Lichen: A Closer LookThis 1.5-mile out and back nature walk is the first in a series that will explore habitats where lichen communities thrive. Learn to identify some of the most common forest lichen and discover ways these fascinating organisms benefit both wildlife and the environment. Meet at the Wood Rd. parking lot ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
The Habitable Zones of Pre-Main-Sequence StarsThe habitable zone (HZ) is the region around a star in which liquid water could exist on a planetary surface. Although 1-D models have been traditionally employed in HZ studies, recent investigations using 3-D models incorporate more realistic physics and self-consistently calculate both the effects of clouds and relative humidity. ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Adventure Tuesday Club: Counting With CrittersA four-week class, for ages 4 to 5. Adult attendance is not required. Numbers are everywhere, especially in nature. "Count" on meeting some animal ambassadors.Register online with the link listed below.Class ID: CC-390
Where: Walnut CreekCost: $80.00 (Member: $65.00)
Project: Ice - Tiburon International Film FestivalFormed by ice, filled by ice, often covered by ice, the Great Lakes encapsulate human exploration, migration, development and where we're headed. PROJECT ICE views North America's fresh water inland ocean through the prism of ice, from the crossroads of history, science and climate change.North America's five Great Lakes contain ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Long Now's Nevada: the Great Basin in the AnthropoceneScotty Strachan will talk about the natural history of the Great Basin Region. Scotty's scientific research includes study of the climate and hydrology of the area as well as tree-ring analysis of bristlecone pines. This work has been conducted throughout the region including on Long Now's property on Mount Washington in ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $21.99
Wednesday, 01/07/15
Free First WednesdayFree museum admission all day, to anyone from anywhere, at Bay Area Discovery Museum
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Free Wednesday at UC Botanical GardensEnjoy free admission to the UC Botanical Garden on the first Wednesday of the month. Parking is limited. Docent-led tours for groups are not available on Free Wednesdays. No admission after 4:30 pm. In order to minimize the impact on the plant collection, ensure the safety of visitors, and to ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
From Nanodevices to Nanosystems: The Carbon Nanotube Case Study Emerging nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have great potential to revolutionize future electronic systems. For instance, carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs) are projected to improve the energy efficiency of digital systems by an order of magnitude compared to silicon CMOS. Unfortunately, CNTs face major obstacles such as substantial imperfections ...
FMarcel is a computational biologist working at the interface of population biology, computational sciences / engineering, and the social sciences. He obtained his PhD at the ETH in Zuerich, Switzerland, and spent two years as a postdoc in Stanford. He's driven by exploring how an information society like ...
Bioluminescence - the ability of living organisms to create light - has evolved independently in nature at least half a dozen times. We'll talk about some of the amazing light producing creatures out there - from squid with symbiotic bacteria, to fireflies and mushrooms - the biochemistries they use, and ...
Richard Caro and Mary Hulme: The Home That Watches Over Your ParentsLike many of us, the speakers (a scientist and a geriatric care manager) were concerned about elderly family members who spent a lot of time at home alone. What would happen if they fell and hurt themselves? Or if they started to become forgetful and accidentally left the stove on and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Member, $7 Student
Start your new year with a new skill at NightLife's annual salute to all things hands-on.From tips to make domestic life more blissful to tricks that will impress your friends to no end, explore the museum in search of DIY demos and workshops galore!Got a pressing need to learn how ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
Dr. Patrick O'Reilly, Asst. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSF, will recount the history and creation of the Manson Family, the family's crimes, and the psychological commitment mechanisms that cause people to join (and stay in) cults. Dr. Patrick O'Reilly is a clinical psychologist at Napa State Hospital and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Friday, 01/09/15
20 Years of Non-Native Tree Removal and Restoration on the Presidio Coastal BluffsTwenty years of tree removal and restoration on the Presidio Coastal Bluffs in San Francisco have been a great boon for locally significant plant communities and rare plants, including the once presumed extinct Franciscan manzanita (Arctostaphylos franciscana). A significant expansion of diverse native plant habitat in the project area, successful ...
Environmental monitoring helps us understand how we interact with the Earth. It also generates large amounts of funding for NGOs, government agencies, universities and the private sector. Scientists with university degrees usually do this monitoring. In the north, non-scientists also successfully contribute monitoring efforts as citizen scientists. In the tropics, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Population and Food Security in the SahelOver the next 30 to 40 years in the Sahel region of Africa, between 100 and 200 million people are likely to be without sustainable food supplies. The presentation will discuss the challenge of population growth, the region's natural resources and the implications for food security, with a focus on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $3 donation requested
SLS: Our Next RideFor some time, NASA has been looking beyond single-entity space transportation programs. Our future in space has never been more secure or exciting. Over the last half century NASA was the sole entity to design our entire space program by wading ankle deep in the ocean that is our corner ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($3 Parking)
Saturday, 01/10/15
The Venus Fly trap and other Amazing Carnivorous PlantsJohn Bartram was the first to introduce the Venus Fly Trap into cultivation. Family members of all age are invited to discover some of the fascinating and beautiful plants that can eat insects. Get up close with the amazing leaf adaptations as you learn more about them.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 General, $10 Members
2015 Stanford Brain BeeThe Stanford Brain Bee is a local qualifying round of the International Brain Bee (IBB), a neuroscience competition exclusively for high school students ages 14-18. The Stanford Brain Bee involves both a written component and a live oral Q&A session. In addition to the competition, students will have the opportunity ...
Over the past few decades, hundreds of new planetary systems have been discovered, many of which show remarkable diversity compared with our own Solar System. A key step towards characterizing these planets is the determination of which planets occupy the Habitable Zone (HZ) of their host stars. In this talk Professor Kane will describe the properties of ...
This month we celebrate the animals that are the champions of the cold: Animals of the Arctic. We recommend teaming our free classroom program at 12 pm and 2 pm with a Docent-led tour at 11am, 1pm or 3pm for a truly immersive marine mammal experience.FREE Classroom Programs: Animals of the ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Solar Astronomy Sunday January 11th., at the Lindsay Wildlife MuseumPlease join Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society for a public Astronomy program and learn about the Sun.Society members will provide safe close-up views of our Sun using Solar-filtered telescopes (weather permitting). Activities for young and old will demonstrate how our nearest star works, and how our Solar System developed.
Where: Walnut CreekCost: 0
Tree Frog TreksCome see Tree Frog Treks as they encourage children to see themselves as part of a larger system of natural life in which every organism plays an important part. Their naturalists will introduce children to creeping, crawling and slithering co-workers, from tiny Pacific Tree Frogs to 14-foot-long Burmese Pythons. They ...
Where: LafayetteCost: Free
Monday, 01/12/15
Oil AheadWhat impact will plunging oil prices have on California's efforts to cut carbon pollution? One result will be to ease the sting drivers will feel at the pump when gasoline is included in the state's cap and trade program starting January 1st. The oil industry and regulators have been sparring ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $7 Student, Free for Members
What do the color blind see?This apparently straightforward question is not straightforwardly answerable, but it remains irresistibly intriguing because of its theoretical connection to the nature of the neural representation of color and the physiological basis of color deficiency. Red-green color blindness (dichromacy) was originally conceived as a loss of one cone type, but in ...
Shell recognizes the importance of broadening the frame of the energy and climate change discussion. There needs to be substantial additional amounts of energy to meet growing population levels and increasing standards of living worldwide. At the same time, we recognize the need to reduce CO2. Energy is fundamental to ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Your Brain on Drugs: Novel Clinical ImplicationsGet an introduction to the latest scientific findings on addiction's effect on the brain in an incisive talk by UC Berkeley professor, Mark D'Esposito. Understand how certain circuits in the brain that normally guide goal-directed behavior are malfunctioning in the throes of addiction. Dr. Esposito also explains novel cognitive and ...
6:45pm-7:00pm: Socializing/networking.7:00-7:25: Pireeni Sundaralingam(Poet and Neuroscientist) on ""Abstract...Read more7:25-7:50: Meredith Tromble(San Francisco Art Institute) on ""Abstract...Read more7:50-8:10: BREAK. Before or after the break, anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of art and science will have 30 seconds to share their work. Please present your work ...
