As the European Union grapples with balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability, the European Green Deal faces critical challenges and opportunities in the coming years. The political guidelines for 2024-29 set forth by the President of the European Commission will shape the future of sustainable competitiveness in Europe, potentially redefining ...
Generative AI and Digital Literacies: Affordances and Constraints for Language Learning - LivestreamGiven the rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI (GenAI) platforms that create texts, images, and videos from big data, this talk discusses how these technologies offer various affordances and constraints for language learning, while also presenting potential pitfalls. It recognizes how the use of such tools is circumscribed by ...
Our laboratory has focused on the development of ligand platforms that support substrate coordination and activation at low-valent first row transition metals. This interest has allowed for the preparation of a manganese catalyst that mediates carbonyl hydrosilylation with turnover frequencies of up to 4,900 min-1 in the absence of solvent. ...
Hike at Windy HillJoin POST on a guided hike on one of the first open spaces we protected as an organization! A POST Representative will share a few words about POST’s decades of conservation success before hiking groups leave to explore a strenuous but rewarding 7 mile hike with 1,500 feet of elevation ...
Where: Portola ValleyCost: Free
Gem & Mineral ShowJoint annual Gem & Mineral Show hosted by Peninsula Gem & Geology Society and Sequoia Gem & Mineral Society.There will be display cases of our clubs' lapidary classes, field trips, jewelry and member interests. Dealers will be selling hand crafted jewelry, gemstones, fossils, mineral specimens, collectible rocks for home display and ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: $5 Adults, Under 12 Free
Family Nature Adventures: Night Prowl: Secrets of Local OwlsJoin the Fun at Family Nature Adventures!Get ready for an exciting journey into Chabot’s surrounding redwood forest every 2nd Saturday of the month! Each adventure brings a fresh theme, from the fascinating world of insects to the majestic forest animals and towering trees.Night Prowl: Discover the Secrets of Local Owls!Join ...
Where: OaklandCost: $25 Adult, $35 Child, $10 off for members
An Earthquake Crawl of the East BayCome hang out with geologist Steve Newton as we explore the East Bay’s earthquake history on a fun and informative crawl!We’ll start our earthquake tour in Fremont, and carpool up the East Bay driving/stopping/driving to see and have explained to us the planet’s greatest hits, so to speak. How have ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Science on Tap: Impacts of Nuclear TestingNuclear testing has had long-lasting and serious impacts on our environmental and human communities, shifting, distorting, and creating new and often difficult landscapes, needs, and stories. Join us for an impactful night discussing the impacts nuclear testing has had on communities both near and far with experts in the fields ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $20 General, $15 Members, $25 at door
City Public Star Party - RESCHEDULEDCome 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, 10/13/24
Family HikeExplore the lush redwood forest that surrounds Chabot, hike off some steam then have a sit-down and snack with your family and new friends you’ve just made. Expert Chabot staff lead these fun, informative, easy to moderate hikes and can answer your questions about plants and animals we live among ...
Where: OaklandCost: $40 Adult, $30 Youth 8 - 12
Gem & Mineral ShowJoint annual Gem & Mineral Show hosted by Peninsula Gem & Geology Society andSequoia Gem & Mineral Society.There will be display cases of our clubs' lapidary classes, field trips, jewelry and member interests. Dealers will be selling hand crafted jewelry, gemstones, fossils, mineral specimens, collectible rocks for home display and other ...
The Parks Conservancy and Chronicle Books are delighted to invite you to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center for a book signing and launch with acclaimed author Elizabeth Partridge for her latest release, "Golden Gate: Building the Mighty Bridge."About the BookAcross a treacherous strait where deep ocean waters rip back and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Estuary & Ocean Science Center Marine Lab Open HouseJoin us to celebrate the EOS Center's annual Marine Lab Open House, a day of discovery. We invite you to experience science in action at San Francisco State University's Estuary & Ocean Science Center at the Romberg Tiburon Campus, the only marine lab on the San Francisco Bay.Meet San Francisco Bay ...
Getting to net zero carbon emissions will require Congress to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gas emissions. If the idea has wide support (and it does), why can't Congress muster the will to do it? David Spence (University of Texas at Austin) tackles this question in his new book Climate of ...
Human activities that emit greenhouse gases are undergoing rapid shifts in response to technological, economic, and regulatory pressures. In this dynamic environment, our knowledge of current emissions is often surprisingly incomplete, and this hinders society’s ability to plan effective mitigation actions. In this talk I will discuss our research focused ...
Strong interactions between particles can lead to emergent collective excitations. In the solid state, these phenomena have been extensively established in electronic systems, but are also expected to occur for gases of neutral particles like spin waves (magnons) in a magnet. In a regime where magnons are strongly interacting, they ...
Quasicrystals are exotic materials with symmetries once thought to be impossible for matter. This talk will describe the decades-long adventures searching for them in nature and other exotic environments that continues to this day, resulting in one of the stranger scientific stories you will ever hear.Speaker: Paul Steinhardt, Princeton UniversityAttend in person or online (see weblink ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Mapping the inner world of cellsCellular processes are orchestrated by many biomolecules in a spatially and temporally coordinated manner within a tiny volume. To uncover the underlying organizational principles and their functional relevance, we take microscopy visualization as the primary approach to systematically map their spatial localization, temporal dynamics, and activity profiles. By combining small ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
One Path to an Astronomy Outreach CareerDr. Lauren Corlies, Public Education Manager at Lick observatory will present a talk about navigating a career path in Astronomy Outreach, as well as identifying the skills and experiences that have helped along the way.
In 1976 Kroger and Reich established the existence of a low-lying nuclear excited state in 229Th through the spectroscopy of rays emitted following the decay of 233U. The prospects of a laser-accessible nuclear transition touched off a flurry of proposals to utilize this apparently unique nuclear transition as a sensitive ...
The ability to prepare highly functionalized molecules in general and predictable ways is central to modern drug design and discovering new treatments for human disease. The aim of our program is to create new methods to solve the longstanding synthetic challenge of asymmetrically constructing biologically active small molecules. Classical synthetic ...
Juno mission was designed to study Jupiter. But, over time, the torque from the Sun and Jupiter’s oblateness rotated Juno’s orbit, allowing the investigation of Jupiter’s satellite system, which was the primary objective of Juno’s extended mission. The Juno spacecraft performed close and distant flybys of Ganymede, Europa, and Io ...
Using more than 20 state-of-the-art 3D core-collapse simulations tounprecedented late times (fully in 3D), I provide correlations betweencore-collapse supernova observables and progenitor core structures thatemerge. This is the largest such collection of 3D supernova models evergenerated and allows one to witness and derive testable patterns thatmight otherwise be obscured when ...
Electrolytes, polyelectrolytes, and hydrogels are essential components in energy and biotechnology applications, offering unique potential for designing materials that replicate biological functions. Our research explores the physical properties of materials containing electrical charges, explains organization and transport mechanisms, and identifies strategies to control emerging functionalities.Speaker: Monica Olvera de la Cruz, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
How can we better prepare for natural disasters?Gary Griggs will be diving into his new book, California Catastrophes: The Natural Disaster History of the Golden State. Meet Gary and learn about the history of the state’s vulnerability to natural hazards and how we can better prepare going forward.
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
The Health of Our OceansJoin us as industry-leading experts from Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford’s Doerr School, and SRI explore ocean health and the impact on our future. We are pleased to host Julie Packard - marine biologist and Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium - who will talk about her groundbreaking work in ...
Dr. Dennis E. Desjardin is Professor Emeritus of Biology/Mycology at San Francisco State University and Director Emeritus of the H.D. Thiers Herbarium. He has spent the past 40 years teaching mycology at universities and conducting field studies throughout the world, primarily in understudied tropical forests documenting mushroom diversity. He was ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Astronomy on Tap Tucson #100: From Venus to Hidden Galaxies - LivestreamOn tap this month, we have Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and Steward Observatory astronomers Drs. Wesley Tucker and Michael Jones taking us on a journey from our own planetary neighbor, Venus, out into the cosmos to find galaxies.Click here to watch
Where: Cost: Free
Wednesday, 10/16/24
Bay Area Planetary Science ConferenceThe Bay Area Planetary Science (BAPS) Conference was created to bolster collaborations among planetary enthusiasts around the Bay Area, CA. We welcome participants at all academic levels, students and professionals alike. BAPS does not focus on any specific sub-field within the planetary sciences, and welcomes contributions from all areas relevant ...
The deep sea is one of Earth’s most diverse and least understood ecosystems, where biodiversity is shaped by both natural and anthropogenic processes. This seminar explores the intricate dynamics of deep-sea life through three key phenomena: woodfalls, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH), and sediment patchiness. Woodfalls create ephemeral but ...
The rapid emergence of generative AI technologies has been shaped by a wave of early excitement and hope for a broad range of use cases. Yet, the impacts of the latest models on historically marginalized communities is still relatively understudied, including the potential for sociotechnical harm.In this session, the speakers ...
Speakers: Aaron Micallef and Giancarlo TroniThe speaker originally scheduled for today, Sora Kim, UC Merced, has been rescheduled for November 6, 2024.
As global food demand grows, new approaches are needed to produce food in resource-limited environments beyond traditional agricultural systems. I will discuss two areas of research from our group: (1) our development of a hybrid inorganic??"biological artificial photosynthesis system that uses electrochemically derived acetate to cultivate food-producing organisms independent of ...
Steady advancement in microelectronics technology over the past six decades have had transformative impact on life in modern society, as they have enabled exponential growth in information collection and processing, ushering in the age of artificial intelligence. Challenges for sustaining the AI revolution will require disruptive innovation and collaboration to ...
The electricity sector is the linchpin in any path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Over a decade of research, Prof. Jenkins has explored what it will take to build an affordable, reliable, carbon-free grid. Wind power, solar photovoltaics and lithium-ion batteries are now affordable, mature, rapidly scaling industries, providing the ...
Challenges and Safeguards against AI-Generated DisinformationDistinguishing between human- and AI-generated content is already an important enough problem in multiple domains ??" from social media moderation to education ??" that there is a quickly growing body of empirical research on AI detection and an equally quickly growing industry of its non/commercial applications. But will current tools ...
The adoption of renewable energy technologies hinges on the availability of many critical minerals. To meet the large demand for critical minerals, it is vital to scale up mineral supply chains that are resilient and sustainable. In this talk, Karan will introduce the STEER program at Stanford which is guiding ...
In this talk, Jesse Conklin will discuss how his own career in ornithology, including 18 years of research on Alaska-breeding Bar-tailed Godwits, has been irreparably entwined with the quest to understand just how far a bird can fly. Jesse will discuss how our understanding of the godwits’ incredible trans-Pacific migration ...
Space exploration is increasingly privatized, from Earth's orbital space to the Moon and beyond. This has led to increasing congestion and environmental degradation of low-Earth orbits. Along with dramatic rises in ground-based light pollution, this has caused brightening night skies worldwide. The loss of dark skies and increasing space debris ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Thursday, 10/17/24
Lunch Break Science - LivestreamLunch Break Science is a dynamic live web series featuring fascinating short talks, engaging interviews, and lively Q&A with Leakey Foundation scientists. Each episode digs deeper into the latest human origins discoveries, with topics like Neanderthals, chimpanzee behavior, and more! Even better, you can interact with researchers during the show ...
Radio echo sounding is a uniquely powerful geophysical technique for studying the interior of ice sheets, glaciers, and icy planetary bodies. It can provide broad coverage and deep penetration as well as interpretable ice thickness, basal topography, and englacial radio stratigraphy. However, despite the long tradition of glaciological interpretation of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Invertebrate Pirates: Mechanism and Evolution of a Stolen DefenseThe complexity of life is a critical driver of animal biodiversity. Complex phenotypes, which are those that integrate both co-opted and novel features at multiple levels of biological organization (e.g., genes, tissues, behaviors), are commonplace in biology. Many even require other organisms to function, but we know little about how ...
The seemingly magical ability of a spinning top to stay upright fascinated people for many thousands of years and in many civilizations. Clay spinning tops dated to about 6,000 years ago were excavated in Iraq. And for all these millenia another similarly counterintuitive phenomenon hovered undiscovered until 1908, when Stephenson observed that imposing ...
In this talk, I will introduce two AI-driven systems designed to address key challenges in educational mentorship and social learning, aligning with research on how technology can enhance development and collaboration.The first project explores the concept of “Thinking assistants” aimed at fostering reflective thinking and self-directed learning. Thinking assistants act ...
This presentation shows the steps to design a bandpass filter starting with a specification of the passband, then to derive a prototype lowpass filter using network synthesis, and finally to convert to a bandpass filter.Speaker: Robert Lee Bruce, RetiredAttend in person or online (see weblink for Zoom information)
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles and a Just FutureCalifornia’s Salton Sea region is home to some of the worst environmental health conditions in the country. Recently, however, it has also become ground zero in the new “lithium gold rush”??"the race to power the rapidly expanding electric vehicle and renewable energy storage market. The immense quantities of lithium lurking ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 General, discounts for members
NightLife: Hella '89NightLife’s reppin’ the YAY AREAAA with Bay Area history, music that slaps, and hella local love.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
After Dark: Decision TimeDiscover the science behind decision-making at After Dark. Explore our galleries for eye-opening exhibits that reveal the psychology and sociology behind elections, voting, and collective decision-making. How do we reach consensus, and how do we influence each other in the process? Make the best decision of your week by joining ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95 General, Free for members
Generative AI & The Future of InnovationDiscover the future of creativity and technology at our event with a panel discussion on "Generative AI & The Future of Innovation." This gathering brings together professionals from various industries to explore how generative AI is revolutionizing everything. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a business leader, or a creative thinker, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Students
How the East Bay Got Its Regional Parks - LivestreamCelebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the East Bay Regional Park District with an evening of short presentations about the history of the Park District and its role in protecting birds.Speakers:Amelia Marshall is a local history author; Natalie Reeder is a Wildlife Biologist at East Bay Regional Park ...
Join POST and Dr. Emily Fairfax - ecohydrologist, beaver dam enthusiast, and Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota - for an engaging evening where we’ll gnaw through the big issues and chew on the critical role of beavers in our climate.This event offers a unique opportunity to ...