The fields of ecology and biogeochemistry hold tremendous potential to contribute to our understanding of climate change. The majority of research to date has focused on describing the problem - estimating rates of carbon losses and greenhouse gas emissions from natural and managed ecosystems. More research is needed to explore ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Climate Game Changer: How San Francisco's Compost Could Heal the PlanetIn 2000, San Francisco became the first major city in the United States to offer curbside collection of food scraps and yard trimmings. Today, the city collects nearly 700 tons of compostable material daily, giving these materials a second life as high-value, commercial-grade compost. Compost is sold to vineyards, farms ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth (2006) brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution.Former Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world to train an army of activists and influence international climate policy. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
The Water Will Come From melting glaciers to alternating droughts and floods, water is the most visible and tangible impact of climate disruption. From Hurricane Harvey to sunny day flooding in Florida, thousands of Americans are dealing with too much storm water and rising seawater. Protecting people and property from all that water will ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $15 Members, $7 Students
"Not too hot, not too cold" begins the prescription for a world that's just right for life as we know it. Finding evidence of life beyond Earth is one of the primary goals of science agencies around the world thanks in large part to NASA's Kepler Mission which launched in ...
Cristina is a Mexican-born marine biologist and photographer who specializes in conservation issues.As a writer and a photographer for the past 25 years, her work centers on the delicate balance between human well-being and healthy ecosystems. As a writer and series editor of her own publishing company, Earth inFocus editions, ...
Humanity Needs Dreamers: Marie CurieIn honor of Curie's 150th birthday, experience a preview screening of the new immersive science film Humanity Needs Dreamers: A Visit With Marie Curie with filmmaker Jen Myronuk and scholar & playwright Susan Marie Frontczak.Find out why a passion for math led a software engineer to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
Thursday, 11/09/17
QFT: A New HopeI will describe a new approach for defining and solving a QFT in the non-perturbative regime. In this method, the QFT is thought of as an RG-flow from some mother UV CFT. Conjectured properties of this underlying CFT are used to numerically determine dynamical quantities along the flow. It should ...
Climate change is the mother of all complex scientific problems. Telling its story requires new methods. Through how-to videos on agroforestry, blog posts about droughts, and photo essays about climate change adaptation crowdsourced from farmers, Amy Cruz, a communication specialist, has found ways to connect real people with this vast ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Improving SleepToday, more than 70 million people domestically and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), over one billion people worldwide are afflicted with sleep disorders. According to a Harvard Medical School study, the economic and medical costs attributed tosleep disorders can cost between $65 to $167 billion annually. Yet sleep ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, $7 Students
A Technical Overview of AV1 Video Codec from Open Media AllianceGoogle embarked on the WebM Project in 2010 to develop open source, royalty-Âfree video codecs designed specifically for media on the Web. The second generation codec released by the WebM project, VP9, Âis currently served by YouTube, and enjoys billions of views per day. Realizing the need for even greater ...
Food: A Four-Course After Dark ProgramHerbivore, carnivore, omnivore: these are just a few of the dietary preferences found in the animal kingdom. From drinking only nectar to devouring a mate, delve into the immense variety of animal dining habits, including our own.A sample menu may include seeing what’s for lunch ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 17.95 advance, 19.95 door, AD members free
Brain & Body NightLifeJoin NightLife for an on-going event series that explores the brain and body with mind-expanding talks, cutting edge demos, and yoga sessions around the museum. Treat your mind and body to yoga sessions around the museum by Yoga Tree, Yoga Works and Outdoor Yoga SF.Feed your brain and body this week as ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Northern California Bats: Demystifying and Discovering these Amazing AnimalsCome learn about the local bats with Director of NorCal Bats Corky Quirk. In her presentation you will learn about bats and discuss the harmful myths that surround these animals. You'll also learn the importance of bats in our environment. Live bats will be presented for viewing and discussion.Editor's Note: ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $15 General, $10 Member, $5 Youth
What is dark matter? Why is it so important to understand what it is? And why has finding it been so hard? For decades, firm astronomical evidence from observations of stars and galaxies has indicated that most of the matter in the universe cannot be seen directly in telescopes. Instead, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Introduction to Integrative RheumatologyIntegrative Rheumatology looks at the whole patient and includes therapies that are appropriate to the individual. These can include diet, nutrition, and botanicals that have been proven to be effective against inflammation in rheumatic disease and autoimmune conditions.Speaker: Neha Shah
Mind in the Making at the Bezos Family Foundation is an unprecedented effort to share the science of children’s learning with the general public families, and professionals who work with children and their families and to translate this research into action. The overall goal of Mind in the Making and ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Taste of Science: 'Humanity Needs Dreamers - Marie Curie'In honor of Curie's 150th birthday, experience a preview screening of the new immersive science film Humanity Needs Dreamers: A Visit With Marie Curie.Written and performed by former engineer & living history scholar Susan Marie Frontczak, Humanity Needs Dreamers presents a first-hand look at Curie's early life in Poland through ...
Everyone talks about mass extinctions. But what are they, really? Can anyone even define them? Let’s see...Dr. Kevin Padian is a professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley and a curator in the Museum of Paleontology. An expert on dinosaurs and the origin of flight, he has authored or edited ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Friday, 11/10/17
Chemapalooza: A UC Berkeley Chemistry FestivalUC Berkeley's chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity. is holding its first annual Chemapalooza event, a one day chemistry festival for guests in K-12, college, and beyond! The event will be held at Berkeley's College of Chemistry and will include a variety of presentations for attendees of all ages, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: 0
Majestic Nature: Forests, Oceans, Deserts, Flowers: Green FridayThe documentary "Majestic Nature:  Forests, Oceans, Deserts, Flowers". This amazing documentary is a pure nature lover's delight. With a passion for nature, acclaimed filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shares his inspirational vision through his extraordinary films. His films for 3D IMAX, DisneyNature, National Geographic and Netflix have inspired audiences worldwide.  Refreshments are served. ...
There will hundreds of hands-on activities, opportunities to meet local scientists and engineers, and plenty of fun and educational entertainment. The entire ballpark is packed to the rafters with science content: on the field, at every entry/exit, and every level of the ballpark. Get ready to unleash your inner scientist.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Oceans Aglow: Family Night Hike & CampfireJoin NatureBridge Golden Gate as we discover one of the most amazing natural phenomenon, bioluminescence. Â 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 ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $15 per person
'The Higgs boson. The God Particle?' This will be a very exciting talk on one of the most fundamentally important discoveries in elementary particle physics. Heather will introduce the complex experiments that we use to study this particle and explain how we actually go about measuring its properties. She will also review what we currently know ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
City Star Party @ The PresidioCome join us for our monthly San Francisco City Star Party. SFAA members provide telescopes for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check the SFAA website for the latest updates…bad weather or overcast skies will cancel!
Documenting Wildlife on the MayacamasSpend the morning learning about some of the wildlife that inhabits the Preserves with Ginny Fifield, Wildlilfe Camera Specialist, ACR Mountain Lion Project Team, and Modini Mayacamas Preserves Volunteer. We’ll learn about identifying field signs of mountain lions, bobcat, coyotes and more. Based on what we find, we'll guess what ...
Where: GeyservilleCost: $20 suggested donation
Beginning BirdingExperience summer bird watching in the Marin Headlands.  Join volunteer Jane Haley on an easy walk along Rodeo Lagoon to discover our summer birds.  Bring binoculars and field guides. Meet at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center. Bring field guides and binoculars.Ages 8 and up. Reservations required
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Hayward Fault Walking TourOver the last million years, the natural beauty of Fremont has been shaped by the Hayward Fault. Instructors will be leading these 'ground breaking' tours and exposing the science and beauty of the Hayward Fault. This fault is one of several active faults in the world actually creeping at 5 ...
Desire paths are well-trodden trails created by foot traffic, where the ground becomes imprinted evidence of a place that wants to be discovered, and the people who seek it out. Grab your walking stick for Desire Trails, a once-a-year event where artists activate the Headlands landscape. In this edition, sound ...
Say hello to the wonderful winter migrants coming to spend the season at Lake Merritt! Join Constance Taylor this Sunday on a fun and casual walk for birders of all levels. We'll have binoculars you can borrow.
Where: OaklandCost: Free (RSVP required)
Wonder Funday: Mad Science Join us for Wonder Funday, an exciting new annual event featuring an afternoon of creative eats, expansive Bay views, and eye-opening exhibits. The theme of the premiere event on Sunday, November 12 is Mad Science. Families are invited to a day of mad fun exploring how the world works by ...
Subsurface Flow and Transport Team Leader, Computational Earth ScienceLos Alamos National LaboratoryShale gas is an unconventional fossil energy resource profoundly impacting US energy independence and is projected to last for at least 100 years. Production of methane and other hydrocarbons from low permeability shale involves hydraulic fracturing of rock, establishing ...
Joe McBride (Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley) will discuss how climate change will alter the species composition of urban tree populations.  Likely changes in the composition of common street tree species in California were examined. Of the 140 tree species studied, as many as 83 species may be unsuitable for warming of the ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
DARK ENERGY AND EXOPLANETS: NASA'S WFIRST MISSION and CHARACTERIZING NEW WORLDS: NASA'Z HabEX MISSIONJason Rhodes will discuss what will happen after the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launches next year, NASA’s next flagship astronomy mission will be the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). When it launches in the mid 2020s, WFIRST will revolutionize the study of dark energy and exoplanets.Alina Kiesling describes ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
The Provable Virtue of Laziness in Motion PlanningLaziness is defines as "the quality of being unwilling to work". It is a common approach used in many algorithms (and by many graduate students) where work, or computation, is delayed until absolutely necessary. In the context of motion planning, this idea has been frequently used to reduce the computational ...
Electromagnetic fields represent one of the most fundamental aspects of nature. The ability to control electromagnetic field has broad implication for a wide range of technologies. In this talk, we review our recent efforts in using the capability for controlling electromagnetic fields for energy applications. In particular, we discuss our ...
Join us at the San Mateo Public Library for an engaging presentation about CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing tool that can be used to correct the genetic mutations that cause disease. Dr. Matthew Porteus is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University and attending physician at Stanford’s pediatric hospital. He is ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Black Holes: An Up Close and Personal LookThe Event Horizon Telescope is an experiment that is being performed on a large and ever-increasing array of radio telescopes that span the Earth, from Hawaii to Chile and from the South Pole to Arizona. In April of this year, the EHT collaboration has performed its first set of observations ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Tuesday, 11/14/17
Tracking microbial metabolism in the oceanMarine microbes play fundamental roles in global biogeochemical cycles through the fixation and remineralization of carbon and nitrogen. During their growth cycles, microbes release metabolites into the complex dissolved organic carbon pool, establishing biochemical connections among members of the microbial loop. Metabolites include important biological compounds such as vitamins, osmolytes, metabolic precursors, amino ...
Experts estimate that some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects crawl, burrow, swim, and fly on Earth. Roughly 80% of all the world's species are members of the class Insecta! Our speaker, entomologist Vernard Lewis, will present the latest research on the biology, detection, and control of three particularly villainous house guests: ants, termites, ...
Where: San RafaelCost: $10
Measuring and modeling of Ostwald Ripening in Residually Trapped CO2Despite its major influence on storage capacity, CO2 plume migration rate, and rates of CO2 dissolution and mineralization, residual trapping remains perhaps the least understood of the trapping mechanisms following CO2 injection in geologic formations. Whereas conventional multi-phase flow models assume that the residually trapped non-wetting phase is permanently immobilized, multiple physiochemical mechanisms exist ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
World Marine Fog Climatology Based Upon Ship Observations for 1950-2007The world distribution of fog is presented from ship weather observations over a 58 year period. For the world ocean excluding polar areas, fog is an infrequent event with the median occurrence 0.1 % of the time. Greater fog occurrence is concentrated in three distinct areas: NW Oceans, marginal seas ...
This talk presents the design of a series of energy-efficient microprocessors done by a group of students at UC Berkeley. They are based on an open and free Berkeley RISC-V architecture and implement several techniques for operation in a very wide voltage range utilizing 28nm FDSOI. To enable agile dynamic ...
7:00-7:25: Jeff Johnson (USF/ Computer Science) on "Designing Technology for an Aging Population"Designers and developers need to design digital products and online services that are accessible to a large and growing segment of the population...Read more7:25-7:50: Peter Maravelis(City Lights) on "Schizo-curation: Transcending the boundaries of spectatorship"Schizo-curation explores ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Greening the GrayOur paved-over cities are being slowly converted to green spongy habitats. How do rain gardens, trees, and soils benefit water, wildlife, and people? Hear about the history and potential from Peter Schultze-Allen, who brought “low impact development†to Emeryville’s legacy of heavy industry and pollution.
Fun Fact 1: We all have brains.Fun Fact 2: Spend too much time on social media and you may not believe Fact 1.It's our most unique organ but what really is so special about our brain? Why do we search for miracles? Why does our memory of last night’s dinner ...
Join us for the inaugural meeting of a new community project at Counter Culture Labs: Kombucha Genomics! For all you fermented foods lovers out there, this is the project for you! During the course of this project, we will study the microbiome of kombucha and other fermented foods, maybe even try to trace ...
