Native Plant LandscapingCome learn about landscaping with natives, with special emphasis on drought tolerant and habitat plants that do exceptionally well in the Bay Area. Rebecca Blanck-Weiss (Native Plant Nursery Specialist, Presidio Nursery) and Anna Murray (Interim Nursery Manager, Marin Headlands Nursery) will cover maintenance, pruning, and when and how to divide ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Donations encouraged
What Lyman-alpha surveys tell us about neutrinos Although tiny, the signature that massive neutrinos leave on large-scale structures is today used as one of the most sensitive probes that can improve our knowledge on neutrino masses. After a brief introduction on the impact of neutrinos on the growth of structures, I will present constraints that were obtained ...
San Francisco Bay is an estuary-a place where fresh water from California's rivers and streams meets and mixes with salty ocean water from the Pacific. It's the largest estuary on the West Coast, and nearly half of California's freshwater drains into the Bay. But the Bay is largely seawater and the ocean ...
Tonight's Menu: Cinnamon Verité Is the cinnamon in your cupboard "real"? Cinnamomum verum, obtained from the inner bark of an aromatic evergreen, is considered "true" cinnamon, but most cinnamon we consume is known as cassia, and is derived from related trees. With several species in the genus, how do we determine which ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General; $10 Members; Free for Lab Members
7:00-7:25: Christine Metzger(California College of the Arts) on "Lights, Camera...Fiction?"How much science (mis)education do we get from movies?...Read more7:25-7:50: Sally Benson ((Director of Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project) on "Diet and Exercise: A Prescription To Cure The Planet's Climate Woes."Abstract forthcoming...Read more7:50-8:10: BREAK. Before or after ...
Scientists have long known that large earthquakes will inevitably occur along the Himalaya frontExperts had long feared that large earthquakes would take a devastating toll on NepalThe 2015 Gorkha earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people, but the toll was not as catastrophic as had been fearedAnalysis of available data is helping ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Sex, Love, and DNACan 21st-century molecular biology answer age-old questions about the human experience? Can studying proteins and DNA help us understand how we make our choices in sex and love? How we communicate? Where our emotions come from? Or why we age and die? Using stories of people and animals, Peter Schattner ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Friday, 12/11/15
In Search of Tomorrow: Data Science Lecture SeriesIf you were asked to imagine what computation will look like in 10 years, what would you say? Perhaps something to do with large-scale data analysis in R or functional programming. Maybe you imagine the rise of some of the more interesting nascent languages of today. That's where we started, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Solving the 'Developer Tool Problem' for High-Performance Managed RuntimesSoftware development tools that "instrument" running programs, notably debuggers, are presumed to demand difficult tradeoffs among performance, functionality, implementation complexity, and user convenience. A fundamental change in thinking about such tools makes that presumption obsolete. By building instrumentation directly into the core of a high-performance language implementation framework, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Effect of Saturday Driving Restrictions on Air Quality in Mexico CityPolicymakers around the world are turning to driving restrictions in an effort to address urban air pollution. The exact format differs across cities, but most programs restrict driving once or twice a week during weekdays, with no restrictions on weekends. This paper examines Mexico City's driving restrictions which were expanded ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Parent's Night OffParents! Need a night off to get some of that holiday shopping finished? Need a night off period? Let us look after your kids for you, while you take some quality time for yourselves! Even though they are for kids, Parent's Nights Off are designed with adults in mind - ...
Where: OaklandCost: $45.00 per child and $30.00 for each add'l sibling
Saturday, 12/12/15
Documenting Wildlife on the Mayacamas Come and spend the morning with ACR Volunteer, Docent and Wildlife Camera Specialist Ginny Fifield to learn about some of the wildlife that inhabits the Modini Mayacamas Preserves. We'll learn about identifying field signs of mountain lions, bobcat, coyotes and more. We will also visit two wildlife trail cameras, where ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
Open House at the Marine Science InstitutePlease bring your friends and family to visit our site. Feel fre to explore our discovery classrooms, view live fish and invertebrates in our aquarium, and pack a picnic lunch to nibble on whilst enjoing our Bay front location. Staff will be around to answer questions and give you a ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: Free
Aquarium of the Bay and BayMobile bay.org has teamed up with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bay Model Visitor Center to create the Bay Model Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that benefits the Bay Model and its educational programs by bringing the Bay, its animals, and their habitats to you!Join us at the Bay Model ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Turning the TidesEver wonder what lives underneath the Bay? Come meet some of our local underwater invertebrates as we explore their coastal habitat. Learn about how tide pools are in jeopardy because of our rising sea level, and discover the ways that we can combat this challenge as we discuss solutions to ...
Where: SausalitoCost:
Sunday, 12/13/15
Beginning BirdingExperience the birds of summer in the Marin Headlands by joining volunteer Jane Haley for an easy walk along Rodeo Lagoon. Bring field guides and binoculars. Meet at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center. For ages 8 and up; no pets allowed.Reservations required; please call 415-331-1540.
Visit the Computer History Museum (CHM) on Sunday, December 13 to celebrate the 200th birthday of Ada Lovelace. Lovelace was an English mathematician and remarkable thinker. Unlike most people of her era, she understood that computers could do much more than calculate numbers, and she predicted many of the ways ...
This month we wrap up 2015 with a special Marine Science Sunday highlighting our Seal and Sea Lion Superstars of 2015. In 2015, The Marine Mammal Center saw more sick and injured patients than ever before in our 40 year history, ranging from the California sea lion, to the elephant ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Driving Pharaoh's ChariotsSpeaker: Kathy Hansen, Independent Researcher For more information go to http://arce-nc.org/lectures.htm
At our meeting grounds under the Muir Woods archway, we catch our first glimpse of Redwood Creek. We will make our way upstream keeping an eye and ear open for the coho salmon. This tour is part of a series, and as the weather changes so too will the tour. ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
High Temperature Volcanism on Earth: Physical Volcanology, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of Archean KomatiitesKomatiites are magnesium-rich magmas characterized by very high temperature (up to 1640°C vs. ~1200°C for modern basalts), very low viscosity (0.1-1 Pa·s), and a very large interval (460-160°C) between liquidus and solidus. As a consequence, they formed highly mobile flows capable of flowing long distances over gentle slopes that - if channelized - thermally and thermomechanically eroded wallrocks and substrates. This led to the ...
Mount Diablo Astronomy Society Movie MeetingPlease join Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society for the December 15th general meeting. This month's General Meeting has a different format : elections and movie night ! Bring a science-fiction or science movie and we'll vote what to watch ! Candidates will range from killer bunnies to psychic aliens !Note : ...
Water, essential for life as we know it, is an important indicator of the conditions present on other planets and moons throughout recent history and in the distant past. The presence and state of water and other similar volatile compounds throughout our own solar system provides insight into its formation, ...
Only a heartless curmudgeon would analyze Star Wars: The Force Awakens for its science mistakes. But only a very special Caltech PhD astrophysicist (who makes an honest living hunting for ET!) could help us to enjoy and understand the science beneath the Star Wars world. Kindly check your light saber at the door, and join ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $5 Preferred seating
Nerd Nite SF #67: Video Preservation, Ants, and Brain Stimulation!"Headswitch and the Angry Half-Inch: The History, Technology, Art, and Preservation of ½" Open Reel Video" by Kelly HaydonThe first widely popular video format, ½" open reel video was introduced in the late 60s and quickly adopted by artists looking for a new medium and activists looking to hijack TV ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $8
Thursday, 12/17/15
After Dark: Everything Matters: FlourineCome be in your elements with Exploratorium host and scientific raconteur Ron Hipschman. Follow tales of intrigue and invention, join in dynamic demonstrations, and uncover fascinating connections between individual elements and our collective human experience.18+ Only6:00–10:00 p.m. • Galleries and bars open8:00 p.m. • Everything Matters: Fluorine6:15–10:00 p.m. • Tactile ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $10 Members
As global temperatures slowly rise, ice caps at the north and south poles are melting. This is bad news for walruses, Weddell seals, and other animals that live on the ice. Whale species that frequent the Arctic Ocean are beginning to change their migration patterns. Join a conversation about how ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free w/RSVP
How you can save pollinators in your community!Join Tora Rocha, Park Supervisor for all of Downtown and the Lake Merritt Districts including the Gardens at Lake Merritt, to learn how landscaping practices are impacting the pollinators in our communities. She will discuss how she and the Pollinator Posse of Oakland are making a difference on public land, ...
Where: OaklandCost: FREE!
Saturday, 12/19/15
The Bay Model Wants You!!! Become part of Sausalito's very own attraction known around the world! We have a variety of volunteer positions that are suited for people just like you! Greet visitors, lead tours, work with school groups, and more!Come and be a part of one of the largest working hydraulic models in existence. ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Volunteering
Explorables: Handmade ScienceStretch your perception with anamorphic mirrors, Möbius strips, and spinning thaumatropes.Use everyday materials to create models and other tools for exploring the world around us. Run by a highly skilled, dedicated team of volunteers, these drop-in workshops mix classic activities with open-ended investigations, encouraging participants to follow their hunches to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Included with museum admission
How to be Really Good at Not Finding Dark MatterAstronomers have found evidence for something that exerts a gravitational pull on stars, galaxies and even large parts of the Universe, but that doesn't otherwise seem to do anything interesting. Knowing little more about it, they call it Dark Matter. Physicists want to detect and study something strange like that, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Trekking the ModelJoin a Ranger guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre hydraulic model of San Francisco Bay and Delta. Discover the stories of the two major operations that took place at this location between 1942–2000.
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Beyond Creation and Evolution: Human Origins Studies in a Secular, Media-Saturated WorldReligion and science battled through the Renaissance and Age of Reason. In this struggle, science overcame, and the discovery of evolution by means of natural selection and speciation (nicely coincident with the discovery of the human fossil record) has been cast as the long-sought, final proof of a naturalistic human ...
Where: MilpitasCost: Free
Zoovie Nights: Frozen!Put on your jammies and enjoy an evening of Zoovie magic with the whole family. Bring your pillows, blankets, and chairs and snuggle up in our auditorium for a specially selected family movie. Meet some of our education animals and Roosevelt, Oakland Zoo's costumed alligator mascot. Hot chocolate (with marshmallows, ...
Where: OaklandCost: $7
Why Eating Good Food Makes for Good EcologyChef and founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Alice Waters is an author and world renowned food movement leader. After helping to change the American food landscape, Alice introduced her ideas into public schools with The Edible Schoolyard, a program that involves students in all aspects of growing, cooking, and ...
Where: AthertonCost: On sale 12/1
Winter Solstice CelebrationCome revel in the stories of the nights sky as we celebrate the Winter Solstice with the Octopus Literary Salon. Illuminating storytellers, poets and musicians will recount the myths and legends from around the world that mark the season, followed by a Planetarium show that will explain the astronomical science ...
Where: OaklandCost: $15
Monday, 12/21/15
Winter Camp Session 1: Step Into the Shoes of a Scientist (FULL)Step into the shoes of a scientist and design, build and test simple machines and structures, including ones to bring home! Meet live animals and observe them like biologists. Explore space in our planetarium and create compounds and concoctions like chemists. Please remember to pack lunch for your camper. Activities ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Tuesday, 12/22/15
Winter Camp Session 1: Step Into the Shoes of a Scientist (FULL)Step into the shoes of a scientist and design, build and test simple machines and structures, including ones to bring home! Meet live animals and observe them like biologists. Explore space in our planetarium and create compounds and concoctions like chemists. Please remember to pack lunch for your camper. Activities ...
While we've changed what we put into our bodies, we have not been engaged with what is being done to our bodies. Roughly 70 percent of all medical decisions are based on clinical lab test results, yet we don't know what medical tests are ordered or how results are interpreted. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
Wednesday, 12/23/15
Winter Camp Session 1: Step Into the Shoes of a Scientist (FULL)Step into the shoes of a scientist and design, build and test simple machines and structures, including ones to bring home! Meet live animals and observe them like biologists. Explore space in our planetarium and create compounds and concoctions like chemists. Please remember to pack lunch for your camper. Activities ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Thursday, 12/24/15
Cellphone and nature? Yes! Map plants with app! CANCELEDOn fourth Thursdays, join a small group mapping invasives and some natives in Tilden Regional Park in the East Bay. Easy, leisurely walks -- learn about and enjoy nature while you contribute to a statewide database and stewardship, using CalFlora's cellphone-mapping apps! Info. RSVP, and instructions (let us know whether ...
Join park staff and docents for a tour down the Point Bonita Trail, through the hand carved tunnel and out to the Lighthouse. We will walk along a half-mile trail which is steep in places. Arrive early as parking is limited. Meet at the Point Bonita Lighthouse trailhead. Dress warmly ...
This month we wrap up 2015 with a special Marine Science Sunday highlighting our Seal and Sea Lion Superstars of 2015. In 2015, The Marine Mammal Center saw more sick and injured patients than ever before in our 40 year history, ranging from the California sea lion, to the elephant ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman: Mixing ColorJoin Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world.Are the primary colors really red, yellow, and blue? How can you get yellow from mixing red and green together? Bring your most colorful questions to this vivid presentation.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Included with museum admission
Monday, 12/28/15
Winter Camp Session 2: Winter Explorations (FULL)Investigate cold temperatures. Make concoctions that bring winter snow and ice inside, including some we can eat! Explore the solar system in the planetarium to find out where it is coldest, meet live animals and find out how they survive in different climates. Please remember to pack lunch for your ...
December's Nerd Nite East Bay offers drunken education with three great talks: Lo Scheiner will discuss how we swallow (and how, sometimes, we don't), Andrew Alden will teach us about East Bay geology, and Madza Y Farias-Virgens will relate birdsong to human language. And alumnerd/expert-of-pi-day Matthew Herbie Harman triumphantly returns ...
Where: OaklandCost: $8 Advance, $10 at door
Tuesday, 12/29/15
Winter Camp Session 2: Winter Explorations (FULL)Investigate cold temperatures. Make concoctions that bring winter snow and ice inside, including some we can eat! Explore the solar system in the planetarium to find out where it is coldest, meet live animals and find out how they survive in different climates. Please remember to pack lunch for your ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $155-180
Wednesday, 12/30/15
Winter Camp Session 2: Winter Explorations (FULL)Investigate cold temperatures. Make concoctions that bring winter snow and ice inside, including some we can eat! Explore the solar system in the planetarium to find out where it is coldest, meet live animals and find out how they survive in different climates. Please remember to pack lunch for your ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $155-180
Saturday, 01/02/16
Science of CocktailsScience of Cocktails tickets include an open bar, hors d'oeuvres, and special cocktail-related activities, demonstrations, and programs. See web link for details. 21+ only
Where: San FranciscoCost: $120 Advance $145 after Jan 7
Sunday, 01/03/16
11th Annual Point Reyes National Seashore Fungus FairJoin us for the 11th annual Point Reyes National Seashore Fungus Fair. Attend free lectures in the Bear Valley Visitor Center Auditorium. Learn about fungi and their role in the many Point Reyes habitats, from grasslands to redwoods. See the remarkable colors and shapes of wild mushrooms collected in the ...
Where: Point Reyes StationCost:
Monday, 01/04/16
Quadrantids Meteor ShowerHang out on the hill with us as we watch the Quadrantids Meteor Shower make it's annual trip through our atmosphere and light up the night sky. Our scientists will be ready to help you catch the brightest meteors in this prolific shower!*Visibility may be obscured by the waning gibbous ...
Where: OaklandCost: $5
Energy and Economic Development: What We Know and What We Should KnowWhile energy sector development is rightly seen as key to broader economic development and poverty reduction, empirical evidence on some important aspects of the energy-development nexus remains surprisingly thin. After presenting the contours of the energy and development topic broadly, the presentation will review what we know about the connections, ...
Signatures of Neutron Star Mergers in the Era of Advanced LIGOCoalescing stellar mass compact objects (binary neutron stars and black holes) are promising sources for the direct detection of gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO in the next few years, if not this fall. Maximizing the scientific return from such a discovery will require identifying a coincident electromagnetic counterpart. One possible ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
After Dark: Let's Have a BallCelebrate the new year with a round of bubbly-and a plethora of spherical phenomena. Don goofy goggles to play your favorite schoolyard games with altered sight, and see what happens once you take them off. Peer at circular denizens of the biosphere, such as rotating colonies of Volvox, a genus ...
You're never too old to learn new tricks, so why not learn a few? Back by popular demand, NightLife is serving up a host of how-to workshops, demos, and more!
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Birds & Botany Hike the forests, meadows and hills around Pine Flat and up Redhill with ACR Volunteer Patrick Woodworth & ACR Resource Ecologist Dave Self. We'll be watching (and listening) for birds on the hike out. After lunch, we'll botanize as we consider the seasonal interplay between bird foods, habitat history and current activity ...
Where: HealdsburgCost: Free
42nd Annual Santa Cruz Fungus FairLearn about the hundreds of beautiful and fascinating species of mushrooms found in the Santa Cruz/Monterey and Bay Area. Find fungi on display in a re-created woodland habitat. This unique Santa Cruz tradition features three days of fantastic fun, informative speakers and demonstrations, with fungal activities for the whole family. ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $5
'Of Mice and Plants' and 'Secretive inhabitant of the beach and dunes: Snowy Plovers on the West Coast'Native mice on sand dunes consume the seeds of plants. Recent research at Point Reyes National Seashore has shown that invasive European beachgrass provides shelter that allows mice to consume large quantities of fruits of the endangered plant, Tidestrom's lupine. The recent large-scale restoration at Abbotts Lagoon, which has removed ...
Where: Point Reyes StationCost: Free
Our Fantastic MoonThe full moon is the second brightest object in the sky. This talk will be initiated with a historical overview of the role played by the moon in Indian, Mesopotamian, and Meso-american cultures. It will be proceed with a discussion of few curious facts about the geometry of its orbital ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Green Friday: 'Racing to Zero'At the January Green Friday Racing To Zero will be shown. Racing To Zero is a documentary film 55 minutes long shown at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October, 2014 that portrays the existing programs and plans of San Francisco's high "let's end waste" goals. Racing To Zero is ...
Steve Gottlieb has been an active observer and catalogue junkie for over 25 years and member of SFAA since 1981. He's written a number of deep-sky observing articles for Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, Deep Sky Magazine as well as the SFAA bulletin. His 600 favorite deep-sky objects are featured in ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($3 Parking)
Saturday, 01/09/16
42nd Annual Santa Cruz Fungus FairLearn about the hundreds of beautiful and fascinating species of mushrooms found in the Santa Cruz/Monterey and Bay Area. Find fungi on display in a re-created woodland habitat. This unique Santa Cruz tradition features three days of fantastic fun, informative speakers and demonstrations, with fungal activities for the whole family. ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, $5 Students & 62+
Family Program: Succulents for Little Green ThumbsChildren of all ages, together with their parent/guardian, will explore amazing succulents, discover where and how they grow, and pot-up their plants to take home. The program features a mini-tour of the Arid House and Desert collections.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 Child/$12 Adult General, $12/$8 Member
Little Explorers Workshop: Tails and WorkshopsMake take-home projects and do activities with our menagerie of animals, including rabbits, turtles, and birds. Young children develop an appreciation of living things and spark their curiosity with a new animal theme each week.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $65-80
Low Tide WalkJoin us for a series of coastal adventures. We will be taking advantage of the multiple low tides this season with a sequence of Low Tide Walks. We will return to a few of our favorite stomps as well as venturing to some new spots. When the tide is low ...
Where: Half Moon BayCost: $20
Oceans Aglow: Family Night Hike & CampfireJoin NatureBridge Golden Gate as we discover one of the most amazing natural phenomenon, bioluminescence. We will hike out to Rodeo Beach and explore the sands for twinkling plankton. Where did they come from? Why are they blinking? Are they here all the time? We will try and answer all these and other ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $12/person
The Physics of Time TravelIs time travel science fiction or a plausible reality? Written about for centuries and theorized by the most celebrated scientists, the quantum mechanics of time travel are still a hot topic in modern physics. Using popular movies as a framework, Professor Wharton will outline several distinct categories of consistent time ...
