Separating wheat from chaff: photometric classification in the age of LSSTThe Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will generate a data deluge: millions of transients and variable sources will need to be classified from their light curves. Photometric classification has long been a problem of interest in the astronomical community, but the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC) brings a wide ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Pixels to physics: the promise and challenges of survey cosmologyWe are entering a transformative period in observational cosmology. Large cosmological surveys starting in 2019 promise to solve key problems in cosmology - but only if we develop new approaches for handling the volume and complexity of the data. Extracting robust cosmological information from these surveys is a major challenge ...
It’s not a NATURAL disaster: looking from past to future through archaeologyClimate extremes, like droughts, storms, and hurricanes, have always challenged people’s lives and many would argue that disasters are affecting human security in ever-greater ways. Today, disaster managers urge that we reduce human-created vulnerabilities in order to reduce impacts from climate challenges. But governments and NGOs are hard pressed to ...
Our technological capacity to make changes to genomic data has expanded exponentially since the 2012 discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 as an RNA-programmable genome editing tool. Over the past seven years, this genome editing platform has been used to revolutionize research, develop new agricultural crops, and even promises to cure genetic diseases. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Free Coding Club for Kids The Downtown Oakland Dojo is a place where young people age 7-17 can code and explore technology in a fun and social environment. They can create apps, build a website, try out different coding languages, and get hands on with digital making using the Raspberry Pi.We recommend that children bring a ...
The emerging field of bioelectronic medicine seeks methods for deciphering and modulating physiological activity in the body for both sensing and therapy. Current approaches to interfacing directly with organs and nerves rely heavily on wires, creating problems for chronic use, while emerging wireless approaches do not scale down into ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Film Night Double Feature! 'Mystery of the Gnaraloo Sea Turtles' and 'Melting Stars'Film 1: Melting Stars, 2017 Canada MELTING STARS unravels the mystery behind one of the most catastrophic species die offs in recorded history. In 2013 scuba divers off the West coast of British Columbia discovered that the star fish were dying in the millions and suffering horrific deaths. They were ...
Come into the light: learn about things that flare and flash, from lightning-fast nematocysts in the ocean to flicker films on the big screen. Then get an introduction to flash pickling (quick preservation: it’s not an oxymoron!) and learn about the dramatic, flame-retarding element bromine at Everything Matters: Bromine. SCHEDULEPresentationsEverything Matters: Bromine With Ron Hipschman8:00 p.m. | ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 19.95 door, AD members free
Lunar New Year NightLifeKick off the Year of the Pig with lion dancers, masked performers, martial arts and pigs!
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
February LASER Event - San JoseOur speakers for February 21st, 2019 include -Dr. David DeamerBiologist and Research Professor of Biomolecular EngineeringUniversity of California, Santa Cruzhttps://www.soe.ucsc.edu/people/deamerStardust, Cells and the Origin of Life Description: The paradigm is that life began in salty sea water, in the ocean, perhaps in hydrothermal vents. But there is an alternative supported ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Hardcore Natural History Series - “The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a Stateâ€Join the Museum as we sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Miriam Pawel to discuss her book, The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation. The book begins with Brown’s great-grandfather, Prussian immigrant August Schuckman, who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $10 General, $5 Member, $15 all at door
Since 1997 Golden Gate Audubon has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to enhance shoreline wildlife habitat at Pier 94, located along the south eastern bay shoreline, on property owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. After completing successful wetland and beach enhancement projects, in 2013 Golden ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
LifeCycle | Creation: DIY BiologyAround the world, maker spaces are placing the latest biological and genetic technologies into the hands of amateur scientists. From engineering new types of cheese or homemade insulin to tinkering with bioluminescent algae, citizen science initiatives are bringing laboratory science to the world, unleashing new forms of creativity and experimentation.Explore ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 - $15
Sonoma County Mycological Assoc. monthly meetingFor the February speaker SOMA will present a panel of mushroomers who will talk about how to best look for mushrooms, what their favorites are to hunt for and to eat, and their adventures nearby and far away too, but most importantly--will take questions from anyone in attendance who wants ...
NASA's recent Kepler Mission gave us good reason to believe that the Milky Way Galaxy is home to billions of habitable worlds. Of course, "habitable" does not mean inhabited, far less intelligent. In this Wonderfest presentation, science writer Michael Wall will discuss the big questions that permeate humankind's search for ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Medieval and Modern Ideas of Diet and HealthDespite certain differences, ideas of balance and equilibrium in diet were as important in the Middle Ages as they are today. Medieval people believed in humoral theories based on keeping the body’s fluids (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) in balance, whereas we now typically focus on unseen constituents ...
Where: Stanford UniversityCost: Free
Friday, 02/22/19
67th Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition - now back in Golden Gate ParkThe 2019 Pacific Orchid Exposition will be San Francisco Orchid Society's 67th Annual orchid show and sale in Golden Gate Park from February 21-24, 2019. The show will have award winning flowers and plants on display that have been officially judged by representatives of the American Orchid Society.This year's theme ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 at the door, advance discount tickets online
Speaker: Philippe Lognonn, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Interfacial Engineering of Lithium Metal Anodes: From Liquid to Solid ElectrolytesThe poor performance and safety concerns of lithium (Li) metal anodes represent a critical challenge to enable high energy density rechargeable batteries. This is attributed to several well-known issues associated with Li metal electrodeposition and dissolution, including electrolyte decomposition, dendrite evolution, and “dead†Li accumulation. In addition, short-circuiting can occur ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Grounds for Science: Getting the most out of light: vision and geoengineeringThe cells that give us sightRoughly 55% of the brain’s surface and an estimated 12 billion neurons are devoted to vision - more than the other senses combined. But what exactly are all these cells doing? By detailing startling patient case studies and seminal experiments, Mathew will sketch a broad ...
Where: EmeryvilleCost: Free
Saturday, 02/23/19
67th Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition - now back in Golden Gate ParkThe 2019 Pacific Orchid Exposition will be San Francisco Orchid Society's 67th Annual orchid show and sale in Golden Gate Park from February 21-24, 2019. The show will have award winning flowers and plants on display that have been officially judged by representatives of the American Orchid Society.This year's theme ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 at the door, advance discount tickets online
Habitat Restoration: Phoenix Lake BroomWe bet your new year’s resolutions include exercise, getting out in nature, and giving back to your community. We are here to help you with that! Join your fellow nature lovers in a morning of habitat restoration.We will meet at Phoenix Lake dam. The gate at Natalie Coffin Greene Park ...
Where: RossCost: Free
MMWD Trail Crew: Bill Williams CanyonMount Tamalpais Watershed trail work will include drainage and vegetation maintenance around Phoenix Lake. Mandatory safety talk starts promptly at 9am! RSVP required.We will meet at Phoenix Lake dam. The gate at Natalie Coffin Greene Park will be open from 8:45 to 9:00 to allow volunteers to drive up and ...
Where: RossCost: Free
Salamander SearchUnravel the secrets of our unique newt population among the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains! Meet and touch some of our native animal ambassadors. Venture into the newt’s ecosystem to locate these and other native animals in their habitat. Recommended for ages 5+.Sessions offered 2/16 and 2/23.
Where: SaratogaCost: $15
Science Saturday: Animal AthletesThis highest jumping, fastest flying, strongest biting Science Saturday of the year focuses on the Olympians in the animal kingdom. From falcons to mountain lions, and beetles to beavers, every athlete has a story to tell. Join us for crafts, activities, and science as we sprint, jump, and dive into ...
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
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
Salamander SearchUnravel the secrets of our unique newt population among the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains! Meet and touch some of our native animal ambassadors. Venture into the newt’s ecosystem to locate these and other native animals in their habitat. Recommended for ages 5+.Sessions offered 2/16 and 2/23.
Where: SaratogaCost: $15
The Bay Model: A Bay Area OracleIn commemoration of Engineer Week, this program is dedicated to the USACE San Francisco District's construction of the Bay Model. This former one-of-kind scientific, hydrodynamic, engineering testing facility has accurately produced water related predictions for almost a half century. Although retired now, its story is part of the districts amazing ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Science on Saturdays: Biomolecular Action Movies: Flash Imaging with X-ray lasersProteins are nature’s machines, performing tasks from transforming sunlight into useable energy to binding oxygen for transport through the body. These functions depend on the structural arrangement of atoms within the protein, which was, until recently, only possible to measure statically, in easily crystallized samples via conventional X-ray diffraction. Many ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Oceans Aglow: Family Night Hike & CampfireJoin NatureBridge Golden Gate as we discover one of the most amazing natural phenomenon, bioluminescence. 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 ...
For several decades after the last of the Apollo missions, scientists have thought that the question of the origin of the Moon was largely settled. The Moon was created about 4½ billion years ago, when a Mars-size body and the proto-Earth - both with atmospheres and, likely, surface oceans - ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Maker Lab: Open Lab @ClaremontA place to drop in and try out:Sewing on a Babylock sewing machineButton-makingDrawing on the ProWise whiteboardExperimenting with a Foldscope microscopeNeedle-feltingSculpting with modeling clayNo previous experience necessary! This program is for kids with parents, teens, and adults.
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Sunday, 02/24/19
67th Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition - now back in Golden Gate ParkThe 2019 Pacific Orchid Exposition will be San Francisco Orchid Society's 67th Annual orchid show and sale in Golden Gate Park from February 21-24, 2019. The show will have award winning flowers and plants on display that have been officially judged by representatives of the American Orchid Society.This year's theme ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 at the door, advance discount tickets online
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
Full-Spectrum Science: The Last DoublingIs growth always good? The biggest threat to our existence on planet Earth isn’t asteroids - it’s us. Why can’t our population continue to grow? Learn about the exponential function and the conclusions we can draw from it.Presentations at 1:00 and 3:00Speaker: Ron Hipschman
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
Monday, 02/25/19
The Future of fMRI in Cognitive NeuroscienceCognitive neuroscience has witnessed two decades of rapid growth, thanks in large part to the continued development of fMRI methods. In my talk, I will question what this work has told us about brain function, and will propose that cognitive neuroscience needs to change in at least three ways. First, ...
Quantum physics and quantum engineering in atomically thin crystalsIn quantum materials, the interplay of symmetry, topology, quantum geometry and interactions can produce new phases of matter with fundamentally new electronic and optoelectronic properties. Two dimensional van der Waals materials, with highly tunable symmetry, band structure, carrier density and interactions, allow for reaching previously inaccessible experimental parameter regimes. Such ...
Early in his career as a theoretical physicist, Einstein fashioned an identifiable working philosophy of physical theory that, in broad essentials, never changed. It is a "philosophy of principles" and in crucial respects, it is responsible for his greatest triumph, the relativistic theory of gravitation, as well as his greatest ...
RADIATIVE DRIVERS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: KNOWN KNOWNS AND KNOWN UNKNOWNSWhat do we know for sure regarding the greenhouse gases and their effects on our climate, and what remains to be settled? Are there still grounds for reserving scientific judgment on the causes of global warming? Dr. William Collins' talk highlights the latest observational and theoretical advances in our understanding ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
The Fascinating Quantum World of Atomically Thin 1D & 2D Materials: Symmetry, Interaction and Topological EffectsSymmetry, interaction and topological effects, as well as environmental screening, dominate many of the quantum properties of reduced-dimensional systems and nanostructures. These effects often lead to manifestation of counter-intuitive concepts and phenomena that may not be so prominent or have not been seen in bulk materials. In this talk, I ...
Eight years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Steady progress has been made towards the reconstruction of Fukushima, repopulation of surrounding areas, and the decommissioning of the plant, of which Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) must shoulder 16 trillion ...
NASA's recent Kepler Mission discovered that most stars in our Milky Way Galaxy host planets. Among those planets, Earth-size worlds are remarkably common. But the conditions for planets around their host stars vary with both distance from the star and mass of the star. Astronomer Gibor Basri will explore the ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Why Deep Learning Works: Implicit Self-Regularization in Deep Neural NetworksRandom Matrix Theory (RMT) is applied to analyze the weight matrices of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), including both production quality, pre-trained models and smaller models trained from scratch. Empirical and theoretical results clearly indicate that the DNN training process itself implicitly implements a form of self-regularization, implicitly sculpting a more ...
Where: SunnyvaleCost: Free
Nerd Night East Bay: Exercise Recovery, the Albany Bulb, SETIGood to Go: The Strange Science of Exercise Recovery (Christie Aschwanden, author)History of the Albany Bulb: Why a Former Dump is the Best Park Ever (Susan Moffat, UC Berkeley)Is Anybody Out There (Dan Werthimer, SETI)
Where: OaklandCost: $8 Advance, $10 at door
Possible MindsJohn Brockman is a literary agent and author specializing in scientific literature. He founded the Edge Foundation, an organization aimed to bring together people working at the edge of a broad range of scientific and technical fields.He introduced the "third culture" consisting of "those scientists and other thinkers in the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: TBA
Tuesday, 02/26/19
Two KIPAC Tea TalksAfter InflationSpeaker: Mustafa Amin, Rice UniversityA Window to the First StarsLouise Welsh, Durham University
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 ...
Nearly 30% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions come from transportation. Of that, about half comes not from private vehicles but from fleets. Dry as it sounds, shifting fleets from diesel to electricity could slash emissions. But how to do it in the real world - and make money in the process? ...
If Global Warming Exists, Why Is It So Cold?The world is warming, so why is the Midwest suffering record cold temperatures? How is global warming impacting oceans? What’s the connection between wildfires and climate change?Climate science is complex, vast and often difficult to understand. We’ll explain the fundamental basics you’ll need to answer friends and family who ask ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $12 Members, $7 Students
Keiko's Legacy: What We Learned From the True Story of Free WillyThe project to return the Free Willy whale, Keiko, to his birth waters near Iceland emanated from thousands of letters sent by children demanding that the star of Free Willy be set free. Charles will share his experience of four years managing that project in Vestmannaeyjar Iceland and discuss how the knowledge gained from ...
Where: SausalitoCost: $10 General, $5 Students
Wednesday, 02/27/19
Graphene-based Biosensors: Real-time biological SearchGraphene-based biosensors have the potential to revolutionize digital biochemical measurements for applications in the field of drug discovery, biomedicine, integrated diagnostics and environmental monitoring. This talk will describe the design and development of novel graphene-based biosensors and their use in facile identification of clinically relevant biomarkers in cancer and aging. ...
Rita Lucarelli studied at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,†Italy, where she received her MA degree in Classical Languages and Egyptology. She holds her Ph.D. from Leiden University, the Netherlands (2005). Her Ph.D. thesis was published in 2006 as The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Cosmological Probes of Light RelicsNeutrinos and new light particles, which arise in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, are an important probe of the (thermal) history of the universe. However, they are hard to detect in terrestrial experiments due to their weak couplings to ordinary matter. On the other hand, the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Teacher Workshop: Weather, Climate Change and Plate TectonicsDensity, temperature, and salinity of water throughout the oceans can cause major changes in weather, and over time cause climate change. Plate tectonics can also influence of the flow of atmosphere and hydrosphere, which can cause climate change. The rotation of the Earth also influence flow pattern (Coriolis effect). Complicated ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
The “Double Whammy†of Climate Change for California’s Sierra NevadaIn this talk I will present an overview of recent research from the UCLA Center for Climate Science on climate change in the Sierra Nevada. The methodological basis of our work is a downscaling technique we call hybrid downscaling, which combines dynamical and statistical downscaling methodologies. We find that snow ...
Where: OrindaCost: $5, $1 Student member and K - 12 teachers
Anthropogenic landscapes of fear: How human activity affects interactions between predators and preyFear is a fundamental aspect of predator-prey interactions, motivating prey to alter their behavior in an effort reduce the risk of death from predators. Ecologists are increasingly realizing that such predator-induced fear can have far reaching-effects across ecosystems by affecting where and how prey spend their time, and that preserving ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Skeptics in the Pub: MillbraeScience and Reason with Skeptics in the Pub West Bay, Fiddlers Green, Millbrae sponsored by Bay Area Skeptics.If ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the film-flam man, and if ye drink, drink with us, your friends. If ye shun the brewer’s art, at least help us lay waste to bangers & mash!Skeptics ...
Where: MillbraeCost: Free
taste of science: Smart Sperm and Smart HelmetsSmart sperm: search strategies on the microscaleSperm cells follow highly dilute chemical signal with a single objective: to find the egg. As cells can only get a rough estimate of the actual concentration of chemoattractant molecules, nature had to come up search strategies that perform robust in the presence of ...
New exploration indicates that caves may be more common on rocky and icy worlds in our Solar System than we have thought in the past. Caves below the Earth show us a very different planet than the familiar one we experience on the surface. Each dark cave system has its ...
