Singularity of aquatic organisms in Mediterranean river ecosystems: current patterns and future trendsAdaptation to Variability: Water Management in Mediterranean Climates: Both the developed and developing world confront growing water shortages, driven by population increases, expansion of high-value agriculture, and exacerbated by climate change. This research colloquium focuses on interdisciplinary implications for improving water security in California and other Mediterranean climate regions. By ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Exploring the Universe with WISEProf. Edward (Ned) Wright of the UCLA Physics & Astronomy Dept. will discuss the observations of the Wide-Field Survey Explorer (WISE), launched in December 2009.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Debates Worth Having: Congestion pricing for SF? San Francisco planners have begun to study the option of implementing a form of congestion pricing-surcharging cars entering San Francisco during periods of peak demand to reduce traffic congestion. Does this makes sense for our region? And what would the effects of such a proposal be? Please join SPUR and The ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $5 General, Free Members
Buildings Unplugged: Leveraging Green Performance with Passive SurvivabilityRecent events in Japan remind us that we're also vulnerable to power disruptions, and peak power load shedding. In many critical care facilities diesel generators with limited fuel storage provide a small margin of security. What codes might be developed that would require commercial and institutional buildings to switch into ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 donation
Coyotes Around the CornerDo you love wolves? Are you curious about Coyotes? Have you ever seen a fox in your back yard? Interpreter Teri loves these critters and is thrilled to bring you a fun presentation all about them. Bring your questions and your curiosity and learn all about how these creatures experience ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Google Lit Trips! A Technological Trek Through Great LiteratureSip a glass of wine or cup of coffee and hear Jerome Burg, Founder of the internationally recognized Google Lit Trips project that takes readers of all ages on virtual adventures by pairing the exploration of great literature with Google Earth's paradigm-shifting 3D mapping technologies. Readers enjoy visualizing scenes and engaging their ...
Where: LafayetteCost: $5 (dinner and drinks available for extra cost)
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, 04/20/11
Free Wednesday at Cal AcademyFree admission is available to visitors on the third Wednesday of every month, through the generosity of The Bernard Osher Foundation. Admission is on a first come, first served basis, and early arrival is recommended due to the likelihood of high demand. Also, please note that final entry to the ...
The formation of the regular satellites of giant planets mirrors in profound ways the physical processes leading to the formation of the parent planetary bodies and provides an independent probe of the early history of the solar system. Ongoing results from the Cassini spacecraft are radically changing this field. Dr. ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Technology and Disability in the Developing World: An Urgent Agenda for Low-cost Asssitive TechnologyThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a landmark in international agreements that has brought a rights-based perspective to disability into the policy environment of many signatory nations. To fulfill signatory nations' committments towards increased accessibility, there is an urgent need for widespread access ...
Policy Driving Health Care Transformation: IT and Health ReformErwin Cho is the Director of Financial Sustainability for Cal eConnect. He is responsible for business planning, development, and strategic iniatives that facilitate sustainable health information exchange.Before joining Cal eConnect, Mr. Cho was with Blue Shield of California where he held a number of positions of increasing responsibility related to ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering ColloquiaThe Clean Energy Project: Finding candidate materials for organic photovoltaics and electronics with the help of half a million volunteersSpeaker: Speaker/Performer: Prof. Alan Aspuru-Guzik, Chemistry & Chemical Biology Dept., Harvard UniversityRoom 180
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Power of AbstractionAbstraction is at the center of much work in Computer Science. It encompasses finding the right interface for a system as well as finding an effective design for a system implementation. Furthermore, abstraction is the basis for program construction, allowing programs to be built in a modular fashion. This talk ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Local/Salvaged Materials Most all green building strategies have some negative impacts, but one strategy that stands out as clearly win-win is the use of salvaged materials in our building projects. The use of salvaged materials reduces the waste stream, while at the same time serving as a valuable material resource. Wood salvaged from urban ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 Members Advance, $15 General & at door
Glenn R. Stewart of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group will discuss falcons in a changing world, and will be accompanied by a live falcon. Falcons that once nested in remote cliffs are now nesting in cities on man-made structures such as buildings and bridges. In 1970 there were ...
Until 30 years ago, the rainforest canopies – the upper treetops - has been almost entirely unexplored. With the advent of canopy access techniques such as construction cranes and hot-air balloons, scientists have been able to document the highly diverse communities of plants, animals, and fungi that dwell 100 meters ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Seniors, Free Members
Our Explosive Sun: New Views of the Nearest Star and the Largest Explosions in the Solar SystemRecent satellite missions are giving scientists dramatic new views of the Sun and the huge magnetic explosions in its outer layers that cause flares and the ejections of huge masses of superheated gas. For example, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, a NASA satellite launched in 2010, is producing images of the ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($2 parking charge)
Nerd Nite SF #11: Pisco, Metallurgy, and Poli-PsyCombine: equal parts booze, brainpower, brilliant slide presentations, and intellectual banter. Add: a splash of irreverence and a couple ironic twists. Shake for 20 minutes. Serve in the coolest club in town. Discuss. And there you have it: Nerd Nite SF in a nutshell, um, highball glass! This month's cocktails ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $8
The Impact & Recovery of Asteroid 2008 TC3Join Dr. Peter Jenniskens from SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center for a presentation on The Impact and Recovery of Asteroid 2008 TC3. Dr. Jenniskens shares the incredible story of the impact of a small asteroid and the subsequent search for fragments in the remote Nubian desert of Sudan. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
This is Mission Control"This is Mission Control" with Jay Trimble of NASA-AmesNASA's space exploration missions are guided by teams of mission controllers on the ground. Whether it's the control of robots that extend our senses to the surface of distant planets, telescopic eyes that peer deep into the universe with multi-spectral vision, or ...
Where: San RafaelCost: Free
Thursday, 04/21/11
Don Edward's Go Wild! for KidsDid you know that there is a 30,000 acre wildlife refuge right here in the South Bay? Or that it is home to over 280 species of birds each year? Join us as we learn more about Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge with stories and fun activities.
Where: San JoseCost: Free
How to Create and Trap AntihydrogenProf. Joel Fajans of UC Berkeley will give the April 12, 2011 Physics/Applied Physics colloquium, entitled, "How to Create and Trap Anti-Hydrogen"
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Science of Geniuses: The 2010 MacArthur Genius Grant Winners"They are explorers and risk takers, contributing to their fields and to society in innovative, impactful ways. They provide us all with inspiration and hope for the future," said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. The celebrated MacArthur Fellows Program awards "Genius" grants to exceptional inventors, innovators and creative talents. The winners ...
Where: LafayetteCost: $22 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Earth Day NightLifeKick off Earth Day with a green-themed NightLife, featuring music, cocktails, the opening of artist Michael Bartalos' installation Handle with Care, and a presentation and book signing with photographer Sharon Beals, whose photographs of the Academy's nest and egg collection are featured in her new book, Nests: Fifty Nests and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Saving Sea Turtles Today - Costa Rica to AustraliaSea turtle experts will highlight the latest science, threats and actions to protect endangered sea turtles from California to Costa Rica to Australia -- direct from the recent international sea turtle symposium in San Diego.Panelists: Glenn McFarlane, Conservation Volunteers Australia; Teri Shore, Program Director, Turtle Island Restoration Network; Dr. Chris ...
The film 'The Next Frontier: Engineering the Golden Age of Green' cuts through the debate about global warming and climate change. This documentary takes the viewer around the world in search of technologies and policies that will address our dependence on foreign oil. All over the world, ordinary people are ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About AmberLecture and demonstration by Ron Cauble and Alex Brown with many samples and stories. Baltic, Dominican Republic, and Chiapas amber along with Madagascar and Colombian copal will be covered.
Where: BerkeleyCost:
The Molecular CookbookChristian Schwarz presents "The Molecular Cookbook - A down-to-earth guide to understanding DNA technology and its applications in mushroom taxonomy."
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Mystery of Laguna DoloresA reexamination of the "now vanished" lake at the heart of the founding myth of San Francisco. Christopher Richard, Curator of Aquatic Biology at Oakland Museum, brings modern understanding of the city's hydrology to bear on his retranslation of the historical documents of the founding father of Mission Dolores.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 04/22/11
Brains, Genes and Language EvolutionWhy is language the way it is, and how did it come to be that way? Answering these questions requires postulating genetic constraints on language. A key challenge for language evolution research is therefore to explain whether such genetic constraints are specific to language or whether they might be more ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Ecology and Conservation of Cross River Gorillas in CameroonSarah Sawyer is in her 4th year of the PhD program in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Department. After completing her bachelors and masters degrees at Stanford University, Sarah spent half a year in Congo working on a Chimpanzee rehabilitation and release project. It was this projects that inspired ...
A Family/Group OvernightSpend a night under the stars or with some really cool exhibits. Join us for Slumber with the Stars, Chabot's newest family night out. An overnight in our Center that includes games, exhibit exploration, hike in the Redwoods, a live planetarium show and viewing through our renowned, large telescopes.* An ...
Where: OaklandCost: $85 General, $75 Members
Tracking Climate Change from Antarctica to Point ReyesJason Flesher, Point Reyes National Seashore Association's Field Seminars director, will share stunning photos and stories from his trip guiding a climate change expedition to Antarctica during the month of March with the group 2041. Dr. Ben Becker, marine ecologist at Point Reyes National Seashore, will share how climate change ...
Earth Day SFThis year, a new Earth Day Festival arrives in San Francisco. On April 23, the Bay Area will come together to celebrate Earth Day SF in Civic Center Plaza with a multi-cultural music festival and sustainable living roadshow featuring international keynote speakers on multiple stages and eco-zones filled with prominent ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Earth Day events at Point ReyesOn Saturday, April 23, 2011, many community organizations around West Marin county will be inviting their members and the public to join one (or more) of several activities to commemorate Earth Day and to build greater community resilience. If you are planning to be in West Marin on April 23, ...
Where: Point Reyes StationCost: Free
The Birds, The Bees and the BubblesChildren's Junior Ranger Program.Kids! Come celebrate Earth Day and receive a Jr. Ranger badge! Children will learn about pollination as they act out the process with bubbles and pretend to be flowers and bees.
Glenn R. Stewart of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group will discuss falcons in a changing world, and will be accompanied by a live falcon. Falcons that once nested in remote cliffs are now nesting in cities on man-made structures such as buildings and bridges. In 1970 there were ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Science for Kids! Snow DaysJoin us for a snow day at the library. Using instant snow, students will experiment with the properties of a polymer, compare real snow to instant snow, and discover how the elements (water, salt) affect instant snow (for ages 5-12).
Where: San JoseCost: Free
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.
Where: San CarlosCost: Free
Monday, 04/25/11
California Climate Policy - A New Template for the Americas?California's pathbreaking climate policies could increase both cooperation and tensions in the Americas. The state's cap and trade policy is being eyed as a model by Canadian provinces and Mexico; its low-carbon fuel standard is a direct challenge to extra-heavy petroleum in Alberta and Venezuela; and influential U.S. foundations are ...
Berkeley Rep Talk Sheds 'New Light on Dark Energy'A panel of Lab scientists along with Andrew Fraiknoi, the Bay Area's most popular astronomy explainer, will gather at the Berkeley Rep on Monday, April 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. for a discussion about "New Light on Dark Energy." Topics will ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
High Anxiety: The Science behind Meditation and AnxietyOnce reserved for Tibetan monks, meditation has become popular especially here in the Bay Area. This practice of bringing one's attention to the present has been said to provide tremendous well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to bring their attention to meditation for its affects in "re-wiring" the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Paul Allen, and Jose Antonio VargasIn 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen one of the hundred most influential people in the world. His impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor--combined with the resources to launch and support new initiatives--have literally changed the ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $32 Individual, $40 for Two, includes book
The Great Tohoku, Japan DisasterThe first of two evenings devoted to an examination of and conversation about the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan, and the subsequent nuclear accident. Speakers on the first evening are Greg Beroza of the School of Earth Sciences, Greg Deierlein of the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Pure Engineering: Decoupling Technical Innovation from Utility and ConsumerismThe human need to create is elemental. Whether this is an inevitable, evolutionary consequence of being the descendants of tool-making ancestors, or the cultural means by which we serve memes much bigger than our individual selves, we are compelled to execute the designs concocted by our imagination.In the context of ...
