Supermassive Black Holes in Nearby GalaxiesFor over three decades, the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 in the Virgo Cluster has hosted the most massive known black hole in the local universe. New observational data in the past several years have substantially expanded dynamical measurements of black hole masses at the centers of nearby galaxies. I ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Searching Near and Far: Exoplanet Transits and Astrophysical Transients from the TESS MissionLaunched in April 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is well on its way to discovering thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest starts in the sky. This first-ever spaceborne all-sky transit survey will identify planets in the solar neighobhood ranging in size from Earth-sized to gas giants, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Jumpstarting Innovation for Underfunded DiseasesThe main barrier to developing new medicines is most often a scientific one: we either lack sufficient understanding of disease biology, or we lack the technology to perturb that biology. But in rare cases, the primary barrier is economic. In these situations, financial incentives may be required to jumpstart innovation. ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
After Dark: Seeing DoubleWhen is one not enough? Look again at the surprising ways doubling quantities affects our perceptions and our world. From stereoscopic illusions and vision research to cellular division and the startling implications of exponential growth, this evening's program will leave you seeing double.Full-Spectrum Science: The Last Doubling With Ron Hipschman ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General
NightLife Spotlight: DarwinSet sail for a journey to the Galápagos Islands, NightLife-style. We’re shining a spotlight on this unique archipelago and its importance to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution during an evening of exploration with Academy scientists. Learn about the Academy’s century-old history of exploration and research in the Galápagos. Check out ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Livermore Reads Together: Books and BrewsJoin library staff to discuss Spare Parts and raise a glass to another eventful Livermore Reads Together.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
The Village Forum: God and EvolutionDoes affirming evolutionary science conflict with belief in God? Does evolution put limitations on God? Two experts with different points of view will converse on this topic where science and faith intersect. Dr. S. Joshua Swamidass is a confessing Christian who also affirms evolutionary science. Dr. Ann Gauger is a ...
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
Wonderfest: Ask a Science Envoy: Thinking about Math and A.I.Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:UC Berkeley computational cognitive scientist Rachel Jansen on What Is Math? How is it that math summons feelings of anxiety ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 03/01/19
Two KIPAC Tea TalksObserving the First StarsSpeaker: Tilman Hartwig, University of TokyoBlack hole-galaxy scaling relations: clues to the physics behind quiescenceSpeaker: Bryan Terrazas, Univ. of Michigan
Analogs are destinations on Earth that allow researchers to approximate operational and/or physical conditions on other planetary bodies and within deep space. Over the past decade, select NASA teams have been conducting geobiological field science studies under simulated deep space and Mars mission conditions. Each of these missions integrate scientific ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
$5 First Friday: Women in STEAMMarch is Women’s History Month and women have a long history of contributing to science and discovery! Join Chabot in celebrating past, present, and future women in STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics).
Where: OaklandCost: $5
Near Earth Asteroid Hazards, Research and Space MissionsNear-Earth asteroids (NEAs), are a population of objects on orbit around the Sun that cross or come near that of Earth. They represent remnants of material from the early solar system that never accredited into planets. NEAs are of special interest to us because of the special risks some of ...
6th NGSS STEM Conference Investigating Everyday Phenomena: Exploring 3-Dimensional Learning through NGSSScience is all around us, and the California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) can help your students understand it. Join us as we engage in activities for your science classroom (grades 3-12) incorporating the three dimensions of NGSS. Spend a day at the Exploratorium investigating the science of everyday ...
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
What's the Buzz?Join YSI and local GirlzWurk Honey for an introduction to bees and honey. Â All ages welcome! Â This program does not include live bees, but does have hands-on components with bee products - including a taste of fresh honey! Â Held rain or shine. Â Limited space - registration is required.
Where: Los GatosCost: Free
Sunday, 03/03/19
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 ...
Where: FremontCost: $20 General, $15 Fremont residents
Psychedelic Plants: Introduction to the biology and ritual ethnobotany of Peyote, Tobacco, and Ayahuasca - SOLD OUTPsychedelic plant rituals are part of humanity’s ancient relationship to nature. Other psychoactive plant species, such as tobacco, are partner to those rituals. Each of these can carry potential wisdom, healing, yet also shadows, depending on human factors. Learn about the botany, chemistry, and indigenous ceremonial histories of these few ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $45 General, $40 Members
Monday, 03/04/19
Simulations for Cluster-Based CosmologyObservations of galaxy clusters have thus far supported the standard model of cosmology and provided constraints on non-standard models including evolving models of dark energy and modifications of gravity. The statistical power of galaxy clusters is at a golden age, where forthcoming observations will provide data for tens of thousands ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Finding the next Einstein in Africa: the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences The African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) was founded in 2008 by Neil Turok with a simple yet profoundly ambitious goal: to find the next Einstein in Africa. More broadly speaking, the AIMS organization works to improve the overall level of math and scientific education throughout the African continent while ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Geomechanics in geothermal reservoirsEnhanced geothermal systems have the potential to play a major role in deep decarbonization of the power sector. Geothermal's unique ability to provide clean power with flexible load profiles would support the high penetration levels of variable wind and solar power needed to reach a 100% clean electricity grid. The ...
At the so-called critical or Schwinger intensity the quantum vacuum becomes unstable with respect to electron-positron pair production. This strong-field regime of quantum electrodynamics (QED) plays an important role in extreme astrophysical plasmas, in upcoming laboratory high-energy density laser-plasma experiments, and at the interaction point of future high-luminosity lepton colliders. ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Extrasolar Planetary SystemsOne of the mysteries arising from the study of exoplanets is that we see systems where the planets are misaligned, even though they are born in a flat, circular disk. Maybe a cosmic tsunami hit these systems and rearranged everything about them, but we haven’t had proof. Our paper gives ...
Exploring Embryonic Patterning with Colonies of Human Embryonic Stem CellsEmbryology at the beginning of the 21st century finds itself in a situation similar to neurobiology; the behavior of the component pieces is understood in some detail, but how they self-assemble to become life is still very hazy. There are 100’s of molecules that enable cell communication and genetics defines ...
This discussion explores the roots of the Native American reservation electricity gap through a case study of the Yurok Tribe’s work to extend the electric grid to the Yurok Reservation in Humboldt County, California. Native American reservations are the communities in the continental United States most lacking in access to ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
OSIRIS-REx: NASA’s First Asteroid Sample Return MissionNASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is the first U.S. mission to retrieve a pristine sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth for further study. The mission’s target is Bennu, a carbon-rich near-Earth asteroid that is also potentially hazardous to Earth.Asteroids are the leftover debris from the Solar System’s formation process ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
The Whole-Brain ChildDr. Daniel Siegel is a leading expert on psychiatry and psychotherapy, focusing on the brain’s impact on the well-being of children and adults. A clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center, Dr. Siegel is the author and ...
Simulations for Cluster-Based Cosmology Observations of galaxy clusters have thus far supported the standard model of cosmology and provided constraints on non-standard models including evolving models of dark energy and modifications of gravity. The statistical power of galaxy clusters is at a golden age, where forthcoming observations will provide data for tens of thousands ...
Membranes serve multiple crucial roles in cell biology: they act as hosts to membrane proteins, as templates for the nucleation of signalling domains, and as boundaries that define cells and their organelles. We are broadly interested at elucidating molecular mechanisms that regulate the structure, function and organization of membranes and ...
Electric Cars 101 WorkshopThis workshop presented by the San Francisco Department of the Environment and 350 SF offers all the information you need to know to shop for, purchase/lease, and own an electric car â€" including how to charge it. Discussions will cover how to determine which car works best for you, which ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Odd Salon: DoomedJoin us at Public Works SF for six tales of false starts and inescapable outcomes, cursed objects and ill-fated ideas, poorly planned projects and reckless pursuits.Speakers:Tamar Baskind ~ Emanuel Ringelblum & the Archives of the Warsaw GhettoLeonard Apeltsin ~ Death Squared: A Mouse Utopia Goes WrongLin Lawhn ~ Caledonia, Conquered: How ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $12 - $25
Wonderfest: Expanding the Darwinian RevolutionDavid Sloan Wilson is one of Earth's foremost evolutionary biologists. His new book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, "moves us in the direction of sustainable living at all scales ... with the compass of evolutionary theory." Professor Wilson will be in conversation with another of the planet's ...
Discovery Station: GymnospermsDiscover gymnosperms -- a type of plant that, literally translated from Greek, means "naked seed." Gymnosperms - in contrast to angiosperms or flowering plants - are plants whose seeds are not enclosed within an ovary..See examples of gymnosperms, including cycads and ginkgos -- along with conifers and Gnetales (like Ephedra ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission
Quantum computing algorithmsThe Center for Quantum Coherent Science presents The Spring 2019 Berkeley Quantum Science and Technology Seminar. Join the group for talks and conversations over refreshments. Talks feature distinguished scientists in the fields of Math, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Computer Science.Speaker: Umesh Vazirani, UC Berkeley
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Biophysics of cell adhesion: how cells sense and respond to forceCells in tissues exert forces as they squeeze, stretch, flex and pull on each other. These forces are incredibly small - on the scale of piconewtons, but they are essential in mediating cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. A key protein responsible for sensing mechanical forces, are the classical cadherin family ...
Katherine Yelick is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley and the Associate Laboratory Director for Computing Sciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research is in programming languages, compilers, parallel algorithms, and automatic performance tuning. She is well known for her ...
Investment in adaptation capital reduces the damage from extreme weather, mitigating the welfare cost of climate change. Federal aid for disaster relief reduces the net costs to localities that experience extreme weather, decreasing their incentives to invest in adaptation capital. We develop a heterogenous-agent macro model to quantify the relationship ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
TECH WEEK: Inventing TomorrowPizza! Guest Speaker! Film!In celebration of Tech Week, enjoy a special presentation from Cal NERDS, then watch a film about 6 teens from around the world using STEM to help improve their communities while competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) https://bit.ly/2IHX5Xr.Pizza while supplies last! Everyone welcome!Cal NERDS provides coaching and mentoring ...
Measurements of neurotransmitters in the extracellular space are limited by combinations of poor chemical, spatial, and temporal resolution. Brain chemistries, therefore, are unable to be investigated dynamically, particularly at the level of neural circuits and across numerous signaling molecules.1 To understand neurochemical signaling at scales pertinent to encoded information, micro- ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Inequality and the Social Cost of CarbonWe present a novel way to disentangle inequality aversion over time from inequality aversion between regions in the computation of the social cost of carbon. Our approach nests a standard efficiency based estimate and an equity weighted estimate as special cases. We use two integrated assessment models (FUND and RICE) ...
Recent advances in deep learning and satellite imagery make it possible to remotely monitor economic and agricultural trends across the developing world, at high resolution. These advances are now being translated from research labs into the real world. This seminar will discuss the technology and vision behind Atlas AI, ...
Placebo effects are most often considered in the context of randomized controlled trials, in which an active drug or treatment is compared against an inert placebo treatment. This allows the factors that contribute to placebo effects to be separated from the medically active properties of a drug or treatment. But in the ...