Rocket science for conservationIn spite of numerous technological advancements over the past few decades, reliable, global wildlife tracking remains an elusive goal. Current tracking systems rely on some combination of terrestrial infrastructure with limited coverage (e.g. cell towers), satellites that require bulky and expensive radios to communicate with (e.g. Argos), or physically trapping ...
Dr. Seema Lakdawala is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego and completed her postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. Her lab focuses on emergence ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Blue carbon storage in restored, invaded, and historic marshesBlue carbon is a term used to describe organic carbon stored in coastal wetland ecosystems. In this talk, I will present results from three different projects on blue carbon. First I will discuss the fate of blue carbon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California (the Delta) from its formation ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Jupyter Meets the Earth: an Open, Collaborative Approach for Earth Data ScienceToday’s scientific challenges require combining theory, simulations and data at an unprecedented scale and complexity. While this is beyond the skills of any individual scientist, an open and collaborative approach can give us both the extensible tools and the interdisciplinary teams we need. I have spent my career building such ...
Tom will walk through the architecture of the Simulation Platform that leverages a Big Data approach to simulate analytic models that are instrumental in the detection and deflection of potentialSpeaker: Thomas Doran, PayPal
The Baylands are the tidal wetlands along the shore of San Francisco Bay, which provide a rich habitat for wildlife and can help to protect our shorelines from sea level rise and other climatic threats. As the Bay Area gears up for climate change, how can we engage and include ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free, RSVP required
How Medicine (Mis)treats CancerWe have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it, yet a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it today as one was fifty years ago. Why has so little progress been made in diagnosing and treating cancer over the past few ...
Central Asia and Siberia have for a long time played a very limited role in discussions of modern human origins. These areas were seen as peripheral to our story, which was thought to have mostly unfolded in Africa, Europe, and Eastern Asia. This story, however, is starting to change.Over the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Meet the Neighbors: Planetary Systems Orbiting Nearby StarsThe NASA Kepler mission revealed that our Galaxy is teeming with planetary systems and that Earth-sized planets are common. However, most of the planets detected by Kepler orbit stars too faint to permit detailed study. The NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS,) launched in 2018, is finding hundreds of small ...
What Happens When a Massive Star Fails (Sort of) to Explode?There are observational and theoretical reasons to suspect that up to 10s of percent of massive stars that undergo core-collapse at the end of their lives fail to explode in a canonical energetic supernova explosion. In this talk I will describe what transpires in such nominally failed supernovae and its ...
Since Fall 2002, the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering has hosted the Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium (SVLS). The Symposium hosts industry and technology leaders to talk about business and technology trends. It also features prominent leaders who discuss broader societal and political issues that shape our life and society.Speaker: ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
San Francisco's New Hazards and Climate Resilience PlanThe City and County of San Francisco is wrapping up a new cross-departmental effort to improve the city’s readiness for disasters such as earthquakes and to bolster its overall resilience in the face of long-term climate change. Learn from the plan’s leaders about how this new initiative will make the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 General, Free for members
Silicon Valley Engineering Council (SVEC) Open House - Modern Robot PsychologyCan you diagnose and fix your car? Can you reboot your router? We get along with technology better when we have some operational understanding of how it works. As we an approach an age when robots and other artificially intelligent agents surround us, we must expand our mental models of ...
Where: MilpitasCost: Free
'Dispatches from the Gulf'Nine years after Deepwater Horizon spill see scientists working together to understand environmental impact on humans, wildlife & ecosystems. Watch scientists investigate the impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on local communities, watermen and the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem. Today, a global team of scientists is working together ...
Everything you eat comes from somewhere and in many cases, since California is the biggest producer of agriculture in the United States, that somewhere isn’t so far away. From livestock to grapes, come learn some of the science involved in growing the world’s food. And don’t forget to taste the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 19.95 door, General members $14.95 AD members free
Brain & Body NightLifeFeed your brain and body this week as NightLife explores the fascinating science of human health and wellness from the inside out. Full event details coming soon!
In this presentation, Dr. Javier Navarro will tell us about his work in revealing the hidden powers of insects and other critters. We will hear about a coffee addict, a wood-degrading machine, and litter decomposers. All have something in common: their intimate associations with microbes to thrive in their unique ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
How AI & Robotics will Shape the Future of RetailWe're really excited to welcome our panelists traveling to the SF Bay Area especially for this event. They are joining us from Pennsylvania, Texas and Arizona and they are leaders in the field of Robotics and Retail.Panel: Sarjoun Skaff, Bossa Nova Robotics; Georges Mirza, Consultant; Joe Zoghzoghy, Bastian Solutions; Elie ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $10 - $30
Friday, 11/15/19
Three KIPAC Tea TalksM87: from the event horizon to the parsec-scale jetSpeaker: Koushik Chatterjee, University of AmsterdamThe Milky Way's stellar mass black hole populationSpeaker: Kareem El-Badry, UC BerkeleySynthetic Observations of the Milky Way's CGM with FOGGIESpeaker: Yong Zheng, UC Berkeley
Modulation of Precursor Reactivity for Colloidal Synthesis of WSe2 Nanocrystals and HeterostructuresTransition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) can host a variety of phases, each with a unique electronic structure, allowing access to a compositionally and electronically diverse set of 2D materials. Among these materials, the metastable 1T′ phase of WSe2 has recently gained attention due to its potential application as a quantum spin ...
Chemical engineering deals with production and processing of materials and chemicals. Polymers are macromolecules that have thousands of small molecules joined together by covalent bonds. Polymer reaction engineering is about industrial production of polymers. Polymers are chain molecules and their materials properties are determined to a large extent by their ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Cosmochemical constraints on the earliest evolution of the Solar SystemCosmochemistry, the study of chemical and isotopic signatures of meteorites, can provide direct constraints on the origin and evolution of the Solar System. As a discipline, it therefore, represents an important complement to fields like astronomy and astrophysics. Here I will review recent developments in cosmochemistry, and discuss several important ...
Where: LivermoreCost: Free
Saturday, 11/16/19
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 ...
Experience 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 and flower-carpeted oak woodland. Guided Nature Walks are no more ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: $20 suggested donation
UC Berkeley’s Chemapalooza UC Berkeley's chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity is holding its second annual Chemapalooza event, a one day chemistry festival for guests in K-12, college, and beyond! The event will be held at Berkeley's College of Chemistry and will include a variety of presentations for attendees of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Intriguing World of Insects: Lecture and Guided Tour Whether we see them or not, insects have a constant presence in our lives. From pollinating the fruits and vegetables we eat and helping cure diseases through DNA research, to pests we find in our homes and gardens, there is no escaping the intimate relationships insects share with fellow earthlings. ...
Where: MillbraeCost: 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.
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Seaweed Soiree! an adult evening of seaweed, science, and artLearn about the secret lives of seaweeds and kelp forests from Dr. Karina Nielsen, Director of Estuary Ocean Science Center and Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. Enjoy the fine art photography and research of artist and author Josie Iselin, whose work on marine algae explores the space ...
Giant planets can be as large as 13 times the mass of Jupiter, while the lowest mass stars are about 80 times the mass of Jupiter. In between are objects called “brown dwarfsâ€, too massive to be called planets, but not massive enough to burn hydrogen and shine like stars. ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Sunday, 11/17/19
Science Sundays: Floating on the Edge: Physiology, Ecology, and Recovery of Southern Sea OttersNearly hunted to extinction for their fur during the 18th and 19th centuries, the southern sea otter population recovery has been a slow and meandering journey. This iconic nearshore species is a physiological oddball among marine mammals. Collaborative research efforts examining the unique physiology, behavior, and ecology of southern sea ...
Our understanding of stem cells has exploded in recent years, promising transformative therapies and even cures - for a myriad of diseases. Come learn about the many types of stem cells in the human body, and how they are being used to develop treatments for diseases including immune deficiencies, sickle ...
Where: AlamedaCost: Free
Monday, 11/18/19
Statistical Challenges in photometric redshift inferenceObservations from large area photometric surveys like LSST or DES will constrain cosmology to unprecedented precision. Deep wide-area imaging will provide observations for faint galaxy samples, for which traditional redshift calibration using spectroscopic data is very difficult. It is therefore important to quantify and incorporate the modelling uncertainty in the ...
It is common to hear that certain natural language understanding (NLU) tasks have been "solved". These claims are often misconstrued as being about general human capabilities (e.g., to answer questions), but they are always actually about how systems performed on narrowly defined evaluations. Recently, adversarial testing methods have begun to ...
Phase equilibrium calculations at pressure and temperature specifications, consisting in the minimization of the Gibbs free energy with respect to mole numbers, are the most commonly used and there are well documented in the literature. An attractive alternative is given by the volume-based calculations, in which volume and mole numbers, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Josephson effect as a tool for creating topological superconductivityIn this talk I will describe how the Josephson effect may be employed to realize one dimensional topological superconductivity. I will describe the basic idea, the experimental observations, the relation to topological superconductivity based on quantum wires, a surprising effect of disorder, and a scheme for braiding Majorana zero modes ...
Emilio Nanni received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 2013. He joined SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University in 2015; his research is focused applied electromagnetics; high power, high-frequency vacuum electron devices; optical THz amplifiers; electron-beam dynamics; and advanced accelerator concepts.
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE SENSORS AND SPECTROCOPY GROUP AT VIAVI SOLUTIONSThe sensors and spectroscopy group of Viavi Solutions produces the MicroNIR NIR spectrometer as well as binary multispectral (BMS) filters. The variety of scientific fields used in both instrument development and applications will be discussed. Presented by Valton Smith.Editor's Note: This talk was originally scheduled for October 28.
SHINING X-RAYS ON TOPOLOGICAL TEXTURE: INSIGH INTO MAGNETIC SKYMIONSRecently discovered skyrmions is an example of a topological phase that manifest in magnetic systems as a hexagonal lattice of spin vortices. Due to topological protection, skyrmions can be moved coherently over macroscopic distances with low currents compared to domain wall motion, and is therefore a potential candidate for low ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Single-molecule FRET studies of binding and folding conformational dynamics of intrinsically disordered proteinsIntrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) play important roles in various dynamic cellular processes such as gene transcription and signal transduction. IDPs are unstructured but usually fold during binding to target proteins. In contrast to interactions between folded proteins, this additional folding step makes the binding process more complex. Understanding the mechanism ...
The solar wind is the superhot, escaping atmosphere of the Sun that has its origin in the solar corona and expands past the outer planets to form the heliosphere. However, for lack of direct measurements, the physical processes responsible for coronal heating and solar wind energization are not currently well ...
Hanadie will discuss the stages of creating and building a biotechnology startup, from generating an idea and business model, networking, laying the foundations, fundraising and recruiting a team. She will share tips and lessons learned from the last 3 years on this journey.Speaker: Hanadie Yousef, Juvena Therapeutics
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
City College of San Francisco: Engineering, Architecture, Technology and the EnvironmentOur panel members will explore the depth of talent, expertise, learning, knowledge and experiences at City College in making important improvements to combat global environmental issues and problems. Environmental flexibility and plans for the college's adjacent 17 acres that were graciously leased to City College by the San Francisco Public ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members, $8 Students
Genetic engineering and editing allow us to modify plants in various ways. Questions have been raised about the environmental and human-health effects of these technologies to modify the genetic information in crops and foods. What is the history of genetic modification of plants, and what impact might these technologies have ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
The Future of MeatFood technology is rapidly changing the way food can be produced--from lab-grown "cultured meat" to plant-based alternatives. Learn about the environmental, health, and animal welfare reasons behind why alternatives to conventional meat are being developed, the science behind creating these foods, and how they are expected to disrupt the meat ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
More from LessAndrew McAfee draws on a wide range of evidence to show that the world is already on the right track toward long-term health when it combines 1) technological progress, 2) capitalism, 3) responsive government, and 4) public awareness. That blend demonstrably gets humanity “more from less.†It dematerializes the economy ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: TBA, Free for Members
Tuesday, 11/19/19
Designing for Lasting Impact-The Science Behind Better Building EnclosuresThe seminar will discuss building science fundamentals, fire safety including the Wildland-Urban Interface and NFPA 285, the effective performance of roof systems, as well as a project highlight on the Chase Center!During the course of the day, Graham Finch (RDH) will delve into the science behind building enclosures, discuss key ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $80
Camera systematics and three-point correlations in modern photometric galaxy surveysThe goal of modern cosmology is to understand the behavior of the universe at large scales, including the evolution of the matter distribution over cosmic time. Advances in this endeavor require both better characterization of systematic errors in raw astronomical data as well as improved statistical methods for extracting cosmological ...
Upcoming probes of fundamental physics: Utilising small-scale signatures in the Universe In the next few years, the field of cosmology will see an influx of new and high quality data from surveys of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS). In particular, there is overwhelming evidence that measuring the late time effects on the CMB photons (secondaries) will provide new ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Future of Particle PhysicsJoseph D. Lykken of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will give the Applied Physics/Physics colloquium
Clean Energy Systems (CES) has developed game-changing technology that is revolutionizing the power industry by eliminating the traditional exhaust stack and making zero-emission power a reality.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Recreating Bo Peep for Toy Story 4: A journey alongside Team Bo In Toy Story 4, audiences rediscover BoPeep, who returns after nearly 20 years away from the big screen. In adapting her design, we considered not only the cultural context of reviving one of our industry’s first female characters, informing our story and design, but also the technology now available, which ...
PLEASE REGISTER at WEBSITEImagine traveling halfway across the world, descending over 400 feet underground in a tiny elevator, and spending nearly a week in the vast, cathedral-like salt mines under Romania to compete in the most elite model airplane contest on the planet. Officially known as the “F1D World Championshipsâ€, ...
Where: Castro ValleyCost: Free
CRISPR, AI, and the Ethics of Scientific DiscoveryTwin revolutions at the start of the 21st century are shaking up the very idea of what it means to be human. Computer vision and image recognition are at the heart of the AI revolution. And CRISPR is a powerful new technique for genetic editing that allows humans to intervene ...
Else Vellinga's presentation will focus on the people who were instrumental in naming mushroom species, on the advocates for conservation, those advancing the science behind our understanding of mushrooms in the field, and the pioneers in mushroom dyes.Speaker: Else Vellinga
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Nerd Nite SF #114: Autopsies, Jane Austen, and Aliens!“Working Stiff & First Cut: The Real Work of a Forensic Pathologist†by Dr. Judy Melinek and T.J. MitchellDr. Judy Melinek performs autopsies for a living. Her husband, T.J. Mitchell, is a writer. Together they will answer everything you dare ask a medical examiner, give you a tour of the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10
Astronomical Imaging PrimerPlease join the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society on November 19 for our general meeting featuring members of the MDAS Imaging Group, who will show off their images of the night sky and offer advice on getting started. What equipment do you need? What do you start with? What kind of ...
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
How to Bend a Stream of Dark Matter and Make it ShineThe nature of dark matter is one of the most captivating and fundamental open problems facing physicists today. Over many decades, we have collected overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark matter in the universe. Some of the strongest evidence comes from observations of the growth of galaxies and clusters ...
Human minds love to discover patterns, to find intuitive explanations, and, most of all, to be certain. Yet our world is complicated and filled with randomness. Statistical thinking provides us with practical tools for making sense of an uncertain world. It can lead us to make surprising conclusions from the ...
