Healthy Trails Hike, MontalvoJoin a Park Interpreter for a 2.0-mile hike in the scenic redwoods of Villa Montalvo. We will hike to Lookout Point, where on a clear day you can see out to the San Francisco Bay. Please bring hiking shoes, water, snacks, and sun/rain protection. (408) 918-7774
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
California geology from the ground up, part two: north of the bay, including the SierraJoin us for our popular series of free public lectures on a broad array of topics related to plants and natural history. Named in honor of its founder, the Wayne Roderick Lecture Series takes place in the Visitor Center of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. These illustrated presentations are enjoyable for ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Marvelous MushroomsHave fun with fungi! Become a mushroom expert as you explore the Museum and see how mushrooms can be more than just delicious food! Create mushroom crafts, talk to experts, and engage in some hands-on activities about decomposers, as the Museum celebrates all things mushroom. It's also Sandy the Whale's ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free with admission
How the Tides Work for YouRacers, cruisers, and recreational boaters will see and learn how the waters move on San Francisco Bay. Cash only. Reservations a must, email jimtantillo@comcast.net or phone 408-263-7877.
Where: SausalitoCost: $15
Run of the SalmonYears later and many millions of dollars invested, the endangered Chinook population is not recovering in ways hoped. What have scientists recently discovered? Is it something in the water? Find out more and feel free to share information with Ranger Linda.
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Elephant Seals of Point ReyesJoin a Sanctuary naturalist and a Park Service docent at the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Ctr, Drakes Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore. Hop the Park Shuttle, walk to the seal haul-out overlook. Explore the northern elephant seal's life cycle during prime time for elephant seal romance!Advance Tickets Required; Space is ...
Where: Point Reyes StationCost: $10 Adults, $ 5 for 16 and under
'Elemental: Three Stories, Three Continents, One Commitment to Change'Elemental tells the story of three individuals united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time. The film follows Rajendra Singh, an Indian government official gone rogue, on a 40-day pilgrimage down India's once-pristine Ganges River, now polluted ...
Special event for SciSchmooze readers! Come meet editors Herb and Bob and explore the wonders of the Elephant Seal breeding grounds at Año Nuevo State Reserve. Only 18 tickets available. No refunds. Here's how this will work: Since Año Nuevo does not handle group reservations, we have pre-purchased tickets for you. You ...
Where: PescaderoCost: $7 per person (+$1.24 service fee)
Calling all Citizen Scientists! – California Phenology ProjectBecome a scientist and contribute to a project studying the timing of plant life cycles throughout the seasons. Are plants responding to climate variability? Come learn about projects being set up in the South Bay and how you can participate. We will begin with an indoor presentation followed by practicing ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Evolution Today: Curent State of Knowledge and ControversiesJoin us to celebrate Darwin Day! Charles Darwin was born on February 12 but we will be celebrating his birthday February 24. This will be a grand celebration featuring three renown speakers and a potluck banquet! Our featured speakers are:George Smoot, Nobel Laureat, Lawrence Berkeley National LabPeter Hess, National Center ...
Go behind the scenes at Long Marine Lab. Learn about the work of scientists and their studies of dolphins, seals, sea lions, and whales. Tour is best suited for adults and children over 10 years of age. Space limited. Reservations required: (831) 459-3800.
Designed by Durban, South Africa-based entrepreneur Sarah Collins of Natural Balance and poverty activist Moshy Mathe, the Wonderbag is aimed at societies where fuel is expensive or time-consuming to gather. The Wonderbag is a non-electric, heat-retention cooker that allows food that has been brought to a boil on a stove ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
STEM teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program Dr. Rebar, joining us via Skype video, and Ms. Seimer, joining us in-person, will present a lively overview of the teacher-researcher experiences possible in the STAR program. STAR is a 9-week summer research internship for aspiring science and mathematics teachers. Undergraduate, Masters, Credential or Baccalaureate students who want to be ...
Harsh environment sensors can be used to perform real-time, in-situ combustion monitoring leading to designs of power and propulsion systems (e.g. automotive engines, industrial gas turbines and aircraft engines) with increased efficiencies, fuel flexibility and reduced CO2 emissions.In addition, new milestones in space exploration can be realized through the development ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Meeting Conservation: Science , Policy and Community approaches to Biodiversity ConservationDr. Scott Loarie, Stanford University, is co-Director of iNaturalist.org: a natural history citizen-science social network to crowd-source data on climate impacts to biodiversity. He will be giving an informal presentation on his conservation work, the role of iNaturalist in promoting citizen science, and broadly about promoting public outreach in conservation work.Room ...
Watch the setting sun and greet the rising moon at this wild edge of the continent.The half-mile trail is steep in places. Dress warmly and bring a flashlight. Meet park staff and docents at the Point Bonita Lighthouse trailhead.The new suspension bridge is now open to the public.Limited to 50 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Nerd Nite East Bay #5: Microbiome, Machining and Mars CuriosityGrab a drink and join us for a journey from the very small and close to the very far and vast. Jessica Richman shares a bit about the microbial cells found in you that out number your own cells 10-to-1 (and may have genes that out number your own genes ...
H2 Meets the ESUHow quantitative genetics can be used to assess the evolutionary significance of phenotypic traits that diagnose the endangered San Francisco Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Microtechnology for Interfacing with the Nervous SystemThe brain has always been attractive to engineers. Neurons and their connections, like tiny circuit elements, process and transmit information in a dramatic way that is intimately curious to researchers in the computer science and engineering fields. Science has made great strides in the past few decades toward uncovering the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Star Formation through Radio Eyes: Probing Magnetic Fields with CARMAHow do stars form? How can we use radio waves to probe the origins of stars within their cold, dusty natal clouds? And how do magnetic fields affect the star-formation process? Come and find out how I use CARMA, a millimeter-wave radio telescope in the Eastern Sierras, to find answers ...
As Big Data proliferates, search engines must get smarter at delivering the results you want. Harry Shum, VP for search product development at Microsoft, will describe the Bing Dialog Model, the system that drives www.bing.com. The model does more than simply navigate users to a landing page; it relies on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Golden Gate Playdate: Trails & TracksGallop, bound, and waddle as you learn to move like your favorite animals! Join us for a hike into the hills of the Marin Headlands where your curious preschooler will engage their senses searching for evidence of animals in their habitats. Together, you and your preschooler will touch and feel ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $15/per child per session, 1 adult admission free
Explore the evening magic of Muir Woods, learning about the secret nightlife of an old-growth redwood forest.This special walk begins one hour before sunset and will conclude with the dark of night!We'll listen for owls, look for bats, and use our senses to guide us along the trails.This is an ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
Role of NFC in the future of Digital WalletWith digitization of wallet, Near Field Communication (NFC) is fast becoming another ubiquitous interface for mobile devices. Sunil will discuss applications for NFC, details of the radio interface, status of the standardization process for inter operability as seen by the NFC Forum SIG and the future course NFC is projected ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $10 General, Free for members advance, $5 at door
Bryant Austin on WhalesIn his talks Bryant Austin offers insight into three major areas of his work. It begins with the journey to follow the inspiration given to him by two whales, and the external and personal challenges he had to overcome to document and share these creatures on their scale.With the challenges he faced ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Curiosity on MarsMt. Diablo Astronomical Society monthly meetings begin with a short "What's Up" presented by one of our members followed by a speaker. This month's speaker is – Dr. Chris McKay, NASA – "Curiosity on Mars"There is no fee for visitors but we appreciate a donation for light snacks and beverages.
Carl Haber is an experimental physicist. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Columbia University and is a Senior Scientist in the Physics Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California. Most of his research interest involves the development of instrumentation and methods for detecting and measuring ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Environmental Genomics of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Testing and Generating HypothesesSpeaker: Dr. Andrew Whitehead, UC Davis The RTC Seminar Series brings leading local, national, and international scientists to a public forum at RTC to speak about the latest advances in science, and provides an opportunity for graduate students to present research in progress. The Series is open to the public. ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Teaching in Hunter-Gatherer InfancyCultural anthropologists Margaret Mead, David Lancy, and Barbara Rogoff indicate that teaching does not exist or is rare in small-scale cultures. By contrast, recent research by cognitive scientists Gyorgy Gergely and Gergely Csibra indicate that one type of teaching, called natural pedagogy, is a human universal, part of human nature, ...
When we designed Blue Waters, the most powerful petascale supercomputer for the NSF community, the single most pressing concern about its success was that "GPUs are too hard to program." The rise of GPU computing has significantly boosted the pace of progress in numeric methods, algorithm design and programming techniques ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
'Dive!' Film Screening at Albany High SchoolFood Shift, a local non-profit organization, will be hosting a film screening of the documentary film "Dive!". The film will be followed by a discussion of the film and a Q&A lead by the Food Shift team. 40% of all food produced in the United States is wasted. This means ...
Where: AlbanyCost: $5 suggested donation
Science and Reason with Skeptics in the Pub, West BaySkeptics in the Pub, West BayFiddlers Green, MillbraeIf ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the film-flam man, and if ye drink, drink with us, your friends. If ye shun the brewer's art, at least help us lay waste to bangers & mash!Skeptics in the Pub is a monthly ...
Circadian rhythm (sr-kd-n): A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day. Circadian rhythms include sleeping and waking in animals, flower closing and opening in plants, and tissue growth and differentiation in ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
The Brilliance of SleepScientists have long wondered why we power down our brains and enter into a sleeping state then spending countless hours in light dreamless slumber. Professor Matt Walker in the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory within the Department of Psychology at U.C. Berkeley and his team have found compelling evidence for the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22/27 General, $20/25 Members
The third lecture in the Implementing Health Care Reform in California Lecture Series will be presented by Kent Lieginger, PharmD, senior vice president, managed care and customer operations at Genentech.With 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, Kent Lieginger has held a variety of leadership roles in managed care, ...
Dark Energy and the Runaway UniverseWe expected that the attractive force of gravity would slow down the rate at which the universe is expanding. But observations of very distant exploding stars (supernovae) show that the expansion rate is actually speeding up. Filippenko, a member of teams that revealed the accelerating expansion of the universe, will ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Student
This week, we celebrate Human Odyssey, a dramatic new addition to the Academy's Tusher African Hall. Hear from a trio of Academy scientists who conduct fieldwork in Africa. Paleoanthropologist Zeray Alemseged will discuss studying human evolution in Ethiopia's Great East African Rift, known as the "cradle of mankind," and the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Forensic Sculpture: A Chronicle of History and UseGloria Nusse will be talking about her forensic art. Gloria Nusse is a scientific and forensic artist who has worked for well known scientific, cultural and historical agencies and institutions. Her forensic artwork has aided with the identification of several individuals.
The movie "The Impossible", currently showing in theaters, portrays the destruction of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunamiRecent tsunami disasters in the Pacific Ocean testify to their destructive power -- are similar events likely in the Pacific Northwest?Geographic research is helping to understand the risk, assisting planners with developing effective emergency ...
Energy storages are expected to play a significant role in increasing grid penetration of intermittent renewable resources. In this presentation, I will show that -, based on various hourly simulations,- storage design and dispatch plays a significant role in our ability to transition to a grid that can accommodate very ...
Dr. Kriek is an assistant professor in the Astronomy Department of the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on the origin and evolution of galaxies, using spectroscopy and deep multi-wavelength surveys. Prior to this, She was a Clay Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a Russell Fellow ...
