CalDay 2018Come to UC Berkeley's annual campus-wide open house. There are hundreds of lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, and activities for all ages. Check the weblink for a full schedule.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Low Tide WalkMSI 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, and take in spectacular views as we slowly retreat to shore. Will we find crabs, sea stars, eels ...
Where: Half Moon BayCost: $20
57th Annual Wildflower ShowFor over half a century this Wildflower Show has been one of the largest on the Northern and Western Hemispheres with over 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. This is truly an event that generations of families can remember.The Museum partners with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free - $8.95 (see website)
Guided Nature WalkExperience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve. Our 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 begin ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: $20 suggested donation
Wildflower Walk at Fort FunstonWildflowers! To know them is to love them. It’s springtime, and all throughout California the wildflowers are beginning to bloom, including in your very own Golden Gate National Parks. We invite you to come and enjoy the huge variety of both native and exotics on display and prepare to be ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
WWII in the Shadow of Mt. TamWWII saw the establishment of a bustling wartime shipyard called Marinship in Sausalito. Innovations, ingenuity, and inspiration all played a part in the day-to-day routine. Join Ranger Joanne on a 2-mile walking tour of the area surrounding the Bay Model to experience what life in the shipyards was like from ...
Meet Dr. Leslea Hlusko, Dr. Lisa White, and other local science heroes and learn how to prepare the young women in your life for a STEM future… now! This event also features Oakland science celebrity CaT Bobino, host of "In The Know Science Show." This event is part of the Berkeley ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
Sailing Ships of SF BayIn commemoration of the building of the Matthew Turner, the first Brigantine ship to be built in CA in 100 years. This ship has a permanent home on our Bay Model pier. We will cover some of the interesting early sailing vessels that made their way in and around the ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
A Universe of Universes?Many scientists now think that there might be more than a single universe. Our universe may be just one example in a far larger “multiverse,†but an unusually complex one that is conducive to the existence of life. Come learn about the relevant lines of reasoning and their profound implications.Speaker: ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost: Free
Jazz Under the StarsCome peer through our telescopes and see craters on the Moon, the visible planets, star clusters, and more while we listen to CSM's very own KCSM Jazz 91 FM. Dress warmly. Free parking in Marie Curie Lot 5. Directions are available on the Maps, Directions & Parking page.
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Earth Day 2018 at the Golden Gate National ParksThe Parks Conservancy - dedicated to fostering a nature-loving community in the Bay Area - is joining forces with the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and our local park partners to offer a celebratory day of service opportunities. Signup for a commemorative activity or one of our regular drop-in ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sunday, 04/22/18
Earth DayJoin Sausalito Woman's Club in helping make Sausalito shine. There will be various locations throughout town where you can get supplies to help clean. Visit ww.EarthDay94965.com for starting locations & to register. Volunteers will be treated to a pizza party at noon at the Bay Model. Local environmental groups will ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
57th Annual Wildflower ShowFor over half a century this Wildflower Show has been one of the largest on the Northern and Western Hemispheres with over 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. This is truly an event that generations of families can remember.The Museum partners with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free - $8.95 (see website)
Berkeley Earth DayBerkeley Earth Day brings the Bay Area environmental community together to celebrate our vision for a sustainable future. Get inspired and connect with eco-minded comrades and learn how you can further reduce your impact on the planet and have fun doing it! This event features dozens of vendors sharing their ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Marine Science Sunday: Magnificent MigrationsThis month we celebrate the animals that love to travel! Marine mammals are famous for their epic migrations along the California coast. Docent-led tours will take you around the hospital showcasing some of the patients we are caring for and how our veterinarians are getting them better. Classroom presentations through ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Restore and Create: Earth Day Celebration at Stinson BeachThe 14th Annual Earth Day Celebration at Stinson Beach combines care for the environment with arts activities for all ages. Participants can help with beach cleanup or creek restoration, and join with over a dozen collaborating artists engaging the public in sculpture-making with natural materials, making music, dancing, and more. ...
Where: Stinson BeachCost: Free
Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman: MirrorsWhy do you see yourself in reverse when you look at yourself in a mirror? Why are you not upside down? Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman reveals the physics behind different types of mirrors and reflects on fascinating aspects of their construction and applications.Presentations at 1:00 and 3:00
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
taste of science: Discovery of another worldLearn about your micro neighbors!Have you ever wonder what happen around you in the small micro-world? Put on your explorer's outfit, build with us your fancy accessories (to take home afterwards!)Â and go out in a park scout about plants, insects, water, and more with our experts!Here is how our journey ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: $7
taste of science: Life on EarthThe Coevolution of Earth and LifeWe tend to think of earth influencing the history of life - volcanic eruptions causing extinctions, for example - but the reverse is also true: the evolution of life has fundamentally altered the composition and function of our planet. Major events in the evolution of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $5
taste of science: Un-consciousness and Bacterial VirusesThe wonderful world of bacterial virusesThere are more bacterial viruses (also known as "bacteriophages" or just "phages") on the planet than bacteria, animals, plants, fungi, and other eukaryotes combined. While phages only infect bacteria, those infections can ultimately impact other parts of the ecosystem, including humans! This talk will discuss ...
Where: BerkeleyCost:
San Francisco City Star PartyCome 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!
Reading the news is a lousy way to learn about global warming. Why? Because news outlets focus on what is novel, so they rarely discuss the big picture that has been causing climate scientists to lose sleep for decades. This presentation provides the big picture. It will arm you with ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Monday, 04/23/18
Probing Dark Energy with Galaxy ClustersGalaxy cluster surveys have been recognized as one of the most powerful probes of dark energy, but their constraining power is limited by the accuracy of mass calibration. I will present my research on using simulations to improve mass calibration methods, including galaxy dynamics, weak gravitational lensing, clustering, and X-ray ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Climate change and extinctions: lessons from the marine fossil recordThe oceans are being transformed as temperature, pH, and oxygen content all change at rates unprecedented in the recent geological past. That rapid pace of environmental change may place marine organisms at risk of extinction, but predicting vulnerability to climate change stressors remains a challenge. Although rates of change far ...
The Energy System is transforming, based in large part on the introduction of renewable energy integration into the electricity grid. Â However, this is only a start of the transition as we strive towards sustainability. The other sectors, transport, heat/cooling are not as amenable to renewable energy technologies and electrification of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Overinformativeness? Rationally Redundant ReferenceReferring is one of the most basic and prevalent uses of language. How do speakers choose from the wealth of referring expressions at their disposal?Rational theories of language use have come under attack for decades for not being able to account for the seemingly irrational overinformativeness ubiquitous in referring expressions. ...
This colloquium will be given by Professor Tadashi Takayanagi of Kyoto University.
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Magnetoelectricity in 2D materialsMagnetoelectricity, the generation of magnetic moments by electric fields and vice versa, is a phenomenon discovered more than a century ago. It has gained renewed recent interests because of the discovery of new magnetoelectric materials, the notion of band topology effects in magnetoelectricity and its promise for electrical control of ...
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Since its founding, SpaceX has reinvigorated the US space launch industry, delivering cargo to and from the International Space ...
THE QUANTUM AND THE COSMOS: THE QUEST FOR THE ORIGIN OF ORDINARY AND DARK MATTERStefano Profumo will explain why modern cosmology is a scientific theory, and introduce the two key ingredients that this scientific theory is based upon: dark matter and dark energy. Stefano will argue that it is far more interesting to think about what the dark matter is, as this is the ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Advanced LIGO: Speculations about the Future of Gravitational Wave DetectorsWhat might the future of the LIGO detectors look like? Although the interferometers are not yet at design sensitivity, Advanced LIGO has already detected gravitational waves from merging black holes and from merging neutron stars. And the future looks bright - many improvements are now underway as we push the ...
Widespread adoption of electric vehicles is needed to reduce air pollution and avoid the most severe consequences of climate change. As electric cars have become increasingly available, trucks and buses represent the next frontier for electrification. Heavy-duty vehicles comprise a small fraction of vehicles on the road but disproportionately contribute ...
Large-scale GPU-Accelerated Data Visualization with MapDGPU-powered in-memory databases and analytics platforms are the logical successor to CPU in-memory systems, largely due to recent increases in the onboard memory available on GPUs. With sufficient memory, GPUs possess numerous advantages over CPUs, including much greater compute and memory bandwidth, as well as a native graphics pipeline for ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
taste of science: A trip to a scientist’s denVisit to the Dean Felsher Cancer Research LabThe Felsher lab is working on figuring out the mechanisms by which tumors come back or spread to other parts of the body. They study models of liver, lung, kidney cancers, and lymphoma.They notably focus on developing new innovative therapies to prevent cancer ...
Where: StanfordCost: $7
taste of science: A Brief History of Your Mind and Building Sandcastles for SexA History of Your Mind in 17 MinutesToday, you may have read some emails, bought groceries, or used public transportation. But once upon a time, you were a baby. Babies can’t read, reason about money, or interpret a bus schedule. How did you get so smart?Speaker: Mariel Goddu, UC BerkeleyWill ...
LSST CCD Testing and OptimizationThe Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a 8-meter diameter, wide-field survey telescope under construction in Chile, which will perform a 10-year optical and near-infrared survey using a 3.2 giga-pixel camera. In order to achieve the desired read-out speed of 2 seconds, the LSST camera focal plane will be heavily ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Understanding IceHuge ice sheets cover Antarctica and Greenland. Glaciers and snowpack act as frozen reservoirs providing water for surrounding communities. We hear about ice when glaciers recede or ice sheets break off, but what are the processes governing these changes? What role does ice play in the behavior, evolution, and stability of ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Modeling Subhalos and Satellites in Milky Way-like Systems High-resolution hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-mass halos offer exquisite resolution and provide insights into the small-scale challenges associated with cold dark matter. However, these simulations are computationally expensive, so studying a diverse sample of simulated Milky Way analogs is currently infeasible. We present a machine learning model trained on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Electron Correlation from Vacuum FluctuationsThe traditional view of electron correlation is based on the cluster expansion of the correlation energy into contributions from pairs, triples,...of electrons. Fluctuation-based electronic structure methods, on the other hand, use vacuum fluctuations corresponding to virtual pairs of electrons and holes traveling forward and backward in time, and their multiples, ...
Fabric for Deep Learning (FfDL)Training deep neural network models requires a highly tuned system with the right combination of software, drivers, compute, memory, network, and storage resources.Deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Caffe, Torch, Theano, and MXNet have contributed to the popularity of deep learning by reducing the effort and skills needed to ...
With their immense size and peculiar appearance, leatherback turtles resemble species that inhabited Earth in the distant past. A swimming and diving machine, they are uniquely adapted for life at sea. This ancient mariner is the most widely distributed sea turtle, spanning tropical and subarctic waters worldwide. The endangered western ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $5 donation
taste of science: Neuro-NightTwo great neuroscientists will talk about how illusion can be used as a therapy and how we can increase our brain cognitive power.The age of the brainThe world is entering "the age of the brain," an era of exponential need to understand and modify our most complex organ. Fixing and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $7
The Science Behind MachinesSimple machines make life easier for humans. This presentation will look at simple machines and how they work. Participants will learn about levers, screws, ramps, wheels, gears, and many more as they experiment to make them work.
Where: FremontCost: Free (RSVP required)
LIGOSpeaker: Dr. Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University
Where: Walnut CreekCost: Free
taste of science: Astronomy on Taptaste of science partners with Astronomy on Tap in this journey into the universe, from ancient earth and exoplanets to black holes and cosmic collisions.Colliding Neutron Stars: Gravitational Waves, Gold, and a Gamma-Ray BurstAlbert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity predicts the existence of ripples in the fabric of space-time. In ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
taste of science: Going down? Diving into gravity and the deep blue seaThe Social Networks under the SeaIn the same way that you and I have a social network, with friends, family, partners and acquaintances, plants and animals also have networks of relationships. They eat each other, help each other out, compete for resources. I study these relationships in an ecosystem that ...
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, a precursor for tropospheric ozone and strongly linked with co-emitted reactive trace gases and hence is a priority for climate and air-quality mitigation policies in California. Recent advances in measurement science and technology offer the potential to inform and dramatically enhance the effectiveness of ...
Dr. Voytas, Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota, co-inventor of TALEN gene-editing technology, and Chief Technology Officer of Calyxt, will discuss the rapid advancement of plant gene-editing and its implications for global agriculture. A leading expert on plant genetics and an entrepreneur whose company went ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Conversations About Resilience: Muddy Waters to Resilient ShorelinesMost people give little thought to mud or sand until a boat runs aground in shallow water or erosion exposes a vulnerable shoreline. But San Francisco Bay has been fundamentally shaped by sediment flowing down from streams, rivers, and the Sacramento Delta, nourishing estuary and wetland ecosystems and building Bay ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free, RSVP Required
Earth Day Free Screening: JANESF Green Film Festival is pleased to present this special Earth Day screening of JANE - a film about Jane Goodall and her early years in Gombe.Using a trove of footage unearthed from the National Geographic archives, JANE tells the true story of Jane Goodall as a young woman whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Protecting our Oceans: Perils and Progress in CaliforniaOur planet depends on healthy oceans and it is alarming to see the impacts of climate change, reef destruction, multiple pollution inputs, and over-fishing. This program will address some of the threats to our oceans and solutions being implemented in California, focusing on ocean food webs, marine mammals, offshore and ...
As an internationally renowned professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at U.C. Berkeley, Jennifer A. Doudna and her colleagues rocked the research world in 2012 by describing a simple way of editing the DNA of any organism using an RNA-guided protein found in bacteria. This technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Peninsula Gem & Geology Society monthly meetingRangers Justin Everts and Bryan Lue will discuss the Geology and Archaeology of Santa Clara County Parks. There will also be a door prize drawing and many rocks and related items available by silent auction.
If ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the flim-flam man, join us, your friends. We are a group who informally discuss the latest in science or pseudoscience over good eats & ale. Sponsored by Bay Area Skeptics.WHY: Because we’re curious creatures.
Where: MillbraeCost: Free
taste of science: 'Speed Dating' with ScientistsDitch the powerpoint and share the love of science in a fun and unique format - Speed Dating with Scientists!5 scientists will bring their expertise to your dinner table. You get to sit back and enjoy the science they share with you.Each scientist gets 10mins to demonstrate their work to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 online, $15 at door
taste of science: Gravitational WavesOn Wednesday evening we are excited to receive a talk by Dr. Riccardo Bassiri, Research Scientist at Stanford University and LIGO, followed by Kai Staats' 3rd film in the series, "LIGO Detection". Both Riccardo and Kai are members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and will be pleased to answer questions ...
You like the show? This event is for you! Our Improv team will realize several performance with your help. Come with a brain full of ideas and they will play around them!Performers: Make Your Own Damn Sandwich
Where: Redwood CityCost: $7
Climate Adaptation in Santa CruzWhere are you experiencing or concerned about climate change impacts? The City of Santa Cruz’s Dr. Tiffany Wise-West, Sustainability and Climate Action Manager, will present the findings from the City’s first sea level rise vulnerability assessment and social vulnerability to climate change analysis, both new components of the draft Climate ...
Doug Tygar, Professor of Computer Science and Information Management at UC Berkeley, will present “Adversarial Machine Learning.†Tygar works in the areas of computer security, privacy, and electronic commerce. His current research includes privacy, security issues in sensor webs, digital rights management, and usable computer security. His awards include a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Botany Series: Plant TaxonomyStacy Jacobsen (Seed Collection Ecologist for Presidio Nursery), Desmond Murray (Presidio Nursery Education Manager), and Marion Anthonisen (Biological Techinician fir the Presidio) will lead this workshop focusing on basic taxonomy, botanical identification resources, and plant identification with an emphasis on troubleshooting morphological keys. The class will discuss and employ a ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Donations encouraged
Paul Hawken Presents Drawdown: The World’s First Comprehensive Plan to Reverse Global Warming Can we begin to reverse global warming in the next 30 years? This is the burning question of the 21st century and renowned environmentalist Hawken says yes. Hawken has launched Project Drawdown, which he calls the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. This local California NGO gathered ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $8 Members, Free for students
Join SOFIA scientists from NASA and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) to hear about mirrors used in telescopes, especially the 100-inch mirror on board SOFIA. Learn about how the mirror was made, how and why it was put in a Boeing 747SP jetliner, and how it is isolated from the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 17.95 advance, 19.95 door, AD members free
Living with Black BearsEver wonder what a bear means when he stands up on two legs and looks at you? Do mama bears really wake up in the spring to discover they had two or three babies while they were sleeping? Come learn from Tahoe black bear heroes, the Bear League, about fascinating ...
Where: OaklandCost: $10 - $30
The Role of U.S. Coral Reefs in Coastal ProtectionRigorously valuing flood reduction benefits to inform coastal zone management decisionsCoral reefs are a first line of coastal defenseWe can account for the physical defense that reefs provideWe can provide value-based information to guide restoration efforts at management-relevant scales (10s of meters)We can direct ecosystems restoration efforts to reduce risk ...
You've probably never considered if moose get drunk, penguins cheat on their mates or worker ants lay about. They do - and that's just for starters.:ucy Cooke takes us on a worldwide journey and exposes the secret, and often hilarious, habits of the animal kingdom. She explores our biggest myths ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: $22 General, $12 Member, $5 Student
taste of science: It's science Jim, but not as we know it!How a lifetime of avoiding the lab blossomed into a career in scienceI've spent the past 20 years becoming an expert in science communication, but I didn't realize that's what I was doing until recently. Through volunteering, performing, shoveling poop, learning new languages, teaching, and advocating for endangered species, I ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $7
taste of science: The Microbe Hunter and the Nuclear DetectiveRadiochemistry, Nuclear Forensics, and Nonproliferation PolicyResearch in nuclear and radiochemistry can be frustrating, dealing with radioactive materials that are hard to obtain and even harder to handle, but the research has direct impacts on issues of nuclear and national security.This talk will cover the basics of identifying the origin of ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $5
Friday, 04/27/18
Birding Pine Flat with Two ACR Ornithologists We’ll stop at several point-count stations to bird and to learn about the Songbirds of the Central Mayacamas project on Pine Flat Road. Then we’ll walk through Pine Flat where we hope to see and hear Purple Martin, Pileated Woodpecker, California Thrasher, Mountain Quail and others. Our guides will be ...
Current challenges and future directions in control and automation.  This symposium will kick off the 1st NorCal Control Workshop, an annual event providing a forum to bring together undergrad, grad students, postdocs and faculty from various universities, as well as representatives from industry, in the Northern California region working in the ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $25.00
Determining the PSF over the Full FoV of LSST using Gaussian ProcessesAccurately modeling and interpolating the PSF across the full field of view (FoV) of LSST for a given exposure is crucial for making galaxy shape measurements that meet the requirements of cosmic shear. In current weak-lensing surveys, the PSF is estimated at each star location within a CCD chip and ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
The Best Reciprocal Resonators Make the Best Nonreciprocal SystemsCirculators are a key building block in next generation microwave systems for Simultaneous Transmit and Receive Radios (STAR) and Quantum Computing. State-of-the-art circulators have a ferro-magnet that breaks reciprocity but is hard to scale down to chip-scale dimensions for integrating with on-chip electronic components. The demand is even more urgent ...
Stochastic Modeling of Traffic DynamicsStochastic models of traffic flow are used in a variety of applications, e.g., traffic state estimation, travel time reliability, and traffic control. This talk will present techniques used to develop stochastic models. A main source of uncertainty in traffic dynamics is heterogeneity among drivers. This is captured using parametric uncertainty, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW)CCEW (Chemists Celebrate Earth Week) is an annual initiative through the American Chemical Society (ACS). This year, Olive Children will be hosting a series of FREE community events aimed at extending S.T.E.M. education to the next generation. This year's theme is "Dive into Marine Chemistry." All kids and students in ...
Where: FremontCost:
taste of science: Synthetic Biology and Quantum MechanicsSynthetic Biology (and pants)We are surrounded by microorganisms. Your intestines contain 100 trillion of them; three microorganisms for every human cell in your body. The oceans contain as many as a million bacteria in every milliliter. Each has evolved a variety of techniques to survive and thrive. Synthetic biologists aim ...
Take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience the beauty and rich natural history of this 535-acre preserve as dusk arrives and the animals start to appear. Our twilight hikes are on select Fridays throughout spring and fall. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained Bouverie ...
Come learn about cutting-edge research from the graduate student community at UC Berkeley in a relaxed, sci-fi-themed cafe setting. This month features a talk by physicist Jonathan Liu.The audience is encouraged to interrupt and ask questions and engage in discussion with our speakers. Arrive at 6:30 pm and enjoy a ...
Where: EmeryvilleCost: Free
taste of science: When Arts meet ScienceDid you know that scientists can also be artists? This is the time to come discover their arts!This event will be an amalgamation of science and art. Create you own piece of art with bacteria, paint with bioink, sketch what you find under your microscope, win a hand knitted hat ...
