Harnessing the Plasticity of the Older BrainOur brains exhibit an amazing ability to modify both their structure and function in response to new experiences, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity. Efforts to harness this neuroplasticity to improve and preserve our brain function as we get older have led to the development of commercial brain training software. Join ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $10, Free to UC Berkeley students and staff
While modern remote sensing technology provides measurement capability for a number of seawater properties, there are important measurements that can not (yet?) be done remotely so physical water samples carefully collected and returned to the lab remain essential. In the ice covered Arctic Ocean water samples are difficult to obtain ...
Advances in Optical Nanoscopy of Living CellsThe diffraction limit of light has constrained the resolution of light microscopes in the far field since its discovery more than a century ago. Structures smaller than about half the wavelength of light could therefore not be resolved by light microscopes. The realization that this limit can be broken has triggered a revolution in imaging, especially in ...
Nigel Crisp is an independent crossbench member of the House of Lords and works mainly on international development and global health. From 2000 to 2006, he was both chief executive of the NHS, the largest health organization in the world, and permanent secretary of the UK Department of Health and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Consistency-Based Service Level Agreements for Cloud StorageApplication developers using a cloud storage system often make decisions that trade off consistency for performance and may be locked into a choice that is not ideal for all clients. Pileus is a replicated key-value store that allows applications to declare their consistency and latency priorities via consistency-based service level ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Evolutionary Enigma of SexProfessor Otto's work focuses on the development of population-genetic models, using analytical and numerical techniques to infer what evolutionary changes are possible and under what conditions. The goals of this research are to produce specific predictions that can be tested either experimentally or by comparing the expected and observed distributions ...
Humans commonly make the perceptual error of equating the knowledge products of a society with the individual intellectual capacities of that society's members, but this assumption has legs and feet of very soft clay. Sure, knowledge tends to be produced by smart people in any particular society, but the concentration of energy ...
Where: HaywardCost: Free
Thinking like a Naturalist: Reclaiming the Art of Natural HistoryLearn how to get more out of every nature ramble. Developments in neuropsychology have opened doors in our understanding of the brain and cognition and how you can train yourself to see more and to be more curious about what you discover. Naturalist and illustrator John Muir Laws will demonstrate ...
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
Elizabeth Kolbert / The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural HistoryOver the last half a billion years, there have been five major mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. And this time ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $35 - $45
Unwrapping the Visual Discovery of Spiral NebulaeJoin visual observer Steve Gottlieb for an intriguing talk onUnwrapping the Visual Discovery of Spiral Nebulae. This is the story of William Parsons' (Lord Rosse) first visual observations of M51 with his massive 72-inch speculum reflector in the spring of 1845 and the subsequent discovery of spiral structure in dozens ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Nerd Nite SF #45: eSports, S. aureus, and Mid-Century Culture Jamming!eSports, Staph, and Shep: Aren't you at least a little intrigued by this month's grab-bag, and not just for the alluring alliteration? We heart a motley crew of topics here at NNSF, especially if they're muddled with the Rickshaw Stop's stiff quaffs, mixed with interludes of ditties on vinyl, and ...
