Basic Science Lights the Way: Innovations & Adaptations for Sustainability - LivestreamSolving the global challenge of environmental sustainability requires ideas from experts across STEM fields and beyond. Our panel’s expertise spans from biodiversity in Amazonia to batteries and new planet-friendly materials.This talk features Paul V.A. Fine, Alessandra Lanzara, and Ramamoorthy Ramesh, moderated by Charles R. Marshall, Philip Sandford Boone Chair in ...
Where: Cost: Free
'Whale Wisdom' and 'Dick Ogg: Fisherman'Film #1: WHALE WISDOM Filmed entirely in 4K from above and below the surface using boats, kayaks and drones, and working with respected whale scientists and researchers, Rick Rosenthal shines a light on the culture and wisdom of whales. What goes on inside those vast heads? How might such almost ...
Where: Cost: $9
After Dark Online: Transgender Day of VisibilityObserved on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is an international day of awareness and celebration built from decades of activism in response to the intentional exclusion of transgender people and voices in our culture and discourse. Transgender experiences expand and challenge our often limited models of gender, sex, and ...
Professor Munira Khalil is a physical chemist at the University of Washington whose research focuses on developing a microscopic understanding of how coupled electronic, vibrational, and solvent degrees of freedom optimize charge and energy transfer pathways in molecular photochemistry.Register at weblink to attend via Zoom
Who says botanists can’t have a little fun and a lot of adventure? Join Nathalie Nagalingum, cycad expert and the Academy’s Curator of Botany, as she hosts fellow botanists and asks them to regale you with tales of tracking down plants and blooms all around the world.
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 04/02/21
NightSchool: Geology & Society - LivestreamExplore the vast field of geology and just a few of the ways the ground beneath our feet affects our lives - and vice versa. Hear from researchers studying how human activities impact the Earth’s structure and consider how geologic features are linked to the culture of local communities.See weblink ...
Where: Cost: Free
A Journey Through Painted Jewels - LivestreamLapidary historian Justin K. Prim takes us on an artistic journey through time. Starting in 1380, Justin will look at a painting from each century until the modern day, examining and analyzing the gemstones depicted within. We will discover that it’s possible to extract accurate historical information about gemstones, jewelry, ...
Where: Cost: Free
Saturday, 04/03/21
Egg Dissection - LivestreamIn this interactive virtual program, the EV will lead kids in their own egg dissection! Learn about what eggs are, and what is inside of them - there is more than just the yoke and the shell! We will cover different kinds of birds, different kinds of eggs, and of ...
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be ...
Where: Cost: Free
Monday, 04/05/21
Tailoring Electronic Structures of 2D Heterostructures - LivestreamAtomically thin, single-crystalline 2D electronic materials have recently emerged, offering a remarkably wide range of building blocks of nanostructures, ranging from metals (e.g. graphene), large gap insulators (BN), to semiconductors (transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorous). One key advantage of these van der Waals materials lies in the flexibility of ...
In 2017 April, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observed the near-horizon region around the supermassive black hole at the core of the M87 galaxy. These 1.3 mm wavelength observations revealed a compact asymmetric ring-like source morphology. This structure originates from synchrotron emission produced by relativistic plasma located in the immediate ...
Where: Cost: Free
Quantum computing with superconducting circuits at Google - LivestreamHow do quantum computers work? Let's start from a couple basic surprises of quantum mechanics and develop an appreciation for the physics and logic underlying quantum computing. Then we'll delve into the implementation we're working on at Google Quantum AI, superconducting circuits.Speaker: Dr. Kevin Satzinger, Google Quantum AIZoom link
Where: Cost: Free
Reproducibility and contingency in the evolution and ecology of microbial communities - LivestreamMicrobes form complex multi-species communities that play many critical roles across the biosphere. Building quantitative models that may help us predict the composition and function of a microbial community in a given habitat is a long-standing aspiration. To this end, we must understand what features of microbial communities (and at what ...
From March 2011 through April 2015, the MESSENGER spacecraft orbited Mercury and acquired data from a suite of instruments designed to work in the extreme environment near the Sun. These instruments returned the first data from Mercury orbit and facilitated groundbreaking discoveries that improved, and at times changed, our understanding ...
 What does freedom look like to you? To theoretical physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, freedom is (in part) thinking about "problems like dark matter and dark energy without worrying about cops killing Black people," and freedom is "everyone having a chance to look at the dark night sky, wonder about it, and ...
Where: Cost: Free ($5 without discount code)
Wednesday, 04/07/21
Sparrows in the Mist: Complex Winter Social Behavior in a Little Brown Bird - LivestreamOrnithologists often study breeding birds and as a result the winter ecology and social behavior of migratory birds is relatively under studied. For the past 18 years my students and I have been studying a population of golden-crowned sparrows that winter in the University of California, Santa Cruz Arboretum. Each ...
In this talk Stephen will discuss his research on the economic costs of local planning restrictions and NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) attitudes in the context of renewable energy deployment. Using data on the United Kingdom, he estimates how wind and solar projects affect nearby property values. He then studies ...
How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with ...
Where: Cost: Free
The Chimpanzee Within Us: Why are Humans the Way We Are? - LivestreamOne way to answer this question is to look to our closest cousins, the chimpanzees. Join Assistant Professor of Psychology and Anthropology Alexandra Rosati of the University of Michigan and Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Biology Zarin Machanda of Tufts University as they examine the world of chimpanzees, including chimpanzee social lives, ecological context, ...
At least 75% of the 3 billion base pairs of the human genome are transcribed into ribonucleic acid, or RNA, with the vast majority of these transcripts not coding for proteins but rather for “non-coding†RNAs. In this presentation, we will take a look at this far-reaching, even ancient, “RNA ...
Where: Cost: Free
Labside Chats: A Conversation with a Scientist, featuring Katie Kobayashi - LivestreamTune in for the Seymour Center's next Labside Chat with Katie Kobayashi, Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at UC Santa Cruz and graduate student researcher with the Fisheries Collaborative Program. Discover the differences between a steelhead and a rainbow trout, and what it means for the ...
Grounds for Science - Representation in Research and The Good Side of Viruses - LivestreamRepresentation in Research: The Case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder & Heart Disease Navya Pothamsetty, Depts. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UC Berkeley The rate and prevalence of heart disease is increasing worldwide. Although the link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and heart disease has been heavily studied in military ...
Dr. Chris Clark will present ongoing research in his lab, starting with work on how hummingbirds make sounds with their tail feathers during courtship displays. Then he will shift to ongoing research he is conducting on why owls have evolved to fly quietly.This talk is recommended for high school and ...
Where: Cost: Free
April LASER EventJanine Randerson (Auckland University of Technology, live from New Zealand) on "Weather as Medium"Jennie Lavine (Emory Univ) on "What is the endgame of the covid pandemic? Will covid become endemic?"Cindy Cohn (Executive Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation) on "Imagining A Future with Real Digital Privacy"Register at weblink to receive ...
Where: Cost: Free
After Dark Online: BeesThe buzz is true: This After Dark Online will be the bees’ knees! They may be small, but the impact of bees is mighty, and the work of these flying insects plays key roles in sustaining ecosystems as well as human life. At this After Dark, dive into the rich ...
Mars is hot right now, despite its sub-freezing temperatures. With multiple countries sending spacecraft to the Red Planet this year, we’ll take a look at missions past and future, their breakthroughs and challenges, and what we hope to find when we get there.
Many think that storytelling is only for fiction and frivolity. But storytelling is essential to all forms of communication. This is especially true when communicating science. Storytelling primes the brain to absorb and recall information. Without the story, the science does not stick. In this talk, I will explore the ...
You won’t want to miss this exciting and exclusive opportunity to listen to and chat with a scientist involved with history in the making! St. Louis-based research scientist, Dr. Pablo Sobron, will take us along on his journey to discover life on the Red Planet. Learn about his role as ...
From Data to MapsResponsibilities of a national mapping agencyNational Elevation dataNational Hydrography dataNext-generation mapping productsSpeaker: Michael Tischler, USGSSee weblink for connection linkÂ
Where: Cost: Free
Saturday, 04/10/21
Into the Quantum World! Introduction to Quantum Computing (High school +up) - LivestreamJoin us for an interactive Introduction to Quantum Computing workshop! You will be one of the first high school students to learn about this emerging technology that will change the world.In this workshop, part of the Cambridge Science Festival's 30 Days of Science, we will discover:What can quantum computers do ...
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be ...
Join our resident caterpillar lady Sal Levinson and butterfly guy Sarab Seth for our monthly Zoom presentation, this month featuring an illustrated slideshow about rare butterflies seen in the UC Botanical Garden. Our fun Zoom event is suitable for all ages.Register at weblink
Where: Cost: Free
Monday, 04/12/21
The Discovery of Gravitational Waves - LivestreamA brief (pre)history of the Discovery of Gravitational WavesMario KalomenopoulosThe detection of gravitational waves some years ago, opened a new window to the Universe, created a media fuss and gave a Nobel Prize for Physics! But what is the story behind this discovery? What about the discovery claims of the ...
I'll discuss some of my lab's recent work on assisting learners with personalized curriculum, and helping those that help learners.Speaker: Emma Brunskill, StanfordSee weblink for Zoom link.
Where: Cost: Free
Imaging flat bands and correlated quantum phases in WS2/WSe2 moire heterostructures - LivestreamVan der Waals heterostructures of atomically thin crystals offer an exciting new platform to design flat electronic bands for novel correlated quantum phases. We systematically study the flat band and associated correlated states in WS2/WSe2 moire heterostructues using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We reveal that three-dimensional lattice reconstruction plays a key role ...
I will describe the LHCb experiment that studies decays of b quarks (mass of 5 GeV), and charm quarks (1.5 GeV), and show how studying these particles we are sensitive to physics and new particles at very large mass scales of several TeV and up. Specific measurements of CP violation ...
The Precourt Institute for Energy welcomed a new director in January. In this seminar, he will share his vision for the future of the institute.Speaker: Yi Cui, Stanford UniversityRegister at weblink to receive connection information
Where: Cost: Free
Neutrino Surprises - LivestreamAs a graduate student, I had the good fortune of being asked to learn about solar neutrinos, so that I could give an introductory talk on the subject to other graduate students, preparing them for an upcoming colloquium by John Bahcall. This started my life-long interest in neutrinos and created ...
For 130 years, a cylinder made of a platinum-iridium alloy stored near Paris was the official definition of a kilogram, the basic unit of mass. This all changed on May 20, 2019: a kilogram is now defined by a fundamental constant of nature known as the Planck constant h, which ...
Where: Cost: Free
Blood memory: evaluating antibody responses to COVID-19 infection and vaccination - LivestreamResearch into detection methods for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood has rapidly accelerated during the pandemic in response to global health needs. In this virtual seminar, Dr. DuBois will discuss how her lab applied existing knowledge from their research on antiviral antibodies to contribute to understanding the human antibody response to ...
Who said learning can't be fun? Not us! In this session, Antonio Linari will provide a hands-on coding lesson with the expert.ai Natural Language API where you will develop his new game "Word Invaders". Similar to the classic arcade game "Space Invaders", you will be shooting targets from your spaceship, ...
Chondritic meteorites are fragments of asteroids that formed in the first few million years of the Solar System history. The similarity between the H isotopic composition of certain chondrites to those of Earth’s water suggests that these chondrites may have been the principal source of Earth’s water. However, the origin ...
Ultracold atoms offer a unique platform to study spin physics. When atoms are arranged in an optical lattice in form of a Mott insulator, the atomic motion is frozen out and the study and control of the spin degree of freedom emerges as a new frontier. Heisenberg spin models, where ...
Please join us for a conversation with Doug Kimmelman, senior partner at Energy Capital Partners and Mike Morgan, chairman and chief executive officer at Triangle Peak Partners. Looking at Texas and California as cases-in-point, this session discusses grid resilience, renewable integration, policy and financing. The session will be hosted by ...
How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with ...
Where: Cost: Free
Can the San Francisco Bay use nature to adapt to rising seas? - LivestreamOver the past decade, California and the Bay Area have deeply invested in understanding our vulnerabilities to climate change and sea level rise. Tougher discussions emerge when we are forced to ask ourselves, “What should we do about it? How do we organize ourselves to adapt equitably, and how do ...
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:Stanford environmental scientist LuÃsa Genes on "Rewilding Tropical Forests" - Tropical forests are suffering from deforestation, hunting, and a series of other threats that ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 04/15/21
Midday Science Cafe: Adapting to Change: The Future of California’s Water-Energy Nexus - LivestreamWater and energy, two intricately connected systems, are critical to California’s future as we face increasing urbanization and climate change. In this Midday Science Cafe, we’ll hear from two researchers studying the connection between water and energy, or the “water-energy nexusâ€. We’ll learn from Julia Szinai about the implications of ...
Where: Cost: Free
Converging Threats, Cascading Health Risks: Climate Change, Food Security, and Migration - LivestreamClimate change is anticipated to unleash unprecedented threats to global food security and to drive the largest wave of human migration in history. This session will evaluate the intersection of climate change with the social determinants of health, emphasizing the compounding connections between a warming climate, food and water security, ...
Where: Cost: Free
LASER: Pulled Apart: Re-engineering and Re-purposing Human Civilization - LivestreamThe Thacher Gallery at University of San Francisco is having an art exhibition titled "Pulled Apart" (March 1 - April 25, 2021), for which the exhibiting artists (Terry Berlier, Adam Chin, Gail Wight, Carrie Hott, Cynthia Hooper) were invited to explore the intersection of art and engineering. These artists ...
This presentation will discuss how audio recording is used for conservation and research with examples ranging from the use of portable recording systems in tropical bird conservation, autonomous recorders for detection and monitoring, automated playback systems for reintroduction, and will also touch on related issues such as the ethics of playback. ...
Where: Cost: Free
After Dark Online: Listening to the EnvironmentExplore the intersections of art and science through the practice of individual artists weaving science, technology, and methods of discovery. We'll hear from artists who tune into the sounds of the natural world, with a particular interest in broadcasting the impacts of climate change on our aural environment. From interpreting climate ...
Where: Cost: Free
NightSchool: Illustrating Science - LivestreamScience has always relied on the skilled work of illustrators to help people better explain the world around them. Learn about the history of scientific illustration from the 1500s to today, and how visual artists have helped further our understanding of unseeable phenomena, microscopic organisms, and ecosystems we can’t travel ...
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 04/16/21
Coded Bias - Online Screening of New Documentary On How AI Can Perpetuate Class, Race and Gender InequitiesCHM is delighted to offer a special complimentary online screening of the award-winning new documentary film, Coded Bias, available for viewing on-demand any time between April 16-19. The screenings are a companion to the CHM Live expert panel discussion, Is AI Racist?See weblink for additional information and to register
When Isaac Newton established the laws of motion in 1687, he created a foundation of understanding that still guides physicists to scientific discoveries today. As studies evolve, scientists get closer to understanding the deepest mysteries of space and time. Once physicists can successfully combine theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, ...
Most meteorites are remnant pieces of planetesimals, the first 1- to 1000-km planetary bodies to form in the solar system. Meteorites are divided into two principal groupings: chondrites (unmelted accretional aggregates) and achondrites (products of planetary melting). This division has commonly been interpreted as evidence that planetesimals either never melted ...
Where: Cost: Free
Keeping the Water On: Addressing the Water Affordability Crisis in the Wake of COVID-19 - LivestreamThe affordability of drinking water was already a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting economic crisis has only served to accelerate and deepen the plight for California residents. The state issued a temporary moratorium on water shutoffs in April 2020 that protected customers unable to pay their bills, ...
Where: Cost: Free
Lick Observatory Back On Sky: 2020 Wildfire Recovery - LivestreamThe 2020 wildfire season saw an unprecedented series of lightning strikes sparking fires across the Bay Area. Located on Mount Hamilton, outside of San Jose, Lick Observatory was directly threatened by these fires and, for the first time in its history, was forced to evacuate. In this talk I'll discuss ...
Where: Cost: Free
Saturday, 04/17/21
Climate Change, The Top 10 things you Should Know in San Francisco- LivestreamCyndy Comerford, Climate Program Manager at the San Francisco Department of the Environment provides a presentation on how climate change will affect our local communities, especially the most vulnerable, and the solutions available to address these near and long-term impacts. This presentation explores the top five impacts climate change will have ...
Where: Cost: Free
Searching for the Darkest Galaxies: Ultra-Faint Dwarfs as Dark Matter Laboratories - LivestreamHow small is the faintest galaxy in the Universe, and what is the nature of the dark matter particle? These seemingly unrelated questions are brought together by so-called "ultra-faint" dwarf galaxies (UFDs). The smallest UFDs contain as few as hundreds of stars and are the most dark matter-dominated systems in ...
Black holes are among the most remarkable predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity: so much material is compressed into such a small volume that nothing, not even light, can escape. Black holes have also captured the public imagination, and are commonly featured in popular culture, from Star Trek to Hollywood ...
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be ...
'Secrets of the Whales' - Exclusive Virtual World PremiereMembers of the ACS San Francisco Bay Chapter community are cordially invited to the EXCLUSIVE VIRTUAL WORLD PREMIERE of National Geographic’s Four-Part Special, “SECRETS OF THE WHALESâ€! You can be among the first to see this extraordinary four-part documentary!Narrated by Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Avatar, Gorillas in the Mist), “SECRETS OF ...
Where: Cost: Free
Monday, 04/19/21
Improving neural network based equations solvers - LivestreamNeural Networks (NNs) have ushered in new methods of constructing solution approximations to complex mathematical equations. However, especially in the context of Differential Equations (DEs), such approximations are often reliant on external methods/solutions to reliably estimate the errors associated with them. This occurs because cost functions are seldom explicitly dependent ...
Where: Cost: Free
Dipolar excitonic insulator in atomic double layers - LivestreamThe excitonic insulator (EI) is a charge insulating state that arises from the spontaneous formation of bound electron-hole pairs (excitons). It presents an interesting platform for realizing quantum many-body ground states of bosons in solids, such as condensate and superfluid. Although the concept has been known for sixty years, to ...
I present a new measurement of the positive muon anomalous magnetic moment a_μ=(g_μ-2)/2 from the Fermilab E989 experiment.  The quantity a_μ is an exquisite probe of the quantum corrections of the muon interaction with the electromagnetic field. The experiment is a follow up of the BNL E821 experiment, which saw ...
Affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy is essential to achieve a more prosperous and sustainable world. Reducing the carbon intensity of the energy that billions of people rely on every day is a tremendous opportunity to advance the global net zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement. At Chevron, we use our unique ...
Measuring your ingredients: topological phases for quantum computing - LivestreamTopological quantum computing relies on qubits encoded in quantum states that are exponentially protected from local perturbations. One method for realizing such protected states is a practical recipe for topological superconductivity: hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowires in finite magnetic fields. In this talk I will describe experimental methods for identifying and manipulating ...
Where: Cost: Free
Continuity: Discovering the Lessons behind the World’s Longest-lived Organizations - LivestreamOne of Long Now’s founding premises is that humanity’s most significant challenges require long-term solutions, including institutions that caretake and guide the knowledge and commitment needed to work over long time scales.However, there are a limited number of organizations that have managed to stay stable over many centuries, and in ...
Where: Cost: Free
Virology 101What ARE viruses? Join us for a virtual talk by Columbia University professor Dr. Vincent Racaniello, who will explain what viruses are and how they work, followed by a wide-ranging discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic. He will cover the origins of the virus, the disease, how it is diagnosed, and ...
Where: Cost: Free
Tuesday, 04/20/21
Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? - LivestreamAre AI technologies racist, by design, in their data collection, or through the optimization of their functions? Are uses of AI technology racist by application or outcome? Is there racism in the AI community of makers, companies, and funders? Is it possible that AI be used for anti-racist outcomes? This ...
Where: Cost: Free
Being with Bears - Livestream“Being with Bears†will focus on Meghan Walla-Murphy’s work with the North Bay Bear Collaborative. She will outline the goals, research methods and findings of their research as well as share how to help bears thrive in the North Bay and how humans can live among bears safely.
Where: Cost: $15
Hubble Telescope Spacecraft - LivestreamThe Hubble Space Telescope was the first of NASA's great observatories in space. It was launched in 1990 and has provided an unbelievable amount of scientific data for over 30 years. This presentation will focus on the Lockheed portion of the Hubble through launch and then show some of the ...
Join us for this after-school program as we explore the beautiful and fascinating world of flowers--a plant part specially designed for its pollinator friends. We'll look at flowers from around the world, dive into the different flower parts, and discover a myriad of pollinating animals, from bees and butterflies to ...
Speaker: Jill Marshall, University of ArkansasThis event was originally scheduled for February 16, 2021.Zoom information can be found on the EPS advising Google calendar
Where: Cost: Free
The NANOGrav 12.5-Year Data Set: Knocking at the Gravitational Wave Door - LivestreamMillisecond pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars with phenomenal rotational stability. The NANOGrav collaboration monitors an array of about 80 of these cosmic clocks in order to detect perturbations due to gravitational waves at nanohertz frequencies. These gravitational waves will most likely result from an ensemble of supermassive black hole binaries. Their ...
Where: Cost: Free
Two Talks: Popping the Science BubbleElephant seals: Are they nature’s SCUBA divers?Speaker: Kaitlin Allen (Integrative Biology)A day in the life of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (green algae)Speaker: Valle Ojeda (QB3 - California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences)See weblink for connection information
Fire has been a major driving force in the ecology of California's landscapes since prehistoric times. In addition to 'natural' fires, indigenous people used extensive intentional burning practices to produce more favorable landscapes for human habitation.But the frequency and intensity of fires has dramatically increased across the American west in ...
High-throughput sequencing of targeted “barcode†loci in DNA extracted from marine environmental samples such as water and sediments has recently exploded in popularity due to the ability to generate a taxonomic community profile that usually surpasses what is obtainable from using traditional monitoring methods in terms of biodiversity and detection ...
Where: Cost: Free
SETI Talks: Going Dark: The Mystery of Vanishing Stars - LivestreamComparing a 70-year-old survey with recent images of the night sky, astronomers have discovered that 100 stars may have gone dark. Those vanishing light sources could be short-lived flashes in the night or possibly, the disappearance of a long-lasting star.  These preliminary findings almost certainly represent natural and well-understood events, but ...
How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with ...
Arsenic contamination of groundwater continues to threaten access to safe drinking water for California’s most vulnerable small, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. How does this disparity persist in California, the wealthiest state in the US and one of the world’s largest economies? In this talk, I will first introduce challenges to safe ...
In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and author Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions - clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips - and reveals how they shaped the human experience.Ramirez shows not only how materials were shaped by inventors but ...
Where: Cost: Free
Lessons and Opportunities in Large Scale Networks and Smart Health Application - LivestreamData science and statistical/machine learning techniques can be leveraged to tackle various predictive and decision control problems in a wide range of application domains. This talk will focus on two domains: (1) large-scale networked systems such as IP backbone or wireless cellular networks, and (2) smart health applications. The first ...
The Dragonfly mission to Titan is under construction and scheduled to launch in 2027. Titan is the largest Moon of Saturn and has a rich organic chemistry with lakes of liquid methane and ethane on its surface. The goals of the Dragonfly include the search for life. Could life exist ...
In honor of Earth Day, Garden Curator Holly Forbes will shine a light on the various ways the Garden is involved in native California flora conservation efforts. The Garden holds one of the largest collections in the world of California native plant species, including over 200 taxa on rare or ...
Extreme fire behavior has been observed frequently during recent wildfires in the Western US, yet there is still limited understanding of the role of plume dynamics on fire spread. The Rapid Deployments to Wildfires Experiment (RaDFIRE) was the first coordinated meteorological field campaign dedicated to observing fire-atmosphere interactions during large ...
Bats are often misunderstood and feared by people, but they are amazing animals and are incredibly important to the ecosystem and to us humans. Join us to learn about these flying mammals and how they are vital to agriculture. Bats eat the insects that affect our crops and spread disease.This ...
The pandemic has raised significant issues of concern for a democratic society, including that of balancing personal freedom against the greater good. How should this issue be most appropriately addressed during a time of pandemic or national emergency? How well is America actually equipped to handle this kind of crisis ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, Free for Members.
The past, present, and future of DNA-based forensics - LivestreamNew technologies are being brought to bear in criminal justice. The existence of community databases of DNA information have enabled a new approach, forensic genetic genealogy, for identifying suspects in violent crimes. New technologies for recovering and analyzing DNA from forensic samples brings forensic genetic genealogy to bear for even ...
Where: Cost: Free
Hardcore Natural History: Marine Algae as Ocean Record Keepers - LivestreamJoin us as we speak to Dr. Emily Miller a research technician in the Monterey Bay Aquarium/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Incubator Initiative program with the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) team. Emilly Miller will talk about how the team based at the Monterey Bay Aquarium used older algae specimens ...
At this After Dark, hear from and celebrate voices at the forefront of the environmental justice movement. Founded in 1970 by activist groups, Earth Day is an annual, global event to raise awareness about our natural environment, the threats posed by a changing climate, and the actions we can take ...
Where: Cost: Free
Intro to Computer Vision: Building Object Detection Models and Datasets - LivestreamJoin this hands-on workshop to get started with computer vision and object detection.Build your own object detection model from start to finish. Includes step-by-step instructions on data annotation and model training with your own dataset.Object classification and localization within an image is foundational to many computer vision applications.In this workshop ...
Where: Cost: Free
NightSchool: Earth Day for the People - LivestreamWe know that it’s important to take care of the entire planet, but this Earth Day, we’re focusing on projects at the zip code level. Get inspired by people and organizations radically changing both the health of the environment and their communities - through sustainable development, environmental justice, citizen science, ...
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:UC Berkeley psychologist Rebecca Corona on The Many Faces of Awe - Awe is unlike any other emotion. It possesses ...
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 04/23/21
DNA Day at UC Santa Cruz - LivestreamAttend our annual celebration to learn how UCSC is revealing life’s code. This event features distinguished scientific speakers on leading edge genomics science; research presentations by UCSC undergraduate genomics scholars; and a student-led strawberry DNA extraction demonstration. Join in the discussion and Q&A.Selected talks will be made available in Spanish.Speakers ...
Where: Cost: Free
Eggs, Tadpoles, to Frogs: Monitoring Frogs in the Golden Gate National Parks - LivestreamLearn about the common and uncommon frogs you will see in the Golden Gate National Parks. Hear the story about the California Red Legged Frog and the work the Golden Gate National Parks is doing to reintroduce and monitor this threatened frog population in the park.Price Sheppy from the Parks ...
Both Ganymede and Callisto, Jupiter’s two largest moons, host numerous impact craters and basins on their ice shells. Although it is not yet possible to directly probe them, the wide ranges of impact crater sizes provide a possible avenue through which we can begin to understand the internal structures of ...
Where: Cost: Free
'Saving the Dark' Movie and Panel Discussion - Livestream"Saving The Dark" is a Documentary Movie on Astronomy and Light Pollution. It is about the significance of Astronomy and the night skies, effects of Light Pollution on Astronomy, human health, wildlife and beyond, what we can do to fight it. The movie will show what the people in cities are missing out ...
Prepare for time-travel during this prehistoric Science Saturday, when we'll set our sights on the age of the dinosaurs. This event will feature fossils, footprints, and more as we learn what made the dinosaurs so successful, and also what led to their extinction.See weblink for connection information
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Reducing our Footprint with Chemistry - LivestreamOur virtual event on April 24th will be a fun-filled learning event. Several hands-on demonstrations, short lectures and explanations of activities will keep it exciting, engaging and informative. One of these activities will involve plant smells (flower, leaves, barks etc.), guessing the smells, and building models of molecules behind these ...
Where: Cost: Free
Observing the Sky: (Some) Astronomical Innovation From Then to Now - PART 2 - LivestreamFor more than 2000 years, innovative people have applied their ideas and insights into observing the universe. Unknown thousands of years ago, visual observers named sets of stars from the patterns they saw, sometimes using myths or animals, real or imagined, in their environments for the names. This became a ...
Where: Cost: Free
Current Understanding and Recent Work on Cosmology, Galaxy Formation - LivestreamThe modern standard cosmology ΛCDM describes almost perfectly the cosmic microwave background observations, but the resulting expansion rate of the universe (the Hubble parameter) is in serious disagreement with local measurements. This Hubble tension can be resolved by a brief episode of dark energy contributing about 10% of cosmic energy ...
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sunday, 04/25/21
Bringing Back the Natives Virtual Garden TourIn a series of live garden visits passionate garden owners and the talented designers of the Bay Area’s most beautiful and inspiring landscapes will show us what’s happening in the garden now, feature their favorite natives, describe their great native plant gardening resources, and more.Check the weblink for the agenda ...
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence offers market price and data assessments for lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel - the foundation of a lithium ion battery, which in turn is the foundation of the energy storage revolution. Simon Moores will discuss his work at Benchmark.Speaker: Simon Moores, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
An issue that has been debated for decades is whether there are gendered differences in communication styles and, if so, whether these differences can perpetuate power imbalances between people with different gender identities. If the answer to these questions is yes, then many have argued that those with less power ...
Where: Cost: Free
Non-abelian bosonization in two and three spatial dimensions and applications - LivestreamIn this talk, we generalize Witten's non-abelian bosonization in (1+1)-D to two and three spatial dimensions. Our theory applies to fermions with relativistic dispersion. The bosonized theories are non-linear sigma models with level-1 Wess-Zumino-Witten terms. We apply the bosonization results to the SU(2) gauge theory of the $pi$-flux phase, critical ...
Supercomputer performance now exceeds that of the earliest computers by thirteen orders of magnitude, yet science still needs more than they provide. Prior to 1990, supercomputers were powered by one, or a few, sequential or vector processors. But since 1990, almost all the increased machine performance has been provided by a ...
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence offers market price and data assessments for lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel - the foundation of a lithium ion battery, which in turn is the foundation of the energy storage revolution. Simon Moores will discuss his work at Benchmark.Speaker: Simon Moores, Benchmark Mineral IntelligenceEditor's Note: This seminar ...
Where: Cost: Free
Using Quantum Sensors to Search for Dark Matter - LivestreamAstronomical observations (such as galaxy rotation speeds and gravitational lensing) are the primary evidence for the existence of Dark Matter (DM). DM makes up ~80% of all matter in the universe, is effectively invisible to the electromagnetic force, and interacts at the very least via the gravitational force. Theorists have ...
Where: Cost: Free
Atoms Interlinked by Light: Programmable Interactions and Emergent GeometryThe power of quantum information lies in its capacity to be non-local, encoded in correlations among entangled particles. Yet our ability to produce, understand, and exploit such correlations is hampered by the fact that the interactions between particles are ordinarily local. I will report on experiments in which we use ...
In 2017, Dr. Shanna Swan published an internationally acclaimed landmark study that sparked great concern about declining human fertility. Join us as this award-winning scientist and reproductive epidemiologist outlines steps individuals and society can take to prevent further impairment by everyday chemicals, which she says are severely impacting our reproductive ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, Free for Members.
'Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change' - LivestreamClimate change and other human impacts on the environment are threatening wildflowers and the life that depends on them. In this special and timely work, conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter give us a spectacular view of California’s extraordinary wildflowers as both a cause for celebration and protection. Beauty ...
Robot ethicist Kate Darling offers a nuanced and smart take on our relationships to robots and the increasing presence they will have in our lives. From a social, legal, and ethical perspective, she shows that our current ways of thinking don’t leave room for the robot technology that is soon ...
Birgitta Whaley’s current research interests focus broadly on quantum information and quantum computation, control and simulation of complex quantum systems, and quantum effects in biological systems. Quantum information processing employs superposition, entanglement, and probabilistic measurement to encode and manipulate information in very different ways from the classical information processing underlying ...
Where: Cost: Free
Scientific espionage, open exchange, and American competitiveness - LivestreamAmid rapidly escalating tension between the United States and China, professors, scientists, and students of Chinese ethnic origin as well as those engaging in academic collaborations with China are under heightened scrutiny by the federal government. In 2015, Xiaoxing Xi, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics at Temple University, became ...
Where: Cost: Free
Basic Science Lights the Way: Rising Stars of Berkeley Mathematical and Physical Sciences - LivestreamFrom the search for Earth-like planets to seeking knowledge of past climates on Earth, Berkeley’s early-career faculty in the physical sciences push the boundaries of basic research and teaching in their fields. Hear from professors in four MPS departments about how their work lights the way.This talk features Courtney Dressing, ...
Where: Cost: Free
Gray Whale Populations: The Eastern/Western Paradox - LivestreamJoin ACS San Francisco Bay Chapter for a fascinating evening of insights into gray whale biology and ecology. After being driven to the brink of extinction by commercial whaling, the eastern North Pacific population has made a remarkable recovery. They remain subject to threats including, but not limited to, lack ...
Where: Cost: Free
Near-Earth Asteroids, The Impact Hazard, and Space Missions - LivestreamNear-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are small solar system bodies in orbits that come near or cross the orbit of Earth. I will review NEAs as unique physical worlds, as potential impact hazards to Earth, and as accessible destinations for spacecraft. Michael W. Busch, PhD, is a planetary astronomer and research scientist at the SETI Institute. ...
Each year, more than half the coho salmon that return to spawn in Puget Sound’s urban streams die suddenly when exposed to stormwater that has flushed through highways and city streets. A team of researchers has identified a single contaminant, 6PPD-quinone, as the cause of this mass poisoning. This chemical ...
For thousands of years, people have wondered, “Are there planets like Earth?†“Are such planets common?†“Do any have signs of life?â€Today astronomers are poised to answer these ancient questions, having recently found thousands of planets that orbit nearby Sun-like stars, called “exoplanetsâ€.Professor Sara Seager, one of the world’s leading ...
How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with ...
Where: Cost: Free
Does California need more options for forest or blue carbon offsets? - LivestreamGovernments, universities, oil companies, and businesses of all sorts pledge to achieve “net zero†greenhouse-gas emissions by buying offset credits based on conservation of forests or farm soils, or carbon sequestration by waters and wetlands: so-called natural climate solutions. Offsets are meant to compensate for damage caused by emissions from ...
There is a well-recognized partisan and ideological polarization on environmental issues in the United States. This talk will discuss what is known (and what is not) about the origins and development of that phenomenon between 1945 and 1981, examined against the background of the postwar decades’ intra-party ideological conflict, national ...
In this talk, Dr. Levin will help us understand, and find delight in, black holes - perhaps the most opaque theoretical construct ever imagined by physicists. She will take us on an exploratory tour of the neighborhood of a black hole, and help us feel the visceral experience of encountering ...
Join our virtual event featuring an international panel of renowned research scientists to learn all about vaccines for COVID-19 and other deadly infections. Our panel will discuss how effective COVID-19 vaccines have been developed so quickly, and highlight the remarkable achievements of other vaccination programmes from the past century.See weblink ...
Where: Cost: Free
Using Genetic Engineering to Combat Invasive Species - LivestreamRecently developed tools for Precise Genome Engineering have ushered in a number of novel proof-of-concept technologies for pest control. Termed ‘genetic biocontrol’, these approaches allow researchers to essentially convert the pest organism into a pesticide. Released genetically engineered biocontrol agents would spread deleterious genes into the pest population, leading to ...
Where: Cost: Free
A Brief Introduction to Applying Machine Learning to InvestingApplying machine learning to longer-term investing comes with specific difficulties. In this talk, we discuss a number of these issues to be aware of, such as:Signal-to-noise ratios are lowMarkets are continuously evolvingThe number of independent observations is lower than you might thinkPredictability does not guarantee profitability in real-world portfolios.While these ...
Where: Cost: Free!
City Nature Challenge Launch with One Tam - LivestreamIf you are curious about the world around you and want to connect with others, consider joining the fun on iNaturalist in preparation for City Nature Challenge 2021 (April 30- May 9).iNaturalist is an online platform to record, identify, and organize nature findings, meet other nature enthusiasts, and learn about ...
Astrobotany 101 - LivestreamNow, more than ever, humans are exploring the possibility of growing plants outside of Earth's atmosphere. Come learn about the fascinating field of astrobotany from UC Botanical Garden's own Director, Dr. Lew Feldman. Before taking on the directorship of the Garden, Professor Feldman spent 40 years on the Berkeley faculty, ...
Where: Cost: Free
SETI LIVE: The Library of the Great Silence and the Fermi Paradox - LivestreamSeth Shostak will be in conversation with the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence member Jonathon Keats about his Library of the Great Silence. Keats is a widely recognized experimental philosopher, artist, curator and writer.The Library of the Great Silence is an installation art project that addresses one of the implications of ...
Where: Cost: Free
Making Waves: Protecting Nature and Culture in Micronesia - LivestreamClimate change threatens the very existence of many small island nations. Sea-level rise, weather extremes and coral reef destruction caused by warming waters have driven untold destruction and outmigration, with some communities fleeing - literally - to higher ground.Fighting for their collective survival, three small Pacific Island nations and two ...
Now that nearly 40 million people have had DNA tests, we've reached a tipping point. Virtually all Americans are affected - tested or not - and millions have been impacted by significant revelations in their immediate families. Libby Copeland's new book, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who ...
Where: Cost: Free
After Dark Online: Forever ChemicalsBuilding resilient communities requires us to look at complex interactions between the built and natural environments we inhabit and our vulnerabilities within them. But what should we know about less visible barriers to resilience? Certain chemicals found in everyday products we use and wear have impacts on our bodies, and ...
Where: Cost: Free
NightSchool: Geology & Society - LivestreamExplore the vast field of geology and how the ground beneath our feet affects our lives - and vice versa. Hear from researchers studying how human activities impact the Earth’s structure and consider how geologic features are linked to the culture of local communities.EVENT HIGHLIGHTSDr. Hendratta Ali, Professor of Geoscience ...
Progressive localization of deformation is a basic mechanical process that produces simultaneously reduced strength and increasing strain in a deforming rock volume. The localization framework describes the progressive evolution of deformation from distributed failures in a rock volume to localized shear zones, culminating in generation of primary slip zones and ...
