2024 will continue to be an unprecedented year for investment in and big wins in the decarbonization of infrastructure. From the $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners by BlackRock to General Atlantic's recent acquisition of Actis, this year is shaping up to be one of the biggest where we ...
This presentation explores challenges and advancements in optimizing power systems operations through Grid Mind, an innovative data-driven framework designed to enhance the integration of renewable energy sources. Employing advanced learning algorithms, this framework innovates in strategic resource allocation and control, thereby improving efficiency and reliability in power systems with a high ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
A Celestial Collaboration - Unistellar Citizen Scientists Track Comets - LivestreamThroughout human history, comets have fascinated us. They have gone from signs and portents of bad things to come to well-studied and even visited "dirty snowballs". Every year, observers search the skies, hoping to discover the Next Big Comet - Halley, Hyakutake, Hale - Bopp, McNaught. From SOHO and LINEAR ...
After Dark: Simple MachinesHave you thought about how astounding everyday tools and machines are? Through fundamental physics, they can multiply our force and make our lives more efficient. Tonight, explore the science behind simple machines by playing with kinetic gadgets, pendulums, and other mechanical marvels. What effects do you have with a turn ...
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 60,000 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: Varies
Using Communication Science to Communicate USGS Science - LivestreamJoin us and learn ... How social science helps us better inform people about natural hazards risks Human behavioral analysis of earthquake drills like ShakeOutCase studies of the Earthquake early warning system, ShakeAlert®ï¸Speaker: Sara McBide, USGS Earthquake Science CenterClick here to attend
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 03/01/24
Computational Approaches for Understanding and Engineering Biomolecular CondensatesThe interior of cells contains numerous components that must be carefully organized in space to fulfill a wide range of biological functions. The most common form of intracellular compartment does not have membranes. Instead of membranes, these compartments, known as biomolecular condensates, are maintained and spatially segregated through phase separation.Understanding ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
First Friday Nights - CANCELEDCome together as a family, visit early, and stay late!Swing into the weekend with live music, a food truck, animals and fun! On the first Friday of every month, from 5 pm until 8 pm, parents and kids celebrate together at CuriOdyssey.Dance to some of your favorite pop and rock ...
Where: San MateoCost: Regular CuriOdyssey admission prices
Public Astronomy Viewing Nights - CANCELEDSonoma State University hosts astronomical viewing nights open to the public. Events are weather dependent. Check the weblink for cancelations prior to attending.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Experiencing the Great North American Eclipse!On April 8 the Great North American Eclipse will occur. This will be an eclipse you will want to experience and photograph. It will be the last total solar eclipse visible in the Contiguous United States until August 23, 2044. In this presentation you will learn from an accomplished eclipse ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 03/02/24
Building Scalable & Reliable AI apps with Cloud Native Technologies WorkshopCloud Native (CN) technologies provide scalable and reliable platforms to host AI based technologies. This 1-day workshop is intended to expose and educate attendees on the available tooling in the CN space from Kubernetes to Kubeflow and ecosystem; including their purpose and path to successfully leveraging them.Both CN and AI ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $85
Randall Museum Science FestivalThis year’s celebration includes a special family-friendly Science Festival for visitors of all ages. Kids and their families can enjoy free live animal encounters, discover more information with community partners from the science world, and for a small fee, drop in to explore the fun of hands on science from ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 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
Nike Missile Site Veteran Open HouseVeterans of the Nike program come to the site to share their stories with visitors and give guided tours of SF88 between the hours of 12pm - 3pm The SF-88 Nike Missile Site is the most fully restored Nike missile site in the country. During the tense years of the Cold War, from ...
California is one of 11 jurisdictions in the United States that provides Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) for its citizens. Do you know who qualifies for MAID in California, and who does not? We will discuss the current law, its restrictions, and what might be done to amend it to ...
Where: Cost: Free
Starry Nights Star Party - CANCELEDThe San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA), working with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA), is glad to co-host a public star party at Rancho Canada del Oro (RCDO) Open Space Preserve. This site, just 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose, features dark skies. It's dark enough to ...
It’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 ...
The fundamental understanding and tuning of the interactions that occur between surfaces and chemicals or between surfaces and microorganisms may allow us to design materials or systems with enhanced binding and reactive properties for various industrial, environmental, and clinical applications. However, understanding and optimizing these interactions can also be used ...
Global reliance on cloud services, powered by transformative technologies like generative AI, machine learning, and big-data analytics, is driving exponential growth in demand for hyperscale cloud compute infrastructure. Meanwhile, the breakdown of classical hardware scaling (e.g., Moore’s Law) is hampering growth in compute supply. Building domain-specific hardware can address this ...
On Dec 13, 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Accelerator Laboratory achieved Ignition. 2.05MJoule produced by 192 lasers were converted into 3.15Mjoule of fusion power. The first time on earth, controlled nuclear fusion produced a net positive power reaction. This is a major scientific milestone that ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
A Magic Show of the NeutrinosDr. Kam-Biu Luk will present an exploration of an intriguing phenomenon called neutrino oscillation.Speaker: Kam-Biu Luk, UC Berkeley
Measuring the Effect of Gravity on AntimatterRecent experiments have measured the effect of gravity on antimatter with the first “directâ€, i.e., freefall-style or Galilean Leaning Tower of Pisa-style measurements. In agreement with theory and indirect experiments, these experiments, performed by CERN’s ALPHA collaboration, show that antimatter, specifically antihydrogen atoms, fall downward with an acceleration within about ...
The talk will delve into a comprehensive exploration of the interplay between energy, climate, and development on the African continent. The discussion will acknowledge the critical intersection of these three elements and propose pragmatic approaches as the guiding principle for charting a sustainable course forward. The African continent, rich in ...
The concept of resilience has become part of the lexicon for disaster researchers in universities and government agencies. The concept has evolved significantly over the past 10-20 years. In 2010-11, the engineering community was coming to grips with the two paradigms of resilience: 1) an engineering approach that focused on ...
Humanity’s future in space will depend on autonomous robotic spacecraft, whether in orbit around Earth or exploring the far reaches of our solar system. Spacecraft swarms, or groups of autonomous cooperative spacecraft, have the potential to revolutionize future space exploration and science missions. In 2023, NASA’s Starling project launched a ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Tuesday, 03/05/24
Atmosphere & Energy Winter Seminar - Florian DahlhausenThe Atmosphere/Energy Seminar is an interdisciplinary seminar with talks by researchers and practitioners in the fields of atmospheric science and renewable energy engineering. Addresses the causes of climate, air pollution, and weather problems and methods of addressing these problems through renewable and efficient energy systems.Speaker: Florian Dahlhausen, Chief of Staff ...
Over the last twenty years, physicists have learned to manipulate individual quantum objects: atoms, ions, molecules, quantum circuits, electronic spins... It is now possible to build "atom by atom" a synthetic quantum matter. By controlling the interactions between atoms, one can study the properties of these elementary many-body systems: quantum ...
Understanding AI: Humanities x Social Sciences x TechnologyUnderstanding and interpreting AI is the new frontier in AI research. While advances in the performance of AI models have seen enormous successes, a profound understanding of how learning happens inside the models remains to be thoroughly explored.Understanding how AI learns has the potential to help us gain novel insights ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Evolving Organisms to Grow new Nanomaterials for Energy, the Environment and Medicine Organisms have been making exquisite inorganic materials for over 500 million years. Although these materials have many desired physical properties such as strength, regularity, and environmentally benign processing, the types of materials that organisms have evolved to work with are limited. However, there are many properties of living systems that ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Generative AI in the Cloud: Inside Microsoft AI InnovationJoin Mark Russinovich, Azure CTO and Technical Fellow, and get an under-the-hood look at Microsoft’s AI architecture, including the large-scale supercomputers that train foundational models and the infrastructure that efficiently serves small and large pretrained and finetuned models. He’ll cover everything from how we design servers, to the AI-aware resource ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Molecular and cellular bases of coral symbiosis and its breakdowninteraction and is hypothesized to have given rise to much of eukaryotic cellular complexity. The endosymbiosis between corals and dinoflagellate algae is essential to the energetic requirements of coral-reef ecosystems. However, coral reefs are in danger due to elevated ocean temperatures and other stressors that lead to the breakdown of ...
Microorganisms in the environment play an important role in human lives: microbial metabolism can be used to treat our waste and generate useful products (e.g., food, medicine, and energy), while pathogenic microorganisms in our water and food can threaten human health. Developments of innovative materials help us to better harness ...
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are among the most abundant organisms on Earth and play a key role in the nitrogen cycle, oxidizing ammonia to nitrite as the first step in nitrification. These AOA are especially important in mediating nutrient cycling within estuaries and coastal oceans â€" both dynamic, high-flux systems. Many ...
Where: Cost: Free
Astronomy on Tap San Antonio: Two Talks - LivestreamA Flight Over the Mysterious Hydrocarbon Lakes on Saturn’s Moon TitanSpeaker: Xinting Yu, University of Texas, San AntonioLunar Orbiter Divides the Old Moon from the NewSpeaker: Robert Reeves, astrophotographerSee weblink for YouTube and Facebook links
Where: Cost: Free
What You Need to Know About Generative AIHave we finally discovered the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI) - machines that match or exceed human intelligence?Advances in generative AI (GAI) have created a new class of computer systems that exhibit astonishing proficiency on a wide variety of tasks with superhuman performance, producing novel text, images, music, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General, $15 Members in person, $10/Free web
In his updated Nikolsky Lecture “Rotorcraft flight control technology advancements and future challenges,†Dr. Tischler first summarizes the key flight control design drivers that distinguish rotorcraft from their fixed-wing counterparts. The second part of his presentation review the key advancements in flight control technology over the past 50 years. Dr. ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free (see weblink for food/drink options)
UC Berkeley Tech Policy SummitThe inaugural UC Berkeley Tech Policy Summit brings together world-renowned academics, thought leaders, policymakers, industry pioneers and innovators to discuss and debate the most pressing issues at the intersection of technology and policy.UC Berkeley is dedicated to supporting the responsible development and use of emerging technologies - from groundbreaking work ...
 Estimating accurate Earth models for 3-D seismic imaging and full waveform inversion (FWI) remains challenging due to limited low frequencies (i.e., below 2.0 Hz) typically available from active-source air gun arrays. Ambient wavefield energy acquired on large, continuously recording nodal arrays, though, presents a potential alternative energy source for subsurface ...
Join Mark Russinovich, Azure CTO and Technical Fellow, and get an under-the-hood look at Microsoft’s AI architecture, including the large-scale supercomputers that train foundational models and the infrastructure that efficiently serves small and large pretrained and finetuned models. He’ll cover everything from how we design servers, to the AI-aware resource ...
In this talk, I will argue that we should study AI ethics from the perspective of complex systems. In particular, machine learning (ML) systems are not islands. To understand and mitigate the risks and harms associated with ML systems, we need to examine the broader complex systems in which ML ...
Attosecond pulse trains (APT) emerged from high harmonics (Anne L’Huillier et al, 1987) and their spectral phase determination by RABBITT (Pierre-Marie Paul et al, 2001). Although the record of the shortest pulse of 43 as belongs to the technique of isolated attosecond pulse (IAP), APT and RABBITT have been extremely ...
In "Salt of the Earth", Barbara Boissevain takes us on a visual odyssey, exploring the transforming landscapes of the San Francisco Bay. Published by the esteemed Kehrer Verlag, this expansive hardcover book unfolds over 108 pages, featuring 96 color photographs, offering a vivid and intimate exploration of these dystopian landscapes situated ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
NightLife Intersections: DanceFrom Bhangra to Pan Afro-Urban dance and Samba, see how the dance floor becomes a canvas for self-expression. Stay tuned for more info!
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
After Dark: Living SystemsWe’re all in this together - just ask the cells in your body. Stop by the Exploratorium on Thursday night to learn about the surprising and awesome ways human cells interact and work together. Observe 20 sculptural portraits made from the same person’s DNA information: how do they meet or ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Join Students for a Sustainable Stanford for the 12th annual Schneider Memorial Lecture for the opportunity to engage in discussions about climate change, environmental justice, and other social issues, challenges, and solutions of our time with other members of the Stanford community. This event is hosted in honor of climate scientist ...
Will CRISPR gene editing change our idea of what defines a species? Is gene editing simply a continuation of our long history of modifying animals through selective breeding? Or is it something radically new? Â Artist-in-Residence Heather Dewey-Hagborg and the Exploratorium present the world premiere of Xeno in Vivo, a multimedia ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 general $10-members
Friday, 03/08/24
Catalytic Depolymerization of Plastic Waste to Produce Value-Added ChemicalsPlastics play a large role in human life, from providing effective and safe packaging for food and medicine to materials for consumer products like clothing and electronics. Unfortunately, many of these plastic materials are only used once before they are discarded, and as a result these single-use plastics are accumulating ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Ancient human footprints at White Sands National ParkArchaeologists and researchers in allied fields have long sought to understand human colonization of North America. Questions remain about when and how people migrated, where they originated, and how their arrival affected the established fauna and landscape. Excavated surfaces in White Sands National Park (New Mexico, United States) revealed multiple ...
Will CRISPR gene editing change our idea of what defines a species? Is gene editing simply a continuation of our long history of modifying animals through selective breeding? Or is it something radically new? Â Artist-in-Residence Heather Dewey-Hagborg and the Exploratorium present the world premiere of Xeno in Vivo, a multimedia ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 general $10-members
In Town Star PartyCome join San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) for an evening of stargazing.Event details:Events are held at the parking lot of our headquarters, Houge Park San Jose. The event duration is 2 hours. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their telescopes.Please refrain from bringing your own telescopes (Binoculars are ...
The North Bay Science Discovery Day is a one-day public free science festival designed to spark children's wonder and curiosity for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. With over 70 organizations and 100 hands-on interactive exhibits, youth explore rockets and beehives, robots and sharks, catapults and hearts, animation, animals, and art, ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: Free
Family Nature Adventures: BeesLearn about bees, from familiar favorites to lesser known native species, and how to spot them in a hands-on workshop and nature walk.
Where: OaklandCost: $25 Adults w/children, $15 Youth age 3+
International Women's Day at the Lawrence Hall of ScienceCelebrate women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math on International Women’s Day! Design, build, and test hands-on engineering activities with the UC Berkeley chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. This national non-profit organization celebrates the achievement of non-male individuals as leaders and engineers.Admission is free for UC ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with museum admission ($20 for guests 3+)
Sunday, 03/10/24
Electrified Home TourDo you know that electrifying your home can save you money, protect your and your children’s health, help reduce global warming, and keep you more comfortable?Come learn how on the upcoming, free Electrified Home Tour, a new program of the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and Green Home Features ...
Predictive algorithms are used across a wide variety of settings in order to inform consequential decisionmaking about people’s lives, ranging from pretrial detention decisions in the criminal justice system to surgical intervention decisions in medical contexts. With the increasing deployment of these algorithms comes the risk that they could make ...
With population growth, urbanization, and rapidly changing environments, challenges to meeting basic human and societal needs are becoming increasingly complex. In many cases, the 20th century model of environmental technologies and infrastructure systems - often characterized by robust but inflexible components that are energy- and chemical-intensive - is no longer ...
We study the unintended environmental consequences of “bonus depreciation,†one of the largest investment tax incentives in US history. To do so, we pair emissions data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and National Emissions Inventory with quasi-experimental policy variation in the extent to which establishments benefited from the policy. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Zooming into the Landscape of Topological States and Collective ExcitationsNanoscale electrodynamics offers a unique perspective on states with bulk-edge correspondence or spatially-dependent excitations. This presentation will introduce our latest advancements in optically coupled microwave impedance microscopy, a technique that enhances our capability to explore electrodynamics at the nanometer scale. I will discuss our recent studies utilizing this technology to ...
The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report shows that we will need several gigatons of carbon dioxide removal annually to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. A nascent but rapidly growing private sector is attempting to meet that demand. These companies are deploying a myriad of technologies ...
Storytelling and the Climate CrisisContemporary writers and activists have described the climate crisis as, in part, a crisis of the imagination, of culture, and of storytelling. In this panel, we’ll hear from writers and scholars of different genres - science fiction, journalism, history, literary fiction, and comedy - about how the climate crisis has ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Manipulating the symmetry of charge order with lightNew experimental tools can provide unexpected insights that can resolve `blind men and the elephant’ type issues that we often encounter in the study of complex materials. In this work we use a newly developed instrument that combines laser light with a scanning tunnelling microscope, to obtain crucial insights into ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Electric vehicle green charging with marginal emissions signalsElectric vehicles (EVs) are a promising clean transportation option, but they still release CO2Â emissions when charging from the electricity grid. Often, EV drivers charge their vehicles when it is cheap or convenient, not when grid carbon intensity is lowest. Green charging, or smart charging control, is a solution to this ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Three talks: Stanford Energy Seminar Student LecturesElectric vehicle green charging with marginal emissions signalsElectric vehicles (EVs) are a promising clean transportation option, but they still release CO2Â emissions when charging from the electricity grid. Often, EV drivers charge their vehicles when it is cheap or convenient, not when grid carbon intensity is lowest. Green charging, or smart ...
Energy Storage at TeslaThe Atmosphere/Energy Seminar is an interdisciplinary seminar with talks by researchers and practitioners in the fields of atmospheric science and renewable energy engineering. Addresses the causes of climate, air pollution, and weather problems and methods of addressing these problems through renewable and efficient energy systems.Speaker:Â Timothy Hall
What if our understanding of capitalism and climate is back to front? What if the problem is not that transitioning to renewables is too expensive, but that saving the planet is not sufficiently profitable? This is Brett Christophers’ claim. The global economy is moving too slowly toward sustainability because the ...
Enteric infections, including antibiotic-resistant infections, disproportionately impact low-resource communities. Among all global deaths due to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections, 86% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Scalable prevention strategies are urgently needed. In this talk I will present field and lab studies that exploit new tools in molecular microbiology to ...
Over the last century, the construction and discovery of the Standard Model of particle physics has been one of the greatest accomplishments in physics. To explore this new frontier, we built larger and larger colliders utilizing the two charged particles that are easiest to produce and manipulate, the proton and ...
Whose values and voices are prioritized in climate change solutions? In other words, as different countries, regions, cities, and communities try to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and implement strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change, who will benefit? Who will lose? Who will be left out? This ...
Where: Cost: Free
How Social Media Impacts Collective Understandings of WarHow does the prevalence and ubiquity of social media impact and change perceptions of global conflict in the 21st century?In the last 20 years, conflict and war have unfolded in real time on our phone screens and across social media. While historically information and images of war were filtered through ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 - $30
The Bureau of Linguistical Reality Performance LectureThe Bureau of Linguistical Reality is a participatory artwork facilitated by artist Alicia Escott and Heidi Quante which collaborates with the public to create new words for feelings and experiences for which no words yet exist. Recognizing the climate crisis is causing new feelings and experiences that have yet to ...
The Stanford Sustainability Accelerator invites you to a seminar with Ned Tozun, co-founder of d.light, as he shares the transformative journey from a Stanford class project to impacting 150 million lives in Asia and Africa through innovative solar energy solutions.Speaker: Ned Tozun, d.lightRoom 350
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Sticking Together: How Bacterial Collectives (Re)Shape ThemselvesBacteria are arguably the simplest form of life; and yet, as multi-cellular collectives, they perform complex functions critical 
to environment, food, health, and industry. What principles govern how complex behaviors emerge in bacterial collectives? And how can we harness them to control bacterial behavior? In this talk, I will describe ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AI and TranslationIn a December 2023 op-ed in the New York Times, pioneering artificial intelligence researcher and inventor of the world’s first global-scale online language translator De Kai writes, “You’d be hard pressed to find any arguments against developing translation AIs. Reducing misunderstanding between cultures is probably one of the most important ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Solar Eclipse programOn April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass over the United States. The next chance to observe one in the contiguous USA will be in 20 years! Join us for an in-person talk with astronomy professor Mohsen Janatpour to learn about the nature of an eclipse, how eclipses come ...
 The population of black holes, objects left over from dead stars, in the Milky Way is almost entirely unexplored. Only about two dozen black holes are confidently known in our Galaxy -- all in “binary systems†where they orbit a living star. As a result, some of the most basic ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free
Thursday, 03/14/24
Pi (Ï€) DayJoin the 37th 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 ...
The Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) project investigates the processes influencing the dynamics and future evolution of the Eastern Shear Margin of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. This presentation will summarize results from TIME’s seismic team. TIME deployed 14 broadband seismometers from 2019 to 2021. We investigate passive seismic signals to ...
The transition to zero-emission fleets represents an excellent opportunity for transportation decarbonization, especially for medium and heavy-duty (MHD) vehicles, as 75% of the commercial trucks on the road and 98% of Class 8 trucks are currently powered by diesel. From a nationwide perspective, MHD vehicles accounted for only 6% of the ...
After Dark: Pi NightMath is everywhere in our lives, from geometric designs to the irrational, transcendental, and non-real numbers that help us make sense of the world. This Pi Day, keep the fun going to infinity at the Exploratorium. Learn the mathematically optimal way to slice a pie. Witness an amazing math phenomenon ...
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 60,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
The continued onslaught of myths and misinformation surrounding Covid and Covid vaccines has been unrelenting and contributes to the low uptake of this vaccine. I will try to debunk some of these myths and put them in context.Speaker: Paul Offit, MD, University of PennsylvaniaWatch the lecture here.
Speaker: Azizi Seixas, University of MiamiClick here to attend online.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Designing the Plasmonic Response of Complex Nanoparticle AssembliesOptoelectronic and biomedical devices harnessing solar energy can be improved by incorporating colloidal soft materials as energy harvesters, waveguides, optical filters, photo- and thermocatalysts, and molecular sensors. Understanding and controlling the light-matter interactions of these components is crucial to improving their performance.In this talk, I’ll discuss how we use controlled ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Saturday, 03/16/24
Spring flowers at Bouverie PreserveJoin us for a 3-hour docent-led nature walk at the 535-acre Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen. You will be in small groups while strolling through and appreciating the unique beauty of our oak and riparian woodland habitats.The trails are wide, unpaved, uneven, and some have steps or inclines. Wear sturdy ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: $20 Suggested Donation
Walk on the Wildflower Side with Ranger KatieCome celebrate spring and take a walk on the wildflower side with the Marin Headlands Park Rangers!This program will feature a short walk (0.3 miles plus a section of stairs with 50 steps) along the scenic Battery Yates trail at Fort Baker in Sausalito.Along the way, we’ll learn about the wildflowers ...
 This unique experience invites participants to explore hidden pockets of greenery within the urban landscape and uncover the diverse array of pollinators that call the city home. In partnership with Theatre Works Silicon Valley’s production of “Queenâ€, our guides will share fascinating insights into the unique adaptations and behaviors of ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Roving Ranger Park Parade Tour - Crissy Field East BeachLooking for something fun to do on a weekend outdoors in a local national park? Come out and join us for the Roving Ranger's Park Parade Tour!In San Francisco, we will be making stops at Crissy Field East Beach (10am - 11am), the Warming Hut (2pm - 3pm), and at ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Space for Her: Celebrating Women in Space ScienceIn November of 2024, NASA’s Artemis 2 is set to launch their first crewed mission of the Orion Spacecraft, which will land the first woman on the moon. Meanwhile, women have been making monumental advancements in space science for decades. This Women’s History Month, come hear from some phenomenal women ...
Where: OaklandCost: $12 General, $10 Kids, Free for members
Foothills Family Nature WalkJoin us at Foothills Nature Preserve for a family-friendly nature walk, guided by EV docents. Please click the link above to register via EventBrite. Participation is free, but space is limited.
Where: Los AltosCost: Free
Roving Ranger Park Parade Tour - The Warming HutLooking for something fun to do on a weekend outdoors in a local national park? Come out and join us for the Roving Ranger's Park Parade Tour!In San Francisco, we will be making stops at Crissy Field East Beach (10am - 11am), the Warming Hut (2pm - 3pm), and at ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Roving Ranger Park Parade Tour - Lands EndLooking for something fun to do on a weekend outdoors in a local national park? Come out and join us for the Roving Ranger's Park Parade Tour!In San Francisco, we will be making stops at Crissy Field East Beach (10am - 11am), the Warming Hut (2pm - 3pm), and at ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
City Public Star PartyCome join the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers for free public stargazing of the Moon, planets, globular clusters and more!The event will take place in Tunnel Tops National Park, parking is located adjacent to Picnic Place (210 Lincoln Blvd for GPS) with the telescopes setup in the East Meadow.Dress warmly as conditions ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Jazz Under the StarsJazz 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 in building 36 on the 4th floor observatory for a night of smooth jazz, bright stars, and a lot of fun! We play our jazz ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 03/17/24
Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del OroJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for an excursion where you’ll explore the Mayfair Ranch â€" Longwall Canyon trails of Rancho Cañada del Oro! You will be guided by POST Ambassadors who will share with you the history of the preserve, the region, and the importance of conservation in the area.The ...
Learn about how solar eclipses come to be, what scientists discover during eclipses, exactly when and where the upcoming eclipse will be best visible, and how to observe the eclipse and the Sun safely. A rare and dramatic eclipse of the Sun is coming to North America on Apr. 8, 2024. ...
Where: Cost: Free
Monday, 03/18/24
ab initio thermodynamics and beyond A central goal of computational chemistry is to predict material properties using first-principles methods based on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. However, the high computational costs of these methods typically prevent rigorous predictions of macroscopic quantities at finite temperatures.In this talk, I will demonstrate how to enable such predictions ...
OceanOne is a robotic diver with a high degree of autonomy for physical interaction with the marine environment.  The robot’s advanced autonomous capabilities for physical interaction in deep-sea are combined with the cognitive abilities of a human expert through an intuitive haptic/stereo-vision interface. OceanOne was deployed in several archeological expeditions ...
Dr. Jessica Kendall-Bar is a Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Her research combines engineering, data science, ecology, and visualization to measure behavior and physiology of marine animals amidst a changing climate. For her dissertation, she developed a non-invasive system to record ...
Quantum information science seeks to exploit the collective behavior of a large quantum system to enable tasks that are impossible (or less possible!) with classical resources alone. This burgeoning field encompasses a variety of directions, ranging from metrology to computing. While distinguished in objective, all of these directions rely on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Gaming and InclusivityJoin us for a captivating exploration into the intersection of gaming and inclusivity at our upcoming event on Monday, March 18, 2024 and engage in a thought-provoking conversation with diverse figures from the vibrant gaming world, with the spotlight on storytelling.Our panelists, including developers immersed in empowering storytelling through their ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Tuesday, 03/19/24
CRISPR: Opportunities and Challenges - LivestreamSpeakers:Jodi Halpern: Bioethics and Medical Humanities in the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program, Co-Founder and Co-Lead Berkeley Group for Ethics and Regulation of Innovative Technologies.Leah Witkowsky: molecular biologist by training who has applied her knowledge to a subsequent career in scientific governance, ethics, and multi-perspective engagement. Executive Director of the Kavli ...
Is it time for a vision of a better internet with a playbook to build the future?The internet of today is a far cry from its early promise of a decentralized, democratic network of innovation, connection and freedom. In the past decade, it has fallen almost entirely under the control ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General, $15 Members in person, $10/Free web
A stethoscope and a magic wand both deeply listen to the heart, uncovering wishes more significant than a cure for the critically ill. Asking about these wishes reveals the most impactful gifts healthcare can offer, transcending traditional medicine. This approach, reminiscent of "The Little Prince," teaches us that true healing ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Astronomy on Tap Tucson #96: Galaxies Going Bananas + Space Drafts Trivia!On tap this month, we have Steward Observatory graduate student Haowen Zhang talking about how galaxies in the early universe are going bananas! We’ll also be hosting another trivia game featuring a Borderlands gift card as a prize, and of course, you won’t want to miss the latest Astronomy in ...
Fungal bioluminescence was first described by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.), and continues to fascinate and puzzle scientists today. While over 100 species of fungi are known to produce luminescent mushrooms or mycelium, the chemical and genetic basis of the light-producing reaction was only recently discovered, and the reason these fungi glow ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Wednesday, 03/20/24
New Directions in Greening InfrastructureAs the effects of climate change become more obvious, moving away from fossil fuels has only become more urgent. But to do so, new energy sources - and new infrastructure - are desperately needed.Please join us on Wednesday, March 20 from 12:00pm-1:30pm for a panel discussion, “New Directions in Greening ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Toward Holistic Bioimaging to Elevate Human HealthHolistic imaging of diverse functional, anatomical, and molecular architecture that span multiple levels, from cells to an entire system, remains a major challenge in biology. In this talk, I will introduce a series of technologies that enable integrated multiscale imaging and molecular phenotyping of both animal tissues and human clinical ...
We introduce an empirical framework for valuing markets in environmental offsets. Using newly-collected data on wetland conservation and offsets, we apply this framework to evaluate a set of decentralized markets in Florida, where and developers purchase offsets from long-lived producers who restore wetlands over time. We find that offsets led ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Virtual Tour: Caltrain Electric Trains Deep DiveIn advance of the in-person tour of Caltrain’s new electric trains, join us for a deep dive into the ins and outs of this electrification project. This is an opportunity to learn more about the project and ask questions prior to the tour.Sebastian Petty / Transportation Policy Manager, SPURBrent Tietjen ...
Where: Cost: Free
Berkeley Geographers’ multifaceted perspectives on California’s environmental changeBerkeley Geographers have a long and proud history of research on the hydroclimate and geomorphology of California. In this talk by Geography faculty, we will feature work by Berkeley Geographers on this topic, including changes in the distant past, rainfall and other hydrological trends in modern times and future, and ...
People concerned with the environment have long advocated for public policies that reflect that concern for the conservation of natural resources, and preservation of natural spaces. That advocacy comes from a recognition that 1) the environment can’t speak for itself in political processes, and 2) public policy is still the ...
Why slow down as you get older?Caroline Paul has always filled her life with adventure: From mountain biking in the Bolivian Andes to pitching a tent, mid-blizzard, on Denali, she has never been a stranger to the exhilaration the outdoors can hold. Yet through it all, she has long wondered, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General $10 Members
Communicating Algorithmic Science to the PublicAlgorithms increasingly pervade every aspect of daily life. The importance of this societal development is widely acknowledged, but how much does the public understand about the underlying science? This panel discussion brings together a theoretical computer scientist with science communicators specializing in math and computer science, to explore the question ...
The need for security surrounds us with phishing emails, mobile phone scams and enterprise breaches all too familiar. Privacy concerns have become part of our culture from privacy statements (few read) on every website to high-profile social media CEOs testifying before the Senate. AI is impacting nearly every industry and ...
They say that music soothes even the savage beast, and while we can’t vouch for any beast-related benefits, we are excited to welcome the brain-tingling Dan McCalley and Shell Space to the stage for this month’s Nerd Nite!Dan McCalley - “A New Era in Mental Healthcare: Brain Stimulation Therapy for ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 Advance, $15 at door
The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See - LivestreamIn an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UFOs have become one of the most talked-about phenomena throughout popular culture. What is in our skies? What do we know, and how do we know it? And most importantly: Are we being visited?Join us for a ...
Where: Cost: Free
At the Tipping Point: Promise to Our Planet 2024As we witness the far-reaching effects of climate change, from the retreat of Arctic ice to unprecedented heatwaves and ecological shifts, we acknowledge that we stand at a critical juncture. "At the Tipping Point'' delves into the dynamics of complex systems, emphasizing that seemingly small efforts can spark monumental change, ...
Where: East Palo AltoCost: Free
What Black Holes Reveal About Gravity’s Strangest Properties - LivestreamFrom hunting for black holes in the night sky, to discovering a new class of gravitational waves produced by black hole binaries, to studying how black holes obey the rules of quantum mechanics, three astrophysicists will expose how these mysterious massive objects hold the key to a fascinating new understanding ...
Dive into the ancient world with an incredible panel of experts discussing fossils, paleontology, and local digs! Learn more about the tooth discovered in Santa Cruz last year from Santa Cruz Museum’s Collections Manager Kathleen Aston, explore current research happening with paleontologist Wayne Thompson, and get some great insights into ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $20 General adv. , $15 Members, Free for Students
After Dark: IlluminationExplore the wonders of light with 650+ interactive exhibits and brilliant conversations led by scientists. Play with your brain’s perception at Adapting to Color, investigate the mystery behind the Monochromatic Room, and prepare to have your mind blown by Bright Black. Don’t miss the talk between science journalist Joshua Sokol ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightLife is a DragSashay into a night of greatness and glam as we celebrate the undeniable impact and artistry of drag.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
Why It's Not Too Late: Rebecca Solnit and John King on the Climate Stories we TellWriter, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of twenty-five books on feminism, environmental and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe. She co-edited the 2023 anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility. Her other books include ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz: A Cosmic Perspective on the Future of Life on EarthWe Live in a universe that is 13 billion years old. When considering the age of our universe, humans and human civilization have only been around for the blink of an eye. We may take it for granted that civilization and life on Earth will to continue to flourish indefinitely. ...
Join us on a journey through history, as we take a look at the lives and often overlooked contributions of the women who came before us. From groundbreaking research to pioneering discoveries, we will shed light on the work of trailblazing women who defied societal norms and made significant contributions ...
The Importance of Islands to Avian Evolution - LivestreamIslands play a key role in both the evolution of new avian species and the extinction of others. Because islands are isolated land masses, species which arrive on islands evolve separately from their parent group and through genetic drift eventually become unique. At the same time, because island species are ...
Human’s fascination with owls was first documented in the cave paintings at Chauvet in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Some 260 ...
Join us for a dynamic discussion about the future of Al governance - what’s behind the hype, who’s at the table, and what’s at stake for our society.Panel: Martha Minow, Harvard University; DJ Patil, First US Chief Data Scientist; Jennifer Chayes, UC BerkeleyRoom: Booth Auditorium
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Designing Advanced Nanocatalysts by Looking at Atoms and Molecules on Reactive SurfacesClarification of the nature of active sites at both solid-gas and solid-liquid interfaces has been a long-standing question in surface chemistry, holding paramount significance in crafting innovative catalytic materials that demand minimal energy consumption. A bimetallic Pt alloy, or mixed catalyst, is an excellent platform to uncover the contentious role ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Can Psychedelics Catalyze Genius in the Sciences and Arts?Dr. Bruce Damer is a scientist who had a major breakthrough, catalyzed by his ayahuasca and other psychedelic experiences, in which he saw how life might have originated. Presented to colleagues and appearing in published journal articles, the vision has crystallized into solid science that grapples with one of the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $25 - $55
Saturday, 03/23/24
Morning Hike at Skyline Ridge Open Space PreserveJoin POST for this guided hike at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve! A POST Representative will share a few words about POST’s decades of conservation success before hiking groups leave to explore a moderate to strenuous 4.5 mile hike with 800 feet of elevation gain.POST has made many contributions towards ...
Where: Los AltosCost: Free
RocketfestBlast off to Chabot Space & Science Center for a day filled with hands-on fun! The Center is hosting our first-ever Rocketfest. These feats of engineering allow us to send satellites into orbit, study Earth’s upper atmosphere and eventually send humans to other planets. Discover more about rockets through hands-on ...
Where: OaklandCost: TBA
Junipers Junior Naturalist Family Flower DayWant to learn more about flowers? How to identify them? Figure out what pollinates them? Do some observational drawing? Join us for a day all about flowers at Bouverie Preserve. We will stroll through the various habitats of the preserve to find all the flowers we can. And who knows ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Native vs. Non-native at VasonaMeet various native and non-native animals of Santa Clara County. Learn about the critical roles the native animals play and the negative effects the non-native ones play. Have an up-close interaction with some amazing critters!Ages 7 - 12A registered adult must accompany their child(ren)
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 ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Very Small Interplanetary Spacecraft - Crazy and Crazier - LivestreamThis research project began with a simple question: what is the smallest spacecraft that can deliver a cell phone camera to within one diameter of a near earth asteroid, take a few thousand pictures, and then return to earth and download the images? Two proposed solutions have emerged, both weighing ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
When Worlds CollideOur solar system used to be a much more violent place, with early planets crashing into each other to create the worlds we see today. The talk is about how we use supercomputer simulations to study these cataclysmic giant impacts, and how high-resolution advances are helping us to tackle unsolved ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Sunday, 03/24/24
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point BluffJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by POST ambassadors who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve which hosts tide pools ...
Exploring the High-Redshift Universe with Millimeter-Wave Line Intensity MappingAnswering outstanding questions in cosmology - such as understanding the physics of inflation, dark energy, and reionization - requires observations of ever-increasing volumes of the universe. In this talk I will discuss a new technique for measuring large volumes at high redshift: line intensity mapping (LIM) of far-IR emission lines ...
AI and Science for Climate SymposiumJoin us at the forefront of innovation and environmental stewardship at the University of California, Berkeley for a pivotal symposium. This gathering will convene experts across the fields of artificial intelligence and the natural sciences to explore groundbreaking interventions in climate change technology.This symposium will have two foci:Accelerating Discovery:Â Development of ...
How and why do corporations decline? Blackberry (98% FRESH at Rotten Tomatoes) offers a tragicomic portrait of decline in Earth's foremost business smartphone maker. Following this special Science on Screen presentation of BlackBerry, UC Berkeley's Dr. Don Moore will illuminate the psychological challenges that face all businesses and, in fact, ...
Where: St. HelenaCost: TBA
Uncovering the Ocean's Deepest Secrets - LivestreamWe are thrilled to accompany author, Susan Casey in "Uncovering the Ocean's Deepest Secrets". In her latest book, The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean, she embedded for seven years with explorers and marine scientists as they endeavored to unravel the deep sea’s many mysteries.Is the giant squid a ...
This talk will cover Achlorophyllous plants, Fungal Molds, and other Fun Gis that just can't seem to live without each other. All photos were taken by me throughout California and Oregon. These plants and fungi truly opened my eyes to the intricacies of symbiosis. I'm excited to share my finds ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Wednesday, 03/27/24
Beyond the Initial Cure: Expanding Horizons of Orphan Drug Indications - LivestreamThe Inflation Reduction Act stands as key legislation aimed at improving the accessibility of medicines, yet it has introduced some potential unintended consequences on biotechnology innovation and patients suffering from orphan diseases. In response, the Orphan Cures Act has emerged as a proposed bill dedicated to bolstering research and development ...
 The seafloor plays a critical role in global carbon cycling, and thus is important to global climate change studies, including those on warming trends and ocean acidification. On smaller size scales, carbon cycling assessments are used to evaluate aquatic ecosystem health and trophic status. The oxygen flux between the seafloor ...
Where: Cost: Free
Assessing Image Coding in the High to Nearly Visually Lossless Quality Range - LivestreamThe past decades have witnessed rapid growth in imaging as a major form of communication between individuals. Due to recent advances in capture, storage, delivery, and display technologies, consumers demand improved perceptual quality while requiring reduced storage. In this context, research and innovation in lossy image compression have steered towards ...
Where: Cost: Free
AI and Science for Climate SymposiumJoin us at the forefront of innovation and environmental stewardship at the University of California, Berkeley for a pivotal symposium. This gathering will convene experts across the fields of artificial intelligence and the natural sciences to explore groundbreaking interventions in climate change technology.Click on weblink for listing of keynote speakers ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Leveraging Medical Discourse to Answer Complex QuestionsWe review the literature on medical discourse and attempt to build a computational model of it. Medical discourse sheds a light on communication structure of patient-doctor and other communication scenarios in healthcare and should be leveraged to facilitate and automate this communication when it is possible and practical. We propose ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Electric Vehicle Charging Basics Workshop - LivestreamJoin us for an electric vehicle (EV) online workshop focused on EV charging.Learn about the best ways to find and use public chargers.Discover different available charging speeds, charging options for multi-family dwellings.We'll guide you through the available rebates for Bay Area residents. This webinar is available in Spanish and English.Register ...
Baleen whales are some of the largest animals that have ever existed on our planet. They have enormous energetic needs that can only be satisfied by feeding on large schools of dense prey that are patchily distributed in the oceans. Using a suite of emerging technologies we have developed new ...
Designing new polymer membranes with a set of previously unachievable transport properties will have an enormous impact on various applications, including energy-efficient separations, energy storage and health-related devices. The advancement of these technologies is dependent on polymer membranes which selectively transport only desired penetrants while maintaining chemical stability. Molecular transport ...
Where: Cost: Free
Reinventing Cities: Can zero-carbon development play a role in San Francisco’s recovery?San Francisco has entered two City-owned sites in the fourth edition of C40 Cities Reinventing Cities Competition, a global design and development competition to transform underutilized urban sites into innovative, zero-carbon and resilient developments. The competition invites teams of architects, designers, and developers to submit proposals for sustainable development projects ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
The Psychology of Misinformation and Its Remedies - LivestreamIn the battle against misinformation, having truth and facts on your side is often still not enough. People are stubbornly - and seemingly inexplicably - willing to believe things that are obviously not true. What are the underlying psychological reasons for this, and what can be done to address them?Join ...
Where: Cost: Free
Perlmutter, Campbell and MacCoun on Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of NonsenseJoin a Nobel Laureate physicist, a psychologist and a philosopher for a conversation about the tools and frameworks that scientists have developed to keep from fooling themselves, to chart a course through the profusion of possibilities, to better understand the world, and to make intelligent decisions. These trust-building techniques, which ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General $10 Members
After Dark: See for YourselfDive into the world of emotions, thoughts, and other fascinating human phenomena tonight! Learn about the science behind your feelings, and investigate how human interactions shape our society. Do you trust a stranger to help you unlock a safe? Can you work with your friends to win at the cooperative ...
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 60,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
Join California magazine Editor-in-Chief Pat Joseph in conservation with Professor Stuart Russell, head of UC Berkeley’s Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, about both the tremendous promise and considerable perils of artificial intelligence.In 2023, TIME magazine counted Stuart Russell among the 100 Most Influential People in AI. He is co-author with ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $40 General, $35 Cal Alumni & BAMPFA members
Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, will talk about general recommendations for adult vaccinations, benefits and risks, new technologies like MRNA vs traditional vaccines, and considerations for travel and those living with chronic disease.Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, is director of the Program on Prevention Outcomes and Practices in the Stanford Preventive Research Center.Register ...
Where: Cost: Free
Oumuamua: Watching the scientific process unfoldHumanity's first discovered interstellar visitor, Oumuamua, was found in 2017 while it was already on its way out of our solar system. The sparse data astronomers could gather over the span of 2.5 months included a few surprises and mysteries. In this talk, Dr. Mathews will outline the observations, the ...
Where: Los AltosCost: Free
Science Is a Piece of Cake: Astronomy Cake-offDo you know your astronomy? Learn about all the planets and stars in our (rare night of fog-free) Bay Area sky via ... cake! KQED's Check, Please! Bay Area producer Cecilia Phillips is hosting a cake bake-off, where celestial bodies serve as our visual inspiration. Enter in the competition as ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: In Person: $20 / Livestream: Free.
