February Bird WalkWhile winter birds are still abundant in the garden, this month we will be looking for the earliest of our spring migrants: Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds flying north from Mexico. Rain or shine! We suggest bringing binoculars if you have them, and layers in case it is a chilly morning.Speaker: ...
Planet Formation Post-KeplerThe message of the Kepler space mission is this: super-Earths abound in the universe. These are planets 1 - 4 Earth radii and 2 - 20 Earth masses, composed of solids and gas in proportions of 100:1 by mass. We describe how super-Earths/sub-Neptunes form within circumstellar disks of gas and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Quantifying and Measuring Phase Noise in RF and Microwave SignalOver the past years, Phase Noise has become critical parameter for the performance of many systems ranging from cellular receivers, highspeed digital systems, and target detection and identification systems. Currently, Phase Noise is a very important design parameter for all top-of-the line signal generators and frequency synthesizers. In this seminar, ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
After Dark: CraftIn a world increasingly synthetic, robotic, and removed from human touch, commune with the soul of things made by hand - yours or someone else’s. Sip craft beer, experience the work of local craftspeople and meet them face to face, and get your own hands working on something new at ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, $14.95 Daytime Members
Cafe InquiryCenter for Inquiry San Francisco's monthly get together to talk about whatever interests us.
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
SF Beer Week NightlifeCelebrate SF Beer Week with a foam-filled evening of brews. Sip your way through a pop-up beer hall with dozens of local breweries slinging crowd favorites and limited releases.Pop-up Beer Hall (1st floor) 6:00 - 10:00pm -----> Take your time tasting the mighty fine selection of seasonal specials from different brewers including:CalicraftDrake’s ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Donor Power: The Influence of Climate PhilanthropyLarge, established foundations such as Hewlett - Packard and Bloomberg have been some of the earliest funders addressing climate change. But grantmakers and grantseekers are not always fans of their policy-centric and top-down approaches. Meanwhile, a new wave of midsize foundations are seeding policies and research institutions that are shaping ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz #11 - What’s Up at Lick Observatory?Lick Observatory, above San Jose, has a long history of being at the forefront of science and technology, starting with the most advanced telescope in the world at the time in 1888.  Dr. Elinor Gates will describe some of the current research being done at Lick Observatory, ranging from discovering ...
Despite its universal scope (every little thing) and precision (better than 10 parts per billion), quantum physics retains profound mysteries. What is really going on down there in the heart of matter?! Atom interferometers are instruments that rely on the quantum "wave nature" of matter for measurements of fundamental constants AND ...
Where: SunnyvaleCost: Free
Friday, 02/08/19
The Ethnobotany of Eden: The Colonial Quest for Green Gold in the Humid TropicsThe colonial era witnessed a fevered quest for the healing flora of the equatorial latitudes. Subscribing to ancient Eden notions of plant-people relations, European physicians and scientists were motivated by the belief that God had planted botanical cures for diseases in their places of origin. While many colonial bioprospectors subscribed ...
Discrete Microfluidics for More Efficient Pharmaceutical Compound TestingIn 2012, the declining efficiency and increasing cost of pharmaceutical research was noted in a phenomenon termed “Eroom’s lawâ€, to distinguish it from the efficiency of “Moore’s law†in transistor development. Though the reasons for this phenomenon are myriad and varied, the efficiency of drug development and commercialization ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Community Science Connecting People with their Watersheds Green FridayCommunity Science Connecting People with their Watersheds. Community Science, also known as Citizen Science, is taking the scientific research and public education arenas by storm. What does this new form of scientific inquiry have to offer to watershed research?  What kinds of deep connections are made by the general public engaging ...
Turtle Observer TrainingBecome a trained Turtle Observer and you will monitor and record behavior of the native Western Pond Turtle on Mt Tamalpais. The required orientation includes observation techniques, a discussion on turtle biology, methods for engaging the public, and a walk to a lake. Volunteers will monitor turtles from February through ...
Where: FairfaxCost: Free
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 ...
Calling All Eco-Explorers! Youth ages 5-15 will be up to their elbows in FREE, hands-on activities. Learning through fun interactive, nature science experiences and regional field trips, your kids will find out all about the Bay Area ecosystem and become the next generation of Citizen Scientists! We have extended Welcome ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Livermore Reads Together: 'Spare Parts'The film follows four Hispanic high school students form a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT.Stars George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos Penavega, Esai Morales, and Marisa Tomei. Rated PG-13Livermore ...
Where: LivermoreCost: Free
A Fungus Among UsFrom truffles and yeast to ringworm and toadstools, fungus is all around us. Explore the farm looking for examples of these life forms and learn more about their importance in our world. This is a drop-in program; no registration is required.
Where: FreemontCost: Park admission applies
Ship Operations in the BayJoin Captain Craig Thomas of Agile Marine as he provides a better understanding of commercial shipping operations and movements in the Bay. The program includes the types of ships, ship construction and layout, commercial considerations, types, and locations of terminals in the Bay Area, manning requirements including careers and International, ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Trees, Paper, Styx- Art ReceptionLinda Colnett’s art has long been inspired by nature, and in particular trees. A recurring theme in her work involves the paradox of the many benefits humans derive from trees - oxygen, shelter, food, clothing, medicines, fuel and other materials - versus the devastating impact of deforestation around the world. ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Wildlife Picture Index ProjectCome contribute to the Marin Wildlife Picture Index Project! Volunteer community scientists assist with research by helping maintain motion-activated cameras and processing photos. At this event, we view the images on the computer, identify the mammals, and enter the results in a database. New and experienced catalogers welcome, as training is ...
Where: Corte MaderaCost: Free
Trekking the ModelJoin a Ranger or docent on a guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre hydraulic model of the 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
Jazz Under the Stars - CANCELEDCome 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.This event has been canceled due ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 02/10/19
Marine Science Sunday: Marine Mammal Parents and PupsIn preparation for Valentine's Day, this month we celebrate love under the sea with Marine Mammal Parents and Pups in a fun, educational way for both kids and adults. We recommend teaming our free classroom program with a Guided tour at 11am, 1pm or 3pm for a truly immersive marine mammal experience. Read ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
50th Anniversary: The Amazing 747Join Faride Khalaf for a mechanical journey on board one the greatest airplanes in aviation history. You will marvel at the amazing Boeing 747 and its four decades of extraordinary service. With colorful slides, he will give you a closer look at the anatomy of these giants; you will browse ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free with admission
Sunday Funday: Let's Hear It For the Girls!Join us in celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science, with Scientific Adventures for Girls! Discover some of the contributions and major scientific advances that women have made throughout history. Draw your idea of a "scientist" to add to our art gallery, then get creative with a hands-on ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission, free for members
Storytelling Basics for Climate ResiliencyExplore how storytelling can improve communication around planning projects that are addressing the challenges of global climate change. By analyzing sample videos created to promote awareness and engagement, participants will learn how to tell impactful stories that effectively communicate the issues of density, sustainability and community resiliency as they relate ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $10 Members
Livermore Reads Together: Spare Parts Reader's TheaterVolunteer readers from the Livermore Shakespeare Festival offer this rendition of the book, directed by Donna Blevins.Livermore Reads Together 2019 is a community reading program sponsored by the Friends of the Livermore Library, featuring the New York Times bestseller Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle ...
Where: LivermoreCost: Free
Monday, 02/11/19
The Connection between Large Scale Structure and the Cosmic Microwave BackgroundCosmic microwave background (CMB) photons were initially released at recombination, less than half a million years after the big bang. In the nearly 14 billion years since, they have been scattered and lensed by intervening structure, imprinting a complex pattern of additional intensity and polarization anisotropies onto maps of the ...
New tools for probing classical and quantum nanomaterialsIn this seminar, I will discuss two domains of condensed matter pysics elucidated by new tools: thermal motion in nanomechanical structures and quantum electron transport in 2D materials.By picking up individual carbon nanotubes and coupling them with electrostatic gates and optical cavities, we directly read our non-equilibrium dynamics and observe ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Physics achaeology: unearthing a 45 year old quantum spin liquid - RESCHEDULEDI will introduce the topic of quantum spin liquid as a prime example of emergent behavior in strongly interacting system. Recently a new example, 1T-TaS2 has been discovered. Surprisingly this material has been thoroughly studied for 45 years as a charge density wave material but its spin liquid property has ...
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a 27 km circumference hadron collider, built at CERN to explore the energy frontier of particle physics. Approved in 1994 after 10 years of prototyping of the main accelerator components, it was commissioned and began operation for data taking in 2010. The design and construction ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
People and Robots SeminarDespite massive interest in self-driving cars, the problem of how to ensure the reliability and safety of intelligent autonomous systems remains unsolved. In this talk, I will discuss approaches to safe autonomy based on Algorithmic Improvisation, a framework for automatically synthesizing systems with random but controllable behavior. Algorithmic improvisation can ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
THE KEYS TO INNOVATION: PRIMING YOUR BRAIN TO PERCOLATE BRILLIANT IDEASWhat Physicists Do seriesDr. Ransom Stephens will describe the neural processes that percolate insights into consciousness: the physics of lateral thought, the power of perspective, the value of novelty, and how your brain selects and rejects ideas before you’re even aware of them. Dr. Stephen is a scientist and technologist ...
The flows of complex fluids link fundamental research questions to potential applications, both in industry and for understanding natural phenomena. In this talk I discuss two research questions that we have studied recently: (1) Although flows at modest Reynolds numbers at a T-shaped junction is a geometry where one should ...
It's Electric! Mobility This panel, moderated by CARS Executive Director Stephen Zoepf, will feature companies that seek to catalyze electrification of transport, each focused on a different sector of the market. From an all-electric chassis to electric mobility services at scale to fast & portable electric chargers to electric, highly-utilized AVs, this Energy ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
New Approaches to Looking for E.T.For six decades, a tiny group of scientists has probed the cosmos for evidence of aliens. Is this an endless quest, or could we soon learn of other beings in the nearby universe? We’ll discuss the latest efforts to uncover the extraterrestrials, as well as some disturbing ideas that could ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Cold and Ultracold Molecules for Quantum Information and Particle PhysicsWide-ranging scientific applications have created growing interest in ultracold molecules. Heteronuclear bialkali molecules, assembled from ultracold atoms, enabled the study of long-range dipolar interactions and quantum-state-controlled chemistry, and recently have been brought to quantum degeneracy. There are currently several approaches to producing ultracold molecules: atom association, magnetic, electrical, centrifugal, off-resonant ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Food Politics 2019: Nutrition Science Under SiegeNutrition science is under attack from statisticians and the food industry. Who stands to gain and what might be lost?Speaker: Marion Nestle, NYU, emeritaRegister at weblink
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Odd Salon: SpectacleJoin us at Public Works SF for six short stories of grandiose visions and impractical performances, immense exhibitions, and displays that inspire wonder and curiosity. See weblink for stories and speakers
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 - $25
Free Bay Currents talk: Zen and the Art of Mushroom HuntingCelebrate the beauty and wonder of the Bay Area's fungi with Debbie Viess, co-founder of the Bay Area Mycological Society. Debbie will share her deep fungal fascinations and knowledge gained from more than 25 years hunting, studying, documenting, and teaching about fungi. Photos and stories will illuminate where fungi live, ...
Dr. Vandana Shiva advocates for a more equitable and sustainable food system that uses indigenous knowledge and a wide diversity of crops. She sees a return to nature and organic methods of farming as a solution for both food insecurity and climate change. As a founder of the Navdanya initiative ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $40 General, $20 Students
Cell mechanics by atomic force, traction force, and ion conductance microscopyI will present the development and application of novel scanning probe instrumentation and methods in the field of cell mechanics. Using force clamp force mapping (FCFM), an atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging mode that combines force-distance curves with an added force clamp phase, we observed that the creep ...
Erin is currently a researcher at the University of California Merced. Her research interests focus on earth observations to address the multiple stressors acting upon the earth’s systems under threat for water and food security and biodiversity including: changing hydro-climate, land use, water projects, species introductions, sediment, nutrient and carbon ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Is Santa Clara County Prepared for Wildfire?Climate change brings the prospect of larger, more dangerous wildfires in the future - perhaps like those that have recently devastated parts of California and the Bay Area. What actions are being taken in Santa Clara County to prepare? With this expert panel we’ll discuss the role of land use ...
Where: San JoseCost: $10 General, Free for Members
Food Waste Composting as a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy from AgricultureLandfills represent the third largest contribution of methane (CH4) emissions to the total US greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. In the state of California alone, food waste represents 18.1% of total solid waste production; however, the potential for CH4 emission is large because it encompasses a large fraction of labile C. ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Teacher Workshop: Monarchs and Silkworms Collecting Data on Diverse organisms and their Life CyclesLearn how to bring living life cycles displays into your classroom. Teacher can get the option of getting milkweed plants and silkworm eggs. Monarch eggs and catepillars (if available can also be collected). Lesson Plans include: Collecting data on arthropod and other small organisms in the environment; butterflies and moths; ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Socio-Technical Innovation for a Low Carbon Energy FutureThe most daunting challenges facing energy planners today are the decarbonization of energy systems to mitigate climate change, and the provision of reliable, affordable and clean electricity to over one billion people without access. These challenges will require not only an extensive redesign of the existing electricity infrastructure, but also ...
What should we expect from the next generation of space telescopes? What key scientific questions will they help answer? Do we have the technology we need to operate them in 20-30 years?To address these issues, NASA selected four large space mission concepts to study and consider as possible future Large Strategic Science ...
