Exploring the z~2.3 Cosmic Web with 3D Lyman-Alpha Forest Tomography The hydrogen Lyman-alpha forest absorption, seen along the line-of-sight to bright distant quasars, has been an important probe of the high-redshift (z>2) cosmic web. In recent years, we have conducted Keck observations targeted instead at the Ly-a forest absorption of z~2-3 star-forming galaxies at ~24mag. This allows us to measure ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
2nd Annual Microbiome Symposium1:30 pm - 1:40 pmWelcome & Overview: Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, Chairman, Department of Radiology1:40 pm - 2:05 pmAmi Bhatt: A Multi- 'Omic Approach for the Identification of Microbiome-specific Epigenetic and Transcriptomic Host Signatures2:05 pm - 2:30 pmSusan Holmes: The Vaginal Microbiome of Pregnancy in High-Definition2:30 pm - 2:55 pmJulie Parsonnet: ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
UC Berkeley Egyptology lecture: Casino Royale in ancient skyscrapers? In recent campaigns in Tuna el-Gebel (Ashmunein/Hermoupolis Magna), several six-sided dice have been unearthed. These have been found in settlements of tower houses close to the temple, and the archaeological evidence suggests that these houses must have been priestly properties. The dice are small and of simple material, and ...
Four decades from its pioneering first steps at Bell Labs, microphotonics is transitioning from a few components to large-scale integrated systems on chip. In the near term, this can address severe bottlenecks seen in complex digital electronic systems – through integration with relatively simple but efficient photonic systems. In the ...
During the past two decades, headlines on newspapers across the country have proclaimed such things as: "Scientists and the American Public Disagree Sharply over Global Warming." And one U.S. Senator has pronounced that the global warming issue is "dead" in the minds of Americans. Meanwhile, emissions reduction bills, such as Waxman-Markey, have been defeated in the Congress. Is ...
Greg Makowski will talk about using Deep Learning to do real-time scoring in practical applications. He will talk about the current state of the art and what will be done in the future. The talk is based on both his academic and research background and his considerable experience in ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Nerd Night East Bay #38: Drones, Gumbo, ReligionThe first Nerd Nite East Bay of the new year will have three amazing talks. NNSF and Nerd Nite Global alumni Jacob Ward (though I suppose you may also know him from Al Jazeera America and/or his stint as editor-in-chief of Popular Science) will shock you with tales of killer ...
Where: OaklandCost: $8 advance $10 at door
Tuesday, 01/26/16
Nursery Series: Growing for RestorationDid you think that we just go to our local nursery and pick up the over 100,000 plants to use in restoration projects each year? Wrong.To kick-off the nursery series, join Ely Huerta Ortiz (Nurseries Education Manager) to learn what is involved in producing our native plant crops each year, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Donation encouraged
Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Attention and Working MemoryWorking memory is of central importance for high-level cognition in the primate. My group takes a brute-force approach to studying 'how working memory works' -- with brain imaging and brain stimulation methods -- and we have found ourselves moving increasingly "upstream", away from the prefrontal cortex and toward the thalamocortical ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The bizarre orbits of minor planets beyond NeptuneThe major planets in our solar system are on nearly circular orbits in a well-defined disk plane. The minor planets, however, take very different paths around the sun. Many minor planets are on orbits that tilt 30 degrees or more out of this disk plane; bizarrely, as Dr. Madgian will ...
At the Paris climate summit last month, 195 nations agreed to go on a carbon diet. In June energy ministers from around the world will gather in San Francisco to advance their plans for cutting use of fossil fuels while keeping economies growing. That is a major transition and the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Member, $7 Student
Health and Hope from the Ocean Depths to the Mountain TopsFrom the depths of the ocean to the highest mountain summits, our planet is under assault as never before. From very different perspectives, two female adventurers share their extraordinary worldwide experiences to inspire action to meet urgent environmental challenges that face us now and in the future. Their message is ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
Biodiversity and the Native Plant GardenerLearn about the critical role native plants play in a healthy environment and what you can do to celebrate and save them. Provide habitat for wildlife, conserve natural resources, save money, and give your garden a sense of place -- by using native plants. Plant lists will be available. Our ...
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
CES 2016 DownloadThis is our annual sharing of the new and unusual things seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. This event has proven to be a very popular one to attend for people that are in the industry or just have a curiosity. See photos and hear explanations about ...
Where: Sana ClaraCost: $10 General, Free for IEEE CES members
Of Orcas and Men - What Killer Whales Can Teach UsAccompanied by photos and sounds, David Neiwert talks about the often-fraught relationship between humans and killer whales, what we've learned about these creatures in the last fifty years, and why we now know they deserve not just our awe but our deep respect. In the end, he makes the case ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $5 Donation goes toward Student Research Grants
The Hertzprung-Russel DiagramThis month's speaker is Jeff Adkins.The HR diagram is the Rosetta Stone for decoding the organization, aging and evolution of stars.This month's what's up by Antonia Nafarrate who will be presenting his latest ideas on animal orientation mechanisms.
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
Kick Off of Silicon Valley Reads 2016Emmi Itaranta, author of Memory of Water, and Benjamin Parzybok, author of Sherwood Nation, are interviewed on stage by Mercury News columnist Sal Pizarro. Co-sponsored by Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley. Welcoming music performed by Del Mar High School Saxophone Ensemble under the direction of William Burkhead.No tickets or reservations requiredDoors ...
Where: CampbellCost: Free
Supernovas: Gravity-powered Neutrino BombsImagine taking a ball of hot plasma more massive than the sun and suddenly compressing it to a super-dense object the size of a city. This sounds like science fiction, yet it is exactly what happens in the centers of massive stars, causing them to explode so violently that they ...
Speaker: George Savage is a co-founder of Proteus Digital Health (formerly Proteus Biomedical). He is also a managing member of Spring Ridge Ventures. From 1994-1999, Savage co-founded FemRx and served as a director and senior vice president of research and development during which time FemRx completed an IPO and was ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Reforming Water Allocation Systems - A California Case StudyWater allocation systems in the United States and many other nations were developed a century or more ago to handle very different problems than confront water policymakers today. The resulting systems hampers the governments' ability to meet their populations' needs. This has been especially true in California during the recent ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Three speakers at Romberg Tiburon CenterSam Ayyagari (Cohen Lab) Examining the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Functional Diversity in the Rainwater Killifish (Lucania parva) Alison Fisher (Carpenter Lab) Ocean Acidification Effects on Photosynthetic Symbionts in the Sea Anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica Stephanie Saffouri (Boyer Lab) The impacts of invasive Limonium on a native congener in San Francisco ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Citizen Science Workshop: Introduction to iNaturalist Have you ever seen a flower, tree, bird, mushroom, or insect and wished you knew what it was? Well, now you can find out with iNaturalist! This online platform allows you to tap into a global community of naturalists, biologists, and other nature enthusiasts to help you learn about nearly ...
How do we know what's real? That's not a trick question. Sensory science is increasingly proving that we don't perceive reality: we construct it through perception. In her new book, award-winning science journalist Kara Platoni introduces us to the researchers at the forefront of this fascinating field and the biohackers ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
Handling Your Feelings About Climate ChangeClimate change has joined sex, politics and religion as a topic not to raise in polite company. But don't blame deniers or oil companies for the socially constructed silence. People who are aware of the need to build a cleaner economy struggle with how to talk about it without turning ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Rocks and Minerals of Importance to the Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay AreaOur speaker will be Mark Hylkema, a State archaeologist with Bay Area connections. He will talk about our local tribes and how they used the rock and mineral resources available to them. There will also be a door prize drawing and items available by silent auction.
Where: Los AltosCost: free
Data-driven medicine: the California Kids Cancer Comparison ProjectEach year 500 California children with cancer either lack or fail to respond to standard therapies. The California Kids Cancer Comparison (CKCC) project led by the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute is one of two demonstration projects selected in 2015 by the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, a public-private ...
Join us for this special talk by Shelagh Fritz, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy's horticulturist and program manager at the Gardens of Alcatraz. Shelagh began working as the first paid horticulturist on Alcatraz in 2006. As the gardens' program manager since 2009, she has been a driving force in ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission
Star Formation and Black Hole Growth in Strongly Evolving GalaxiesGlobally, we know that galaxies have strongly evolved across cosmic time, going through a peak of activity and stellar growth when the universe was 1/4 to 1/2 of its current age, and steadily declining since. What is lesser known, but currently under a strong debate, are (1) the physical gas ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Sleep Like a Baby: Myths About Insomnia and AgingThis talk will present information on the definition, epidemiology, and impact of insomnia, while debunking common insomnia misconceptions and presenting available treatment options. Discussion of a non-pharmacological treatment study will also be included.Speaker: Donn Posner, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
WATER ON THE MOON: PROSPECTING FOR FUN AND PROFIT Thanks to a number of space missions to the Moon,we now know there are volatile compounds, including water ice, cold trapped at the lunar poles. How did they come to be there, and can water ice and other materials comprise a usable resource for space exploration? We will review what ...
It's the most refreshing week of the year, SF Beer Week is here!Sip your way through a pop-up beer hall with dozens of local breweries including Ale Industries, Almanac, Anchor Brewing, Calicraft Brewing Co., Drake's Brewing, Fort Point, Golden State Cider, New Bohemia, Pine Street, Six Rivers Brewery, Triple Voodoo, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Remaking the PlanetIncreasing droughts, floods and other severe climate-driven events are raising questions about building a planetary panic button. One possible solution is hacking the sky and oceans on a scale unprecedented in human history. Options for geoengineering include a stratospheric veil against the sun, the cultivation of photosynthetic plankton, and fleets ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Hawaii is one of the last habitable places on Earth reached by humansFrom first Hawaiian arrivals c. 1000-1200 A.D. to now, humans have accelerated erosionDirty water threatens the economic and social assets of the islandsMapping, monitoring and modeling (M3) can focus cost-effective mitigationSpeaker: Jonathan Stock, USGS
What's going on inside the nucleus of an atom? Why does it spit out radiation? Did you know that you are exposed to radioactivity every day? Learn the facts about this somewhat controversial topic.Part of After Dark.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $10 Members
Friday, 01/29/16
She's Geeky Bay Area 2016Join us for She's Geeky Bay Area 2016! She's Geeky is the premier networking conference for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Since 2007, She's Geeky has provided a safe, friendly place for women in STEM to "geek out" and talk about their jobs, their passions, their lives and ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $140 for both days; discount rates available
Water DetectivesIn Matamoros, Mexico, a severe water shortage led to a one-of-a-kind solution: The city put local children in charge of changing adults' attitudes and habits. Thousands of schoolchildren were enlisted as "water detectives." Educated about resource conservation, they were encouraged to discuss proper water usage with adults and were authorized ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Computational protein structure visualization, modeling, and designIf genes are the blueprint of life, proteins are the machinery itself. We will cover the basics of how genes are translated into proteins, and how those proteins fold up into secondary, tertiary and quaternary structures. We will also introduce you to structural databases, and computational tools for protein structure prediction, ...
Where: OaklandCost: FREE
Saturday, 01/30/16
She's Geeky Bay Area 2016Join us for She's Geeky Bay Area 2016! She's Geeky is the premier networking conference for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Since 2007, She's Geeky has provided a safe, friendly place for women in STEM to "geek out" and talk about their jobs, their passions, their lives and ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $140 for both days; discount rates available
Guided Nature WalkExperience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve. Our half-day guided nature walks are on Saturdays throughout fall and spring. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained Bouverie volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral. Guided Nature Walks ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Donations appreciated
SOS Seafood Festival: Sustaining Our SeasThe SOS Seafood For Thought Chefs' Pavilion will include celebrity chefs' demos, a panel discussion on ocean warming and sustainability, the seafood chain, and the role of the restaurant industry and food-serving community in helping to shape the future of local seafood. Chefs and speakers have been curated by the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members
Youth for the Environment and Sustainability (YES) ConferenceStudents from around the San Francisco Bay Area will join together to discuss transportation issues, learn how our personal decisions impact climate change, and share ways of encouraging everyone to walk, bike, take transit, or carpool to school in order to improve air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area.Join ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Digital Design and Laser Cutting/Engraving Workshop for Educators SEM Link's Math and Science Career Academy is partnering with OakLabs to host a Digital Design and Laser Cutting/Engraving Workshop Series for Educators. Attendee can look forward to learning the basics concepts of digital design, laser engraving and project development. Educators will also leave the workshop with ideas for project ...
Come see what it's like to travel hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. Learn what migration is like for different animals. Test your scent memory as you match different rivers like a salmon, discover the incredible migratory journeys of birds, make crafts, and more during Science Saturday: Migration Madness. In honor ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Keeping the Water FlowingWater's unique status as a renewable but finite resource misleads us into thinking we can always produce more of it. Susan Leal, author of Running Out of Water and former General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, will discuss her decade of research on the world's water and ...
Where: CupertinoCost:
John Reber, the Man with Grand IdeasIn the 1940s, John Reber looked out over the SF Bay and visualized a massive civil works project of dams and locks to harvest fresh drinking water, and barriers that would support railway systems and highways. His intention was to improve the quality of life for Bay Area business and ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Sunday, 01/31/16
Robotics and the Future with David CalkinsKick off Livermore Reads Together and Livermore Science and Engineering Month with roboticist David Calkins. He is the president of the Robotics Society of America, former professor of robotics and computer engineering at San Francisco State University, and founder of the international RoboGames (world's largest robot competition). Calkins will bring ...
Where: LivermoreCost: FREE
You Be the Chemist Challenge - grades 5-8 Are you ready to be a Chemist? Families and teachers of Grades 5-8 are invited to register their school for the San Francisc Bay Area - You Be the Chemist Challenge! Grand Prize is a week of amazing science camp and a trip to the State Finals.Contest Rules: http://www.chemed.org/programs/challenge/competition-rules/Study Material: http://www.chemed.org/programs/challenge/study-materials/Don't wait ...
