Sex::Tech / The 4th Annual New Media, Youth, and Sexual Health ConferenceSex::Tech is the only national event that brings health and technology professionals together with youth, parents and community leaders to advance the sexual health of youth. This year will include more than 50 presentations and breakout sessions, with 500 in-person attendees, and more than 2,000 viewers via live video stream.Sex::Tech ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $300
Prefrontal Cortex, Dopamine, and Autism: Computational ConnectionsAutism is a complex developmental disorder characterized by deficits across physical, social, and cognitive domains. Cognitive difficulties are found in executive function, "mind reading" abilities, the integration of information, attention, and the generalization of learned abilities to novel contexts. In addition, physical motor abnormalities, an increased prevalence of seizure disorders, ...
Very few improvements have been done to the electric grid in the past 50 years. Power Engineering became a mature discipline with little new to offer society until recent years with the onset of Smart Grid, which has the potential to bring great innovation to a very important component of ...
Power Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering in the Context of Smart GridVery few improvements have been done to the electric grid in the past 50 years. Power Engineering became a mature discipline with little new to offer society until recent years with the onset of Smart Grid, which has the potential to bring great innovation to a very important component of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
John Muir Laws Art Opening & Book SigningDr. Laws will give a brief presentation on his books "The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada" & "Sierra Birds: A Hiker's Guide", at 7 P.M. followed by a book signing. The salon will be open for artist reception until 9 P.M. exhibit is up through May 4th.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft, launched in March 2009, is a mission designed to survey a slice of the Milky Way Galaxy to identify planets orbiting other stars. Kepler has the advantage that it can find planets as small as Earth in or near the habitable zone of each star. Dr. Batalha ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 04/02/11
Sex::Tech / The 4th Annual New Media, Youth, and Sexual Health ConferenceSex::Tech is the only national event that brings health and technology professionals together with youth, parents and community leaders to advance the sexual health of youth. This year will include more than 50 presentations and breakout sessions, with 500 in-person attendees, and more than 2,000 viewers via live video stream.Sex::Tech ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $300
4-H2O World of Water SeminarYouth 13 and older and adults are invited to participate in the free 4-H2O Wow -- World of Water Seminar. Participants at this seminar will experience hands-on activities and experiments about water quality and water conservation. Details and registration online.
Where: San MateoCost: Free (parking fee applies)
Why Tides MatterDocent Laurel Stell will talk and walk you through all things tides. What are they? How do they affect wildlife? How have humans reshaped the Bay's tidal lands? Program starts indoors but will move outside for an easy 0.5-mile walk. All are welcome.
Where: AlvisoCost: Free
The Earth Shook and the Sky BurnedSan Francisco was a bustling city with fine mansions and grand hotels. Then, at 5:12 AM on the morning of April 18, 1906, everything changed forever.What happened? How did it happen? Will it happen again? Find out more from Ranger Linda. Meet at the vistor center information desk.
Bedtime with the Beasts is a special overnight program for youth groups (ages 6-18) and their chaperones. An Oakland Zoo education specialist will lead your group on an evening hike around the zoo where you'll get a look at what the zoo is like after all of the guests leave. ...
Where: OaklandCost: $60
SMCAS Star Party Come out and bring the kids for a mind expanding look at the universe.Setup of telescopes begins around sunset, with observations beginning about 1 hour later.
Concentrating Solar Power (CSP, aka Solar Thermal Electric Power) comprises three system architectures: line focus (parabolic trough and linear Fresnel), point focus central receiver (power towers), and point focus, distributed receiver (dish Stirling). In all of these technologies, solar energy is collected, converted to thermal energy, and used to drive ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Transportation in a Climate-Constrained WorldTransportation consumes two-thirds of the world's petroleum and has become the largest contributor to global environmental change. Most of this increase in scale can be attributed to the strong desire for personal mobility that comes with economic growth. This talk will cover the past and future travel demand; the influence ...
Benjamin Dean Lecture - The New Universe and The Human FutureIn the centuries since Newton, scientifically minded people have thought of Earth as a lonely rock orbiting an average star in a universe where no place is special. But modern cosmology has now given us a completely new picture of the universe based on dark matter, dark energy, and the ...
In his book The Wild Trees, investigative journalist and gifted storyteller Richard Preston lifts us into the high canopy of the world's tallest trees, the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens. His slide presentation introduces Steve Sillett and Marie Antoine, scientists who found an unexplored, hauntingly beautiful new world hundreds of feet ...
Duke of EnergyWill the United States adopt a nationwide plan for generating electricity with clean energy? How will that affect consumer prices? How will it affect the country's greenhouse gas emissions? Are electric utilities ready for electric cars? One of America's most prominent energy executives, Rogers has been featured on ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $65 General, $45 Members
Cognitive Computing: Neuroscience, Supercomputing, and NanotechnologyThe ultimate goal of the DARPA SyNAPSE project is to build brain-like cognitive computing chips that scale to human cortex by moving beyond the von Neumann architecture and become the brains behind IBM's Smarter Planet vision. The project leverages nanotechnology, supercomputing, and neuroscience and is a collaboration of four universities ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Computational Science and EngineeringCSE is a rapidly growing multidisciplinary field that encompasses real-world complex applications (scientific, engineering, social, economic, policy), computational mathematics, and computer science and engineering. High performance computing (HPC), large-scale simulations, and scientific applications all play a central role in CSE. i4Science will focus mainly on smaller subset of CSE applications ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Siberia's Lake Baikal: a Nature Lover's ParadisePresentation and Slide Show. Young activists from Siberia's Lake Baikal region speak about the planet's deepest and oldest freshwater lake and its growing sustainable tourism. Presented by the Center for Safe Energy of EII
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Sustainability MattersFrances Moore Lappé says our greatest problems are not global climate chaos or global hunger, for solutions to these challenges are known. All we really have to worry about, she says, is our widespread sense of powerlessness to pursue solutions. Ms. Lappé will challenge us to develop an "eco-mind"-able to ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
What Has Quantum Mechanics to do with Factoring?Prof. N. David Mermin, the Horace White Professor of Physics (Emeritus) of Conrell University, will give the Applied Physics/Physics colloquium on April 5, 2011. The colloquium is entitled, "What Has Quantum Mechanics to do with Factoring?" and the abstract reads, "Quantum computer science will be introduced in the context of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Running out of water - CANCELLEDRecognized water expert Susan Leal will discuss her new book, Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource. Co-authored with Peter Rogers, the book examines the impending water crisis and identifies successful solutions that have improved water security for everyone from farmers in ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $5 General, Free Members
Dobsonian Telescope MakingBuild a telescope the Dobson way. You will learn about John Dobson and his reflector telescopes, as well as how these telescopes work. You'll learn the step-by-step method for grinding and polishing the mirror, building the mount, and assembling a complete telescope. Seeing the rings of Saturn, the moons of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $170 + materials & supplies
Wednesday, 04/06/11
Animating People You Know: Building Character Systems with PersonalityNew software products are emerging that use animated, conversational characters in applications ranging from health coaches to tutoring systems. As the computer interface takes on a human appearance, users will apply social judgements to it. The perceived personality of the characters can directly impact the application's effectiveness. In this talk, ...
The O/OREOS (Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses) nanosatellite is the first science demonstration mission of the NASA Astrobiology Small-Payloads Program. On November 19, 2010, O/OREOS was launched successfully to a high-inclination (72°), 650-km Earth orbit. O/OREOS consists of 3 conjoined cubesat (each 1000 cm3) modules: a control bus; the Space ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Digital Divide or Digital Bridge: Can Information Technology Alleviate Poverty?The past decade has seen great interest in information and communication technologies applied to international development, an endeavor sometimes abbreviated ICTD. Can mobile phones be used to improve rural healthcare? How do you design user interfaces for an illiterate migrant worker? What value is wireless technology to a farmer earning ...
Re-staging the Spectacular: Digital Displays Inside and Outside the HomeThis talk addresses the ways in which contemporary digital display technologies, traversing and confounding the social and personal boundaries of work and leisure, domestic and public space, and intimacy and self-display, will frame the experience and meanings of moving images consumed inside and outside the home. Examining the transition from ...
What's the use of a bunch of dead things in cabinets? Are museums just dusty old things of the past? HARDLY! As part of the BNHM, UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology is one of the most active vertebrate research museums in the United States. Not only does it have ...
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our LivesFew companies in history have ever been as successful and admired as Google, the startup that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Enduring Voices – All Roads PhotographyConversations at the Herbst: Chris Rainier In Conversation With Mary Ellen HannibalAs a National Geographic explorer and one of the leading documentary photographers working today, Rainier's mission is to record the remaining natural wilderness and the indigenous cultures around the globe by putting these wonders to film and using the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $18 Members
Forensic Science Lecture Series: Familial DNAInspector Hofsass has served SFPD for over 20 years as an officer, a criminalist, a CSI, a sexual assault investigator, and a homicide investigator. She earned her MSFS at UC Davis, and has presented casework and scientific findings at seminars and conferences in the US and abroad. Inspector Hofsass has ...
Since Fall 2002, the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering has hosted the Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium (SVLS). The Symposium hosts industry and technology leaders to talk about business and technology trends. It also features prominent leaders who discuss broader societal and political issues that shape our life and society.Speaker: Mark ...
Experience the wildlife and natural beauty that make Younger Lagoon an exceptional local treasure on this docent-led tour to the lagoon and its beach habitat. Learn about the ongoing research and habitat restoration work that help this vital ecosystem thrive. Tour includes a short hike and is best suited for ...
Power Optimized Solar Panels /PV Systems: Where is the Value?Solar market in the United States has seen a number of companies, ranging from start ups to Fortune 500, introduce electronics to be married with solar panels to improve/increase power harvest, simplify installation and provide performance information per panel. These products, DC-DC power optimizers and micro-inverters, were introduced as standalone ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Stalking Dark Energy and the Mystery of the Accelerating UniverseSaul Perlmutter is a professor in Berkeley's Department of Physics and a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his A.B. from Harvard in 1981 and his Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley in 1986. He leads the Supernova Cosmology Project, an international collaboration of research teams ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Before it Strikes: Viral Forecasting for Pandemic PreventionCurrent global disease control efforts focus largely on attempting to stop pandemics after they have already emerged. This fire brigade approach, which generally involves drugs, vaccines, and behavioral change, has severe limitations. Just as we discovered in the 1960s that it is better to prevent heart attacks than try to ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Connecting Urban Open Space: Implementing Metropolitan Greenways in North American CitiesIn communities across North America, the protection of open space is a critical priority, with the protection and restoration of natural landscapes seen as key ways to control sprawl, reverse environmental degradation, and curb urban blight. The importance of connected patches and corridors of green space across metropolitan landscapes is ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Cosmic Wisdom: An Astronomer Looks at Human History...and Our Future Prospects We now know more about the distant universe in many ways than we do about our own planet. Using breathtaking images and computer simulations, cosmologist Faber will tell the story of how human beings got here and where we are headed, cosmically speaking. This "cosmic wisdom" is essential knowledge, she ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $8 members, $20 non-members
Cafe InquiryMeet up with rationalists, skeptics, and freethinkers south of San Francisco. Beers and Books is a social event co-hosted by the Center for Inquiry|San Francisco. We'll meet at Cafe Borrone http://www.cafeboronne.com/ between Kepler's Books and the British Banker's Club! Look for the black balloon.
Tonight, explore the science of shredding when the Exploratorium transforms into an impromptu skatepark. Learn about the history of skateboarding and the urban landscape from experts all while watching professional skateboarders demonstrate science in motion.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, Free Members
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, with a night dedicated to exploring the final frontier. Hear from Mary Roach, author of best-selling Packing for Mars, about the surreal realities of life in space; and Team FREDNET, a group of scientists and engineers who are ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Infilling California: Policies and Programs for Sustainable Urban FuturesGain insight into public policies and initiatives that offer hope for creating sustainable patterns of future urban growth from a widely respected and visionary architect/urban designer, Peter Calthorpe, and two progressive urban planners who have been active in creating and managing infill strategies in San Diego and Portland. These thought-leaders ...
'The Theatre of Insects': Talk & Signing By Jo Whaley Jo Whaley will give a short presentation and sign her book of entomological photography, "Theater of Insects". Inspired by old dioramas found in natural history museums, Whaley creates theatrically staged images of exquisitely colored insects against imaginary-almost dreamlike-backgrounds composed of weathered, man-made materials.
Where: BerkeleyCost: FREE
The Coming Transformation of American MedicineAmerican medicine is poised for a transformation – one aimed at raising the quality of medical care and reducing its cost. Such a transformation is both needed and possible. In this talk, the outlines of the coming transformation are discussed. What needs to be done, and why? How will the ...
