of California Art at 2 pm. Grab lunch or a snack at Blue ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Hawk Talk and Banding Demo -- CANCELLEDCome 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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how Learn how to be a naturalist! Each month a new nature skill will be presented. October's skill is Stones, Spiders and Scum -- Up Close! Explore the hidden side of everyday things by learning to use a microscope. Variations of the monthly skill will be available each week. This program ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Academy admission
Special Performance: The Kepler Story -- SOLD OUTWe are excited to announce our first ever prime-time Sunday evening performance series taking place in the Morrison Planetarium - the world's largest all digital dome. As a one-man performance with dramatic supporting music and full dome visuals, the Morrison Planetarium in collaboration with Motion Institute presents The Kepler Story ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Richard Dawkins: 'An Appetite for Wonder'The Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics (AHA!) at Stanford will be hosting Professor Richard Dawkins for an interview about his new autobiographical memoir, An Appetite for Wonder, followed by a Q&A and book signing (books will be available for purchase at the event). Richard Dawkins is the former Professor For Public ...
Where: StanfordCost: $15 General, Stanford Students free
Monday, 10/07/13
PHYSICS AND LAW: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND 21ST CENTURY BUSINESSWayne Sobon of Inventergy, Inc, a Cupertino-based investment and licensing company, will be discussing how intellctual property is a modern business asset with ties to science, business, and language. Mr. Sobon will delve into his career path from an undergraduate degree in physics to patent law.
The expression of cancer-specific biomolecules by a tumor is dynamic in time, space, and may depend on the physiological environment the cells are in. Hence, in order to truly study cancer biology at the molecular level, it is important to visualize these biomolecules in living subjects – their most natural ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Rising Power: Cleaning Coal in ChinaChina consumes nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined, and is leading the world in greenhouse gas emissions. Now, even as China builds more coal-fired power plants, it is working to roll out technologies to burn that coal more cleanly - from anti-smog filters to systems ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Accountability and Outcomes in Addiction Treatment in an Era of Health Care ReformNew standards of accountability are emerging in addiction treatment as a result of recent parity legislation and health care reform that involve the full range of unhealthy use to dependence. Gain an understanding of some of the key outcome and performance measures in the field as accountability becomes more integrated ...
Tumbling down Mt. Tamalpais through Muir Woods to the Pacific,Redwood Creek has enchanted generations, from the elite of San Francisco's Bohemian Grove to Zen meditators and more. But the creek and its critically endangered salmon were loved almost to death.Speaker: John Northmore Roberts, Landscape Architect
Where: AlbanyCost: Free
Earth Matters: 'Fracking'-The Blue Bridge to a Green Future?Fracking"-shorthand for obtaining natural gas through hydraulic fracturing-has become one of the most widely recognized and emotionally charged words in our contemporary energy lexicon. Thanks to abundant supplies, relatively low prices, and cleanburning properties compared to coal, shale gas is booming in the worldwide market. But concerns about the environmental ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Tuesday, 10/08/13
Black Holes, Quantum Mechanics and FirewallsThought experiments have played an important role in figuring out the laws of physics. For the unification of quantum mechanics and gravity, where the phenomena take place in extreme regimes, they are even more crucial. Hawking's 1976 paper "Breakdown of Predictability in Gravitational Collapse" presented one of the great thought ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Balancing Hope and Reality: How could physicians do better?Anthony Back, MD, is Professor of Medicine at University of Washington in Seattle. He is Director of the Cancer Communication and Palliative Care Programs at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC). He is board-certified in Medical Oncology and Palliative Medicine, and his primary research ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Fracking the Monterey Shale?According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California's Monterey Shale may hold as much as 15 billion barrels of oil – more than 64% of all recoverable shale oil reserves in the United States, and more than four times the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. Many are concerned, however, ...
A local delegation reports on a recent visit to Switzerland to study the covering of thousands of buildings with living roofs. The Swiss model of green roofs is lighter, cheaper and richer in biodiversity than many American counterparts. How can we learn to develop a sustainable, affordable model to better ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 General, Free for members
Meet Robotics Teams from Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton High SchoolsSRI International is proud to sponsor local student robotics teams, including those from Palo Alto (Paly) and Menlo-Atherton High Schools. Join us on October 8 when these award-winning teams take over the Café to show off their latest robots built to compete in FIRST Robotics and other competitions. Meet these ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
The Yosemite Rim Fire: How to Improve Fire PolicyThe mixed conifer forests within the devastating recent rim fire have changed drastically since 1911, with tree densities having increased 10 times and downed wood fuel loads five times. Wildfires under such conditions result in excessive tree death, which could negatively impact water quality. But managers at Yosemite National Park have been using a system ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Mmebers, $7 Students
Story of Stuff: short movie screening + discussionHave you ever wondered where does all your stuff come from and where it goes when you throw it away? An organization called "Story of Stuff" was created 6 years ago to understand exactly that (they began in the city of Berkeley!). During these years, they have become an ...
Deep Dive Into Android App Development tutorial is a fast-paced hands-on introduction to Android app development for those already proficient in Java. By the end of this tutorial, you should understand how to go about building a very simple Android app.During the tutorial, we'll develop a working Twitter-like application capable ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
October 8th Astronomy Program Moraga LibraryMt. Diablo Astronomical Society along with Moraga Library presents astronomy activities:See stars, nebula, galaxies, clusters, and the moon through member telescopes. Bring kids, dress warmly. Astronomy program is weather dependent.
Where: MoragaCost: Free
Venture Capital and Impact InvestingNancy Pfund founded DBL Investors with the goal to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, economic and environmental returns. As a leading player in the growing field of "impact investing", DBL has helped to reveal the power of venture capital to promote social change and environmental improvement. Come spend ...
Where: San JoseCost: $6.50 in advance or $10 at the door
Inaugural LASER at UC Santa CruzAt UCSC's inaugural LASER, speakers will lay the foundation for the series by speaking about the intertwining of art and science. Questions like "why art and science" and "why now" will provide context for the series as a local forum for presenting art and science projects underway throughout the University ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $4 Parking
Intel's Justin Rattner in Conversation with John Markoff of The New York TimesJustin Rattner is a corporate vice president and the chief technology officer (CTO) of Intel Corporation. He is also an Intel Senior Fellow and head of Intel Labs where he directs Intel's global research efforts in processors, programming, systems, security, communications and, most recently, user experience and interaction. As part ...
Machine Learning on Big Data for Online AdvertisingRocket Fuel is a leader in the use of detailed data to automatically choose who to show particular ads to. In this talk, CTO Mark Torrance will explain how Rocket Fuel approaches this problem from a machine learning, modeling, and optimization perspective. He will cover technologies in use for the ...
6:30-6:55: Zann Gill(former NASA scientist) on "Resolving Prediction's Paradox: collaborative intelligence ecosystems"Collaborative intelligence characterizes distributed, multi-agent networks... Read more6:55-7:20: Jennifer Parker(UC Santa Cruz) on "Down to earth: Art, Astronomy and Physics"Highlighting new works created by artists and scientists from the UCSC OpenLab Network...Read more7:20-7:40: BREAK. Before or after the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Richard DawkinsDawkins has been central to the debates surrounding creationism, intelligent design and religion. He coined the word meme, and his gene-centric view of evolution helped popularize the radical new understanding of Darwinism. From his early childhood in Africa to his educational awakening at Oxford, Dawkins shares his personal experiences that ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $25 General, $15 Member, $10 Student
Video Games for Mathematics, a public talk by Keith DevlinKeith Devlin will show how casual games that provide representations of mathematics enable children (and adults) to learn basic mathematics by "playing," in the same way we learn music by learning to play the piano.Prof. Devlin is a mathematician at Stanford University, a co-founder and executive director of the university's ...
Want to make a real difference in changing minds in a "skeptical" direction? Alone, it is difficult; together, with other like-minded people, you can affect what content people outside our "choir" see. Susan Gerbic, skepticism activist, shares her deep knowledge of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia, an effort to improve skeptical content on the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: FREE
Thursday, 10/10/13
Serious Mental Illness: How Can We Promote Public Health and Public SafetyThis forum will be a dialogue concerning what the health care system and what the general public can do to promote the well-being of families who are facing mental illness. It will also address how society should respond to the very small proportion of individuals with mental illness who commit ...
How does UCSF use genetics to personalize cancer treatments?UCSF invites you to meet our scientists and learn how we are using information from the Human Genome Project to personalize cancer treatments. The event includes a brief reception with light refreshments, followed by the discussion with researchers from UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Caner Center. Please join us! Simply RSVP ...
Plunge into the mysteries of our Universe (and beyond) with a cocktail in-hand during a cosmic edition of NightLife, part of the Brilliant!Science: Extraterrestrial Life festival. Catch a special screening of sci-fi classic E.T. the Extra-terrestrial in African Hall. Find out what we've found and what we're still learning in ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
7:00-7:25: Taraneh Hemami(Visual Artist) on "Theory of Survival"Abstract...Read more7:25-7:50: Sasha Leitman(Stanford CCRMA) on "Research in Computer Music at Stanford's CCRMA"An overview of the history of CCRMA's research and current work ...Read more7:50-8:10: BREAK. Before or after the break, anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of art ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Bone Cleaning Course by Ron CaubleThe Bone Room's own Ron Cauble will again teach a class on the basics of bone and skeleton cleaning. Space is limited so please call in advance to sign up.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $10
ZomBees!San Francisco State University Biology Professor John Hafernik will describe how he serendipitously discovered that a small native fly, Apocephalus borealis, has begun parasitizing European honey bees. Parasitized bees show the "zombie-like behavior" of leaving their hives at night on "a one-way flight of the living dead." They soon ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 10/11/13
Advanced Imaging ConferenceJoin over 300 of the worlds most accomplished astrophographers for three intensive days that feature techniques from the leading experts, over 25 exhibitors offereing the latest technology and a chance to network and form friendships that will propel your images to new heights.Experience an Information Explosion during AIC 2013 workshops ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $299 for Bay Area Residents
Organic and carbon nano materials are attractive for low cost electronic units for electronic skin as well as medicinal, food storage, and environmental monitoring applications. The ability to couple the sensory electrical output with on-chip signal processing can overcome the need for bulky, expensive equipment typically required for most ...
Over the past 40 years, Bioarchaeology has emerged as an interdisciplinary research domain dedicated to exploring the lives of past peoples. In this presentation, I briefly consider our history in the context of "the bioarchaeologies," distinctive approaches that signal vitality and longterm viability for this dynamic field. In commenting upon ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Saturday, 10/12/13
Advanced Imaging ConferenceJoin over 300 of the worlds most accomplished astrophographers for three intensive days that feature techniques from the leading experts, over 25 exhibitors offereing the latest technology and a chance to network and form friendships that will propel your images to new heights.Experience an Information Explosion during AIC 2013 workshops ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $299 for Bay Area Residents
Eye-Opening Science: Conversation and Controversy SETI: The Archaeology of the FutureEye-Opening Science: Conversation and ControversyCosmic Evolution: A Scientific Creation Myth Like No OtherModerated by Jill Tarter, Bernard Oliver Chair for SETI Research & Academy FellowDavid Morrison, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute and Academy FellowEugenie Scott, Executive Director, National Center ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $35 General, $25 Members and Seniors
Intel Museum - Free Circuitry Class Engages KidsSchematics, Switches and CircuitsFrom doorbells to karaoke machines, kids ages 9 and up will be introduced to reading schematics and building circuits. After a quick introduction to the basics, they will work in teams to build a variety of electronic devices that ring, beep and play songs! Space is limited ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
Wildlife Conservation ExpoJourney to some of the most exotic places on Earth - from the African savannah to the Colombian rainforest and the Asian steppes - accompanied by twenty of the world's leading wildlife conservationists. Hear their stories of saving endangered animals through work with local communities and the use of groundbreaking ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $75 General, 40 Students
Hawk Talk and Banding Demo - CANCELLEDCome 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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Family Science and Astronomy FestivalJoin us for a day of astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology and physics lectures, demos, workshops, and planetarium shows!Planetarium shows 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm, 5 pm, and 6 pm A presentation of the night sky by Darryl StanfordScience Workshops Hands on workshops in Science and Astronomy 2 pm, 3 pm, ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Science Fiction Film Festival and Writing Contest Awards CeremonyScience, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc. (SEM Link), African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) and The I.S.I.S. Project are hosting a Science Fiction Film Festival and Writing Contest Awards Ceremony. This event will feature a family friendly science fiction film as well as a panel discussion with STEM ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Intel Museum - Free Circuitry Class Engages Kids -- Second SectionSchematics, Switches and CircuitsFrom doorbells to karaoke machines, kids ages 9 and up will be introduced to reading schematics and building circuits. After a quick introduction to the basics, they will work in teams to build a variety of electronic devices that ring, beep and play songs! Space is limited ...
Comets, meteors, and asteroids: how are they different, how are they related?Hold real meteorites – rocks from space – in your hand.Then experience views through the telescopes to see Jupiter and the rest of our Galaxy.
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
Breaking through the Seeing Barrier in Planetary AstronomyWhen Galileo Galilei pointed his telescope toward Jupiter in 1609 and discovered what we now call the Galilean moons, he did not realized that he had just established a new research field in astronomy. In the past four centuries, planetary astronomy, the study of our solar system bodies using telescopes, has increased ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
Robert Ferguson Observatory-Int'l Observing the Moon NightCome out and visit us on this unique observing night!International Observing the Moon Night.Starting at dusk, the Observatory's three main telescopes are open for your viewing. Docents set up additional telescopes in front of the building, while presentations on astronomical topics are given in the classroom throughout the course of ...
Where: KenwoodCost: $11.00
Jazz Under the StarsThis event is weather dependent. If skies are cloudy or overcast, the event will be cancelled. Latest weather updates.Visit our roof top observatory and see the moon thru our telescopes, while listening to KCSM Jazz 91 FM. Dress warmly and come by anytime between 8 & 10 p.m.Free parking in Marie ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 10/13/13
Advanced Imaging ConferenceJoin over 300 of the worlds most accomplished astrophographers for three intensive days that feature techniques from the leading experts, over 25 exhibitors offereing the latest technology and a chance to network and form friendships that will propel your images to new heights.Experience an Information Explosion during AIC 2013 workshops ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $299 for Bay Area Residents
Marine Science Sunday: Creatures of the Deep This month we celebrate Halloween with a creepy collection of the animals that live in the darkness of the ocean! Come learn about the elephant seal's ability to dive to 5000 feet and stay underwater for 2 hours at a time, how a sperm whale dives in search of the ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Rosenberg Institute Discovery Day at Romberg Tiburon CenterDiscovery Day is our annual open house, the one day of the year when the public can visit and spend the day behind the scenes, meet our scientists and learn about their research in San Francisco Bay and beyond.See the laboratories and tools our scientists use to do their workMeet ...
Where: TiburonCost: FREE
Hawk Talk and Banding Demo - CANCELLEDCome 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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how Learn how to be a naturalist! Each month a new nature skill will be presented. October's skill is Stones, Spiders and Scum -- Up Close! Explore the hidden side of everyday things by learning to use a microscope. Variations of the monthly skill will be available each week. This program ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Academy admission
Special Performance: The Kepler Story We are excited to announce our first ever prime-time Sunday evening performance series taking place in the Morrison Planetarium - the world's largest all digital dome. As a one-man performance with dramatic supporting music and full dome visuals, the Morrison Planetarium in collaboration with Motion Institute presents The Kepler Story ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Special Performance: The Kepler Story -- Second PerformanceWe are excited to announce our first ever prime-time Sunday evening performance series taking place in the Morrison Planetarium - the world's largest all digital dome. As a one-man performance with dramatic supporting music and full dome visuals, the Morrison Planetarium in collaboration with Motion Institute presents The Kepler Story ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Monday, 10/14/13
Summit to SeeA monthly cross-country hike to a high point or other highlight of the sanctuary with natural history, photography, birding, etcPlease dress for the weather and bring at least one quart of drinking water. You may also wish to bring a hat, an extra layer, and a snack. There are no ...
Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and author. His scientific interests include biomimetic information architectures, user interfaces, heterogeneous scientific simulations, advanced information systems for medicine, and computational approaches to the fundamentals of physics. He collaborates with a wide range of scientists in fields related to these interests. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
EXO AND THE QUEST FOR MAJORANA NEUTRINO MASSESDr. Giorgio Gratta from Stanford University will discuss recent evidence pointing towards a non-zero mass for neutrinos, and will describe how the EXO program might be able to measure neutrino masses.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Chemistry in Optical Imaging: Using Nanotechnology to Amplify SignalsWe will survey the use of gold nanoparticles to harness optical energy for biomedical imaging and therapy. The main focus will be on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and photoacoustic imaging. SERS has long been used to characterize materials and for in vitro diagnostics; recent work has transitioned this modality into ...
This miniseries will explore the ways in which data can guide decision making in energy research, policy, business, and the personal sphere – from determining which problems and products should be pursued to achieve the biggest bang for the buck, to employing it to shift individual and household energy choices.Speaker: ...
The last decade has seen a revolution in astrobiology – the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Results returned by planetary missions in the Solar System such as Messenger, Venus Express, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Express, MSL and the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $8 Members
Tuesday, 10/15/13
Skeptics in the StudioNorth Bay Skeptics are: humanists, atheists, freethinkers, agnostics and undeclared, who embrace modern skepticism. We celebrate the scientific method, and the application of logic and evidence to all claims. As in the tradition of many Skeptical groups world wide, we like to gather for lively discussion on current topics and ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: Free
High-Profile Energy/Carbon Management StrategiesLearn how facilities can "go green" just by adopting a simple set of ideas in this entertaining talk by strategic adviser Eric Woodroof. He first presents an overview of global energy and carbon trends, and then leads an open discussion about practical measures that can be done to help improve ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Living Technology Today/Artificial Life TomorrowThe field of artificial life emerged in the 1980s as an avant-garde alternative to artificial intelligence. For many years it was ahead of the science to support it, but recently it has developed an applied side with an advancement in technology that derives its usefulness from properties usually associated with ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 non-members, $8 members, $7 students
Asteroid Radar Astronomy, Spacecraft Missions, and the Impact Hazard The near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are a population of objects on orbits that pass near that of the Earth. Many NEAs are attractive targets for spacecraft missions, and NEAs are also important because some of them will eventually hit Earth. Both future NEA missions and the impact hazard motivate understanding the ...
Beyond Mars, Earth"Dare mighty things" concludes the most dramatic space video in years, "Seven Minutes of Terror." Narrated by Adam Steltzner, it spelled out how the "sky crane" his team designed at JPL would have to perform an elaborate, impossible-seeming sequence to lower the huge Mars rover Curiosity to the planet's surface ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, Free for members
In 1900, a party of sponge divers chanced on the wreck of a Roman merchant vessel between Crete and mainland Greece. It was found to contain numerous ancient Greek treasures, among them a mysterious lump of clay that split open to reveal 'mathematical gears', now known as the Antikythera Mechanism. ...
Digital 6th SenseA global innovator in mobile technology, Dr. Jacobs is leading the convergence of connectivity, context and control to give us a digital "sixth sense" that will transform our lives - from how we communicate to how we interact with the world.Speaker: Dr. Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm
Mostly missless memory in the Mill CPU: Avoiding the pain of cache misses in a atatically-scheduled architectureThe Mill is a new CPU architecture designed for very high single-thread performance within a very small power envelope. It achieves DSP-like power/performance on general purpose codes, without reprogramming. The Mill is a wide-issue, statically scheduled design with exposed pipeline. High-end Mills can decode, issue, and execute over thirty MIMD ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Cosmology after PlanckThe Planck Telescope has made an accurate full-sky measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature, the leftover heat from the big bang. These measurements probe both the physics of the very early universe and the basic properties of the universe today. The Planck measurements confirm the earlier results from ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Stanford Biology Thinks Big!Come to the first Stanford Biology Thinks Big!, an exciting symposium that will feature engaging, TED-like talks from four Stanford professors. John Boothroyd, Carlos Bustamante, Susan McConnell, and Mary Teruel represent the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Genetics, Biology, and Chemical and Systems Biology, and the event is designed to ...
In the Milky Way groups of stars range from sparse collections of only a few dozen stars, to massive globular clusters with a million members. Dr. Stahler will explain the basic reason why Nature forms stars in groups and why different regions of space create such vastly different entities. This ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Nerd Nite SF! Confessions of an Alien HunterSeth Shostak knew he would spend his life hunting for signs of life in the Universe from the time he was just 10 years old. He is now Senior Astronomer at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute whose mission is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and ...
Movie Reconstruction From Brain Signals and Statistical StabilityRecently, researchers have attempted to answer one of the important questions in computational neuroscience: Can the vast quantities of high-dimensional neuroscience data available today be used to decode brain activities? Professor Bin Yu reports on a thrilling breakthrough at the intersection of neuroscience and statistical machine learning that is ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
History of the U.S. Army Corps of EngineersJoin Ranger Bill to learn about the "When/Where/Why/What/ How," the diverse, complex, many faceted missions, goals and objectives of the USACE's "Birth" in 1775 under General George Washington.
Nation from the Bottom Up: Environmental Hygiene and Disease Prevention in Twentieth Century JapanThis talk is based on a chapter from Nation from the Bottom Up: Environmental Hygiene and Disease Prevention in Twentieth Century Japan. It examines the history of fecal-oral route and parasite-diseases, and the technology of toilets and waste-management, asking the larger question of how Japan managed, treated and disposed of ...
Treasure Island NightLifeGet marooned for a night of island-inspired entertainment as the Treasure Island Music Festivalreturns to NightLife.Get down with a live performance by local folk-rockers Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, whose latest release We the Common (Ribbon Music) has been lauded by the likes of NPR, Spin and Paste ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
'Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences Between the Sexes in the Animal Kingdom'Evolutionary biologist Dr. Daphne Fairbairn will be giving a talk and signing her new book, "Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences Between the Sexes."While we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of other animals. For instance: the male garden spider ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: free
Neuropathic (Nerve) Pain-- from Toe to HeadThis talk will focus on treatment strategies for nerve pain ranging from peripheral neuropathy to complex regional pain syndrome.Speaker: Ian Carroll, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesia, Stanford University Medical Center
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
The Science of Our UniverseJoin Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world.We tend to think of "home" as the building in which we live, or the town or city where we reside. Voyage to the edge of the known universe, and gain some perspective on the tiny planet we call ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
Alan Weisman / Countdown: Our Last Best Hope for Life on Earth?In his bestselling book The World without Us, Alan Weisman considered how the Earth could heal and even refill empty niches if relieved of humanity's constant pressures. Behind that groundbreaking thought experiment was his hope that we would be inspired to find a way to add humans back to his ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 General, $8 students in advance, $20 at door
David Lukas, writer and naturalist, will cover bird bones, feathers, and muscles and how they work together to help a bird fly and live in its environment. Expect to learn about the inner and outer workings of birds.
The San Francisco–East Bay area still harbors one of the densest nesting populations of Golden Eagles in the world. Yet all is not well. Aside from development pressure putting the squeeze on eagle habitat, wind farm operations at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area account for a high eagle mortality ...
Sydney Glassman is interested in the interactions between aboveground and belowground terrestrial communities, in particular the effects of mycorrhizal symbioses on plant community composition and function. She is also interested in understanding broad patterns of fungal and microbial diversity and the role of dispersal in shaping ectomycorrhizal communities. Sydney received ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Friday, 10/18/13
Center for Global Public Health Annual Symposium 2013Join us for the Center of Global Public Health's Annual Symposium featuring Prof. Marion Nestle, followed by a reception. Prof. Nestle is a Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University and author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Future of Global Healthy Food: From Science to PolicyJoin us for the Center of Global Public Health's Annual Symposium featuring Prof. Marion Nestle on Friday October 18 from 8:30 am- 5 pm at the Banatao Auditorium in Sutardja Dai Hall followed by a reception. Prof. Nestle is a Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Just Twelve Men Throughout all of human history, only twelve people have ever walked on the Moon-one of the smallest explorers' clubs ever. Who were these twelve, and how were they chosen? The expected factors such as experience, skill, and seniority did play a role. But so too did unexpected medical conditions, office ...
The longstanding reliance on fossil fuels has boosted the atmospheric CO2 concentration to a level that is unprecedented in modern geological history. Since the use of carbon-containing fuels is entrenched in society, controlling the atmospheric CO2 concentration may ultimately require recycling CO2 into liquid fuels and commodity chemicals using ...
Dynamic Weather Routes: The Search for Smarter Flight RoutesAdverse weather is the leading cause of flight delay in the US National Airspace System. Airline flight dispatchers must file flight plans about an hour before push-back from the gate using their best available weather forecasts. FAA traffic managers assess the impact of weather on traffic flows, and, when necessary, ...
Join us for a lively conversation about all things gaming! Meet the dynamic husband and wife duo of John Romero and Brenda Brathwaite Romero as they discuss their paths into and through this industry and get a peek at what they believe the future holds. John is the mastermind behind ...
Where: OaklandCost: $23 General, $20 Members in advance; $29 at door
The Exploratorium is pleased to announce a newly commissioned work by experiential artist Jeppe Hein to debut October 18, 2013. Hein has designed six Long Modified Benches to animate the public promenade of the Embarcadero in front of Pier 17, part of the Exploratorium's new campus. Hein's site-specific work reminds us how ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Saturday, 10/19/13
Geology of the Golden Gate HeadlandsExplore 200 million years of geologic history and learn the fascinating story told by the rocks at the Golden Gate.Bring a lunch and wear comfortable walking shoes and a coat.Trip includes a short but strenuous walk down and up a 200-foot bluff.Meet Ranger Will Elder in front of Fort Point. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Take FLight for KidsJoin us for the third annual community festival for Silicon Valley youth interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Take Flight for Kids believes that the sky is literally the limit to reaching out and overriding perceived limitations. Join us, and see how high you can reach!Foight schools and ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Guided Nature WalkExperience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve. Our half-day guided nature walks are on Saturdays throughout fall and spring. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained Bouverie volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral. Guided Nature Walks range ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
Bay Area X-PlanesA child stopped in front of a house in his neighborhood and asked the woman working out front why she had such a strange looking canoe in her driveway. "It's not a canoe, it's an airplane!" said the woman. Mystified, the boy asked where the wings were if the odd ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free with admission
Celebrate National Chemistry WeekThe theme of this years' interactive chemistry show is: "Energy Now & Forever", and is free for kids of all ages! Join us for experiments, prizes and fun for all!
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Intel Museum - Free Class Lets Kids Explore the World Inside of a FabKeeping it Clean (ages 7 and up)Explore what it's like inside an ultra-clean, highly automated silicon chip fabrication facility (fab) - from particles of contamination to bunnysuits - and get an inside glimpse into a Class 1 Fab from the museum. Space is limited and reservations are required. Email museum@intel.com ...
Just as San Francisco's late-in-the-year summertime comes to a close, and cool autumn nights begin, the Exploratorium will celebrate its final Market Days open-air festival of the season. Market Days: Heirlooms will look at the great experiments, cultural practices and traditions that make human culture rich. The free, family-friendly event is on ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
The Mighty Single-Celled Yeast: Brewing, Medicine and BiotechnologyHumans have taken advantage of the metabolism of the tiny fungus called baker's or brewer's yeast to generate beer and wine from grains and fruits and to bake bread and other confections for millennia. Less appreciated is the fact that this organism has provided a living test tube in which ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Feeding Our Future: Contemporary Family Nutrition and the Obesity EpidemicHere in the US, we are facing an epidemic of a disease that threatens to leave our children with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. One in three American children is either overweight or obese and while the origins of the problem are complex, the solution doesn't have to ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Science Saturday: Frog in the Fog, Part 2David Blackburn is a curator of amphibians and reptiles in the Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences. He specializes in studying the diversity, evolution, and conservation of amphibians, especially frogs. Working with colleagues and students around the world, Dave's current work focuses on the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Do Lake Lagunita Salamanders Hold the Chemical Clues for Treating Pain?Natural poisons, such as the one found in the skin, reproductive glands, and eggs of Taricha torosa (California newt), can be used as 'tools' to study the complex biochemical mechanisms associated with nerve cell conduction. In this talk, Professor Du Bois discusses the potential for creating next-generation pain medicines modeled ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Lessons from Early Development: Stem Cell Reprogramming and Human Development AgingThe excitement over stem cell research is generated by the many potential applications in medicine. But how close are we to seeing the first uses of this promising breakthrough in treating humans? What are the safety concerns, and when we will know its real value? Dr. Reijo Pera provides background ...
Saturn V CountdownTake a closer look at this magnificent flying machine that took man farther and faster than ever before. The story of the complex and powerful Saturn V moon rocket is anything by short and sweet. Nearly half a million dedicated people toiled for the better part of a decade to ...
Where: OaklandCost:
Sunday, 10/20/13
Wine Country Optics and Nature FestivalMeet the company experts from Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Nikon, Pentax, Kowa, Opticron, Celestron and more. Experience the newest spotting scope, cameras and binoculars on the market! Nearly one thousand people attended the event at Cornerstone Sonoma last year. Stroll through award winning gardens, shops and visit with over 25 major ...
Where: SonomaCost:
Naturalist 101: SKULLS TELL IT ALLScientists can learn many things by looking at an animal's skull, and so can you! In this two-hour workshop, learn the essentials of how to identify local animals by their skulls. Discover what determines if the animal was predator or prey, what it ate, what sense was most important to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
What and why: A Maker Faire is about celebrating learning and doing – not the finished and perfect end product. It's a place to share what we're learning with others, and celebrate the fun and freedom of being an amateur.Featuring both established and emerging local "makers," the East Bay Mini Maker ...
Where: OaklandCost: $12.50
Hike the HeadlandsHike the Headlands Sunday, October 20, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.Participate in our 1st annual family–friendly fundraiser and help make our programs accessible to ALL children. Enjoy hands-on science activities along the trail, musical entertainment, refreshments, festivities, and prizes!Individual participant registration for adults ($42) and families up to four ($82), children ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $42-$82
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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how Learn how to be a naturalist! Each month a new nature skill will be presented. October's skill is Stones, Spiders and Scum -- Up Close! Explore the hidden side of everyday things by learning to use a microscope. Variations of the monthly skill will be available each week. This program ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Academy admission
Join Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world. We tend to think of "home" as the building in which we live, or the town or city where we reside. Voyage to the edge of the known universe, and gain some perspective on the tiny planet we ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 for adults; discounts available
Monday, 10/21/13
Green Infrastructure in PracticeChih-Wei 'G.V." Chang, RLA, LEED AP, Associate SWA Group joins us for a discussion of examples of bringing research and rigorous analysis into landscape architecture project design.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
SOLAR FUELS PRODUCTION BY ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESISDr. Joel Ager from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will explain his research on practical methods to use sunlight to generate liquid transportation fuels, using a carbon-neutral energy source. Artificial photosynthesis is the first step to such alternative fuels.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Ethics in an Energy Crisis: What Should We Do When Current Needs Conflict with Long-Term Sustainability?Ethics are important. The economic divide between the developed and developing world highlights the ethical dimensions of energy access in a climate-constrained world. Is it fair to hinder economic growth in developing countries because the wealthiest nations have changed the composition of the atmosphere and changed the climate of the ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Radioluminescence: Old Concept, New ApplicationIonizing radiation has many uses in medicine, both for imaging and therapy. For instance, radionuclide imaging provides sensitive, quantitative, and non-invasive characterization of molecular disease processes in vivo. X-ray computed tomography is the standard method for imaging the human anatomy with high spatial resolution. Megavoltage radiation is one of the ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Tuesday, 10/22/13
Dynamics of Ice, Water and Salts in the Martian SubsurfaceRecent discoveries on Mars suggest ice may be or recently was present at latitudes where it is not expected and at unexplained abundance. As ice may be unstable under present Martian climatic conditions, a mechanism may be needed to explain the presence of ice in the near surface at these ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Water and Health in South Asia: Water, Disease, and PollutantsJoin us for a discussion with Steve Luby (School of Medicine, Stanford University) and Scott Fendorf, (Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford)University), as they discuss hydrology, disease burden and chemical environments.Woods Institute
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Short and Long Term Impacts of the Rim Fire on the Tuolumne River WatershedThe Tuolumne River is the circulatory system for the health of the Tuolumne River Watershed which sustains a large portion of the Stanislaus National Forest in the Sierra Nevada of California, including Yosemite National Park. The Rim Fire, located primarily in the Tuolumne River Watershed, has burned over 253,000 acres ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $11.34
Fundamental Fluid Dynamics and the Olympic Swimming MovementThe world of competitive swimming is dynamic. Swimmers today are bigger, stronger and faster than they ever have been. The training regimen of an elite athlete includes not only endless practice of his or her skills, but also a carefully planned diet, strength and endurance training, and hours of mental ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
New Concepts for Old Black HolesProf. Leonard Susskind of the Stanford University Physics Department will give the Applied Physics/Physics colloquium
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Chester Chester Chester October 22, 2013 marks the exact 75th anniversary ("10-22-38") of Chester Carlson's invention of the process that came to be known to the world as xerography.Growing up in deep poverty in Southern California, Chester managed to graduate from Caltech in June, 1930, as he himself later wrote "right on time ...
Consumer and mobile displays - technology & trendsTouch screens encompass a wide variety of technologies and sensor structures. The touch industry is evolving rapidly, driven by competition to reduce materials usage, size, and cost while improving performance. Smartphones and tablet PCs have been the dominant applications, and while there has been much activity around touch in traditional ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $10 General, Members free in advance, $5 at door
Latest Kepler ResultsOur monthly meetings begin with a short "What's Up" presented by one of our members followed by a speaker. This month's speaker is – Dr. Jon Jenkins, NASAThere is no fee for visitors but we appreciate a donation for light snacks and beverages.
This talk will discuss the use of unmanned land, sea, and aerial systems for civil and environmental engineering with specific focus on the human-robot interaction necessary for these types of systems to be of practical use in the field. A new human-robot interface for ad hoc Mission Specialists that provides ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
How to Have Fun in the DeltaHave you ever thought about all the things there are to do in the Delta? Come find out some fun and interesting adventures you and your family can have by exploring this hidden gem with Ranger Bill.
Robots With Common Sense for Production Environments The IT revolution has given us consumer devices, from phones, to search engines, to physically interactive games, that use intelligence to make inferences and operate effectively in a complex dynamic world. That level of intelligence has largely been absent from the factory floor, with a much more traditional top down ...
Natural history collections, behind the scenes in museums, document the history and scope of life on Earth through time and space. Their study is multinational and multigenerational: anyone with curiosity may make an enduring discovery. At scales of resolution ranging from molecular to global, collections provide hard data to model ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Seniors, Free for Members
Finding that the experience of difference within families is universal, Solomon expands our definition of what it means to be human. In his new book, Far from the Tree, he examines families coping with extraordinary disabilities as well as children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape and who ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Game Changers: Trip Hawkins with the New York Times' John Markoff Trip Hawkins is a Game Changer and a Revolutionary, who considered interactive games to be a new art form and their creators, artists. He founded Electronic Arts, 3DO and Digital Chocolate. He is also a Hall of Fame game industry and digital media consultant. We are extremely pleased to welcome ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost:
Science and Reason with Skeptics in the Pub, West BaySkeptics in the Pub, West BayFiddlers Green, MillbraeIf ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the film-flam man, and if ye drink, drink with us, your friends. If ye shun the brewer's art, at least help us lay waste to bangers & mash!Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly ...
Where: MillbraeCost:
The Art and Science of BeerCo-Sponsored by Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation and California Section ~ WCC of the American Chemical SocietyBoxed Meals Available for Pre-Purchase: $10 (non-refundable). Reserve@LLLCF.org or (925) 283-6513 x.103 to order. Beer, Wine, Beverages, Coffee & Cookies for sale in the Community Hall21+ Only
