Learn genetic engineering! Biohacking Academy LabEver wondered how GMO's are created or wanted to embrace your mad scientist side?Well, now you can! This lecture series at Counter Culture Labs, Oakland's community lab, will teach you the basics of synthetic biology then let you in the lab to try the techniques yourself.This series of classes is ...
Our August Science Sunday speaker, Steven Haddock, is working on deep-sea gelatinous zooplankton. He is doing research on bioluminescence, biodiversity, and ecology of deep-sea and open-ocean ctenophores, siphonophores, radiolarians, and medusae. In addition to assembling phylogenies for these groups, he is interested in cloning novel photoproteins and fluorescent proteins from ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Solar Energy Training: Free Workshop on How to Install Rooftop PV SystemsJoin others who are interested in helping save the environment one rooftop at a time! This workshop is offered by SunWork, a nonprofit that installs rooftop PV systems on small-energy-footprint homes. You'll learn the basics of rooftop solar energy and gain insights on how to install rooftop photovoltaic (PV) energy ...
Object recognition using convolutional neural networks has been extensively used in the cloud because of its computing costs. However the growth of lightweight hardware like drones and mobile augmented reality turned people's attention towards faster, local solutions that would implement deep learning directly into connected devices. From security cameras that ...
Astronomy on Tap Bay Area: Transfer Orbit!Like Apollo en route to the moon, Astronomy on Tap: Bay Area is in a transfer orbit! We’re moving to a new location on August 22nd in San Francisco: Black Hammer Brewing! To accompany our new locale, we’ve got a great collection of new speakers and activities. We will hear ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Tuesday, 08/23/16
Characterizing the Coldest ExoplanetsThe coldest known exoplanets are still much hotter than the gas giant planets in our own Solar System. Pushing to colder temperatures requires observing in the thermal infrared (3-5 microns) where self-luminous gas-giants peak in brightness. Dr. Andrew Skemer, UC Santa Cruz, will present observational studies characterizing the atmospheres of the ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Can California Get to 100-percent Clean Power?Mark Jacobson leads a team that says California and other states can get to 100-percent renewable power by 2050. Celebrity activists Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio are backing him.But critics say the theoretical plan doesn't consider the hard realities of the power grid and that renewables are sometimes oversold. California ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Creative Collisions: Nerd Nite on the RoadNerd Nite - yeah, that Nerd Nite - hits The Tech's rooftop! Grab a bean bag chair, enjoy the sunset, and have fun with local scientists and topics that bound between the ridiculous and the genius (and often a mixture of both.) Nerd Nite Silicon Valley will be hosted by ...
Where: San JoseCost: $10 General Admission $7 Members
Whipping Past PlutoThis month’s speaker is Dr. Jeffrey Moore of NASA Ames. We will be treated to the latest results from the Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission, New Horizons.This month’s what’s up by Alan Agrawal: “Von Fraunhofer and the Birth of Modern Optical Glassâ€.Â
Everyone loves paper airplanes. We turn into test pilots just by folding sheets of paper. We make them to see how fast they will go or how far they will fly, we even try to do aerobatics with them.One of the top paper airplane makers in the country (and world ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free with admission
Untangling Factors Shaping Community Response to Extreme Events in Coastal Marine EcosystemsA worldwide upsurge in extreme events, including heat waves, storms, and harmful algal blooms (“red tidesâ€) poses escalating threats to species and ecosystems. Scientists increasingly recognize that such rapid, severe perturbations may have even more severe ecological consequences than gradual shifts in stressors such as temperature and ocean chemistry. I ...
Eating Our Future or Feeding Our Health: The Climate Diet ConnectionThis summer, 350Marin offers an evening of education and compassion for all life on this planet. With climate change all too real and ramping up, what can one do? For starters, show up at an event that zeros in on both a cause of the environmental crisis and the cause ...
Where: San AnselmoCost: Free (donations appreciated)
If ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the flim-flam man, join us, your friends. Skeptics in the Pub is a group of like-minded people informally discussing the latest in science or pseudoscience over good eats & ale.7PM 4th Wednesday each month (except November and December)
Happy Hollow is not just a place for kids!      Introducing our early morning Senior Safari Walkabout. Get some exercise while enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. Seniors are invited to challenge their minds, get a little (or a lot) of exercise, and gain unique knowledge ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free admission and parking
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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Volunteering
CA Native Plant Sale: Open NurseryCA Native Plant Sale: Our entire California Natives propagation area (across the street from the garden entrance) will be open on the last Thursday of July and August - July 28 and August 25 - 10:30 a.m - 1:30 p.m., for the public to come shop, browse, get advice and ...
      Learn about lasers at Full-Spectrum Science or pick up a copy of The Sea Forager’s Guide to the Northern California Coast by Kirk Lombad at Conversations About Landscape's talk and book signing. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, ...
This week, NightLife salutes the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service with a celebration of centennial proportions.Catch an enlightening talk by author Dan White, whose book "Under the Stars" takes a humorous and heartfelt look at how America fell in love with camping.Join outdoor rockstars from REI as they ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
A Walk in the Park with David VassarCelebrate the National Park Service Centennial with Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer, director, producer, and documentarian, David Vassar. Â "A Walk in the Park with David Vassar"Â is an epic life-long film retrospective through America's magnificent Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Death Valley National Parks, among others, highlighted with ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 - $55
Learning Sparsifying Transforms for Signal, Image, and Video ProcessingThe sparsity of signals and images in a certain transform domain or dictionary has been exploited in many applications in signal and image processing, including compression, denoising, and notably in compressed sensing, which enables accurate reconstruction from undersampled data. These various applications used sparsifying transforms such as DCT, wavelets, curvelets, ...
 Why is there so much interest in unmanned technology?What are the rules to legally fly within the National Airspace?How does this technology increase safety, lower costs, and lead to the collection of better scientific data?Will this technology become a commonly used tool for Scientists?Speaker: Jeff Sloan, USGSÂ
Join Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world.In 1960, the laser was known as “a solution looking for a problem.†Now we can hardly imagine life without them. Learn what’s special about laser light, how it’s made, and how it’s used in everything from DVD players ...
Embark on a coastal adventure with author, Sea Forager tour guide, and sustainable fishmonger Kirk Lombard at the launch party for his new book, The Sea Forager’s Guide to the Northern California Coast, published by Heyday. A talk will be followed by a book signing and sea shanty songs.Kirk Lombard ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: free preregistration is required
Friday, 08/26/16
Zoovie Night RatatouillePut 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 and popcorn ...
Where: OaklandCost: $7 per adult and $7 per child. For groups of 4 or
 CRISPR/Cas9 is making headlines as a groundbreaking tool for genome editing. But what was the original purpose of this enzyme and how does it work? What is a “CRISPR†and who knew that bacteria get sick? Join us for a conversation on bacterial immune systems and how a single protein ...
Dr. Andreas Burkert is a full professor and chair in Computational Astrophysics at the University of Munich.The International Astronomical Union named the minor planet 267003 Burkert after him. He is a Max-Planck-Fellow at the MPI for extraterrestrial Physics at Garching and Higgs Fellow. From 2011 till 2014 he was the ...
Where: Mt. HamiltonCost:
Saturday, 08/27/16
Sunrise Solitude & Early Morning Wildlife Meet ACR Resource Ecologist Dave Self at the junction of Pine Flat Rd. and Red Winery Rd., 3/4 mile 'east' on Pine Flat Rd from Hwy 128 at Jimtown. We'll drive up to the Preserve, with each person claiming an individual sit-spot. We'll each settle in to appreciate the summer ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: Free
Day of DronesDrones are in the news. Are they scary or not? We've gathered experts in the field along with examples and demonstrations of real drones so you can find out for yourself the potentials and challenges of this new type of aviation technology and where policy is heading in dealing with ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free with admission
Marshlands of DreamsJoin Paul Mueller on a 1-mile walk of the LaRiviere Marsh Trail to find traces of the past. Prior to marsh restoration, learn how Californians utilized the area for farming, quarrying, salt production, and transportation. Â There will be opportunities for bird watching as well.
Learn about rock/mineral hardness with hands-on activities, grow a crystal, learn about geode cutting, and more! This event is brought to you by the Carmel Vally Gem and Mineral Society in partnership with the Museum.
Do you sometimes see paw prints in mud or scat (poop) on the trails and assume that a dog left it? It could be from something else. Come along with me and I will show you how to distinguish and identify the markings of a gray fox. Gain some insights ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
The California Drought - Is It Over or Not?We are in a better situation than last year, but we are still in a situation of great concern. Â Low ground water levels and dealing with the effects of the last four years is still paying a toll on California and most likely for years to come. How much rain ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Promises and Problems in Stem Cell ResearchIn the little over ten years since the voters of California created CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, great progress has been made in advancing stem cell research. CIRM is now funding 16 projects that are in clinical trials and plans to fund another 50 in the next five years ...
Speaker: Dr. Michael Gregg is a Research Astrophysicist in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Davis, but he spends most of his professional time at the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Michael started his career investigating the stellar population of ...
Where: Mt. HamiltonCost: $45 General, $40 Under 16, over 65
Planets of our solar systemPlease join Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society for the August 27th. astronomy program in the Lower Summit Parking Lot of Mt. Diablo State Park. The program starts at 7:30pm (enter the park at least 45 minutes earlier) until 11:00pm. Although there is no fee for this program there is a $10 ...
