Materials research over the last three decades has led to significant advances in the manufacturing of new materials with tailored and unique properties for a variety of applications. These advances have come about mostly because of a highly influential National Research Council study titled "Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) for ...
Sarah Batterman studies nutrient and carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, and is interested in how ecosystem patterns emerge from the properties of individual trees. Her Ph.D. research focused on symbiotic dinitrogen fixation in tropical forests. It found that nitrogen fixation can be constrained by an interaction of nitrogen and phosphorus ...
After 20 years of predictions that robots will work among us soon, the predictions are finally starting to come true. Investment in robotics is up, enabling start-ups to explore a range of use cases. Decreasing component costs will make it easier to make real business cases for the technology. Mobile ...
A glistening spaceship, with seven lonely years and billions of miles behind it, glides into orbit around a softly-hued, ringed planet. A flying-saucer shaped machine descends through a hazy atmosphere and lands on the surface of an alien moon, ten times farther from the Sun than the Earth. Fantastic though ...
Pluto on the Horizon: Anticipating our First Encounter with the Double PlanetThe more we learn about Pluto, the more interesting it becomes. In the last decade, four tiny moons have been discovered orbiting the central "binary planet," which consists of Pluto and its large moon Charon. Pluto itself has a thin atmosphere and shows signs of seasonal changes. Tantalizing evidence suggests ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($3 Parking)
Science and Reason with Skeptics in the Pub, West BayIf ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the flim-flam man, join us, your friends. Skeptics in the Pub is a group of like-minded people informally discussing the latest in science or pseudoscience over good eats & ale.Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly meeting for discussion of topics ...
Where: MillbraeCost: Free
The Art and Science of Violin MakingScience Café will explore the science of violin making –including the recent carefully designed studies of player preferences among old and new instruments, the use of x-ray CT scanning to understand iconic violins, approaches to material selection, and measurements with modern tools as an aid in the making process.Alan will ...
