Learn about Solar & Opportunity for Volunteering to Install Rooftop PV with a NonprofitInterested in helping with rooftop installations as a volunteer? Thinking of putting solar on your home?  In either case, consider attending either or both of two free workshops being offered on at the San Mateo Library by SunWork Renewable Energy Projects (sunwork.org).                   * Apr 14 (Sat), 9am - noon, VOLUNTEER SOLAR INSTALLATION ...
The Bay Model Wants You!!! Become part of Sausalito’s very own attraction known around the world!We have a variety of volunteer positions that are suited for people just like you! Greet visitors, lead tours, work with school groups, and more! Come and be a part of one of the largest working hydraulic models in existence. ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
TinkerfestTinkerfest is a one-day festival that celebrates the creative, curious, and innovative spirit in all of us. Tinkerfest brings together makers, artists, and tinkerers to showcase their work while inviting attendees of all ages to join in DIY fun. During the daylong event, the entire Center will be activated, both ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Chemistry at Tule PondsJoin us for this once a year Open House at Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon and learn about water as one of the most important compounds known to humans. Different experiments will be provided in the classroom so families can experiment with water. Outside we will have bubble stations and ...
March for Science San Francisco joins with March for Science Silicon Valley and Oakland Coalition for Science to organize a single event:THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY EVENT WITH RALLY, SPEAKERS, MUSIC, PARTNER BOOTHS, INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATIONS, FOOD TRUCKS, AND CHILDRENS' ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.THE MARCH FOR SCIENCE CHAMPIONS ROBUSTLY FUNDED AND PUBLICLY COMMUNICATED SCIENCE ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Trekking the ModelJoin a Ranger or docent on a guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta. Discover the stories of the two major operations that took place at this location between 1942 - 2000. Â
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Sunday, 04/15/18
Aero Workshop: Distance GlidersPut your engineering skills to the test in the Aero Workshop! Each session is a special 2-hour mini design challenge designed for children ages 8-12. Each workshop centers on a particular problem in aerospace illustrated by a pair of hands-on experiences. Participants then work in small teams of 3-5 to ...
In honor of Earth Day, we take a special look at our country’s first national park. How do you study an animal that is rarely heard or seen? What does it take to track down one of the most elusive species in some of America’s harshest winter environments? For many ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Monday, 04/16/18
Edge of darkness: The splashback radius as a physical halo boundary The radii and masses of dark matter halos are an essential input for models of galaxy formation, and for the interpretation of numerous observations. These radii are typically defined through an arbitrary overdensity threshold, largely because the density profiles of halos are thought not to have a well-defined edge. In ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Insights into Supermassive Black Hole Mergers, Stalling and Demographics with Pulsar Timing ArraysGalaxy mergers are a standard aspect of galaxy formation and evolution, and likely all large galaxies contain central supermassive black holes (SMBH). Here I discuss a new bottom-up approach to identifying continuous nanohertz gravitational wave (GW) host galaxies by using massive elliptical galaxies in the 2 Micron All Sky Survey, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Network dynamics of fixed and flexible passenger transport under operational and behavioural uncertaintyThe metropolitan passenger transport landscape is shifting due to a combination of technological and social developments which enable both service providers and service users to become increasingly adaptive. Service providers can manage their resources to better cater for prevailing demand patterns, while service users can adjust their behaviour in response ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Nanoscale Excitations in Space and TimeThe static and dynamic properties of matter depend largely on its inherent heterogeneity in the mass, charge, and spin distributions. Excitations within and coupling of matter to its environment would be expected to exhibit spatial and temporal dependences. Because matter is assembled from individual atoms and molecules, a viable approach ...
Neutrinos are the most numerous matter particles in the universe, but the least understood. The peculiar properties of neutrinos suggest connections to many of the big mysteries of particle physics, including the possibility that the matter we are made of originated from neutrinos. Today a host of new experiments are ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
ELECTRONICS AND OPTO-ELECTRONICS WITH TWO-DIMENSIONAL ATOMIC CRYSTALSTwo-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals are recently discovered materials that are only atoms thick, and yet can span laterally over millimeters. The diverse family of such materials includes graphene: a semimetal with massless relativistic charge carriers, and monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2): direct band gap semiconductors ...
Otherlab is a research and development firm focusing on renewable and clean energy, robotics, automation, digital fabrication, adaptive textiles, advanced manufacturing, and computational design tools. Similar to an accelerator/incubator, but with internally developed ideas, we nurture projects through the initial R&D phase, to forming entities within Otherlab, and eventually fundraising ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Cooperative Interactions as a Route to High Temperature SuperconductivityHigh-temperature superconductivity in copper and iron based materials, with critical temperature well above what was anticipated by the Bardeen-Copper-Schrieffer theory, remains a major unsolved physics problem today. The challange of this problem is symbolized by a complex phase diagram that consists of intertwined states with unusual properties in addition to ...
Anthropologist Nina Jablonski will explore the troubling lack of evolution, diversity, and race education in American classrooms, and how this absence manifests as an adult population ill-equipped to tackle thornier issues at the intersection of science and identity. Jablonski's research indicates that children do grasp these complex concepts, offering a glimmer of hope that effectively leveraging early ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free RSVP required in advance
Kepler's Literary Foundation Presents William T. VollmanWilliam T. Vollmann is the author of ten novels, including Europe Central, which won the National Book Award. He has also written Rising Up and Rising Down and Imperial, both of which were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award and the Strauss Living Award ...
Background Radiation Across WavelengthsThe FIRAS instrument aboard the COBE satellite provided exquisite measurements of the spectrum of average background radiation at microwave wavelengths. Going beyond the microwave, studying the monopole of cosmic background radiation across the whole electromagnetic spectrum provides detailed information about all sources of radiation in the Universe. However, the astronomical ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Edge of darkness: The splashback radius as a physical halo boundary The radii and masses of dark matter halos are an essential input for models of galaxy formation, and for the interpretation of numerous observations. These radii are typically defined through an arbitrary overdensity threshold, largely because the density profiles of halos are thought not to have a well-defined edge. In ...
IndieBio, an SOSV accelerator, is the world’s leading seed-stage biotech accelerator. At IndieBio, we are devoted to building startups dedicated to solving humanity’s most pressing problems with life itself. Our 4-month program includes $250K funding, lab space, and mentorship to foster the next generation of biotech entrepreneurs.Come see the culmination of IndieBio's ...
Dwarf galaxies and dark matter in the Milky Way In the past fifteen years, dozens of tidal streams of stars pulled from dwarf galaxies and globular clusters have been discovered in the Milky Way’s stellar halo. Recently, it has been discovered that as the dwarf galaxies fall into our galaxy they perturb the stars in the disk, causing wavelike ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Medieval Matters: Investigating Medieval History with ScienceWhat can ice samples tell us about medieval economic collapse and about the possible consequences of climate change in today’s world? How do scientists and historians work together to enrich each other’s work? As chair of the Initiative for the Science of Human Past at Harvard, Michael McCormick contends with ...
Where: Cost: Free
Bat Mist Netting at Muir WoodsCome join us at Muir Woods to learn about bat ecology and our exciting bat monitoring and inventorying program! We will have a brief discussion about bats, demonstrate acoustic monitoring, setup mist nets, and take a close up look at the bats as they are safely caught and released! Event will ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
Are Red Dwarf Planets Habitable?Most of the news about exoplanets this past year has revolved around the discovery of “Earth-sized†planets in the “habitable zone†of "red dwarf" stars. This is partly due to the fact that such planets are more easily found, partly because most stars are red dwarfs (cooler and smaller than ...
In the Monterey Bay region, a place celebrated for its deep history and culture of commercial fishing, the fishing industry is struggling to survive. Fluctuations in the health of fish stocks, complicated and expensive regulations, weakened infrastructure, and competition with foreign imports have taken a toll on the local fishing ...
'Climate change effects on thermal tolerance plasticity in the eelgrass sea hare, Phyllaplysia taylori'Speaker: Richelle Tanner, Graduate Student, San Francisco State Univ.Editor's Note: The original lecture schedule for today, "Examining the Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers Affecting Host-Parasite Interactions in Marine Systems" by Dr. Katrina Lohan, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, has been replaced with this one.
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Better Imaging through ChemistryBiological specimens offer very little in the way of intrinsic contrast that reveals their inner workings in a microscope. Therefore, for hundreds of years chemists have come to the rescue by developing contrast agents that highlight specific features of interest, even down to the molecular level. This is no truer ...
Globally, energy systems are experiencing rapid changes and the landscape of energy no longer favors coal. In 2013, the World Bank pledged to stop loaning money for new coal energy projects, unless no financially feasible alternatives exist. However, in Kosovo a proposed coal-fired power plant has been under discussion for ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The HayWired earthquake scenarioSince 2003, the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory has been hosting a public lecture series in honor of Professor Andrew Lawson on earthquakes and earthquake science. This year the lecture will be a panel discussion with the lead authors of the HayWired scenario. The audience will learn about the likely impacts from ...
Join us to celebrate the release of the Nature in the City map, third edition.In recent years, our understanding of how nature weaves itself into the urban fabric has evolved, enabling us to create a clearer representation of our city. This event officially launches the third edition of the Nature ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free, RSVP required
Using Natural Language Processing & Machine Learning to improve customer care at UberCOTA stands for Customer Obsession Ticket Assistant, a tool that uses machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques to help agents deliver better customer support. Leveraging our Michelangelo machine learning-as-a-service platform on top of our customer support platform, COTA enables quick and efficient issue resolution for more than 90 ...
Where: Cost: Free
Hazards and Rewards of Near-Earth AsteroidsNear-Earth asteroids are a population of small bodies whose orbits around the Sun cross or come near our planet’s orbit.  They turn out to be unusual physical environments: rubble piles, with shapes and spins determined by effects like the pressure of the Sun’s radiation.  Near-Earth asteroids are also accessible targets ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($3 parking)
Nerd Nite SF #95: Parallel Worlds, Elderly Sex, Psychometrics!“It Came from a Parallel World!â€In 1957, the drunken prankster physicist Hugh Everett found good evidence for parallel universes buried in the mathematics of quantum physics. Learn the real science behind this bizarre idea - and the real history of how Everett’s idea was developed in the 1950s, almost immediately ...
The Stanford campus has become a key test bed for one of the world’s most vexing energy challenges: How to manipulate people’s demand for electricity so it rises when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing and falls when they’re not. A global race is on to maximize ...
Artificial Intelligence owes its current successes to the extraordinary improvement in computer hardware (in my lifetime, computing has become a trillion times cheaper!). At the same time, the Internet has made available vast amounts of data for these program to handle.The benefits of AI will be profound. But so will ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Introduction to greenhouse gas (GHG) management for oil & gas productionIntroduction to greenhouse gas (GHG) management for oil & gas productionCalifornia climate legislation and regulation: cap-and-trade, direct source control, community health nexusIndustry’s response: reporting, research, technology developmentSpekaers: Kathleen Kozawa, California Air Resources Board; Adam Pacsi, ChevronÂ
 Join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers and get a sneak peek of the upcoming InSight Mars mission, the first to focus on examining the deep interior of Mars. Launching in May 2018, this lander will be the very first interplanetary launch from the West Coast. The Exploratorium will host the InSight ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 17.95 advance, 19.95 door, AD members free
SpaceQuest NightLifeGet trippy as NightLife travels far out with art, performances, and ideas inspired by the future of life in space. -----> Choreographer Katerina Wong presents Speck, a dance performance about humans, space exploration, and the connections between them, using sounds from the Voyager Golden Record and other NASA missions.----->Â Explore the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Across the Pacific Coast, Western Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) face many hurdles to population recovery, including habitat loss, increasing predator populations, and human disturbance. Within the South SF Bay, Snowy Plovers breed and forage in former salt production ponds, where they face significant challenges to recovery in a changing ...
What Are We Protecting Mars From - And Why Do We Bother?Mars, the small, cold fourth rock from the Sun, is being given serious consideration by 21st century explorers. Entrepreneur Elon Musk has ambitious plans to send humans to the Red Planet within seven years (and bring them back again); NASA has flown both rovers and landers; and NASA, the European ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
An Evening with Rebecca Skloot and Members of the Henrietta Lacks FamilyHenrietta Lacks was an African American woman whose tumor cells were preserved for research in the early 1950s. These cells became the first lab-grown human cells that were naturally "immortal", not dying after a number of divisions. Thereafter, they were used for a large variety of experiments, becoming one of ...
Join other wildflower photographers (amateur and professional) on a meandering monthly excursion around the Modini Mayacamas to document wildflowers of the season. After our field time, each of us will add a few of our best images to an album that Friends of the Modini Mayacamas and ACR will use ...
Celebrate the start of spring with a bird walk in the garden, where we'll be on the lookout for migrating hummingbirds, vireos, and flycatchers.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 General, $18 Members
57th Annual Wildflower ShowFor over half a century this Wildflower Show has been one of the largest on the Northern and Western Hemispheres with over 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. This is truly an event that generations of families can remember.The Museum partners with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free - $8.95 (see website)
Modeling Subhalos and Satellites in Milky Way-like SystemsHigh-resolution hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-mass halos offer exquisite resolution and provide insights into the small-scale challenges associated with cold dark matter. However, these simulations are computationally expensive, so studying a diverse sample of simulated Milky Way analogs is currently infeasible. We present a machine learning model trained on ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Understanding Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in the most massive cosmic laboratories Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) lurk in the centers of all massive galaxies, a fraction of these SMBHs are actively accreting and this can result in powerful outbursts which have important consequences for galaxy formation and evolution. However, the conditions under which a SMBH becomes active and the manner in which ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Optogenetic and Chemogenetic Tools for Mapping Molecular and Cellular CircuitsThe first part of the talk will describe optogenetic tools we have developed for labeling and manipulating functional circuits in the brain (e.g., FLARE and related tools). The second part of the talk will describe chemogenetic tools we have developed for mapping molecular interactions in living cells (e.g., ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AI Download with SVAI We’re teaming up with Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence (SVAI) for their second annual AI Download. Learn more about AI from the perspectives of engineers, researchers, scientists, startup founders and many others. Intended to be a broad survey of AI activity happening across the Bay Area, this event will highlight academic ...
CalDay 2018Come to UC Berkeley's annual campus-wide open house. There are hundreds of lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, and activities for all ages. Check the weblink for a full schedule.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Low Tide WalkMSI takes to the tidepools for a treasure hunt of nature's beautiful intertidal secrets. We'll spend our time taking advantage of the low tide to reach the outer edges of Pillar Point, and take in spectacular views as we slowly retreat to shore. Will we find crabs, sea stars, eels ...
Where: Half Moon BayCost: $20
57th Annual Wildflower ShowFor over half a century this Wildflower Show has been one of the largest on the Northern and Western Hemispheres with over 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. This is truly an event that generations of families can remember.The Museum partners with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free - $8.95 (see website)
Guided Nature WalkExperience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve. Our 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 begin ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: $20 suggested donation
Wildflower Walk at Fort FunstonWildflowers! To know them is to love them. It’s springtime, and all throughout California the wildflowers are beginning to bloom, including in your very own Golden Gate National Parks. We invite you to come and enjoy the huge variety of both native and exotics on display and prepare to be ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
WWII in the Shadow of Mt. TamWWII saw the establishment of a bustling wartime shipyard called Marinship in Sausalito. Innovations, ingenuity, and inspiration all played a part in the day-to-day routine. Join Ranger Joanne on a 2-mile walking tour of the area surrounding the Bay Model to experience what life in the shipyards was like from ...
Meet Dr. Leslea Hlusko, Dr. Lisa White, and other local science heroes and learn how to prepare the young women in your life for a STEM future… now! This event also features Oakland science celebrity CaT Bobino, host of "In The Know Science Show." This event is part of the Berkeley ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Sailing Ships of SF BayIn commemoration of the building of the Matthew Turner, the first Brigantine ship to be built in CA in 100 years. This ship has a permanent home on our Bay Model pier. We will cover some of the interesting early sailing vessels that made their way in and around the ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
A Universe of Universes?Many scientists now think that there might be more than a single universe. Our universe may be just one example in a far larger “multiverse,†but an unusually complex one that is conducive to the existence of life. Come learn about the relevant lines of reasoning and their profound implications.Speaker: ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
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
Earth Day 2018 at the Golden Gate National ParksThe Parks Conservancy - dedicated to fostering a nature-loving community in the Bay Area - is joining forces with the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and our local park partners to offer a celebratory day of service opportunities. Signup for a commemorative activity or one of our regular drop-in ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sunday, 04/22/18
Earth DayJoin Sausalito Woman's Club in helping make Sausalito shine. There will be various locations throughout town where you can get supplies to help clean. Visit ww.EarthDay94965.com for starting locations & to register. Volunteers will be treated to a pizza party at noon at the Bay Model. Local environmental groups will ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
57th Annual Wildflower ShowFor over half a century this Wildflower Show has been one of the largest on the Northern and Western Hemispheres with over 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. This is truly an event that generations of families can remember.The Museum partners with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free - $8.95 (see website)
Berkeley Earth DayBerkeley Earth Day brings the Bay Area environmental community together to celebrate our vision for a sustainable future. Get inspired and connect with eco-minded comrades and learn how you can further reduce your impact on the planet and have fun doing it! This event features dozens of vendors sharing their ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Marine Science Sunday: Magnificent MigrationsThis month we celebrate the animals that love to travel! Marine mammals are famous for their epic migrations along the California coast. Docent-led tours will take you around the hospital showcasing some of the patients we are caring for and how our veterinarians are getting them better. Classroom presentations through ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Restore and Create: Earth Day Celebration at Stinson BeachThe 14th Annual Earth Day Celebration at Stinson Beach combines care for the environment with arts activities for all ages. Participants can help with beach cleanup or creek restoration, and join with over a dozen collaborating artists engaging the public in sculpture-making with natural materials, making music, dancing, and more. ...
Where: Stinson BeachCost: Free
Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman: MirrorsWhy do you see yourself in reverse when you look at yourself in a mirror? Why are you not upside down? Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman reveals the physics behind different types of mirrors and reflects on fascinating aspects of their construction and applications.Presentations at 1:00 and 3:00
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
taste of science: Discovery of another worldLearn about your micro neighbors!Have you ever wonder what happen around you in the small micro-world? Put on your explorer's outfit, build with us your fancy accessories (to take home afterwards!)Â and go out in a park scout about plants, insects, water, and more with our experts!Here is how our journey ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: $7
taste of science: Life on EarthThe Coevolution of Earth and LifeWe tend to think of earth influencing the history of life - volcanic eruptions causing extinctions, for example - but the reverse is also true: the evolution of life has fundamentally altered the composition and function of our planet. Major events in the evolution of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $5
taste of science: Un-consciousness and Bacterial VirusesThe wonderful world of bacterial virusesThere are more bacterial viruses (also known as "bacteriophages" or just "phages") on the planet than bacteria, animals, plants, fungi, and other eukaryotes combined. While phages only infect bacteria, those infections can ultimately impact other parts of the ecosystem, including humans! This talk will discuss ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
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!
Reading the news is a lousy way to learn about global warming. Why? Because news outlets focus on what is novel, so they rarely discuss the big picture that has been causing climate scientists to lose sleep for decades. This presentation provides the big picture. It will arm you with ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Monday, 04/23/18
Probing Dark Energy with Galaxy ClustersGalaxy cluster surveys have been recognized as one of the most powerful probes of dark energy, but their constraining power is limited by the accuracy of mass calibration. I will present my research on using simulations to improve mass calibration methods, including galaxy dynamics, weak gravitational lensing, clustering, and X-ray ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Climate change and extinctions: lessons from the marine fossil recordThe oceans are being transformed as temperature, pH, and oxygen content all change at rates unprecedented in the recent geological past. That rapid pace of environmental change may place marine organisms at risk of extinction, but predicting vulnerability to climate change stressors remains a challenge. Although rates of change far ...
The Energy System is transforming, based in large part on the introduction of renewable energy integration into the electricity grid. Â However, this is only a start of the transition as we strive towards sustainability. The other sectors, transport, heat/cooling are not as amenable to renewable energy technologies and electrification of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Overinformativeness? Rationally Redundant ReferenceReferring is one of the most basic and prevalent uses of language. How do speakers choose from the wealth of referring expressions at their disposal?Rational theories of language use have come under attack for decades for not being able to account for the seemingly irrational overinformativeness ubiquitous in referring expressions. ...
This colloquium will be given by Professor Tadashi Takayanagi of Kyoto University.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Magnetoelectricity in 2D materialsMagnetoelectricity, the generation of magnetic moments by electric fields and vice versa, is a phenomenon discovered more than a century ago. It has gained renewed recent interests because of the discovery of new magnetoelectric materials, the notion of band topology effects in magnetoelectricity and its promise for electrical control of ...
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Since its founding, SpaceX has reinvigorated the US space launch industry, delivering cargo to and from the International Space ...
THE QUANTUM AND THE COSMOS: THE QUEST FOR THE ORIGIN OF ORDINARY AND DARK MATTERStefano Profumo will explain why modern cosmology is a scientific theory, and introduce the two key ingredients that this scientific theory is based upon: dark matter and dark energy. Stefano will argue that it is far more interesting to think about what the dark matter is, as this is the ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Advanced LIGO: Speculations about the Future of Gravitational Wave DetectorsWhat might the future of the LIGO detectors look like? Although the interferometers are not yet at design sensitivity, Advanced LIGO has already detected gravitational waves from merging black holes and from merging neutron stars. And the future looks bright - many improvements are now underway as we push the ...
Widespread adoption of electric vehicles is needed to reduce air pollution and avoid the most severe consequences of climate change. As electric cars have become increasingly available, trucks and buses represent the next frontier for electrification. Heavy-duty vehicles comprise a small fraction of vehicles on the road but disproportionately contribute ...
Large-scale GPU-Accelerated Data Visualization with MapDGPU-powered in-memory databases and analytics platforms are the logical successor to CPU in-memory systems, largely due to recent increases in the onboard memory available on GPUs. With sufficient memory, GPUs possess numerous advantages over CPUs, including much greater compute and memory bandwidth, as well as a native graphics pipeline for ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
taste of science: A trip to a scientist’s denVisit to the Dean Felsher Cancer Research LabThe Felsher lab is working on figuring out the mechanisms by which tumors come back or spread to other parts of the body. They study models of liver, lung, kidney cancers, and lymphoma.They notably focus on developing new innovative therapies to prevent cancer ...
Where: StanfordCost: $7
taste of science: A Brief History of Your Mind and Building Sandcastles for SexA History of Your Mind in 17 MinutesToday, you may have read some emails, bought groceries, or used public transportation. But once upon a time, you were a baby. Babies can’t read, reason about money, or interpret a bus schedule. How did you get so smart?Speaker: Mariel Goddu, UC BerkeleyWill ...
LSST CCD Testing and OptimizationThe Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a 8-meter diameter, wide-field survey telescope under construction in Chile, which will perform a 10-year optical and near-infrared survey using a 3.2 giga-pixel camera. In order to achieve the desired read-out speed of 2 seconds, the LSST camera focal plane will be heavily ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Understanding IceHuge ice sheets cover Antarctica and Greenland. Glaciers and snowpack act as frozen reservoirs providing water for surrounding communities. We hear about ice when glaciers recede or ice sheets break off, but what are the processes governing these changes? What role does ice play in the behavior, evolution, and stability of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Modeling Subhalos and Satellites in Milky Way-like Systems High-resolution hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-mass halos offer exquisite resolution and provide insights into the small-scale challenges associated with cold dark matter. However, these simulations are computationally expensive, so studying a diverse sample of simulated Milky Way analogs is currently infeasible. We present a machine learning model trained on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Electron Correlation from Vacuum FluctuationsThe traditional view of electron correlation is based on the cluster expansion of the correlation energy into contributions from pairs, triples,...of electrons. Fluctuation-based electronic structure methods, on the other hand, use vacuum fluctuations corresponding to virtual pairs of electrons and holes traveling forward and backward in time, and their multiples, ...
Fabric for Deep Learning (FfDL)Training deep neural network models requires a highly tuned system with the right combination of software, drivers, compute, memory, network, and storage resources.Deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Caffe, Torch, Theano, and MXNet have contributed to the popularity of deep learning by reducing the effort and skills needed to ...
With their immense size and peculiar appearance, leatherback turtles resemble species that inhabited Earth in the distant past. A swimming and diving machine, they are uniquely adapted for life at sea. This ancient mariner is the most widely distributed sea turtle, spanning tropical and subarctic waters worldwide. The endangered western ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $5 donation
taste of science: Neuro-NightTwo great neuroscientists will talk about how illusion can be used as a therapy and how we can increase our brain cognitive power.The age of the brainThe world is entering "the age of the brain," an era of exponential need to understand and modify our most complex organ. Fixing and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $7
The Science Behind MachinesSimple machines make life easier for humans. This presentation will look at simple machines and how they work. Participants will learn about levers, screws, ramps, wheels, gears, and many more as they experiment to make them work.
Where: FremontCost: Free (RSVP required)
LIGOSpeaker: Dr. Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
taste of science: Astronomy on Taptaste of science partners with Astronomy on Tap in this journey into the universe, from ancient earth and exoplanets to black holes and cosmic collisions.Colliding Neutron Stars: Gravitational Waves, Gold, and a Gamma-Ray BurstAlbert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity predicts the existence of ripples in the fabric of space-time. In ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
taste of science: Going down? Diving into gravity and the deep blue seaThe Social Networks under the SeaIn the same way that you and I have a social network, with friends, family, partners and acquaintances, plants and animals also have networks of relationships. They eat each other, help each other out, compete for resources. I study these relationships in an ecosystem that ...
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, a precursor for tropospheric ozone and strongly linked with co-emitted reactive trace gases and hence is a priority for climate and air-quality mitigation policies in California. Recent advances in measurement science and technology offer the potential to inform and dramatically enhance the effectiveness of ...
Dr. Voytas, Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota, co-inventor of TALEN gene-editing technology, and Chief Technology Officer of Calyxt, will discuss the rapid advancement of plant gene-editing and its implications for global agriculture. A leading expert on plant genetics and an entrepreneur whose company went ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Conversations About Resilience: Muddy Waters to Resilient ShorelinesMost people give little thought to mud or sand until a boat runs aground in shallow water or erosion exposes a vulnerable shoreline. But San Francisco Bay has been fundamentally shaped by sediment flowing down from streams, rivers, and the Sacramento Delta, nourishing estuary and wetland ecosystems and building Bay ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free, RSVP Required
Earth Day Free Screening: JANESF Green Film Festival is pleased to present this special Earth Day screening of JANE - a film about Jane Goodall and her early years in Gombe.Using a trove of footage unearthed from the National Geographic archives, JANE tells the true story of Jane Goodall as a young woman whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Protecting our Oceans: Perils and Progress in CaliforniaOur planet depends on healthy oceans and it is alarming to see the impacts of climate change, reef destruction, multiple pollution inputs, and over-fishing. This program will address some of the threats to our oceans and solutions being implemented in California, focusing on ocean food webs, marine mammals, offshore and ...
As an internationally renowned professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at U.C. Berkeley, Jennifer A. Doudna and her colleagues rocked the research world in 2012 by describing a simple way of editing the DNA of any organism using an RNA-guided protein found in bacteria. This technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Peninsula Gem & Geology Society monthly meetingRangers Justin Everts and Bryan Lue will discuss the Geology and Archaeology of Santa Clara County Parks. There will also be a door prize drawing and many rocks and related items available by silent auction.
If ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the flim-flam man, join us, your friends. We are a group who informally discuss the latest in science or pseudoscience over good eats & ale. Sponsored by Bay Area Skeptics.WHY: Because we’re curious creatures.
Where: MillbraeCost: Free
taste of science: 'Speed Dating' with ScientistsDitch the powerpoint and share the love of science in a fun and unique format - Speed Dating with Scientists!5 scientists will bring their expertise to your dinner table. You get to sit back and enjoy the science they share with you.Each scientist gets 10mins to demonstrate their work to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 online, $15 at door
taste of science: Gravitational WavesOn Wednesday evening we are excited to receive a talk by Dr. Riccardo Bassiri, Research Scientist at Stanford University and LIGO, followed by Kai Staats' 3rd film in the series, "LIGO Detection". Both Riccardo and Kai are members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and will be pleased to answer questions ...
You like the show? This event is for you! Our Improv team will realize several performance with your help. Come with a brain full of ideas and they will play around them!Performers: Make Your Own Damn Sandwich
Where: Redwood CityCost: $7
Climate Adaptation in Santa CruzWhere are you experiencing or concerned about climate change impacts? The City of Santa Cruz’s Dr. Tiffany Wise-West, Sustainability and Climate Action Manager, will present the findings from the City’s first sea level rise vulnerability assessment and social vulnerability to climate change analysis, both new components of the draft Climate ...
Doug Tygar, Professor of Computer Science and Information Management at UC Berkeley, will present “Adversarial Machine Learning.†Tygar works in the areas of computer security, privacy, and electronic commerce. His current research includes privacy, security issues in sensor webs, digital rights management, and usable computer security. His awards include a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Botany Series: Plant TaxonomyStacy Jacobsen (Seed Collection Ecologist for Presidio Nursery), Desmond Murray (Presidio Nursery Education Manager), and Marion Anthonisen (Biological Techinician fir the Presidio) will lead this workshop focusing on basic taxonomy, botanical identification resources, and plant identification with an emphasis on troubleshooting morphological keys. The class will discuss and employ a ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Donations encouraged
Paul Hawken Presents Drawdown: The World’s First Comprehensive Plan to Reverse Global Warming Can we begin to reverse global warming in the next 30 years? This is the burning question of the 21st century and renowned environmentalist Hawken says yes. Hawken has launched Project Drawdown, which he calls the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. This local California NGO gathered ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, Free for students
Join SOFIA scientists from NASA and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) to hear about mirrors used in telescopes, especially the 100-inch mirror on board SOFIA. Learn about how the mirror was made, how and why it was put in a Boeing 747SP jetliner, and how it is isolated from the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 17.95 advance, 19.95 door, AD members free
Living with Black BearsEver wonder what a bear means when he stands up on two legs and looks at you? Do mama bears really wake up in the spring to discover they had two or three babies while they were sleeping? Come learn from Tahoe black bear heroes, the Bear League, about fascinating ...
Where: OaklandCost: $10 - $30
The Role of U.S. Coral Reefs in Coastal ProtectionRigorously valuing flood reduction benefits to inform coastal zone management decisionsCoral reefs are a first line of coastal defenseWe can account for the physical defense that reefs provideWe can provide value-based information to guide restoration efforts at management-relevant scales (10s of meters)We can direct ecosystems restoration efforts to reduce risk ...
You've probably never considered if moose get drunk, penguins cheat on their mates or worker ants lay about. They do - and that's just for starters.:ucy Cooke takes us on a worldwide journey and exposes the secret, and often hilarious, habits of the animal kingdom. She explores our biggest myths ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: $22 General, $12 Member, $5 Student
taste of science: It's science Jim, but not as we know it!How a lifetime of avoiding the lab blossomed into a career in scienceI've spent the past 20 years becoming an expert in science communication, but I didn't realize that's what I was doing until recently. Through volunteering, performing, shoveling poop, learning new languages, teaching, and advocating for endangered species, I ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $7
taste of science: The Microbe Hunter and the Nuclear DetectiveRadiochemistry, Nuclear Forensics, and Nonproliferation PolicyResearch in nuclear and radiochemistry can be frustrating, dealing with radioactive materials that are hard to obtain and even harder to handle, but the research has direct impacts on issues of nuclear and national security.This talk will cover the basics of identifying the origin of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $5
Friday, 04/27/18
Birding Pine Flat with Two ACR Ornithologists We’ll stop at several point-count stations to bird and to learn about the Songbirds of the Central Mayacamas project on Pine Flat Road. Then we’ll walk through Pine Flat where we hope to see and hear Purple Martin, Pileated Woodpecker, California Thrasher, Mountain Quail and others. Our guides will be ...
Current challenges and future directions in control and automation.  This symposium will kick off the 1st NorCal Control Workshop, an annual event providing a forum to bring together undergrad, grad students, postdocs and faculty from various universities, as well as representatives from industry, in the Northern California region working in the ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $25.00
Determining the PSF over the Full FoV of LSST using Gaussian ProcessesAccurately modeling and interpolating the PSF across the full field of view (FoV) of LSST for a given exposure is crucial for making galaxy shape measurements that meet the requirements of cosmic shear. In current weak-lensing surveys, the PSF is estimated at each star location within a CCD chip and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
The Best Reciprocal Resonators Make the Best Nonreciprocal SystemsCirculators are a key building block in next generation microwave systems for Simultaneous Transmit and Receive Radios (STAR) and Quantum Computing. State-of-the-art circulators have a ferro-magnet that breaks reciprocity but is hard to scale down to chip-scale dimensions for integrating with on-chip electronic components. The demand is even more urgent ...
Stochastic Modeling of Traffic DynamicsStochastic models of traffic flow are used in a variety of applications, e.g., traffic state estimation, travel time reliability, and traffic control. This talk will present techniques used to develop stochastic models. A main source of uncertainty in traffic dynamics is heterogeneity among drivers. This is captured using parametric uncertainty, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW)CCEW (Chemists Celebrate Earth Week) is an annual initiative through the American Chemical Society (ACS). This year, Olive Children will be hosting a series of FREE community events aimed at extending S.T.E.M. education to the next generation. This year's theme is "Dive into Marine Chemistry." All kids and students in ...
Where: FremontCost:
taste of science: Synthetic Biology and Quantum MechanicsSynthetic Biology (and pants)We are surrounded by microorganisms. Your intestines contain 100 trillion of them; three microorganisms for every human cell in your body. The oceans contain as many as a million bacteria in every milliliter. Each has evolved a variety of techniques to survive and thrive. Synthetic biologists aim ...
Take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve as dusk arrives and the animals start to appear. Our twilight hikes are on select Fridays throughout spring and fall. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained Bouverie ...
Come learn about cutting-edge research from the graduate student community at UC Berkeley in a relaxed, sci-fi-themed cafe setting. This month features a talk by physicist Jonathan Liu.The audience is encouraged to interrupt and ask questions and engage in discussion with our speakers. Arrive at 6:30 pm and enjoy a ...
Where: EmeryvilleCost: Free
taste of science: When Arts meet ScienceDid you know that scientists can also be artists? This is the time to come discover their arts!This event will be an amalgamation of science and art. Create you own piece of art with bacteria, paint with bioink, sketch what you find under your microscope, win a hand knitted hat ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: $7
Saturday, 04/28/18
Hayward Fault Walking TourOver the last million years, the natural beauty of Fremont has been shaped by the Hayward Fault. Instructors will be leading these 'ground breaking' tours and exposing the science and beauty of the Hayward Fault. This fault is one of several active faults in the world actually creeping at 5 ...
Activities for All AgesGold Panning, Kids crafts, Rocks that GLOW Treasure Hunt (score wizard crystals treasure!) and Geode CuttingDemosCabochon making, Arrowhead Knapping and Hands on Soapstone CarvingLecture daily too. See website for $1 off coupon.
Where: Santa CruzCost: $6 Adults, <12 and Scouts free
Family Bird WalkLet family walks become a shared time of nature learning. We’ll begin by helping kids create their personal bird watching field guides, and then head out onto the trails to find those birds. A limited number of binoculars are available to borrow. Recommended for children ages 5-10. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. Register ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Lake Merritt BioBlitz - City Nature ChallengeLake Merritt in the heart of Oakland is the jewel of the city and teeming with life. During this event come learn about the thousands of organisms that call this place home and help document them as part of the City Nature Challenge. Local naturalists will be on hand to ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Science Saturday: Day of the DinoPrepare for time-travel during this prehistoric Science Saturday, when we set our sights on the age of the dinosaurs. We will explore fossils, footprints, and more as we learn what made the dinosaurs so successful, and also what led to their extinction. We are honored to host USGS Emeritus Scientist, Ed ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
City Nature Challenge - Mt. Diablo's Mitchell CanyonFrom April 27th-30th, 60 cities around the world will have a friendly competition to see whose citizens can document their biodiversity best using iNaturalist - it's the 2018 City Nature Challenge, and we want to put the Bay Area on top!On Saturday, April 28th, Join CCNH Naturalist and iNaturalist Outreach ...
Where: ClaytonCost: $6 parking
West Oakland Spring Science FairThis free admission family friendly event is for all walks of life, ages and abilities who are enthusiastic about science!This event is free but so we can get an idea of our attendance this is the only online option for registration. There will be registration at the event and anyone ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Trekking the ModelJoin a Ranger or docent on a guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta. Discover the stories of the two major operations that took place at this location between 1942 - 2000. Â
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW)CCEW (Chemists Celebrate Earth Week) is an annual initiative through the American Chemical Society (ACS). This year, Olive Children will be hosting a series of FREE community events aimed at extending S.T.E.M. education to the next generation. This year's theme is "Dive into Marine Chemistry." All kids and students in ...
Where: FremontCost: FREE
taste of science: The Grand ExperimentAre you fascinated by the idea of mad scientists doing crazy experiments in a laboratory? This will be your opportunity to find your hidden scientist.You can extract your own DNA and take it home in a DNA necklace, see and learn how plants breathe, see DNA, experience how illusions can ...
The current scientific revolution from imaging exoplanetsDirect imaging has now arrived as an excellent method for discovering and characterizing extrasolar giant planets. One of the science breakthroughs of 2008 was the discovery of a mysterious planet around the very bright star Fomalhaut using the Hubble Space Telescope. I will show how I made this discovery and ...
Activities for All AgesGold Panning, Kids crafts, Rocks that GLOW Treasure Hunt (score wizard crystals treasure!) and Geode CuttingDemosCabochon making, Arrowhead Knapping and Hands on Soapstone CarvingLecture daily too. See website for $1 off coupon.
Where: Santa CruzCost: $6 Adults, <12 and Scouts free
28th Annual Discovery Day Open HouseEstuary & Ocean Science Center's 28th Annual Discovery Day Open House at SF State's Romberg Tiburon CampusCome celebrate science on the bay!
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Sunset/Full Moon Walk to the Point Bonita LighthouseJoin park staff and volunteer docents for a tour down through the history of Point Bonita while the sun sets over the Pacific. We will walk along the half-mile trail which is steep in places. Arrive early as parking is limited. Meet at the Point Bonita Lighthouse trailhead. Dress warming ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Monday, 04/30/18
Measuring galaxy photometric redshifts for Stage IV weak lensing cosmology experimentsA key challenge for upcoming “Stage IV" weak lensing cosmology experiments (LSST, Euclid,WFIRST) will be measuring accurate redshifts for billions of faint galaxies using only broad-band photometric observations. Specifically, dark energy constraints from weak lensing cosmology depend on excellent characterization of the N(z) distributions of galaxies in ~10-20 cosmic shear ...
Complex models in Earth Sciences refer to the combination of multiple properties, scales, observations, and physics relating the various model components for the description of geological objects. As natural objects the reservoirs, earth crust or planets require a multidisciplinary description, and setting such a description into a joint numerical framework ...
The Tech & Data for Good Showcase Day will highlight student-led projects that apply tech and data for social good.The event will showcase student projects from the CITRIS Tech for Social Good Program; the Center for Technology, Society and Policy (CTSP) Data for Good Project, sponsored by Facebook; and Big Ideas finalists in ...
Where: UC BerkeleyCost: Free and open to the public. RSVP requested
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is technique capable of visualizing challenging systems that otherwise defy structural characterization, as it overcomes the need for crystallization, requires only small amounts of sample, and has the potential to deal with and describe compositional and conformational mixtures. Therefore, cryo-EM can be used to investigate complete and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
THE SuperCDMS SNOLAB EXPERIMENT: SEARCHING FOR ELUSIVE DARK MATTER A MILE UNDERGROUNDAlthough yet to be directly observed, there is a wealth of evidence for the existence of some form of non-luminous matter distinct from the normal material that makes up our everyday world. Although an extremely challenging search, there are a number of experimental groups attempting to detect and characterize dark ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Fundamental Physics in Cislunar SpaceNASA plans to establish a moon-orbiting, crewed space station called the Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway. The Gateway will host science missions subtending multiple technical disciplines.  A moon-orbiting platform provides unique opportunities to address fundamental questions related to quantum mechanics and gravity. This concept, and other preliminary mission concepts in the area ...
Dian Grueneich is a nationally and internationally recognized energy expert. Dian began her career in the late 1970’s at the California Energy Commission in the first Jerry Brown administration and help developed the first clean energy policies and programs. Dian served as a Commissioner on the California Public Utilities Commission ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Spring 2018 Report on the Sierra Nevada's Rain, Fires, Snowpack, Trees, Water and EcosystemsJoin our distinguished annual panel for an up-to-date report on the Sierra Nevada mountains, habitats, water, rivers, trees, ground cover, and the harsh economic impacts caused by fire, degradation, drought and ecosystems changes. Where are we now in the 2017 - 2018 climate cycle and the cycle of destruction, renewal ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, Free for Members & Students
Nerd Nite East Bay: Polyandrous Tamarins, Roller Coaster Design, Merritt College ProtestsWhite Hills, Black Flats: Black Studies and the Struggle for Community Control of Merritt CollegeDisappointed with the failures of integration and the racist curricula and hiring practices of the 1960s, Black students took over the administration building at Oakland’s Merritt College on March 15, 1971 to protest the relocation of ...
Your body is inhabited with 100 trillion microbes, collectively referred to as the microbiome. Join us for a walk through the history of studying our microbial inhabitants, their roles in health, and how scientists hope to use microbes as treatments in the future. Join us at the San Mateo Public Library ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Tuesday, 05/01/18
Soil Health Series: Biological Properties of Soil & Composting Methods Soil is the most complex biomaterial on Earth...really! Join the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic Stephen Andrews (UC Berkeley Professor, specializing in soils) and Dick Minor (Alcatraz Gardens Volunteer Compost Manager) for a hands-on class to discover the basics of creating a successful compost, and how the soil foodweb drives the ...
Galaxy Intrinsic AlignmentsThe shapes of galaxies provide key insights into the physics of our universe. Astrophysicists have long been interested in measuring the precise shapes of galaxies in order to understand their formation mechanisms. In particular, the correlation of intrinsic galaxy shapes contains interesting information about the relation between galaxy formation and ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
How to learn from cosmological data The mysteries of the cosmic beginning, gravitational clustering, and cosmic acceleration persist. How can we distill relevant cosmological information from the next generation of data sets? Taking examples from the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, and supernova cosmology, I will discuss inference strategies, artificial intelligence, and computational approaches that ...
Having whale sharks in the Georgia Aquarium collection has provided extraordinary opportunities to build knowledge about the world’s largest species of fish and to change public attitudes about conservation of this and other pelagic marine life. Key research projects in the aquarium have included functional anatomy of feeding, discovery of ...
Atapuerca: Crossroads of Human Evolution in EuropeArchaeological sites at Sierre de Atapuerca in Northern Spain offer extraordinary insight into the evolution of humankind. Atapuerca is a unique treasure trove that includes the earliest and most abundant evidence of humans in Europe, the earliest evidence of human cannibalism, and possibly the first burial in our history. Atapuerca ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Thursday, 05/03/18
How to learn from cosmological dataThe mysteries of the cosmic beginning, gravitational clustering, and cosmic acceleration persist. How can we distill relevant cosmological information from the next generation of data sets? Taking examples from the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, and supernova cosmology, I will discuss inference strategies, artificial intelligence, and computational approaches that promise to extract more ...
Batteries are to a clean-energy future what sunshine is to California: indispensable. But batteries today are weak, and so is the method that scientists are using to try to improve them. Batteries cost too much, hold too little energy, explode too easily, and lose their punch too fast. The search ...
How close is too close? Whether a cell membrane or a line in the sand, boundaries help define where one ends and others begin. Test the influence of dividing lines on everything from bubbles to public bathrooms.Presentations:Boundary Conditions in Romantic Relationships With Heike Winterheld  7:00 p.m. Immigration Enforcement and Sanctuary With Lisa Weissman-Ward  8:00 ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $17.95 advance, $19.95 @ the door, AD members Free
Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz - From Planets to Dark Matter: How Do We Know What We know?Join us for our inaugural Astronomy on Tap. We will begin mingling on the 2nd floor beginning at 6:00pm. Professors Ruth Murray-Clay and Alexie Leauthaud and Graduate Student Researcher Alexa Villaume present “From Planets to Dark Matter: How Do We Know What We know?†The event is free of charge ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Atr Tech NightlifeMUTEK.SF in the Dome (Morrison Planetarium) 6:30, 7:30 & 8:30pm Catch a series of mind-bending audiovisual works created for the Morrison Planetarium dome, including “Nimbes†by Joanie Lemercier with music by James Ginzburg (of Emptyset) and “Structure†by Jesse Woolston.Sea of Sounds (Piazza) 6:00 - 8:30pm - San Francisco’s Topazu sets the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Cafe InquiryMeet up with rationalists, skeptics, and freethinkers south of San Francisco.Cafe Inquiry is a social event hosted by the Center for Inquiry|San Francisco.For more information or if you have questions please email sf@centerforinquiry.net
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
'FLUSH'FLUSH - The Documentaryis the surprising story of what happens after we “goâ€, and a growing movement to change the way we think about waste. Filmmaker Karina Mangu-Ward wonders if the unprecedented damage from Superstorm Sandy, the drought out West, and the future of our food supply has a lot ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Lymphedema: What You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment and the Promise of ResearchLymphedema is a chronic condition that causes unsightly swelling in the limbs due to blockage in the circulatory systems. Lymphedema is most commonly caused by lymph node removal or damage due to cancer treatment. This talk will address the condition, current research and emerging treatments for it.Speaker: Stanley Rockson, MD, ...
Charlie is a brilliant scientist whose life is upended when she is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that leaves her stuttering, shaking, and forgetful. Selflessly, Charlie's wife, Maggie, plunges into her new role as caretaker, and over the years both settle into their new identities. When Charlie finds out about ...
Where: Stanford UniversityCost: $5 students, $20 advance, $25 at the door
Friday, 05/04/18
Two Astrophysics LecturesUnderstanding the Photoelectric Cross Section in Silicon and Germanium: Implications for Dark Photon SearchesSpeaker: Matthew Wilson, Univ. of TorontoUpdates on Delensing of CMB B-modesSpeaker: Kimmy Wu, KICP
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
A Passion for Fish: Science and Art Come TogetherChristopher M. Dewees presents “A Passion for Fish: Science and Art Come Together†and discusses his book, A Life Among Fishes: The Art of Gyotaku, sharing a half-century of printing fish and shellfish to full color. We will follow Chris’s evolution in gyotaku as a graduate student, to his status ...
Where: Bodega BayCost: Free
First Friday Family Night at CuriOdysseyFamilies with small children can swing into the weekend with music, science, food and fun! On the first Friday of every month, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m., parents and kids celebrate together at CuriOdyssey. Dance to live music including soul, funk and jazz of the 60’s and 70’s. Purchase ...
Where: San MateoCost: $12.50-9.50 / Free with Admission / Members Free
Future Fridays: Crossing the Final Frontier: Space Exploration, Biology, and HealthRyan Scott, M.A. is a contractor support Scientist on the Rodent Research Project at NASA Ames Research Center. The NASA Rodent Research Project provides a research platform aboard the International Space Station for long-duration rodent experiments in space. The experiments examine how microgravity affects mice, providing information relevant to human ...
Where: OaklandCost: $26 General, $23 Members, $30 at door
In a consulting environment emphasis is often on performing work rapidly or providing analysis of a large portfolio of assets in a limited time frame. The challenge is to develop techniques to perform work quickly but also to provide technically sound and useful results. This talk highlights innovative techniques and ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Another Pale Blue Dot: The SETI Institute’s Search for ExoplanetsIn only two decades, we‘ve gone from the mere speculation about planets beyond our solar system (exoplanets) to being able to observe them through a variety of methods. Dr. Franck Marchis, Planetary Astronomer and chair of the exoplanet group at the SETI Institute will discuss new and sophisticated projects which ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Astronomy 101: Sights of the Cosmos, Intro to AstronomyThis event provides a different introduction to astronomy than our Intro to the Night Sky talks. During this hour, you'll gain an appreciation for the size and scale of the cosmos and our place within it. You'll see many examples of the beautiful objects visible in the night sky, learn ...
Charlie is a brilliant scientist whose life is upended when she is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that leaves her stuttering, shaking, and forgetful. Selflessly, Charlie's wife, Maggie, plunges into her new role as caretaker, and over the years both settle into their new identities. When Charlie finds out about ...
Where: Stanford UniversityCost: $5 students, $20 advance, $25 at the door
Biodiversity BioblitzCome explore the Modini Mayacamas Preserves with other serious “nature nerds†and experts. Our goal is to add species records each season to the Biodiversity of the Modini Mayacamas on iNaturalist. Each of us tends to spot, and share enthusiasm and knowledge about, species that others rarely notice. Mark your ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: $20 suggested donation
Wildflower Walk at Presidio Coastal BluffsWildflowers! To know them is to love them. It’s springtime, and all throughout California the wildflowers are beginning to bloom, including in your very own Golden Gate National Parks. We invite you to come and enjoy the huge variety of both native and exotics on display and prepare to be ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
The Underwater Miracle of Pacific Island Marine National Monuments - Art ReceptionExplore the magic marine wildlife of the Pacific Remote Islands. A photo exhibit by Shark Stewards, Tandem Media and the Earth Island Institute 2 of our Marine National Monument in the Pacific Remote Islands.Exhibition Dates: May 1 - June 9, 2018Reception: Sat, May 5, 1pm - 3pm
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) Open HouseTalks, 3-D Visualization, Planetarium Dome, Stargazing, and much more. Free hot dogs, including Veggie dogs and beverages. Raffle drawing for great prizes.Planetarium Dome and the 3-D Visualization and Talks are first-come-first-served to accommodate capacity.Reservations recommended
Charlie is a brilliant scientist whose life is upended when she is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that leaves her stuttering, shaking, and forgetful. Selflessly, Charlie's wife, Maggie, plunges into her new role as caretaker, and over the years both settle into their new identities. When Charlie finds out about ...
Where: Stanford UniversityCost: $5 students, $20 advance, $25 at the door
Sunday, 05/06/18
Documenting Wildlife on the Mayacamas Spend the morning learning about some of the wildlife that inhabits the Preserves with Ginny Fifield, Wildlilfe Camera Specialist, ACR Mountain Lion Project Team, and Modini Mayacamas Preserves Volunteer. We’ll learn about identifying field signs of mountain lions, bobcat, coyotes and more. Based on what we find, we'll guess what ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: $20 suggested donation
Wildlife Camera Walk with Ginny FifieldSpend the morning learning about some of the wildlife that inhabits the Preserves with Ginny Fifield, Wildlilfe Camera Specialist, ACR Mountain Lion Project Team, and Modini Mayacamas Preserves Volunteer. We’ll learn about identifying field signs of mountain lions, bobcat, coyotes and more. Based on what we find, we'll guess what ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: $20 suggested donation
Sabercat Creek Historical Park TourSabercat Historical Park is a 98 acre park that hosts a remarkable history of wineries, a dairy farm, and fossils.  It is home to many birds that cannot be found in other areas and a large landmark tree. The walk (1.5 mile) will take the visitor back through time when ...
Where: FremontCost:
Wildflower and Whale WalkJoin Greater Farallones sanctuary naturalists and a California State Park Environmental Scientist for a 4 mile coastal wildflower and whale walk! We will explore Salt Point State Park while learning about bluff, coastal prairie, and near shore coastal ecology. Discover how State Parks are protecting and restoring these unique habitats. ...
Where: JennerCost: $20
Learning to Recognize Beneficial Insects in the GardenDiscover the fascinating world of beneficial insects as they thrive in Oaktown’s Native Plant Nursery. Many of our important pollinators and pest predators go unrecognized. Discover some of these amazing creatures, including our very beautiful, incredibly acrobatic, native flies! Learn why these little critters are worth a second look. Learn ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Wonderfest: Love Among the NeuronsHow did the human race evolve from rather solitary predators into the intensely social creatures that we are now? Where in the brain can we find the roots of our multiple connections to each other, and how do those connections reverberate within and between us? Pascal famously wrote, "The heart ...
Charlie is a brilliant scientist whose life is upended when she is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that leaves her stuttering, shaking, and forgetful. Selflessly, Charlie's wife, Maggie, plunges into her new role as caretaker, and over the years both settle into their new identities. When Charlie finds out about ...
Where: Stanford UniversityCost: $5 students, $20 advance, $25 at the door
Youth + Tech + Health (YTH) Live 2018YTH Live is the conference that ignites innovation in youth, technology, and health. Plus, this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the conference, making it the biggest yet.The conference includes sessions on video games, non profit outreach, mobile apps, texting, and social media, all being used to address issues like mental ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $18 - $550 (see website)
Faults play an important role in geothermal fluid transport and can also present a contrast in acoustic impedance such that seismic methods can approximately locate their presence in the subsurface. Brady Natural Lab is a geothermal reservoir that has numerous faults that allow for both recharge and deep-to-shallow heat exchange ...
As microelectronics technology nears the end of exponential growth over time, known as Moore’s law, there is a renewed interest in new computing paradigms such as quantum computing.  A key step in the roadmap to build a scientifically or commercially useful quantum computer will be to demonstrate its exponentially growing ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Fixing Urban Congestion with Dollars and DataIn many of the challenges faced by the modern world, from overcrowded road networks to overstretched healthcare systems, large benefits for society come about from small changes by very many individuals. We describe a framework for designing "nudge engines,†focusing on influencing commuter behavior to reduce urban congestion. The framework ...
Nanoengineered materials have exciting, untapped potential to improve energy and water technologies. In this talk, I provide a few examples of how we leverage nanoscale manipulation capabilities to develop advanced thermal management, solar thermal energy conversion and water harvesting devices. First, I discuss our recent work that harnesses novel surface ...
Youth + Tech + Health (YTH) Live 2018YTH Live is the conference that ignites innovation in youth, technology, and health. Plus, this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the conference, making it the biggest yet.The conference includes sessions on video games, non profit outreach, mobile apps, texting, and social media, all being used to address issues like mental ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $18 - $550 (see website)
Tuesday, 05/08/18
Birds of Berkeley Bird WalkJoin Birds of Berkeley author, Oliver James, for a bird walk in the Garden. Copies of his book will be available for sale and signing. Birds of Berkeley is a full-color field guide to 25 birds easily found in Berkeley proves that even the city’s avian residents are ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 General, $18 members, free UC students & Staff
YouSolar: Solar Simplified, Power AmplifiedYouSolar has designed a stand-alone solar+battery system that works in areas with unreliable grids or no grid at all. The system is high-power and can replace diesel generators widely used in these situations. The system is plug-and-play and so fast to assemble that it can go from box to power in one ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, Free for students
Is the Universe lop-sided?Since the standard cosmological model is such a good fit to the cosmic microwave background anisotropy data, a great deal of attention has focused on hints of "physics beyond the standard model". One particular large-scale "anomaly" that has been noted is that there appears to be more power on one ...
The kitchen can be a haven - for you and, if you’re not careful, for microbes that can be hazardous to your health. However, finding best practices for kitchen safety isn’t always easy. Is it better to wash or microwave your sponges? Are wooden cutting boards safer than plastic, or ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $17.95 adv, $19.95 door, free with A.D. membership
Friday, 05/11/18
Electronic Interfaces for Bacteria-Based BiosensingIn this talk, I will present our work to co-opt the natural detection capabilities of bacteria for hybrid biosensing platforms. We will cover the following techniques: (i) embedding current-producing bacteria inside a conductive polymer matrix to enhance current generation in a microbial electrochemical system; (ii) observing large numbers of chemotactic ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
California TypewriterCalifornia Typewriter is a documentary portrait of artists, writers, and collectors who remain steadfastly loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse, featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, David McCullough, Sam Shepard, and others. It also movingly documents the struggles of California Typewriter, one of the last standing repair shops ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost:
Hardcore Natural History: From Chautauqua to SteinbeckThis is a story of immigration of people to America seeking a better life and a place to call home. It is a story about John Steinbeck’s maternal ancestors, the Hamilton family; his grandfather Samuel, great aunt Mary and great uncle Robert Hamilton, the three of whom emigrated from Ireland ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $10 General, $5 Member, $15 all at door
Green Friday: Tales of BeesCalifornia is home to many species of native bees as well as introduced species such as the European honey bee. They are amazing creatures and important pollinators in natural, agricultural and urban landscapes. Dr. Hafernik will introduce the natural history of bee species in the Bay Area and discuss threats ...
Experience 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 ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: $20 General, $15 Members
Girls Day @ The Tech: Science SafariBring the whole family to Girls Day @ The Tech: Science Safari, an event devoted to providing girls with opportunity, inspiration and fun with STEM learning. We’ll offer special hands-on animal-themed activities designed to empower girls along with their siblings and parents. You’ll engineer a device to help move Pandas ...
Where: San JoseCost: free with the purchase of general admission ticket
Trekking the ModelJoin a Ranger or docent on a guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Delta. Discover the stories of the two major operations that took place at this location between 1942 - 2000.Â
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Celebrating Stephen Hawking: Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi Discusses His Life and WorkScientists and science enthusiasts are mourning the passing of Stephen Hawking, one of the great minds and spirits of our time. In this introductory, non-technical talk, Bay Area public astronomer Andrew Fraknoi will briefly summarize Hawking’s life, and talk about the importance of his scientific work. No background in science ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Sunday, 05/13/18
Marine Science Sunday: Back from the Brink - Saving SpeciesThis month we celebrate the work taking place to help save endangered and threatened marine mammals found along the California coast and Pacific Ocean, including the threatened Guadalupe fur seals, Southern sea otter, the rarest seal in the United States, the Hawaiian monk seal. Docent-led tours will take you around the ...
