SkeptiCal is the Northern California conference on science and skepticism, a day-long event with speakers and discussions on critical thinking.This year our diverse topics span science frontiers, policy, and misuse to paranormal investigation and conspiracy theories... Jim Underdown (CFI) - Feet to the Fire: Investigating Paranormal ClaimsLynn Rothschild (NASA) - Is ...
Where: BurlingameCost: $65 public $50 members
Marine Science Sunday: What Are Marine Mammals Saying?Marine mammals make the craziest sounds! Ranging from the loudest noises of any animals (blue whales) to the songs of humpback whales to elephant seals which sound kindof like evil chickens, each marine mammal has their own voice. Come learn more at What Are Marine Mammals Saying and test your ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Mori Point Biodiversity WalkCome help us find representatives of as many different phyla (major life forms) at Mori Point. The focus is on how many different major life forms we can find - things with backbones, flowering plants, red algae, echinoderms (sea stars, urchins) etc. Think of it as trying to find as ...
Where: PacificaCost: Donations encouraged
City Star Party @ Point LobosCome 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!
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Monday, 06/10/19
Probing cosmology with Type Ia Supernovae: A new perspectiveWe present a method to reconstruct the probability distribution of the weak lensing magnification of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from observational data. The method is directly applicable to future data from surveys like WFIRST. With a realistic synthetic catalog, we measure the weak lensing signature and express the observable ...
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Driving Change in Food and AgricultureWe face some unprecedented challenges today related to how we grow, produce, distribute and consume food. Changing climatic conditions, population growth and decades of unsustainable growing practices are leading to growing consumer demand for higher quality provenance and production practices and healthier food options. Entrepreneurs are at the forefront of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members, $8 Students
Astronomy Talks @ ClarmontEver look up at the night sky and wonder what’s all that up there? Have you been following the news about the black hole and the event horizon and would like to understand more about these phenomena and other Astronomy concepts? Join us and get a download on what’s hot ...
Fifteen minutes. That’s all the time they have to collect their data at 500 feet. Dressed like “aquanauts,†they’re the first divers to ever visit this reef. After documenting the habitat, conducting transects and collecting potential new species, they begin their ascent. It will take six hours of decompression before ...
Climate change continues to create a “new normal†in terms of flooding, weather, hurricanes, heat waves, drought - and the behavior of wildfires in California is no exception. But what factors and drivers are actually changing, and how might we re-examine practices and ways of thinking when grappling with how ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with RSVP
If Software, Then SpaceHumanity’s activities in space have changed how we understand our place in the Universe, and have become essential to life as we know it. Space science - from astronomy to planetary science - have provided new understandings of how we and our planet fit into the cosmic puzzle. Space services ...
 You Should Know This! is like a TedTalk meets comedy game show. Listen to experts discuss fascinating topics while comedians riff on stage and you win fun, silly prizes for being a nerd.This month's show is The Physics of Time Travel. Does time flow? Is "now" objectively meaningful? Is there a fundamental direction/arrow ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 20
Thursday, 06/13/19
Frontal cortical dynamics during decision-makingIn a dynamic environment, animals must adjust their action plans to match the behavioral demands. For example, the same sensory stimulus may require different motor responses depending on the context. The mammalian prefrontal cortex is thought to be a central node mediating flexible behavior, however the synaptic and circuit mechanisms ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Meet Leela: A New Constructivist Approach to AILeela is a semantic artificially intelligent agent modeled on the child development theories of Jean Piaget. She builds increasingly abstract semantic models of the world from her experiences of exploration, play, and experimentation. She uses a similar mechanism to map language exposure to experience and meaning. As Leela is an ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
After Dark: You Are What You EatLiterally and metaphorically, we are what we eat. Â From vitamins and minerals to our cultural heritages, food is physiologically and emotionally important. Cuisine is passed down from one generation to the next, becoming apart of who we are. Come explore how historical and current conditions shape our relationship to food ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $17.95 advance, $19.95 at the door
Design NightlifeNightLife partners with San Francisco Design Week to explore the many ways design impacts lives, culture, and science - from AR to architecture, and beer labels to field experiments. Plus, celebrate the release of Lost Type Co-op’s new series of fonts, created in collaboration with and inspired by the Academy’s scientific collections.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members
Hardcore Natural History: Saving the Ocean, One Golf Ball at a TimeJoin us for a conversation about one teenager’s personal project to clean the oceans in our area. Alex Weber and her father Mike have been free diving off the coast for sometime. A few years ago, Alex was struck by the number of golf balls that littered the ocean floor ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free with admission
Building New Elements: Beyond the Periodic TableLike modern day and much more scientific alchemists, nuclear chemists work to construct elements that don’t exist on earth but may reside on proton-packed Islands of Stability off the far end of the periodic table, where these new heaviest elements could be long lived. Learn how six new elements were ...
7:00-7:25: Kimford Meador(Stanford/ Neurology) on "How does the brain damage affect how we think?"Abstract forthcoming...Read more7:25-7:50: Irving Weissman(Stanford) on "How normal stem cells regenerate the body but sometimes lead to cancer"Abstract forthcoming...Read more7:50-8:10: BREAK. Before or after the break, anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of ...
Wildflowers, Plants, and Animals of Alum Rock ParkHave you ever walked through the park and wondered what that flower or animal it is that you see? Or have you been curious if every plant here is native? If you answered yes, YSI has got you covered!Come join us for a light nature walk in the park to ...
Where: San JoseCost: $16
Mapping syntactic structure in the brainWe all remember learning sentence diagrams and part-of-speech in grade school, but are those the underlying representations of syntactic structure in the brain? Neuroimaging allows us to answer this and other questions about language by providing a mechanism to test hypotheses about cognitive processes.Speaker: Lydia Majure, UC Berkeley
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Earth, Water, Paint - Artist ReceptionToni Littlejohn is a mixed media artist living and working in Point Reyes Station. She has exhibited her work extensively in the Bay Area and is a founding member of Gallery Route One. For 26 years she has been leading Wild Carrots, an arts workshop for artists and people new ...
Where: SausalitoCost: Free
Cultural Tales of the Night’s SkyThe journey begins at sunset from the Center into the beautiful surrounding redwood forest. We’ll hike along some of the most popular trails and learn about local history as we uncover evidence from early settlers and will examine local plants as we discuss the ecology of the forest. At sunset, ...
Where: OaklandCost: $30 General, $27 Member
Assembling Life: How can life begin on Earth and other habitable planets?Dr. Deamer and his colleagues are testing the hypothesis that hydrothermal fresh water pools associated with volcanic land masses are a plausible site for life to begin. In his presentation, he will discuss the implications related to the search for life on Mars and icy moons like Enceladus and Europa.Speaker: ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Astronomy Talk: Our Journey Toward MarsOur journey toward Mars began when first looked up to the night sky and noticed the ruby red glow of this celestial body. Join Mars scientist, Dr. J.R. Skok, on the journey from our first sight of the planet, through the telescopes, satellites, rovers, and samples that have transformed Mars ...
