Virtual Skeptics in the PubThis is a casual night of socializing with fellow science-forward skeptics and with others inhabiting our oblate spheroidal planet.Please join us! This is a free event brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics. All are welcome.Click here to join
Where: Cost: Free
Saturday, 11/29/25
Science Saturday: Monarch MagicJoin us for a magical Science Saturday focused on the vital role of pollinators, with a special emphasis on the enchanting Monarch butterfly. Come explore the intricate relationship between these remarkable insects and the ecosystems they inhabit. Through engaging activities, attendees will learn about the life cycle of monarchs, the ...
Former SSU Biology Department Professor, Dr. Michael Cohen returns with a presentation on innovative methods to sustainably repurpose organic waste. Read more about Dr. Cohen's research.Speaker: Michael Cohen, UC Cooperative Extension: Agricultural and Natural Resources
This talk focuses on learning, estimation, and control methods to enhance electrochemical battery performance. We begin by providing an overview of mathematical models for batteries and the key challenges that motivate new paradigms for learning, estimation and control. Then we focus on “hybrid” models that combine physics with data-driven approaches. ...
In this talk, I examine the historical origin of the attempts to understand, control, and use noise at modern times. Today, the concept of noise is employed to characterize random fluctuations in general. Before the twentieth century, however, noise only meant disturbing sounds. In the 1900s-50s, noise underwent a conceptual ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Untangling the roles of physical and demographic controls on kelp forest dynamicsKelp forests are dominant, structure-forming ecosystems on subtidal rocky reefs along temperate coasts. The giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is a globally distributed, canopy-forming species that underpins a biodiverse and economically important ecosystem through its high rates of primary production and complex three-dimensional structure. To sustain this productivity, giant kelp requires ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Balancing Dynamic Actin Networks Under Resource ConstraintsIntracellular organization is largely mediated by actin turnover. Cellular actin networks continuously assemble and disassemble while maintaining their overall structure. This behavior, called dynamic steady state, allows cells to sense and adapt to their environment. We developed reconstituted systems in vitro to mimic steady-state conditions with either unlimited or limited ...
Imagine having a complete map of every type of cell in your body-knowing not just what each cell looks like, but what genes it uses, what functions it performs, and how it communicates with its neighbors. This vision is becoming reality through ambitious cell atlas projects, with the Tabula Sapiens ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Extreme Electron BeamsHigh intensity relativistic electron beams are among the most versatile and powerful probes of the natural world. Progress in our understanding of the fundamental forces of nature, as well as the structure of matter, has gone hand in hand with improvements to beam brightness, intensity and control. Next generation experiments ...
AI is already accelerating the clean energy transition: it's helping to identify richer deposits of critical minerals; it's improving recycling systems; it's enabling the discovery and optimization of materials for energy technologies; and it's contributing to the design of next-generation energy devices, from advanced turbine components to magnetic systems in ...
Elongated and toothy, moray eels are uniquely specialized to forage within the tight, twisting crevices of rocky reefs. Join us as we go on a foraging journey with the California moray (Gymnothorax mordax), a top predator off the coast of Southern California! We will begin with prey detection and location, ...
More than 27,000 marine mammals received a second chance thanks to caring people like YOU! Seal-ebrate behind the scenes with our animal care team at The Marine Mammal Center - the largest marine mammal hospital in the world. Sneak a peek at some of the flippered patients in care as ...
Where: Cost: Free
Community Day: Free Admission at the ArboretumThe first Tuesday of each month, the Arboretum is open without charge to visitors. See dates and times UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden is open. NOTE: Due to limited parking at the Arboretum and the popularity of Community Day, we greatly encourage visitors to carpool, bike, walk or ...
This talk outlines a vision for the establishment of the African Post-Mining and Environmental Research Centre (APMERC), a proposed research hub aimed at tackling the environmental challenges left by Africa's extractive industry. This vision is deeply personal and is a synthesis of my lived experiences, academic research, and teaching initiatives.My ...
More than 27,000 marine mammals received a second chance thanks to caring people like YOU! Seal-ebrate behind the scenes with our animal care team at The Marine Mammal Center - the largest marine mammal hospital in the world. Sneak a peek at some of the flippered patients in care as ...
InShared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI,Alex Pentland delves into the history of innovation, emphasizing the importance of understanding how technologies and cultural inventions impact human society. Humanity’s great leaps forward??"the rise of civilizations, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution??"were all propelled by cultural inventions that accelerated our ...
The ultrafast motion of electrons is a frontier problem for photochemical processes, as electron motion is a key ingredient of all chemical reactions. Electronic rearrangement is also the means by which light energy is harnessed in photochemistry. The timescale for coherent electron dynamics is set by the energetic splitting of ...
AI is inescapable, from its mundane uses online to its increasingly consequential decision-making in courtrooms, job interviews, and wars. The ubiquity of AI is so great that it might produce public resignation - a sense that the technology is our shared fate.As economist Maximilian Kasy shows in The Means of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
A Conversation on Writing and AI: Once Upon an AlgorithmLeading writers and researchers will discuss and explain the issues that arise in writing with the entrance of large language models into this space. Are they useful for fiction and nonfiction writers, and in what ways? Can their use be considered ethical?Panel: Nina Begus, UC Berkeley; Ted Chiang, writer; James ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 General, discount for members
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded for the development of the next generation of quantum technologies, including quantum sensing. In this lecture, I will discuss how we use quantum sensing to search for minuscule signals from the axion, a leading candidate for dark matter - invisible, feebly ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Astronomy Beginners Forum - LivestreamIf you are new to astronomy and trying to figure out next steps but maybe not sure where to start, perhaps considering getting your own telescope, maybe we can help! Planetarium Software Demo (Stellarium): 7:00 to 7:15 Primary Forum / Q&A Session: 7:15 to 8:15 This forum is ...
Where: Cost: Free
Wonderfest: Mathematics and Card MagicStartling magic sometimes relies on deep mathematical principles. However, if the magician is doing her job, those principles should not be apparent to the spectator … unless the magician is a math professor giving a Wonderfest presentation! Combining the mathematics of playing cards with sleight of hand allows even more ...
