Theia's date with destiny: possible conditions leading to a Giant ImpactThe Giant Impact theory is the leading explanation for the Moon's origin, but mysteries remain in the conditions leading up to the event. Collisions were common during the turbulent infancy of the Solar System and led to a small set of terrestrial planets. Dr. Quarles presents a numerical model that ...
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)
Lunchtime for the FishWatch Ranger Ondrej feed the hungry inhabitants of our fresh and salt-water tanks. Get familiar with some of our Bay Area aquatic neighbors. Watch the different feeding styles of the rock cod, sea stars, and rainbow trout.
Current 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 then try to ...
From Aristotle to Einstein, great minds have failed to grasp basic ideas in physics. Aristotle thought that all objects naturally prefer to be at rest; Einstein believed that, "God does not play dice." Both these geniuses were mistaken, and, today, plenty of everyday geniuses continue to misunderstand key ideas in ...
Black Oystercatchers are Monterey's charismatic signature bird of the rocky intertidal ecosystem, one of California's and the west coast's iconic habitats. Until recently, little was known of the population status and distribution of Black Oystercatchers in California. It is a Special Status Species of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Groundwater: California's Real Buried GoldCalifornia stores far more water than falls as rain or snow, or can be held in reservoirs. But this hidden treasure has been treated first-come, winner-take-all. California's new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and just-passed Proposition 1 bring opportunities to use groundwater more wisely. Environmental attorney Tina Cannon Leahy, Principal Consultant ...
Where: AlbanyCost: Free
Nature is Rebounding: Land- and Ocean-sparing through Concentrating Human ActivitiesJesse Ausubel is an environmental scientist and program manager of a number of global biodiversity and ecology research programs. Ausubel serves as Director and Senior Research Associate of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University.He was instrumental in organizing the first UN World Climate Conference which was held ...
This talk reports recent advances in underwater robotic vehicle research to enable novel oceanographic operations in extreme ocean environments, with focus on two recent novel vehicles developed by a team comprised of the speaker and his collaborators at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. First, the development and operation of the ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
Realizing the next growth wave for semiconductors A new approach to enable innovative startups The semiconductor industry has evolved from its early days of startups and spinouts financed by venture capital to an era of specialization associated with the rise of foundries and fabless companies to today's structure characterized by consolidation and dominance by a few leaders in each of the product areas. Looking ...
Can Apple sell the world on clean energy? As a beloved brand and the most valuable company on the planet, it is uniquely positioned to influence global culture and individual behavior. What are Apple and its Silicon Valley brethren doing to drive toward a clean and sustainable economy?Scientists say governments ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $15 Members, $10 Student
Wolves of California: The Long Journey HomeCalifornia is celebrating one of its most inspiring conservation stories: the return of the gray wolf, after being absent for decades. To prepare for their return, the California Wolf Center is forging a visionary path for wolf recovery that focuses on solutions, instead of conflict. Come learn about the true ...
"Grange Future" celebrates the history and contemporary expression of 'the grange idea.' From the 19th century populist movement that backed the early campaign for an "information commons" in the form of Rural Free Mail delivery, to public banking and Farmers co-op banks, this vital movement is re-emerging to confront information ...
Monthly Bird WalkJoin us in search of resident, migrant, and vagrant birds in the Garden's many bird friendly micro-habitats. Both beginning and experienced bird watchers are welcome! Bring binoculars if you have them. Advance registration required. (Includes Garden admission.)
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 General, $10 Members
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY – LEVERAGING BIOLOGY TO ENABLE LUNAR IN SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATIONIn 2010, the United States set exploration milestones for sending humans beyond the International Space Station to the Moon and Mars. In President Obama's National Space Policy address, he declared the objective of these missions was to "live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways ...
Get ready for a night of mind-bending, cutting-edge science visualization.Discover what it means to live in a connected world and be among the first to peep the Academy's newest planetarium show Habitat Earth.From the comfort of your planetarium seat, explore the vast networks of life-from sea to space-that power the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 General, $10 Members
The Digital Publishing LandscapeEveryone designing websites and publications needs to know how to design directly on their computers using interactive software, which can be shared with others. This lecture by Diane Burns, internationally recognized graphic designer, describes the differences between interactive PDFs, reflowable ePubs, fixed-layout ePubs and tablet apps and helps you keep ...
Is there a constitutional right to "physician-assisted suicide"? What about a "dignified death"-and what is a dignified death? Should terminally ill patients facing mental incapacitation or unbearable pain have access to fatal ingestion-also known as physician aid in dying? Or would that jeopardize our society's progress toward more compassionate, comfort-based ...
Is there intelligent life on other planets? UC Berkeley Professor of Astronomy Geoffrey Marcy, a pioneer in the discovery and characterization of planets around other stars, discusses new telescopic and biological observations that provide clues. A co-investigator of Kepler, the NASA space-born telescope dedicated to identifying Earth-like planets, his research ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 - $35 General, Members less 10%
Ospreys in the Bay AreaThe last decade has seen a remarkably rapid expansion of Osprey nesting into San Francisco Bay tidelands. From a single nest reported in 1990 in Vallejo, numbers have risen to 27 nesting pairs in summer 2014. What's behind this increase? What conservation challenges do nesting Osprey face here, and how ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $5 or free for members.
Surgical Approaches to Facial PainTrigeminal neuralgia (TN) is one of the most common causes of facial pain characterized by recurring brief episodes of electric shock-like pains. This talk will focus on surgical approaches to treating this difficult disorder.Speaker: Casey H. Halpern, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and, by courtesy, of Neurology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Ice Plants, Mattress Wireweed & Other OnslaughtsHave you seen how much of our coastal parkland is now covered in succulent ground cover, hardy New Zealand vines, and just too many highly invasive species? Come hear Lew give us the low down on ground cover invasive plants. He's been working with the Presidio Trust, and before that the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 01/16/15
Technology Innovation at GE HealthcareCome hear about recent innovations and opportunities at GE Healthcare with former CTO, Michael Harsh!Room: Auditorium
Discover the wonder of an old-growth redwood forest in winter on this leisurely walk on the Fern Creek and Alice Eastwood trails.Look for salmon, mushroom displays, winter wildflowers, waterfalls, and more!Dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes as the trails are steep and may be muddy (strollers not advised).Bring ...
Join local naturalist and mycologist Debbie Viess, Co-Founder of the Bay Area Mycological Society, for a fun talk on local mushrooms that occur in our Bay Area woods, lawns and yes, even gardens. Beautiful photos, stories and plenty of easy to digest science will be value added. After this ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $25 General, $20 Members
Biofuels and DNA sequencing: two sides of the same coin?The National Institutes of Health have a goal of $1000 to sequence a human genome. Last year in Lima, Peru, 190 countries committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe not intuitively, these two goals are tightly connected.In the first part of the talk, I will discuss the basics of ...
MSI takes to the tidepools for a treasure hunt of nature's beautiful intertidal secrets. We'll spend our time taking advantage of the low tide to reach the outer edges of Pillar Point, while taking in spectacular vantages as we slowly retreat to shore. Will we find crabs, sea stars, eels ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: $20 General, $10 Members
Sunday, 01/18/15
Salt Marsh Walk - Special King Tide EditionThe salt marsh will be inundated by king tides and it will be a site to behold. Take a walk with docent Gregg Aronson around the wetlands of the wildlife refuge and learn about their history. See examples of salt collection ponds and learn what is being done to convert ...
In March 2014, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations, ruled that a Japanese whaling program in the Antarctic, ostensibly for scientific purposes, was not sufficiently research-oriented and was, therefore, illegal. UC Santa Cruz's own Marc Mangel served as a critical Independent Scientific Expert ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Monday, 01/19/15
Martin Luther King Day King Tides WalkMLK Day this year brings the highest daytime tides -- a look at a future of rising sea levels. Friends of Five Creeks and Citizens for East Shore Parks explore history, thriving restorations, how rising sea levels may affect infrastructure and wildlife, and possibilities for buffering the effects on an easy, ...
