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 ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
Theoretical Perspectives on Visual Short-Term MemoryWe propose two new theoretical perspectives on visual short-term memory (VSTM). In Project 1, we conceptualize VSTM as an information channel for transmitting visual information from the past to the present. This information-theoretic perspective allows us to quantify the capacity and precision of VSTM in a rigorous fashion, and to ...
One of the greatest opportunities and challenges in developing a sustainable and efficient transportation infrastructure rests upon intelligent energy management in electrified vehicles. This talk specifically addresses problems at three levels of vehicle electrification: the battery, the vehicle, and the infrastructure. We address energy management at each level from a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
PFC Contaminants in Soil EcosystemsA wide range of pollutants enter the environment directly or indirectly via human activities. Soil as a terrestrial reservoir plays an important role in these pollutants' fate and toxic effects. These contaminants can enter the food chain and impair the quality of water and food. Dr. Zareitalabad's research focuses on ...
Hypothesis examines the intersection of art and science by showcasing the ways in which both artists and scientists ask questions, experiment with processes and arrive at outcomes. Participants will represent their practice (artistic, scientific or any combination thereof) in relation to the scientific method and present it in the form of ...
Actors meet scientists! See what happens when experts in comedy improvisation glorify, qualify, and versify the science insights of earnest PhD students (Wonderfest's Science Envoys)… Laughter joins learning to capture your imagination.
Everyone loves a good time travel story. However, given what we know -- and don't know -- about physics, is time travel in any way plausible? Using popular movies as a framework, Prof. Ken Wharton will outline several distinct categories of consistent time travel stories, and discuss possible connections with ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 11/02/13
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: FREE to the publicParking: $8.00 Park Use FeeHandicapped Parking is available at the entrance to the Observatory.
Writers from throughout the Bay Area will gather for a unique, daylong writing conference. The museum's first annual Wild About Writers Celebration will give participants the chance to hone their craft, find inspiration, and network-all at one of the region's best-known wildlife centers.The retreat will focus on a writer's inspiration and craft, the ...
Celebrate your creativity, imagination, and resourcefulness playing with cardboard. What can you build out of cardboard? A house? A spaceship? A fort for your rolly pollies? Using cardboard and simple materials you can build almost anything. Come create with the Children's Museum of Sonoma County and Friedman's Home Improvement for ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: 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
San Bruno Mountain Watch: Natural History and Ecology HikeSan Bruno Mountain Watch regularly leads hikes on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Learn about the history and ecology of San Bruno Mountain. E.O. Wilson the legendary ecologist called San Bruno Mountain an "Island of Biodiversity" and has identified as one of 18 biodiversity hotspots on the ...
AT&T Park will become a science wonderland when the Bay Area Science Festival concludes again with this FREE science extravaganza. Last year, more than 30,000 people enjoyed a non-stop program chock-full of interactive exhibits, experiments, games, and shows, all meant to entertain and inspire. With more than 150 exhibits, there ...
San 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 made San Francisco's landscape what it is, while getting to know the local geology and munching our way through edible seismic science activities. We'll ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 Adults, $20 under 18
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
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 ...
The evening will begin with a lecture and slide presentation by UC Berkeley researcher Dan Werthimer. Then Paul Salazar, the Urban Astronomer, will lead the audience in a brief tour of the night sky. Finally, all attendees are invited to walk to a nearby site where the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers will ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
To The MoonFrom imagination to realization, NASA's Apollo program is packed with bold vision, engineering elegance, and tales of courage and shear human toil. We'll take a trip down memory lane and visit the Moon. With colorful images we will look back at the physics and challenges of landing astronauts on the ...
Come enjoy the beautiful fall weather and birds along Rodeo Lagoon. Join volunteer Jane Haley for an easy walk along the lagoon and experience what the Marin Headlands has to offer.Meet at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center at 9:30 am for this 1½-mile walk. (See website for directions)Bring binoculars, field ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
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
Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how Hone your expertise as a naturalist! A unique skill will be highlighted each month. In November, check out Searching the Sky-What's Up? where you'll learn to see the sky like an astronomer. Space is limited; please register in the Naturalist Center a half hour before program begins. This is a ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Monday, 11/04/13
WHAT (SOME) PHYSICISTS DO: ONE HILLBILLY'S PERSPECTIVE ON THE SUBJECTDr. Jerry Johnston from Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. in Santa Rosa will be talking about his career evolution from being an academic to a technical project manager position in the aerospace and defense industry.
Through systematic reviews and original research, this presentation will review evidence of environmental impacts of renewable electricity generation technologies compared, where possible, to their conventional incumbents. Evidence for greenhouse gas emissions, water and land use will be reviewed mostly from the perspective of life cycle assessment. Areas of uncertainty will ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Microfluidic Biological Processors: Towards Micro Biosystems on a ChipThe basic life components (genes, protein, cells) function at critical length scales; the aggregate of these multi-scale reactions enables precise and complex living operations, such as the immune response, regulation and adaptation, repair and maintenance, and hierarchical self-assembly. Rapid advancements in microfluidic technology are beginning to enable large-scale, high-throughput processing ...
Precise control of quantum systems currently occupies many labs throughout the world, with recent interest focusing on quantum information. This talk will focus on quantum-state manipulation in the context of trapped atomic ions, one example of similar work that is being carried out with many other AMO and condensed matter ...
Program:6:45pm-7:00pm: Socializing/networking.7:00-7:25: Laura Richard(UC Berkeley Art Historian) on "An interdisciplinary introduction to artist Maria Nordman"Abstract forthcoming... Read more7:25-7:50: Paul Skokowski(Stanford Philosopher) on "Are you a zombie?" Abstract forthcoming... Read more7:50-8:10: BREAK. Before or after the break, anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of art and science will have ...
What if YOU could hear with your ankles, shed your skin to get smaller, squeeze seven kinds of silk from millions of tiny built-in spigots, or release a balloon from your hind end and sail 30,000 feet above the earth? What if you ate your mate after sex – or ...
Where: AlbanyCost: Free
The Modern Origins Story: From the Big Bang to Habitable PlanetsThe scientific understanding of our origins began in earnest with Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, and others, and has since evolved into a rich, detailed, and well-tested model. In addition to their intrinsic scientific importance, these ideas also have far reaching implications for other aspects of people's lives (e.g., philosophical, religious, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $8 Members, $10 Seniors
Tuesday, 11/05/13
Serpentinization, chemistry, and life at the Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory Serpentinizing systems -- in which aqueous alteration of ultramafic rocks yields highly reducing and alkaline fluids -- have been suggested as possible niches for photosynthesis-independent ecosystems on Earth and beyond. To date, most research has focused on systems characterized by extremes of pH or redox potential, and on surface expressions ...
A CE Device to Defeat Human TremorsUp to 10 million people in the US suffer from tremor, typically due to Essential Tremor or Parkinson's Disease. The condition typically worsens with age, and currently there are few options for relief other than drugs or brain surgery.This talk will discuss the new Lift Labs invention, a consumer electronics ...
Santa Cruz LASERLeonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous (LASERS) are a national program of evening gathering that bring artists, scientists, and scholars together for informal presentations and conversations.Please join us for refreshments at 6:45 p.m. followed at 7 p.m. with presentations by:Robert Dawson, "From Alan Chadwick to Bill Moyers: Forty Years of thinking about ...
Where: Santa CruzCost:
Mathematics of BatsIt is often said that mathematics is the language of the Universe, present everywhere around us. To skeptical ears this may appear to be just rhetoric, but I shall explain how mathematics helps us to understand the behavior of familiar beings, namely bats which float around at night in the ...
Conversation on the New Manufacturing Revolution: 3D Printing and its Impact on SocietyCITRIS is hosting a lunchtime panel discussion on the New Manufacturing Revolution. Paul Markillie is a senior editor at The Economist. Paul worked for a number of national newspapers in Britain before joining the magazine in 1986 to work for the business section, where he covered transportation industries, including ...
The presentation starts with a quotation from Nikola Tesla who conceived an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in 1898. From there, the presentation moves to the 1960's which started with Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard diving to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. Then design issues are reviewed. Designs are developed ...
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and Berkeley City College will host a free public talk on "Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions," by Dr. Inez Fung in Berkeley on Wed., Nov. 6 at 7:00 pm. The lecture is part of the "Not on the Test: The Pleasures and Uses of Mathematics" ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Chelyabinsk Meteor: Can We Survive a Bigger Impact?What would happen if an asteroid collided with the Earth? On February 15 2013, a rocky projectile entered the Earth's atmosphere traveling at more than 11 miles per second. It was about 65 feet in diameter, or half the diameter of the impact of 1908, which flattened a thousand square ...
