2023 EDGE in Tech Symposium: Smarter Tech for a Resilient Future - LivestreamHow can we engage diverse talent to transform the future of infrastructure to address inequality and promote smarter environments?Join EDGE in Tech, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, and Berkeley Engineering for a virtual symposium highlighting the experiences of experts using emerging technologies to advance innovation for more sustainable infrastructure.The event ...
Where: Cost: $50 General, $25 Academic/Nonprofit, Free students
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima TrailJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter ...
Over the last four years, NASA’s InSight mission has enabled unprecedented investigations of Mars’ structure and dynamics. Its final year of operations saw a series of huge meteorite impacts detected both seismically and from orbit. In this talk, I will present some of my latest work studying both natural and ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium - Tony VegaSince 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.Register ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
How a Scottish academic in 1873 set the stage for today’s global communications - LivestreamHard as it is to believe today, the connection between electricity and magnetism was not made until early in the 19th Century. James Clerk Maxwell brought together field theories from Gauss, Ampere and Faraday into a unified set of equations. At the publication of his “Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism†...
Where: Cost: Free
From Pupils to Space Telescopes: What Your Eyes Can Teach You About How Telescopes Work - LivestreamIn this 1-hour workshop for middle school teachers, we'll explore how your eyes form images, and how your pupil and iris are key to understanding how all optical tools work, even the largest space-based telescopes.While most people have a general idea of how their eyes work, they haven’t made the ...
Where: Cost: Free
Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience - LivestreamWe are in a crisis. A tsunami of misinformation and disinformation is threatening to engulf evidence-based science. While quackery ― loosely defined as the spread of false “knowledge,†often accompanied by various versions of “snake oil†― is not a novel phenomenon, it has never posed as great a threat ...
Where: Cost: Free
After Dark: Extended CinemasThe warm glow of the projected image invites us to in-between worlds. During this cinematic celebration the passive act of watching turns to listening, peering, touching, and interacting as Exploratorium Cinema Arts takes over museum spaces to provide experiences - both on and off the screen - created by artists ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightlifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
Galaxies in the Reionization Ear: New Insiht from Early JWST and Ground-Based TelescopesOver the past few months, deep infrared images and spectra from JWST have pushed the cosmic frontier back to just 300 million years after the Big Bang, delivering the first large sample of galaxies at redshifts 7 < z < 15. Sometime in this redshift window the hydrogen in the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Who makes the Earth habitable? From a metaphysics of production to a metaphysics of allianceAmong the founding myths of modern Western cosmology, there is one that would almost go unnoticed, so much has it shaped our ways of thinking and acting. It is the dominant philosophical belief that we humans produce our own sustenance and make the Earth habitable. We have invented a civilization ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
“R.U.R.†ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS Come explore the very nature of life with the play written by Karel Capek that invented the word "robot." What makes us human? What is consciousness? And what will it look like when artificial intelligence turns against its creators?  A secretive robot factory creates a global supply of humanoid robots to ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, Free for UCSC Students
Exploration of Mars for Habitable Environments and LifeRecent Mars missions have discovered fascinating landscapes as well as chemicals and minerals formed by the action of liquid water. Mars could have been habitable sometime in the past, and liquid water might persist in some subsurface environments today. Dr. Des Marais will discuss recent missions and discoveries that are ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 03/04/23
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Womxn in Tech PanelListen to a diverse panel of womxn-identifying speakers & learn how they blazed their paths in tech. Followed by discussion groups for closer conversation.Panelists include:Radhika Rangarajan is a co-founder and CEO of Women in Big Data US Non-Profit entity and works closely with several Silicon Valley Tech companies to raise ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Solar ObservingIt’s there for us year round, lighting our days and providing energy for our lives, so maybe it’s time to give it a closer look. Join SJAA for amazing and detailed views of the Sun, and be assured that we’ll be using special telescopes that will keep your eyeballs perfectly ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Marine Ecology - EcoCenter Family EventBring your family to the Environmental Volunteers EcoCenter, located on the Baylands Nature Preserve, for an afternoon of environmental education. Activities are intended for ages 6-11.What is life in the ocean like? What features and adaptations do marine animals have to survive in their environment? Join the EV for engaging, ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
“R.U.R.†ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS Come explore the very nature of life with the play written by Karel Capek that invented the word "robot." What makes us human? What is consciousness? And what will it look like when artificial intelligence turns against its creators?  A secretive robot factory creates a global supply of humanoid robots to ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, Free for UCSC Students
Are Red Dwarf Exoplanets Habitable? - LivestreamA lot of exciting recent news about exoplanets has involved the discovery of “Earth-sized†planets in the “habitable zone†of "red dwarf" stars. This is partly due to the fact they are easier to find than “true Earth analogs", and partly because most stars are red dwarfs. I’ll give a ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sunday, 03/05/23
“R.U.R.†ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS Come explore the very nature of life with the play written by Karel Capek that invented the word "robot." What makes us human? What is consciousness? And what will it look like when artificial intelligence turns against its creators?  A secretive robot factory creates a global supply of humanoid robots to ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, Free for UCSC Students
The Cold Worlds Absent in our Solar SystemThe standard core accretion planet formation theory predicts numerous "failed gas giant cores" in the wide orbits (> 1 AU), with masses less than about 10 Earth mass, but such planets are absent in our solar system. The gravitational microlensing technique is currently the only method that can probe low-mass ...
In this talk, I will introduce the field of Quantum Gravity and my favorite candidate framework: String Theory. Furthermore, I will discuss the AdS/CFT (Gauge/Gravity) duality, which is a tool for answering questions in Quantum Gravity. Finally, we will explore how to measure the topology of a quantum spacetime and specifically address ...
Long-standing barriers to participation in the clean energy economy have produced well-mapped landscapes of underserved communities, yet even after key financial barriers are removed, additional cultural and capacity challenges remain acute. With sustained investment in a seeding strategy, community anchor institutions can host revenue-generating microgrids that fuel local job creation and hiring, improve ...
Speaker: Asifa Majid, University of OxfordRoom 126This event will now be held on March 7, 2023.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Hearing the Stars: New Insights into Stellar InteriorsSpace-based observations have provided a remarkable new tool for studying stars within our galaxy, the Milky Way. Simply by measuring how bright a star is over many years, we can now directly measure its mass and radius, as well as the properties of its deep interior, such as the rate of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Searching for Planet B - What can humanity learn from other planets if it is to survive into the future?Do alien worlds hold the answers to humanity’s future? Can we use the discoveries from astronomy and modern space science to address the climate crisis here on Earth? Synthesizing the last 15 years of research lectures and science visualization at the California Academy of Sciences, this immersive talk was originally ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Tuesday, 03/07/23
Women in Data Science at UC BerkeleyThe UC Berkeley School of Information and CITRIS are excited to partner with Stanford University to bring the Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference to Berkeley, California.The Global Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference is an annual technical conference based at Stanford, which brings together data scientists and professionals in ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $40 General, $20 Student
The Deep Synoptic Array: fast radio burst probes of the unseen universeThe origins of fast radio bursts (FRBs) at extragalactic distances remain shrouded in mystery. FRBs nonetheless form exquisite tracers of the contents and physical conditions of baryons along their sightlines. For example, FRBs are dispersed in intervening plasma columns, and these columns are typically dominated by gas around and in ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Whole Earth SeminarSpeaker: Speaker: Sara Tenamoeata Kahanamoku, Ulana ʻIke Center of Excellence Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program
Why are some things relatively easy to express in language (e.g., geometric shapes) but others hard (e.g., odors)? Various explanations have been suggested for this differential ineffability (i.e., the impossibility of putting phenomena into words). Perhaps it is due to something fundamental about the cognitive architecture of our minds~brains. The ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Who makes the Earth habitable? From a metaphysics of production to a metaphysics of allianceAmong the founding myths of modern Western cosmology, there is one that would almost go unnoticed, so much has it shaped our ways of thinking and acting. It is the dominant philosophical belief that we humans produce our own sustenance and make the Earth habitable. We have invented a civilization ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Chat-GPT, LLMs and the Future of Finance and Accounting PanelChat-GPT has taken the world by a storm, with an estimated 75 million users already, but this is just the beginning for Large Language Models (LLMs). Much has been written about the applications of this technology for Marketers and Engineering teams, but what does it mean for finance and accounting ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Programming with Rust - LivestreamJoin us in learning more about Rust, one of the fastest-growing programming languages, which continues to be ranked the most-loved language by its users. Its user base, aka “Rustaceans,†has tripled in just two years as more and more software products are being developed in Rust.In this fast-paced overview with ...
"What first appears to be a wish for more time may turn out to be just one part of a simple, yet vast, desire for autonomy, meaning, and purpose." -Jenny OdellArtist and writer Jenny Odell brings her acutely insightful observations to the dominant framework of time, based on industrial and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
Wednesday, 03/08/23
The role of Instagram in diversifying women in STEM - LivestreamWhat does a scientist look like? We investigate the power of social media in shaping the vision of diverse female scientists using the popular Instagram page Women Doing Science as a case study. This social media platform has featured photos and stories from over 800 international women in STEM between 2018 and 2022. We ...
Kabir Peay’s research is filling critical gaps in our understanding of how mycorrhizal fungi respond to climate change through his use of large-scale DNA sequencing, biogeographic modeling, and manipulative experiments. Mutualisms forged by mycorrhizal fungi critically affect the resistance and resilience of forest trees faced with climate change, which impacts ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Algal Solutions for a Sustainable FutureWith the world's population approaching 10-billion people by 2050, society will be facing a significant increase in the demands placed upon its food production system as well as a major expansion of the human-built environment. At the same time, society must reduce its detrimental impacts on climate, energy use, land ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Rebooting the Human Genome: New Variant Discovery in the Era of Complete GenomesGenomic scientist Karen Miga, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz, was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2022 by TIME magazine for her work co-leading an international team of scientists known as the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium to complete the first gapless sequence of a ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
National Geographic Women Explorers celebrate International Women’s DayOn International Women’s Day, join five inspiring women explorers as they share their work to understand rainforest conservation, citizen science, ethnobotany and the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining, and how this shared knowledge can empower us all to protect the natural world.·     Katlin L. Bowman, oceanographer·     Julia DeMarines, astrobiologist·     Maria ...
Delivering a conference talk is a killer way to increase community knowledge, get jobs, and get free drinks at the bar, but only if you don’t put your audience to sleep first! In this experiential workshop, you will learn to structure your technical content so you can engage your audience in ...
Where: Cost: Free
Emoji for EveryoneOver the past decade, emoji have become integral to digital communication and are currently used by 92% of the world’s online population. Emoji have not only become a friendly mode of self-expression 😂, but also a crossroad of culture, creativity, and the struggle for inclusion and equity.  In recent surveys, most ...
 * We ask that attendees be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and wear a mask while indoors at the event. Extra masks will be provided.  Thank you.                           ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free
Thursday, 03/09/23
A Star is BornThe birth of stars is one of the most complex problems challenging modern astrophysics. Understanding their origins is of fundamental importance to many areas of astronomy, from exoplanet studies to cosmology. While the study of the initial conditions of star formation in molecular clouds has accelerated during the past couple of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
A Conversation with Senator Josh Becker on Climate Change, Equity, and California’s Sustainable Future - PostponedSenator Becker has played a significant role in California's efforts to expand renewable energy sources, develop electric vehicle infrastructure, and decarbonize buildings. In addition, he has been at the forefront of climate equity efforts, working to ensure that marginalized communities are not disproportionately impacted by climate change and are able ...
Where: Cost: Free
Formed Too Fast: Massive Galaxies at Cosmic DawnThe pace of galaxy growth in the early Universe offers one of the strongest and most accessible tests of the Lambda-CDM cosmological fremawork. A growing number of surprisingly massive galaxies are now being found in the first billion years after the Big Bang that pushed the limits of theoretical predictions. ...
Growing the capacity of the clean energy grid to ensure resilience, sustainability, and equity is one of society’s biggest challenges. This series will explore how we can meet the demands of a decarbonizing economy and upgrade infrastructure with new, smarter technology and strategies, at scale. How can we reduce inequities ...
Where: Cost: Free
EXPO: Environmental Careers for YouthSonoma Environmental Education Collaborative (SEEC) presents: Environmental Careers for YouthProgram includes: Speakers + Job Fair + Resume HelpAge: Highschool and upPanelists include:Clint McKayIndigenous Education Coordinator, Pepperwood PreserveKaren LopezGrizzlyCorps Fellow, Sonoma Resource Conservation DistrictGreg DesmundRecreation Supervisor, Sonoma County Regional ParksTheodora BlockResearch Program Manager, Canine CompanionsAttend in person or online by registering, ...
Light pollution affects birds in many ways, disrupting the natural cycle of dark and light and influencing the behavior and physiology of wildlife. Join us to learn about how artificial lights at night affect the health of birds. Murry Burgess will share her current research that includes a field experiment ...
Where do the boundaries between the built and natural worlds blur? If you look, you can see the ties between these two ecologies in everything from nonhuman species that inhabit urban environments to design that responds to more powerful weather systems. Tonight at After Dark, explore how we can recognize ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Nightlife: UnladylikeThey broke rules, stereotypes, and glass ceilings. In honor of Women’s History Month, hear the inspiring stories of fearless Academy scientists from the past who challenged the status quo.SCHEDULE OF EVENTSBuzzed Bios African Hall8 PMGrab a cocktail and sip along as Kel Larkin, Institute for Biodiversity Science & Sustainability (IBSS) ...
The 2022 Netflix “docuseries†Ancient Apocalypse, hosted by former journalist and author Graham Hancock, has provoked a firestorm of discussion in the press and social media. In this series, the host claims that comets destroyed an advanced civilization that existed during the Ice Age and whose survivors were the progenitors ...
Sonoma State University Astronomy Public Viewing Nights - CANCELEDJoin members of the Sonoma State Physics - Astronomy department for public astronomy viewing. See weblink for map to the site.Event is weather dependent. Check the weblink prior to attending for last minute cancelations.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Saturday, 03/11/23
Community discussion: Bolinas Lagoon, Duxbury Reef, and the Bolinas Field StationPlease join Audubon Canyon Ranch and College of Marin (COM) for a presentation and discussion of the current and future science and state of Bolinas Lagoon, Duxbury Reef, and COM’s Bolinas Field Station. Post-presentation field trip led by Gwen Heistand and Joe Mueller.Please bring your binoculars for the field trip.SPEAKERSGwen ...
Children, teenagers, and families are invited to attend the FREE science festival to spark wonder and curiosity about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.The sponsors, exhibitors, and volunteers welcome you to the North Bay Science Discovery Day. The goals are to inspire kids to pursue STEM education and careers by engaging ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: Free
EV Ride and Drive: Electrify your Ride Curious about Electric Vehicles?Experience electric vehicles and take one for a test drive or ride. At this event you’ll have the opportunity to sit in, ride, or drive electric vehicles to experience the joy of switching to electric firsthand. Have all your questions answered about the vehicles, charging, and the ...
Where: SunnyvaleCost: Free
Family Nature Walks - Foothills Nature PreserveEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help students and their families get to know our local open space areas. Small family groups will be guided by a knowledgeable environmental educator during an exploration of a local open space. These small groups will be introduced to fun nature-based ...
Where: Los AltosCost: Free
Recent Advancements in Finance and 'Finance and Python' Course on Maven - LivestreamAbdullah Karasan, University of Maryland, will host a webinar that will be about recent advancements in financial modeling, in particular, the applicability of the data-dependent models in finance. He will also introduce a course on the Maven platform titled "Finance and Python". You can think of this course as a first ...
Where: OnlineCost: free
Stories from Plants and ContinentsGarden visitors are invited to experience a collection of presentations by students from Professor Kim Anno’s California College of the Arts Parks, Environment, and Leisure design class. “Stories from plants and the continents†will be a series of 5-minute stories inspired by the global collections of the UC Botanical Garden ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission
Nocturnal: IlluminationNocturnal is a new program at Chabot Space & Science Center created for adults 21+ to enjoy an evening exploring the intersection of art and science in an atmosphere filled with unique multi-media experiences, art installations, music and curated activities all while enjoying music, drinks and a fun-filled evening that ...
Where: OaklandCost: $20
Sunday, 03/12/23
Drop-in at the Charleston Slough Observation DeckDrop-in anytime between 9 am and 11 am to bird with us! SCVAS volunteers will be stationed at the Charleston Slough observation deck with binoculars to help you identify the huge variety of shorebirds and ducks that call the Bay Area home. No RSVP required.
Neurophysiological and mental ailments such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease affect millions of lives and cost the US economy more than $100 billion yearly in lost productivity. Efforts to understand the biophysical cause of these disorders have revealed the two extreme spectra of excessive (pathological) synchronization of ...
In 2021, the United States established a national goal to protect at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030 (also known as “30x30â€). The Biden Administration’s sweeping vision for achieving this goal - titled Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful - is centered around tackling three pressing challenges in ...
A Heartbreak StarIn this talk, I will describe tidal wave breaking on the surface of a massive "heartbeat" star. Each periapse passage in this eccentric binary system, tides with amplitudes so large that they lose phase coherence and break are raised. The chance to view this process in action gives us a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Investigating the summer 2022 harmful algal bloom in San Francisco Bay: impacts and contributing factorsHarmful algal blooms (HABs) pose growing threats worldwide to biological resources, human health, and regional economies, and over the last decade HABs have emerged as a high priority water quality management issue in San Francisco Bay (SFB). Despite SFB being highly-enriched in nitrogen and phosphorus, monitoring over several decades indicated ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Doctor Who Wasn’t There: Technology, History, and the Limits of Telehealth - LivestreamThe Holter monitor, a portable box that has broadcasted the electrical activity of human hearts for nearly 75 years, has become such a common object in clinical medicine that few pause to consider its origins. Indeed, as a succession of newer Wi-Fi - and Cloud-enabled devices, smartphone apps, and other ...
Where: Cost: Free
Programmable adiabatic demagnetization: preparing low energy states by simulated coolingThe ability to prepare ground states of many-body Hamiltonians on quantum devices is of central importance for a variety of tasks and applications in quantum computation and quantum simulation. In this talk I will describe a simple, flexible, and robust protocol to prepare low-energy states of arbitrary Hamiltonians on either ...
Dr. Shannon Yan received her B.S. in Chemistry from National Taiwan University. She then pursued her Ph.D. in Chemistry at UC Berkeley with Prof. Ignacio Tinoco, Jr. and studied ribosome translation dynamics using mass spectrometry and force spectroscopy with optical tweezers. During postdoc with Prof. Carlos Bustamante, also at UC ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Illuminating Dark Matter with AcceleratorsNearly a century after discovering Dark Matter, we have an impressive understanding of its astronomical and cosmological properties but remarkably little knowledge of its fundamental nature. One leading paradigm postulates new fundamental particles that were in thermal equilibrium with ordinary matter in the early universe - thermal relics - where ...
Ali Zaidi serves as Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor. In this role, he leads the White House Climate Policy Office, which coordinates policy development and President Biden’s all-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis, create good-paying, union jobs, and advance environmental justice. Zaidi is a longtime advisor ...
In this one-hour Berkeley Boosts webinar hosted by Berkeley Law Executive Education, Elham Tabassi, Chief of Staff in the Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will join Brandie Nonnecke and Tejas Narechania, co-directors of the Project on Artificial Intelligence, Platforms, and Society at the ...
Join the 36th annual celebration of our own homegrown holiday! March 14th (3/14) commemorates the irrational, transcendent, and never-ending ratio that helps describe circles of all sizes. Explore math-inspired activities and presentations, then join our pi parade and eat a free piece of pie. Come for the STEAM and stay ...
Every cell contains a biochemical record of four billion years of Earth-life coevolution. Our mitochondria were once free-living bacteria. Each unit of the electron transport chain that we use to breathe oxygen was borrowed from older microbial machinery. Aerobic respiration is a medley of pieces of older anaerobic respiratory pathways ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
The Physics of the Cult Movie InterstellarChristopher Nolan’s cult science fiction film Interstellar (2014) sprang from a treatment co-authored by physicist Kip Thorne, and so had real science - both firm and speculative - embedded in it from the outset. The film’s venue is what Thorne calls “The Warped Side of our Universeâ€: objects and phenomena ...
Speaker: Bruce McCandliss, Stanford UniversityRoom 126
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Astronomy Beginner's Forum - LivestreamIf you're new to astronomy and are perhaps considering getting your own telescope but are not sure where to start, maybe we can help!This event is an on-line meeting where you can chat with representatives of SJAA as well as other new astronomy enthusiasts. We'll share general tips and answer ...
Policymakers and the public often find algorithms to be complex, opaque and intimidating - and it can be tempting to pretend that hard moral questions have simple technological answers. But that approach leaves technical experts holding the moral microphone, and it stops people who lack technical expertise from making their ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima TrailJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter ...
Most of us lead drab and colorless lives as drones and cogs in faceless organizations. With his tales of research around southern California oil and gas platforms, Milton (only his wife calls him Dr. Love) will enter your world like a bright and fanciful rainbow, or a swatch of William ...
Join Fred Dortort, author of The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World, on a photographic virtual tour of his many trips to South Africa documenting unusual, spectacular, and increasingly, endangered succulent plants. Over the past twenty-plus years, Fred has had the opportunity to visit some rarely travelled ...
Where: Cost: Free
Marine Invertebrate Responses to Changing EnvironmentsMarine environments are not uniform or constant, and animals have a variety of responses to such change. Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce different phenotypes, and local adaptation, differences among populations under different conditions, are important responses for a variety of animals that live in changing ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Gendered surplus people, food security, and maladaptation to climate changeIn this presentation, I explain why along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border, floodplain farming remains popular when it manifestly causes more problems. I draw upon Karl Marx’s theory of relative surplus population and interviews with farmers. I argue that the creation of relative surplus people through mining-induced land displacement compels farmers ...
OpenAI’s question-and-answer chatbot ChatGPT has shaken up Silicon Valley and is already disrupting a wide range of fields and industries, including education. But the potential risks of this new era of artificial intelligence go far beyond students cheating on their term papers. Even OpenAI’s founder warns that “the question of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General in person, $10 online
Energy and infrastructure are taking center stage as President Biden’s team fans across the country touting his accomplishments and the benefits they bring to American families. Biden’s policy wins have secured vast amounts of funding, and that money is just beginning to flow, with new programs becoming available to everyday ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members in person
Cell Phone Astrophotography - LivestreamIf you would like to be able to capture images of celestial objects using a telescope and don’t have special astrophotography equipment, or do have equipment but would also like to have the option of being able to capture images quickly and easily on the fly, SFAA has you covered. ...
Design for impactful VR training is an incredibly complex challenge. When done well, VR training can result in more efficient workers, decreased injuries, and cost savings. However, if done badly, VR training can result in confused workers, wasted funds, and negative training effects causing more harm than benefit. Whereas limitations ...
Mathematics and the Card Game SET with Dr. Catherine HsuCome play SET, a fun game of pattern recognition universally loved by mathematicians! Although this game was invented as part of a research project on epilepsy in German Shepherds, SET is closely related to many interesting areas in mathematics. Tonight, we’ll ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
Wonderfest: Spider Love and Dark Matter - LivestreamWonderfest 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 entomologist Trinity Walls on Creepy or Captivating: A Spider Scientist's Perspective - How have recent discoveries about spiders ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 03/16/23
Lunch Break Science: 3.5 Million-Year-Old Human Ancestors Found in Outskirts of Nairobi - LivestreamMeet East Africa’s first woman paleoanthropologist Dr. Emma Mbua, learn about the surprising discovery of Australopithecus afarensis fossils at Kantis Fossil Site on the outskirts of Nairobi, and hear Emma’s story in this special Women’s History Month episode. Dr. Mbua is also a Leakey Foundation grantee and Baldwin Scholar.Watch this ...
High-quality surface deformation data are critical for estimating relative sea level change and its implication on future flooding risk of coastal communities. Here we developed a robust and scalable Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) processing algorithm to reconstruct spatially coherent radar phase measurements over densely vegetated terrain. For the first ...
Where: StanfordCost:
Key Technologies for Upgrading Cable Television Networks - LivestreamThe movement towards a remote workforce brought on by the COVID pandemic have combined with competition to place strong pressure on Cable Television operators to increase their network performance. Recent industry initiatives are touting up to 10 GBps using the existing coaxial cables with upgraded repeater amplifiers. A new DOCSIS ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $25 General, Free to SHS Members
The Birth of the Science Communicator - LivestreamWhat is a science communicator? The era of once-a-decade outliers like Carl Sagan is long gone. In the present day of internet-borne disinformation and science denial, science communication has emerged as a vibrant and painfully necessary field, with an army of scholars focusing their expertise exclusively on informing the public.Dave ...
Where: Cost: Free
1.5 C - Methane: the 100x threatClimate Tech Action Network (CTAN) presents 1.5°C, an ongoing climate technology panel event that will focus on the engineering and scientific challenges facing different verticals of the climate crisis. We are bringing together some of the hottest startups in the field to explore the complex trade-offs in cost, feasibility, scalability, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 suggested donation
After Dark: Conversations About LandscapeIn 1992 a groundbreaking new map transformed the way we think about San Francisco’s history. Wild in the City captured the transformation of the ecological landscape over the course of more than 200 years. In doing so, it ushered in an urgent awareness of San Francisco’s Indigenous Ohlone heritage and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightlifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
The Garden is pleased to honor Women’s History Month with a special online talk by New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Aalto, featuring her book Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World (Timber Press, 2020). Her book Writing Wild ventures into ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, Free for Members
Birding while Disabled - LivestreamBonnie Lewkowicz and Judith Smith will share their experiences as wheelchair-using birders and will be joined by Tiffany Taylor, a birder who is blind. Hear what they need from the birding community and birding locations to feel welcome and included.Attend on Zoom by clicking here.
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $25 General, Free to SHS Members
NightSchool: Number 2 - LivestreamThis NightSchool, our number one priority is something everyone does: number two. From conservation clues in scat to fecal breeding grounds, we’re talking all about poop.Ages 21+See weblink for links to the stream
Speaker: Donna Shillington, Northern Arizona Uniuversity
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Unlocking the Sun: Spectroscopy in the 1800'sUnlocking the Sun: Spectroscopy in the 1800's" Have you ever wondered how we figured out what the Sun is made of? The story of how we determined the chemical makeup of our own star combines chemistry, physics, and astronomy in a tale of mystery, far-flung expeditions, and unexpected discoveries. After ...
Where: LivermoreCost: Free
Saturday, 03/18/23
BioBlitz at Kelley Park with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and Santa Clara Valley Audubon SocietyJoin us in exploring Kelley Park with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful! We’ll be looking for birds, bugs, and anything else we come across, using iNaturalist to document our findings. After a winter of rain we’re excited to see what we find, and hope you’ll join us in exploring this large ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
FAMILY PROGRAM: Magical Mini Moss GardensIn honor of St. Paddy’s day, join our moss and lichen hunt, learn a little botany, and make a "magical" mini moss garden to take home. Children must be accompanied by a registered adult.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 General, $18 Child, $2 off for members
Family Nature Walks - Baylands Nature PreserveEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help students and their families get to know our local open space areas. Small family groups will be guided by a knowledgeable environmental educator during an exploration of a local open space. These small groups will be introduced to fun nature-based ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Sunday, 03/19/23
Presidio: Changes Through TimeJoin the National Park Service and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the GGNRA!This half-mile, level walk shows the historical changes to the Presidio, from the Spanish fort all the way to the new Tunnel Tops. Who benefitted from these changes, and who did not?Learn about the people who lived here, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Women in Archaeology: A Conversation with Members of the Society for California ArchaeologyTo celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re delighted to host Gregg Castro (T'rowt'raahl Salinan, Rumsen, and Ramaytush Ohlone), the Native American Programs Committee Chair for the Society for California Archaeology (SCA) and the Culture Director of The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO). He is gathering together a special panel to conclude ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admissin
Monday, 03/20/23
Life and Science in an Absolute MonarchyWhat is the day-to-day life like in the Vatican? And how does that compare to the ways that such places are depicted in some of your favorite (and not-so-favorite) fantasy novels? What is it really like to live in a five hundred year old palace, to work in an absolute ...
Ben completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He then worked in the lab of Justin Taraska at the NIH as a postbac IRTA, focused primarily on developing computational image analysis approaches and using advanced microscopy to study exocytosis and endocytosis. He next obtained his ...
NASA’s next flagship astrophysics mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, aims to expand our view of the cosmos. Scheduled to launch by May 2027, the Roman Space Telescope will enable new science thanks to its unique combination of a large field-of-view, Hubble-like resolution at near-infrared wavelengths, and the ability ...
This presentation examines how the phonograph and leading record companies of the 1920’s helped to create the modern possibilities and dilemmas of faith and technology.Attend online or in person. See weblink
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Blue-Green Action Platform (BlueGAP): Stories, data & nitrogen managementNitrogen pollution, whether from wastewater effluent, vehicle air emissions, stormwater or agricultural runoff, harms human and ecological health, compromises livelihoods, and costs billions in damages. Moving the needle on actions needed to properly manage nitrogen requires out of the box approaches. Our approach, currently funded through NSF’s Blue Economy Accelerator ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
SETI Talks: The Origin of Water on Earth: Alien Meteors, Icy Comets, or Solar Wind? - LivestreamWater is necessary for life on Earth, but its origin is still unknown. There are multiple hypotheses about its origin. The most common theory is Earth’s water is alien, crashing down in meteors long ago when Earth was very young. Over the eons, icy asteroids and comets delivered oceans to ...
Where: Cost: Free
Ig Nobel Prize face-to-faceOur esteemed founder of the prize (and the journal the Annals of Improbable Research), Marc Abrahams, will take us through the fascinating history of the Ig Nobel Prize, from its inception in 1991 to the present day. We will learn about the inspiration behind the award, the selection process, and ...
Called “the voice of the resistance†by The New York Times, writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit, the author of 20 books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, hope and disaster, and most recently Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General in person, $10 online, $10/$0 members
2023 Spring Birdathon Kickoff - LivestreamJoin us as we kickoff the start of 2023's Birdathon!We'll be sharing our favorite highlights from last year's teams, testing our bird smarts with fun quiz questions, and talking about why we're so amped about Birdathon.Whether you're a seasoned Birdathon participant, or you're just curious about what this whole thing ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 03/23/23
Searching for Cosmic Dawn and Beyond with Radio ObservationsObservations of redshifted 21-cm emission of neutral hydrogen are a rapidly growing area of cosmology research. Measurements of the radio sky at ~200 MHz and below are a promising tool for exploring cosmic dawn, and at the lowest frequencies (tens of MHz), future observations may allow us to one day ...
Join us for the opening night of ¡Plantásticas! and get to know the wonderful world of plants! From science to culture to the oxygen we breathe, plants enrich our lives in countless ways. Touch plants, smell them, magnify them under microscopes, and marvel at the beautiful patterns they make. Tonight, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Congrats, you’ve leveled up! Put those skills in play because gaming is back at NightLife.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20.75
Mountain Lion LectureCalifornia State Parks presents an evening lecture by Dr. Quinton Martins of True Wild about our local mountain lion population. Learn more about the movement, diet, and behavior of mountain lions tracked by the Living with Lions project.
Where: SonomaCost: $10 General, 12 and under free (at door)
Friday, 03/24/23
Bair Island Walking TourJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a walking tour at Bair Island! You’ll be guided by POST ambassadors who will share the history of this beautiful protected space, information about the species that live there, and what you can do to contribute.This easy 1.5 mile walk with little to no ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: Free
Astro 101: Intro to the Night SkyThe sky is full of stars! How do we know what's what and find our way around? During this talk, you'll learn to recognize key star formations and some tricks that astronomers use to find interesting objects in the night sky. You'll also hear tidbits of star mythology, learn something ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Saturday, 03/25/23
Stewardship Saturday: Restoring Wetlands for Ocean HealthWe are excited to invite you to engage with nature and assist in a Watsonville Wetlands Watch restoration project.After some time working as a team to improve the health of the slough, you will then have the opportunity to explore more about the connection between wetlands and marine mammals as ...
Where: WatsonvilleCost: Free
Life as a Leatherback Workshop - First SessionLearn what it takes to be the world’s largest species of turtle. Participants will discover the life cycle of a leatherback turtle through interactive games and stories. Explore sea turtle skulls and specimens as well as witness real scientific video footage of a leatherback foraging for food in the sanctuary. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Morning Hike at La Honda Open Space PreserveJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful hike at Lower La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve where you’ll experience the area’s sweeping views and gorgeous rolling grasslands! The preserve is over 6,100 acres, of which POST has contributed 5,200 acres. You will be guided by a POST Ambassador on ...
Prepare for April Fools’ Day with us at Science Saturday: Sneaky Natural Tricksters! Like humans, these “tricksters†survive in a wide range of ecological niches and habitats due to their intelligence, ability to problem solve, and the range of foods they can eat. Science Saturday is always free for everyone, ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Women in STEM DayCelebrate the accomplishments women have made in science, technology, engineering and math and our future generation of female scientists. Take part in hands-on science demos throughout the museum with the Center’s youth volunteers, the Galaxy Explorers. Then join a panel of local female scientists as they discuss their journeys to ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Life as a Leatherback Workshop - Second SessionLearn what it takes to be the world’s largest species of turtle. Participants will discover the life cycle of a leatherback turtle through interactive games and stories. Explore sea turtle skulls and specimens as well as witness real scientific video footage of a leatherback foraging for food in the sanctuary. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Saturday Cinema: Plant PowerJoin us for two short films related to ¡Plantásticas!: Our Lives with Plants, a new exhibition celebrating the history and science of plants and their integral role in connecting us to our cultures and our planet.Native to Right Here: The Plants Animals and People of Tuushtak by Joan H. Hamilton ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
Exoplanet Watch: Inviting Citizen Scientists to Observe Transiting Exoplanets - LivestreamJoin exoplanet astronomer Rob Zellem, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as he discusses how we find and characterize exoplanets, planets outside of our own Solar System, with the ultimate goal of detecting signatures of life. He will also discuss current and near future ground- and space-based missions, such as NASA’s ...
Where: Cost: Free
Jazz Under the Stars - RescheduledJazz Under the Stars is a FREE monthly public stargazing event! Occurring on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon (check our Events Page), join us on the 4th floor observatory for a night of smooth jazz, bright stars, and a lot of fun! We play our jazz from CSM's own ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 03/26/23
How to Speak Whale, A Voyage Into the Future of Animal Communication - LivestreamWhat if humans and other animals could speak to one another? Author and wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill reveals how a close encounter with a humpback whale off the coast of California inspired him to spend years exploring the cutting edge of marine biological research with scientists who are combining underwater ...
Where: Cost: $10 suggested donation
Wonderfest: Wallace, Darwin, and the Discovery of Evolution by Natural Selection - LivestreamIn 1858, two friends and colleagues, Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin, independently proposed one of the deepest ideas in all of science, evolution by natural selection. However, Wallace's extraordinary - and extraordinarily successful - quest to understand how evolution works is not well known. The story is riveting: a man ...
Where: Cost: Free
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point BluffJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for an afternoon walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by a POST representative who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve that hosts tide ...
In late 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made a long-sought breakthrough, achieving self-sustaining “fusion ignition†for the first time, generating more fusion energy than the laser energy used to start the reaction. Supporters see fusion as a game changer for production of unlimited clean energy that can help ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General in person, $10 online, $15/$5 members
Smaller not bigger data: securing an interconnected world - LivestreamFrom the filters ensuring clean water in our homes to the bed monitors keeping patients alive at hospitals, the physical world is being stitched into a digital fabric. This trend is commonly referred to as the internet of things “IoT.†The emergence of IoT has brought on a wealth of ...
Exhuming the Dead to Save the LivingEarth is experiencing a crisis in biodiversity. Surprisingly, the fossil record offers key insights for understanding this crisis, and one scientist's lifelong fascination with dinosaurs - leading to a career in conservation biology - is helping to combat the biodiversity challenge of the present ...
Where: Cost: Free
Tuesday, 03/28/23
Wonderfest: 'Linoleum'Wonderfest celebrates the 10th annual National Evening of Science on Screen with the new sci-fi comedy-drama LINOLEUM and with the expert commentary of planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee. LINOLEUM chronicles the reality-jarring challenges of a midwest dreamer who decides to build his own rocketship. Early reviews give the movie a ...
Where: St. HelenaCost: See weblink
Wednesday, 03/29/23
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima TrailJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter ...
Most of us lead drab and colorless lives as drones and cogs in faceless organizations. With his tales of research around southern California oil and gas platforms, Milton (only his wife calls him Dr. Love) will enter your world like a bright and fanciful rainbow, or a swatch of William ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
March LASER EventChristina Jauernik (Architect and Artist) on "Touching Distance - Inter-Views with the Virtual" Hanna Haslaahti (Media Artist) on "Storytelling with Personal Avatars" Javier Ideami (Filmmaker and A.I. Scientist) on "Encounters of the third kind with Generative Artificial Intelligence" Register here or here
Where: Cost: Free
Centering Health Justice and Trans Well-Being - LivestreamIn celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility, join two scientific presentations that will help raise awareness of systemic issues that impact trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse individuals, as well as those with intersecting identities.Generating Models of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy While Centering the Needs of Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-Diverse IndividualsGender-affirming ...
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future - LivestreamOur predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism’s checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.Our next Skeptical Inquirer Presents event welcomes podcast host ...
Where: Cost: Free
Improving VR/AR Experiences by Understanding the Human Visual System - LivestreamVirtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) wearable displays strive to provide perceptually realistic user experiences, while constrained by limited compute budgets, hardware, and transmission bandwidths of wearable computing systems. This presentation describes two different ways in which a greater understanding of the human visual system may assist in achieving this goal. ...
Ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are one of nature’s most versatile biomolecules and possess a rich variety of functions, but why should we care about them? Because RNA has so much to teach us about our past, present, and future.In this talk, I will highlight how RNA has influenced our lives across ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Thursday, 03/30/23
Science on Tap: Science from 20 Feet UpJoin the Museum for a night of fun and science as we host Doctors Mara Orescanin and Stu Weiss with beverages from Dust Bowl Brewing Co! Mara and Stu will be discussing the work they do to help the planet’s ecosystems and populations, both human and non, from 20 feet ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $15 General, $10 members, Free for Students
After Dark: Trans Day of VisibilityCelebrated on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is an international day of awareness that highlights transgender achievements and greatness in response to intentional exclusion of transgender people, voices, and actions in the current societal culture and discourse. Transgender people exist in all corners of the world so it is ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Learn About:Why coral reefs around the world are in trouble.How there is some hope for these threatened ecosystems. What successful coral-reef restoration would look like and ideas to get there.Speaker: Ilsa Kuffner, USGS St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science CenterSee weblink for link to the lecture
Where: Cost: Free
NightLifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.25
Saturday, 04/01/23
Dìa de la Ciencia This is a community event for the Spanish-speaking public to participate in hands-on activities led by local scientists! This event will include: Hands-on exhibits & booths led by scientists and community partnersTalks and PresentationsSTEM StorytimeDirections here
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Morning Hike at San Vicente Redwoods - RESCHEDULEDJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a community hike at San Vicente Redwoods! This will be a moderate hike of 3.5 miles on fairly level trails with little elevation gain. Guests will be led by a POST ambassador, who will share about the human and natural history of this important ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
STEM Frenzy FestivalThe STEM Frenzy festival is a day where we bring the community of all ages together to celebrate and explore the wonders of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Art.Enjoy 30+ engaging demonstrations and hands-on activities at our exhibitor booths hosted by local STEM professionals and learn how to enroll your ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Family Nature Walks - Baylands Nature PreserveEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help students and their families get to know our local open space areas. Small family groups will be guided by a knowledgeable environmental educator during an exploration of a local open space. These small groups will be introduced to fun nature-based ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
The Great Blue Heron ColonyNesting at Snow Lake for 30 yearsNancy DeStefanis presents slides of 30 years of Blue Herons at Stow Lake from 1995 to the present and screens the movie Great Blues of the Golden Gate. A question-and-answer session will follow. DeStefanis is the founder and executive director of San Francisco Nature Education.
