The primary challenge for synthetic chemists is supporting the efficient exploration of chemical space to find the best molecules for understanding or solving problems. In the past decade, cross-electrophile coupling, the union of two different electrophiles through transition-metal catalysis under reducing conditions, has become an increasingly used tool in these ...
There is a rapidly growing demand for reliable, low-cost trace gas sensors, particularly for hydrogen, in energy and critical infrastructure applications. These systems require ppb-to-ppm sensitivity, high intrinsic selectivity, and ultra-low power operation - requirements that are not simultaneously met by today’s commercial gas-sensing technologies due to fundamental limitations in ...
A rapidly expanding literature documents the detrimental effects of excessive cell phone use, particularly on mental health outcomes and attention. While nearly all studies focus on adult populations, many experts have used them to support phone bans in schools - partially in the hope that these might help reverse declining ...
Three remarkable abilities of brains and machines are to: (1) learn new behaviors from a single example, (2) creatively imagine new possibilities, (3) learn language, and (4) perform mathematical reasoning. I will discuss simple analytic yet quantitatively predictive theories of how (1) mice learn to accurately navigate on the first ...
Photonic structures offer the ability to fundamentally alter how light interacts with matter. I will tell several stories of how these abilities can be leveraged for new ways to perform measurements on single molecules. In one story, I will show how the increased light-molecule interactions in high-finesse fiber Fabry-Pérot microcavities ...
Quantum computing promises to solve classically intractable problems, but building useful systems requires a fault-tolerant logical architecture for protecting and processing quantum information. After decades of progress, the field has largely converged on the surface-code architecture, which nevertheless appears fundamentally difficult to scale, with practical applications likely requiring millions of ...
Is the “mad genius” a myth-or a scientific reality?From Ancient Greece to modern pop culture, creativity has long been linked to emotional extremes. But what does science actually say about the relationship between mood and creative thinking?Join Sheri Johnson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at University of California, Berkeley and Director ...
Where: OaklandCost: $25
Skeptics in a Real PubEnjoy an evening of socializing and feasting with fellow Bay Area science-forward folk in an Irish Pub on the Peninsula with great food. < Menu >Join us! This is a free event brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics. All are welcome.
Earth’s oceans are warming. Such large-scale aspects of climate change are disrupting important ecological balances, including the delicate service sea urchins perform in California’s kelp forest ecosystem. The implications are broad and alarming (and addressable): a warming planet may cause collapse in wild populations of vital marine life.Speaker: Daniel Okamoto, ...
This month, we have two excellent talks lined up: First, Dr. Tetyana Pitik will talk about the ghostly, near massless particle messengers known as neutrinos. Then we’ll hear from Henry Liu about the “baby picture of the universe” - the Cosmic Microwave Background!
