No one anticipated the startling explosivity of the Hunga Tonga eruption in 2022, despite intermittent and increasingly intense precursor eruptions. Why is it so difficult to forecast the magnitude and intensity of eruptions? Some clues are provided by the complex and protracted eruptive sequence that preceded the c. 7700ybp eruption ...
Satellite observations over the past two decades indicate an increase in the Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI), which comprises signatures of radiative forcing and feedback factors. What is driving the trend? We utilize climate models used for the IPCC AR6 assessment to investigate the roles of the plausible causal factors, including the internal variability of the ...
Achieving global water security necessitates the treatment of unconventional and underutilized sources, for which pressure-driven desalination technologies are particularly well-suited. In these technologies, the membrane is the critical component and requires material breakthroughs to realize paradigm-shifting performance. Attempts to improve performance have been inconsequential over the last several decades - ...
This talk will cover cybersecurity vulnerabilities discovered in private and public electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) systems and technologies that can reduce the risk of cyberattacks on these systems. Cybersecurity researchers have recently identified several vulnerabilities that exist in EVSE devices, communications to electric vehicles (EVs), and upstream services, such ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
SETI Live: 'Under Alien Skies: A sightseers guide to the Universe' - LivestreamPhil Plait, aka the Bad Astronomer, has been communicating and correcting space science since the turn of the century (sorry, Phil!). His first book, "Bad Astronomy", tackled numerous misconceptions and myths about astronomy and space missions. His second book, "Death from the Skies!", took a look at a variety of ...
Where: Cost: Free
Patience is a Virtue: The 15-Year NANOGrav Gravitational Wave ResultsThis past summer, the pulsar timing array community announced strong evidence for the presence of a stochastic background of nanoHertz frequency gravitational waves. This has been the primary goal of the community for the past two decades, and it took thousands of hours of telescope time, over 500,000 pulse arrival ...
This talk’s content might transform your 2024 Thanksgiving conversations! Our experiments show that a dozen different brief (usually under-five-minute) “hunks†of scientific information increase acceptance (among conservatives and liberals alike; i.e., without polarization) that anthropogenic Global Warming (GW) is occurring/concerning (e.g., Ranney & Velautham, 2021). These interventions include videos, temperature ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
After Dark: Fruiting FungiDid you know that mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi? Hidden among forest floor and decaying logs, these ephemeral organisms are way more than a forager’s delight or a (sometimes) tasty dish. Join us for a fungi-tastic evening of mushroom identification and cultivation. Discover local specimens, use mushrooms for ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightLife: Noise PopWe’ve got live music down to a science. Noise Pop Music and Arts Festival returns with a special guest. Stay tuned for details!
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
The Hunt for Planet B - LivestreamThe Hunt for Planet B captures the human drama behind NASA's high-stakes Webb Telescope which launched on December 25, 2021. The film interweaves the creation of this massive machine - the most ambitious space observatory ever built - with the story of a pioneering group of female scientists on a ...
Where: Cost: Free
Electric Vehicle Financial Incentives Think you can’t afford an Electric Vehicle (EV)? Think again! Learn about the many financial assistance programs available for purchasing an EV. This webinar is available in Spanish and English. For more guidance, opt-in for a free consultation in the post-event survey.Register here.Â
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 02/23/24
Current Developments and the Future of Photovoltaic TechnologiesThe global PV market experienced consistent growth in the last decades that can well be called unparalleled. Since 1992 it is achieving an average annual growth rate above 30%!PV technology will continue to grow in energy conversion efficiency at ever-falling cost. We started with the old industry standard PV technology, ...
Climate change is already causing large damages from sea level rise, drought, and extreme weather. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (often called ‘decarbonization’ reflecting the role of carbon dioxide in greenhouse warming) is imperative if these costs are to be mitigated or reduced. This seminar will draw on work from the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Saturday, 02/24/24
Celebrate Black History Month: AfrofuturismThis Black History Month, join Chabot Space and Science Center in a celebration of Black scientists, scholars, and artists of the past, present, and future. Afrofuturism is an activist aesthetic movement that imagines the future through a Black cultural lens. Through music, art, and storytelling, Afrofuturism imagines a just future ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Science Saturday: SustainabilityLearn about energy and water conservation, minimizing food waste, and other actions you can take to help the Earth. Community partners will share what their organizations are working on and we will have lots of hands-on conservation activities for the whole family.
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Salamander Search at SanbornSanborn is famous for its amphibians; you just need to do some extra searching to find them! Join us for a fun day of looking under rocks, logs, and other unique hiding spots that Sanborn’s Salamanders call home!Ages 4 - 12, with registered adultRegister at weblink
Where: SaratogaCost: $25 per person
Stewardship Saturday: Navigating the Bay Shore with Cafe OhloneJoin Cafe Ohlone, Coyote Hills Regional Park, and The Marine Mammal Center as we embark on a winter hike through the marshes, along the bay shore, and up the hill, led by Cafe Ohlone co-founders and chefs Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino. Learn about Ohlone language, culture, and history; how ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Makerspace Science Talk with Dan PalanceJoin us for an informative presentation by Dan Palance on marine hotspots and their significance to coastal communities. Dan’s research uses hotspot concepts and advanced modeling to forecast shifts in top predator habitats and their prey. He collaborates with a large team from NOAA, UCSC, and beyond to bring cohesion ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Family Bird WalkLet family walks become a shared time of nature learning. We’ll begin by helping kids create their personal bird watching field guides, and then head out onto the trails to find those birds. A limited number of binoculars are available to borrow. Recommended for children ages 5-10. Extreme weather conditions ...
Take a relaxing walk in an area that often has striking sunsets while learning about the Don Edwards SF Bay Refuge. Image DetailsExperience the salt marsh at twilight on an easy stroll along refuge trails (about .6 miles). At the setting of the sun we will observe the beginning of ...
Exoplanet Deep Interiors with JWSTObservations of exoplanetary atmospheres provide a valuable upper boundary condition for studying their interiors. The species that appear in transmission and emission spectra are formed from the composition of the uppermost convective region minus any condensates and after chemical reactions induced by the lower temperatures and pressures. As such, if ...
Shifting toward a circular economy for a sustainable future requires developing, optimizing, and diffusing water and resource recovery technologies. Transitioning these technologies from laboratory to commercial scale is a process that often spans years, if not decades. The conventional approach for biological resource recovery processes involves performing lab-scale experiments in ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Surprises in the n-type cupratesThe n-type cuprates have long been considered the little cousin of the p-type cuprates, with an apparently simpler phase diagram dominated by antiferromagnetic correlations. Through angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) studies, we reveal that there are surprises and important insights to be learned from a prototypical n-type cuprate Nd2-xCexCuO4. In the ...
Pathogen Emergence at the Forest Edge: A One Health Approach to Understand SpilloverMy research investigates how anthropogenic forest change alters the ecology, evolution and transmission of zoonotic viruses. In this seminar, I will discuss longitudinal studies of unique communities of people and wildlife along the perimeters of accelerated forest loss in the Congo, Amazon and Mekong basin forests. This work investigates theory ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Spinning Tales: Exploring MuonsDr. Maarten Golterman will delve into the fascinating world of muon anomalous magnetic moment and its implications through the lens of quantum field theory.Speaker: Maarten Golterman, San Francisco State University
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
On the many-body physics of embryonic development While the complexity and robustness of embryonic development are plain to see, a physicist might ask whether there are simple principles that underlie them. Can we ever have a “Theory†or is it just a matter of filling up repositories of data, tabulating what happens, but not why? Focusing on ...
Jeff Rissman will draw from his new book, Zero-Carbon Industry, exploring the pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector. Accounting for a third of global emissions when including purchased electricity and heat, decarbonizing the industrial sector is a key part of reaching nations’ net zero targets. The ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Geologic Hydrogen - A Critical Part of a Net-Zero Strategy? - CANCELEDHydrogen is projected to play a significant if not crucial role in the future energy mix, with the IEA forecasting an increase of almost an order of magnitude compared to hydrogen consumption today. This increase is driven by the possible dual use of hydrogen: to provide a clean or green ...
Dark Energy was initially suggested as an explanation for the accelerated expansion of the cosmos, yet its true nature remains unknown. In this lecture, we will explore this mysterious aspect of the Universe alongside the human stories of discovery. We will begin by revisiting the discovery of the expanding Universe ...
As we grapple with the urgent need for sustainable solutions to global climate challenges, the vast potential of our oceans offers promising pathways. This session will explore the critical role of maritime sustainable energy in achieving a sustainable future at scale. Dr. Freeman will shed light on ARPA-E’s significant investments ...
Large-scale cosmic surveys have measured the expansion rate of the universe as a function of time and found strong evidence that the rate is accelerating. Our knowledge of fundamental physics might be greatly enhanced by understanding the microscopic origin of this acceleration and the impact of the fundamental constituents of the universe ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Teaching Language Models how to coordinate - LivestreamLarge Language Models, despite their astounding reasoning abilities, are not faithful problem solvers. While their abilities are strongly correlated with scale, even humongous models like GPT-3.5 or GPT-4 can become inconsistent reasoners. Recent advances in verbose prompting techniques like chain-of-thought try to elicit step-by-step decomposition so that the model can ...
Where: Cost: Free
Understanding Dolphins Through Their Sexual Behavior - LivestreamDolphins are much loved cetaceans and a species known for social interaction. What do we know about their mating strategies? What are the variables affecting female receptivity? What is the influence of sociosexual behavior on female social grouping and calf rearing?Join us to hear from one of the prominent marine biologists ...
What can be done to increase diversity in STEM in the absence of affirmative action? What about marine biology, in particular? In this seminar, educational sociologist and USC Associate Dean Julie Posselt will share the current state of evidence about recruitment in STEM. She will present new findings from her ...
 Water resources such as snow or groundwater can be estimated using satellite remote sensing observations and numerical models. Both models and observations have inherent uncertainties and limitations related to observation errors, model parameterization, and input uncertainties. A promising method to alleviate shortcomings in models and observations is data assimilation because ...
Recent scientific advances have made it possible to induce broadcast spawning in corals, and to rear juvenile corals. These are critical advances for reef restoration efforts, especially in light of recent mass mortality events. However, while breeding corals and other marine invertebrates for population management and conservation is increasingly viable, ...
The Ocean & Humanity - Toward a Symbiotic ExistenceJoin us for salon II of our Resilient Edge Series to review humanity’s relationship with the ocean and a path toward a more symbiotic relationship.We'll hear from George Orbelian, long-time environmental activist, Ocean Beach surfer, and current Buckminster Fuller Board member, as well as other ocean stewards in conversation with ...
Fungi hold immense promise as cell factories for a sustainable future. Their remarkable versatility, coupled with their ability to produce a vast array of valuable bioproducts, makes them indispensable allies in our efforts to address global challenges and create a more sustainable processes. By harnessing the power of these microbial ...
Can aquaculture be adapted to support conservation and ecosystem restoration? The only native oyster on our coast, the Olympia oyster, is depleted throughout its range. Many estuaries in central California are facing local extinction. Without a healthy oyster population, these estuaries lose vast amounts of biodiversity and cannot protect shorelines ...
In this talk we’ll explore the world of mushroom spores - where they are formed, how they are spread and where they 'want' to end up. We'll see why some spores are coloured and others have warts, and how wind, rain and animals all play their roles.Else Vellinga is a ...
