The fields of stem cells, immunotherapy, gene therapy and regenerative medicine are poised to change the face of healthcare. Immunotherapy is giving terminal cancer patients a second chance at life, gene therapy can cure rare diseases, and living stem cells and other cell and cultured tissue therapies are beginning to ...
Residential electricity prices do not generally respond to wholesale prices and thus are disconnected from the marginal cost of generation. This study examines a field experiment in Texas that includes both pricing and informational interventions to encourage energy conservation during summer peak load days when the marginal cost of generation ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Why Is the Information Revolution So Scary?Does the truth matter anymore? For the past several years - but especially since the 2016 US presidential election - Russian hackers, the mainstream media, social media platforms, conspiracy theorists, Twitter bots, U.S. intelligence agencies, and unscrupulous businesses have all been blamed for polluting our information sources with fake news ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Three lectures at the Estuary & Ocean Science CenterDive Patterns Behavior of White Sharks Chacharodon carchariasSpeaker: Bianca BahmanSpatial Planning for Saint George's Caye using Participatory GISSpeaker: Salma Abdel-Raheem (Hines lab)Spatial Patterns in the Aragonite Saturation Horizon for the North Central California ShelfSpeaker: Ryan Anderson
Drawing from her forthcoming edited collection, Sustainability: Approaches to Environmental Justice and Social Power and her current project Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger, Sze asks how do we “situate sustainability?†How does the ways in which sustainability is conceived and researched matter now, in the most anti-environmental Federal ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Town Hall Meeting Seminar: Measure Z, Monterey County (dramatization)The vast Salinas River Groundwater Basin flows Northwest following the Salinas River where it empties into Monterey Bay. This area was made famous by author John Steinbeck in his novel East of Eden. Besides providing drinking water it irrigates the rich agricultural region of the Salinas Valley (“Americas Salad Bowlâ€). ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Cloudy Days for Solar?When the United States slapped 30 percent tariffs on imported solar panels, headlines heralded bad times ahead for clean energy in this country. But the stock prices of solar installers increased, because the hit could have been worse. Solar entrepreneur and advocate Jigar Shah said it was “good news.†But ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Michael Aw is a wildlife photographer, explorer and conservationist. He has authored 35 books of the ocean. His accolades include winning more than 65 international photographic awards and he was named as one of the world’s most influential nature photographers by Outdoor Photography. Michael Aw’s essays and pictures have been ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Big Astronomy Begins: Searching for Exoplanets with AITo uncover the mysteries of the universe, astronomers are becoming greedy, making more observations than they can possibly analyze manually. Large photometric surveys from space telescopes like Kepler and the future TESS are no exception and today modern astronomers use artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to help them reveal the existence of exoplanets hidden ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost:
Nerd Nite SF #93: Lost Venues, Folkpocalypse, and Hybrid Instruments!“Bring The Noise, Bring Defunct: A Personal History of SF’s Deceased Music Venues†by Dan StrachotaYou’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: The San Francisco music scene is dead! All the cool venues are getting shut down! Everything used to be so much better here! Is it ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $8
Wonderfest: Mission: MarsThe first human mission to Mars will be the greatest adventure of the 21st-century. As with all expeditions, its success will depend on planning. The first steps are already under way: achieving longer spaceflight missions, planning for deep space journeys beyond the Moon, and exploring extreme terrestrial environments as Mars ...
Where: Castro ValleyCost: Free
Writing Applications that are Easier to Defend than AttackConventional wisdom says that the attacker has an enduring economic advantage over the defender. After all, the good guy needs to fix all the vulnerabilities, while the attacker only needs to exploit one of them. Conventional wisdom is right if we keep developing software the way we always have. Fortunately, ...
Where: San JoseCost:
Thursday, 02/22/18
The Continuing Mystery of the Anomalous Microwave EmissionThe anomalous microwave emission (AME) is emission in the 20-60 GHz range that is correlated with interstellar dust. Discovered in 1996 by the COBE DMR experiment, the AME is a "foreground" that needs to be removed to study the CMB, but it is also an astrophysical puzzle:Â the emission process ...
Your views on nature depend largely on how you were nurtured.There’s a common view that, if people knew more about climate science, they’d accept it. But that view is wrong. What people believe about climate change depends largely on their backgrounds: a complex swirl of emotions, social ties, morals, experiences, ...
Part of the Sustainability Leadership Speaker SeriesThis series explores the connections between great leadership and the actual achievement of sustainability and wellbeing for everyone, across generations.Speaker: Joel Makower, GreenBiz Group Inc
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Cutting Edge of Artificial Intelligence When we think about the future, we need to think deeply about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Historically, the world has been able to advance new and unknown science and technologies. Is AI in a different category, or can we trust that the experts are making good progress and that there are ...
The Last Doubling,  Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman @ 8:00Join Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world.Is growth always good? The biggest threat to our existence on planet Earth isn’t asteroids it’s us. Why can’t our population continue to grow? Learn about the exponential function and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $18/$15/free for AD members
The Science of Cannabis: The Ethnobotany of CannabisEthnobotany is the study of the relationship of plants and people across cultures and time. Cannabis has been in cultivation for millennia and used as a medicine, food, and for hemp fiber. This program will look at the historical uses of cannabis and how we might explore those uses in ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $40 General, $35 Members
Hardcore Natural History: How tagging animals helps us see the ocean through a new lensJoin us as we learn about how technology is changing how we are able to look beneath the ocean’s surface. We will discuss what we have found out, what we are studying and how these amazing new tags will help us learn more about the ocean and the creatures in ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $10 General, $5 Members, $15 at door
Living with Mountain LionsWe live in mountain lion territory! No matter where you live in the Bay Area, it was once a home to our native cats. The Mountain Lion Foundation has protected lions for 30 years, and is beginning a new program in the East Bay. Get ready for some amazing rescue ...
Volcanoes in the Cascade Range erupt twice per century on average, with eruptions often lasting for years.Although eruptions are generally not as high-consequence as large earthquakes, they are still high-consequence events.When a volcano wakes up there can be intense public interest - which requires crisis management, even if the eruption ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Friday, 02/23/18
2018 Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative Energy Summit + ExpoThe BERC Energy Summit, in its 12th year, is the premier and largest student-run energy conference on the West Coast. The event draws around 600 students, researchers, clean technology entrepreneurs, policy makers, and industry leaders to discuss the world's most pressing energy challenges each year. It will feature four panels ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $18 - $275
Alcatraz Gardens Class Series: Garden Tour & Propagating SucculentsJoin Shelagh Fritz, Gardens of Alcatraz horticulturist, on a historic garden tour to explore the succulents that thrive on the island. Participants will then learn how to make cuttings and propagate their own plants.Please plan to check in at Pier 33 (Alcatraz Landing) no later than 8 am to take ...
The Commodore Story is a two-hour documentary film that takes audiences through Commodore's world-changing evolution from the 1970s to the 1990s; from the PET, Vic20, and C64 to the Amiga and beyond. The film includes interviews with legends from the Commodore and Amiga years. You will also see footage of the ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: free preregistration is required
Grounds for Science: Cell Choreography and Energy GridsEmbryonic development: how cell choreography shapes animalsJust as the collective movements of many dancers are needed to perform the choreography in a ballet, the collective behavior of many cells is required to perform the movements that shape our bodies during embryogenesis. Amazingly, the complex shapes and patterns of many animals ...
Where: EmeryvilleCost: Free
Saturday, 02/24/18
Davis Park and Wildcat Creek BioBlitzJoin our friends at WhollyH20 a fun half day citizen science BioBlitz Wildcat Creek Trail around Davis Park in San Pablo, CA. Get ready to enjoy being a citizen scientist through simple observation and photo documentation.Bring your camera, sunblock, water to stay hydrated, snacks, your kids, and water shoes for doing ...
Where: San PabloCost: Free
Native Uses and Management of Plants and Habitats Join ACR Education Specialist Dave Self for an introduction to some of the useful plants of the season. You’ll also learn how our landscapes were shaped by reciprocal relationships between the Wappo and local plants and habitats. One important interaction was intentional burning, which generated wildflower crops and lush browse ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: $20 suggested donation
Guided Walk at Ano NuevoAño Nuevo State Park’s rich variety of natural and cultural resources draws visitors from around the world. The park’s Natural Preserve offers an extraordinary wilderness experience, where every year up to 10,000 elephant seals return to breed, give birth, and molt their skin amongst the scenic dunes and beaches.Groups will ...
Where: PescaderoCost: $20
2018 Spare the Air Youth's YES (Youth for the Environment and Sustainability) ConferenceBay Area middle and high school students are invited to attend the Spare the Air Youth YES Conference!!!!The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission invite you to the award-winning: Youth for the Environment and Sustainability (YES) Conference.Students interested in transportation and climate change issues, clean ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Science Saturday: Animal AthletesThis highest jumping, fastest flying, strongest biting Science Saturday of the year focuses on the Olympians in the animal kingdom. From falcons to mountain lions, and beetles to beavers, every athlete has a story to tell. Join us for crafts, activities, and science as we sprint, jump, and dive into ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Bay Trail Walk to Bird Overlook, Hamilton FieldWear comfortable shoes, bring your binoculars and bird books, and let’s walk to the bird overlook and see what wildlife we can discover. Hike is approximately a 1.5-miles round trip on a fairly easy part of the Bay Trail. Rain cancels. Meet at the parking lot at the end of ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Ship Operations in the BayJoin Captain Craig Thomas of Agile Marine as he provides a better understanding of commercial shipping operations and movements in the Bay. The program includes the types of ships, ship construction and layout, commercial considerations, types, and locations of terminals in the Bay Area, manning requirements including careers and International, ...
Do you sometimes see paw prints in mud or scat (poop) on the trails and assume that a dog left it? It could be from something else. Come along with me and I will show you how to distinguish and identify the markings of a gray fox. Gain some insights ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Arts + Craft Beer...with a side of mustard!Join us for a fun afternoon to celebrate Bay Area sculptor Ned Kahn's new solo show at Bedford Gallery!Ned Kahn: Seed Vortex showcases the artist's lifelong fascination with art and science in a series of kinetic sculptures that bring the physics of granular matter, magma flow, and natural systems to life. ...
Where: Walnut CreekCost: $7 adults; $3 youth; Free for kids 12 and under
The Moon and Stars: Astronomy Hike & CampfireAmazing stargazing! Using binoculars, a spotting scope, and telescopes, we’ll study the face of the moon and learn more about constellations and the night sky. Binoculars will be provided, or bring your favorite pair! Weather may prevent us from actually seeing the moon and stars, but we will still have ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $15
Jazz Under the StarsCome peer through our telescopes and see craters on the Moon, the visible planets, star clusters, and more while we listen to CSM's very own KCSM Jazz 91 FM. Dress warmly. Free parking in Marie Curie Lot 5. Directions are available on the Maps, Directions & Parking page.
Where: San MateoCost: Free
San Francisco City Star PartyCome join us for our monthly San Francisco City Star Party. SFAA members provide telescopes for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check the SFAA website for the latest updates…bad weather or overcast skies will cancel!
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Sunday, 02/25/18
Marine Science Sunday: Marine Mammal Parents and PupsIn preparation for Valentine's Day, this month we celebrate love under the sea with Marine Mammal Parents and Pups in a fun, educational way for both kids and adults. We recommend teaming our free classroom program with a Docent-led tour at 11am, 1pm or 3pm for a truly immersive marine mammal experience.FREE Classroom ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman: The Last DoublingIs growth always good? The biggest threat to our existence on planet Earth isn’t asteroids - it’s us. Why can’t our population continue to grow? Learn about the exponential function and the conclusions we can draw from it.Speaker: Ron HipschmanPresentations at 1:00 and 3:00.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Admission to the Exploratorium
The Declaration of Independence proclaims our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but not to the pursuit of pleasure. What is the neurological difference between these two positive emotions of happiness and pleasure? Has society's exploitation of pleasure systematically weakened our grasp on happiness? What has caused the ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Monday, 02/26/18
High Redshift Quasars: Constraining their Lifetime and the Epoch of ReionizationOne of the major goals in observational cosmology today is to understand how our Universe transitioned from the "dark ages", following recombination, into the ionized universe we can observe today. For this purpose we compiled a new data set of 34 high redshift (5.8<z<6.5) quasar spectra of moderate resolution, containing ...
Efficient simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow is a long standing problem in applied mathematics, for which state-of-the-art methods require large compute resources. In this work, we propose a data-driven approach that leverages the approximation power of deep-learning with the precision of standard solvers to obtain fast and ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Thirty Year Perspective on Medical Robotics: Yesterday, Today, and TomorrowThis talk will discuss insights gathered over nearly thirty years of research on medical robotics and computer-integrated interventional medicine (CIIM), both at IBM and at Johns Hopkins University. The goal of this research has been the creation of a three-way partnership between physicians, technology, and information to improve treatment processes. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Data Privacy : The European Union Invades Silicon Valley | GDPRSession #6 takes a hard pan-Europe look at how European Union regulations are reaching deep into the operations of Silicon Valley companies and startups, including enterprise software architecure, data storage and management policies, product development, overseas market entry, management of intellectual property and business strategy. The EU's General Data Protection ...
Rhyolitic calderas - the explosive “supervolcanoes†like modern-day Yellowstone that spread ash continent-wide - have long been recognized as hosts for traditional metal resources such as Ag, Au, Pb, Zn, and Cu, which form by circulation of hydrothermal fluids driven by the heat of the magmatic intrusions below. Recently, calderas ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Broadening and Deepening the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Computational NeuroscienceAdvances combining artificial intelligence techniques with computational neuroscience have shown that time-averaged neural responses in the primate visual and auditory systems can be modeled with reasonable accuracy by task-optimized deep neural networks. I'll discuss our lab's recent work to broaden and deepen these results, using convolutional recurrent networks to model ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Nerd Nite East Bay: Thirsty Flies, Star Wars Law, Trauma ResponsesThe Thirst Is Real(ly an Interesting Question in Fruit Flies)Why don’t flies get fat, how do they know when to stop drinking, and what can humans learn from the BMI and brains of Drosophila melanogaster? Learn how new transgenic techniques allow us to see the real time activity of neurons ...
Where: OaklandCost: $8 Advance, $10 at door
The Silk RoadArchaeologist, photographer, and author Michael Frachetti researches Asia’s ancient Silk Roads to understand Central Asian societies and their unique role in shaping ancient and modern civilization. He uses high-resolution satellite imagery, 3-D modeling, and computer simulations to help predict, discover, and document the ancient archaeology of Central Asia, while studying ...
Thinking outside the 2pt function: Higher-order statistics in cosmologyThe two-point correlation function has been the workhorse of modern cosmology for many decades. However, in reducing massive galaxy catalogs to ~10 data points, two-point functions discard a large amount of information present in the galaxy distribution. I will describe in this pedagogical talk how higher-order statistics, including three-point correlation ...
In this talk, I will share my personal experience as a user with cochlear implants, and discuss the history and future of this device's development. Introducing historian of science and technology Mara Mills' term "bionic rhetoric," I will explain how the cochlear implant negotiates two different strains of thinking in ...
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among teens in the U.S. In this program, Elliot Kallen, who founded A Brighter Day in honor of his late son, Jake, will discuss the organization's efforts in fighting depression and teen suicide. A Brighter Day reaches out to teens suffering ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
Fire and the Lands We Call Home: A Renewed Approach for a Brighter FutureThis past October, the North Bay area experienced one of its most destructive and tragic human disasters in recorded history due to fire. Over the past hundred years, the human-fire relationship has been one riddled with animosity, and this antagonism has come at great cost to people and ecosystems alike. ...
