Retired General Ellen M. Pawlikowski is an independent consultant providing expertise on strategic planning, program management, logistics, and research and development. She is the Judge Widney Professor at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. She serves on the Boards of Directors for the Raytheon Company, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Saturday, 12/21/19
Habitat Restoration: Love Lake LagunitasStewardship is an ethic that embodies planning and management of the land to support healthy habitat. Become a steward of Mt Tamalpais by joining us in a morning of habitat restoration.Our grassy meadows are home to sun-loving plants and animals and are hunting grounds for birds of prey. The fruits ...
Humans rely on the sensations of itch, touch and pain for a broad range of essential behaviors. For example, acute pain acts as a warning signal that alerts us to noxious mechanical, chemical and thermal stimuli, which are potentially tissue damaging. Likewise, itch sensations trigger reflexes that may protect us ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: 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
Sunday, 12/22/19
Oakland Museum Field TripWith rain in the forecast, we have moved our field trip indoors to the Oakland Museum. We will start in the natural sciences hall and draw and sketch from the specimens in their cases. The taxidermy work at the Oakland Museum is outstanding and it is a great place to ...
Where: OaklandCost: $15 Museum Admission
Salmon Spawning Field Trip - RESCHEDULEDAfter the first big winter rain, Coho Salmon make their way up Lagunitas Creek in Marin County to spawn. We will start from the Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. From there we will search for spawning redds in the creek and look for mushrooms ...
Where: LagunitasCost: $20 suggested donation
Full-Spectrum Science: Mixing ColorJoin Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world.Are the primary colors really red, yellow, and blue? How can you get yellow from mixing red and green together? Bring your most colorful questions to this vivid presentation.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with Admission
Monday, 12/23/19
Oakland Museum Field TripWith rain in the forecast, we have moved our field trip indoors to the Oakland Museum. We will start in the natural sciences hall and draw and sketch from the specimens in their cases. The taxidermy work at the Oakland Museum is outstanding and it is a great place to ...
Join Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of the physical world. Are the primary colors really red, yellow, and blue? How can you get yellow from mixing red and green together? Bring your most colorful questions to this vivid presentation.Full-Spectrum Science With Ron Hipschman8:00 p.m. | Osher Gallery 1, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95, 14.95 explO members, AD members free
Where’s your happy place? It’s not always easy to find harmony in our lived experiences, but research has revealed some tried-and-true keys to unlocking joy. Learn about some practices and sensory immersions that can offer peace of mind (and the science behind them) and explore cultural and practical ways to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95, $14.95 explO members, AD members free
Friday, 01/03/20
First Friday: Life Hacks & SkillsIs your New Years’ Resolution to learn new skills? Be more sustainable? Create cool things? Then you’ve come to the right place. Have a blast while finding new ways to hack and improve your life! Learn new life skills, play with robots, and test out your inventing chops at our ...
This wonderful event will engage, entertain, and enlighten the community about the benefits, joys, and culinary delights of fungi! Visit a variety of booths showcasing all things fungi from mushroom kits, cookbooks, forage guides, textiles, apparel, tasty treats, hands-on workshops, cooking demonstrations, and more!Come learn about what mushrooms you can ...
SkeptiCamp Monterey 2020, a day of free presentations on science, skepticism and critical thinking, hosted by Monterey County Skeptics and Humanist Association of the Monterey Bay Area. Begins Friday, Jan. 3, with casual get-together from 6-9 p.m. at London Bridge Pub, 256 Figueroa St. #2, Monterey. Main event Saturday, Jan. ...
The faculty of the StorageX Initiative work together to tackle the complex, interdisciplinary challenges in creating modern energy storage systems. StorageX funds research to prove new energy storage technologies and concepts.Working closely with industrial partners, StorageX develops in-depth technical and commercial understanding of the emerging challenges in the energy storage ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Tuesday, 01/07/20
An Enquiry Concerning Non-Linearity, the RMS-Mean Flux Relation, and log-Normal Flux DistributionsWhen we entertain any suspicion that a data analysis term is employed without any meaning or idea (as is but too frequent), we need but enquire from what impressions is that supposed idea derived. Incautious attribution of the term(s) non-)linearity to time series data is meaningless -- a category mistake. ...
As California braces for the big one and as Southern California deals with two recent big quakes the topic of earthquakes in our state is at the top of our minds.Stephen Hickman is the Director of the Earthquake Science Center at the United States Geological Survey and he's coming to ...
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) was characterized as the fourth most profitable illegal industry in the world in 2008, worth up to $21 billion dollars annually. However, now, more than 10 years later, illegal fishing alone has an annual worth up to $23 billion. Alarmingly, wildlife trade - legal and illegal ...
As tsunamis and large scale hurricanes can occur on centennial to millennial time scales, observational and historical records generally do not provide sufficient information to determine consistent patterns of event frequency and intensity. Coastal populations have been growing, making it even more important to better understand these coastal hazards and ...
You are what you eat and that includes the 60% of your body that’s made of water. Everything we eat was once a living organism largely composed of water, and many of the ways we cook rely on the properties of water. At Pairings: The Water We Eat, join Exploratorium ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95, 14.95 explO members, AD members free
Step into the wonderful world of mushrooms at this annual NightLife favorite, where you’ll learn how to spot, ID, grow, and cook mushrooms alongside fellow fungi enthusiasts.Gather ‘round for tales from photographer and mushroom ID specialist Alan Rockefeller as he shares new species of bioluminescent fungi and other recent finds ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 01/10/20
A Royal Walk with the King TideJoin Exploratorium and Port of San Francisco staff on San Francisco's waterfront for a stroll along the waterfront to observe, photograph, and discuss the King Tide. Learn about what causes the tides, why we have King Tides this time of year, and the Port's Waterfront Resilience Program and related sea-level ...
During one of winter's highest daytime tides, take a leisurely, level walk on the paved Bay Trail to look at the shoreline through many lenses. Discover a gritty history of railroads, frog farming, dynamite making, industry and toxic pollution. Bring binocs and camera to enjoy a growing wealth of wetlands ...
Challenges and pathways forward in supernova cosmology Using the DES photometric supernova cosmology analysis as groundwork, I will summarise our current analysis methodologies, from simulations, to transient classification, selection effect treatment, and cosmology. Despite recent improvements in analysis methods, there still exist fundamental challenges in areas spanning the initial empirical SN Ia model all the way to ...
46th annual Santa Cruz Fungus FairCome to Santa Cruz and explore the facinating world of Fungi. Learn interesting and fun facts about the hundreds of beautiful and fascinating species of mushrooms found in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Area. Fungi will be beautifully displayed in a re-created woodland habitat. This unique Santa Cruz tradition features ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $5
Green Friday: Human Caused Climate ChangeHuman impacts on the climate go back to the beginnings of civilization and from the beginning, changing climate has driven human history. The Mediterranean is the best place to watch this happen and our story begins with the first myth that we have from mankind--Gilgamesh. From the beginnings of civilization, ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $3 donation requested
ONE GIANT LEAP: The scientific, technological, and social legacy of the Apollo program.50 years ago, humans first walked upon the moon. However, the scientific, technological, and social effects on broader society began well before and have continued long after that event. In this talk, Foothill College Astronomy professor Geoff Mathews will sample some of the highlights of the Apollo program's legacy, with ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free ($3 parking)
Saturday, 01/11/20
46th annual Santa Cruz Fungus FairCome to Santa Cruz and explore the facinating world of Fungi. Learn interesting and fun facts about the hundreds of beautiful and fascinating species of mushrooms found in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Area. Fungi will be beautifully displayed in a re-created woodland habitat. This unique Santa Cruz tradition features ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, $5 Seniors, under 12 Free
Exploring the DunesAntioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is home to three endangered species: two gorgeous flowering plants (Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose and Contra Costa Wallflower) and a delicate butterfly found nowhere else on the planet - Lange’s Metalmark butterfly! Generally, this refuge is closed to the public to protect them. However, once ...
Where: AntiochCost: Free
King Tides bird walk on Cerrito CreekJoin Golden Gate Audubon and Friends of Five Creeks on a conservation-themed bird walk along tidally-influenced Cerrito Creek just north of Albany Hill. We'll look for waterbirds and winter songbirds and talk about restoration and what sea-level rise may mean for habitat and the flood-prone adjacent neighborhood. Cameras welcome; photos ...
Where: AlbanyCost:
A Royal Walk with the King TideJoin Exploratorium and Port of San Francisco staff on San Francisco's waterfront for a stroll along the waterfront to observe, photograph, and discuss the King Tide. Learn about what causes the tides, why we have King Tides this time of year, and the Port's Waterfront Resilience Program and related sea-level ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: 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.
Over the centuries, storytellers have written tales of flights to the Moon. Mr. Garfinkle will discuss these fantasy flights in a PowerPoint-enhanced presentation. The presentation will include illustrations from the old books the stories were, in most cases, first published in. The images show the various methods the space travelers ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
My top 10 stories of 2019 in meteor astronomyAn informal re-telling of ten stories I worked on and were published in 2019:- Tunguska eye witness accounts, injuries and casualties-Saricicek meteorite traced back to Vesta crater Antonia- The Alpha Monocerotid outburst- Phoenicids from the breakup of comet Blanpain- Search for the meteoroids from asteroid Bennu- June epsilon Ophiuchids from ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Sunday, 01/12/20
46th annual Santa Cruz Fungus FairCome to Santa Cruz and explore the facinating world of Fungi. Learn interesting and fun facts about the hundreds of beautiful and fascinating species of mushrooms found in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Area. Fungi will be beautifully displayed in a re-created woodland habitat. This unique Santa Cruz tradition features ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 General, $5 Seniors, under 12 Free
Is a mosquito (phenomenally) conscious? This is a difficult question, but given our concept of consciousness, it seems that the answer must be determinately yes or no. There can be no vague cases of consciousness. This makes trouble for many of the leading theories of consciousness. In this talk, I ...
Neural networks have revolutionize many tasks in computer vision and interpretation, and will have significant rolein earth science tasks such as inversion, geological interpretation, prediction of earth parameters and water discovery.The talk will be divided into two parts. In the first part we will show that deep neural networks can be interpreted ...
Quantum devices and materials have exceptional promise for energy, computation, communication, and sensing. To realize this potential, scientists and engineers must find the right physical systems. Emergent phenomena in quantum systems often exhibit magnetic signatures. Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) can map superfluid density and quantum vortices to reveal unconventional ...
We know that planets are born in the protoplanetary disks that surround stars when they are young. How these disks evolve into planetary systems is a fundamental question in Astronomy. Observations have revealed remarkable structures in disks that may indicate the presence of newly born planets. This talk will review ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
How does the structure of the critical zone - especially below shallow soils and into saprolite and weathered rock - control water storage and release to California forests and streams? In this talk, I will address this question with a synthesis of observational and modeling results from three intensively studied ...
A real scenario: A high voltage 15,000 Volt electrical cable suddenly faults interrupting power: a factory halts production; a city is darkened; or the failure starts a wildfire's storm of destruction. Sudden utility cable failures can be massively destructive events. Yet, an impending failure is typically internal to the cable, ...
Where: MilpitasCost: Free
Smart Cities, Smart Cars, Smart People: Hope or Hype?Foresee the near future with panelists Shekar Ayyar, Joxel GarcÃa, Paul Gupta and Mike Weber. The number of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices is expected to increase from 20 billion to 55 billion over the next five years. What will that mean, in terms of new opportunities and new ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members, $8 Students
The primary focus of image capture technologies have been focused on capturing a moment for a person to view, store, share or revisit. This has driven the focus on image capture to initially provide an image that mimics the scene as closely as what the user was viewing, and now ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
Sustainability by Design: Innovation for a Circular EconomyJoin us for a discussion on the role of designers in actively shaping the path towards a more equitable planet. Alongside design experts from the Bay Area and Switzerland, we explore the question of social responsibility around consumer goods - and how design can incentivize people to live and act ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10
Healing a Trashed World- At 25 Cents a Cup?Martin Bourque, executive director of Berkeley’s Ecology Center, takes us on a tour through the gritty world of the international trash trade, why it isn’t working- and how Berkeley, despite its small size, can continue to be a force steering things right.
7:00-7:25: Lisa K Blatt(Photographer) on "Seeing the Invisible"'Photography and video to explore how landscape may be defined by what is not visible...Read more7:25-7:50: Adrienne Mayor(Stanford/ Classics and History and Philosophy of Science) on "Gods and Robots"Who first imagined robots, automatons, human enhancements, and Artificial Intelligence?...Read more7:50-8:10: ...
Human beings tend to prefer cross-species measurements that put us at the top of the scale. Intelligence is one such measure. Are humans really the most intelligent creatures on the planet? Should this be obvious given our problem-solving ability and big brains? This presentation will look at some examples of ...
Where: Castro ValleyCost: Free
Wednesday, 01/15/20
Navigating MDR/IVDR Implementation in the Wake of Brexit (RAPS) Developing new medical devices is more challenging than ever before given the need to relabel existing products and navigate new regulatory pathways and increased competition for Notified Bodies.Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society speakers will share with you their stories and key learnings of how they are navigating the changes in this challenging regulatory ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $40 General, $30 Members, $15 Students
Designing Babies: How Technology is Changing the Ways We Create ChildrenSince the first test-tube baby was born over 40 years ago, in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies have advanced in extraordinary ways, producing millions of babies. An estimated 20 percent of American couples use infertility services to help them conceive, and that number is growing. Prospective parents routinely ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members, $8 Students
Toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) - A Silicon Valley Meetup The precursors to the machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) of today have been in place for more than 400 years. It all started with the quest by humans to model the real world in a way it could be understood. Ravi Chityala, senior software development engineer and instructor with the UCSC Silicon ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost:
2020 Technology Trends and PredictionsIt is the beginning of another year, 2020!What are the technology trends that will dominate, and what are some of the technology predictions for 2020?In this two hour seminar talk, Dr. William Kao will report on what the tech industry is predicting for 2020. This seminar will cover what major ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Big Data Modeling Challenges and Machine Learning with No CodeWhat are the Big Data model challenges in today's field? With a few best practice recommendations and Machine Learning approaches, I will use Knime to show the modeling advantages for Big Data with the following themes:.Performance: Good data models can help us quickly query the required data and reduce I/O ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
Imaging Exoplanets: From Adaptive Optics to Starshade In SpaceDirect imaging of exoplanets - “seeing†the planet as a separate point of light near a star - is extremely difficult, and several decades ago, scientists used to say that it would be impossible to image Earth-like exoplanets. Today this seems possible, using some combination of adaptive optics technology, coronagraphs, ...
Bina Venkataraman is the Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, and a lecturer in MIT's Program of Science, Technology, and Society. She previously served as Senior Advisor for Climate Change Innovation in the Obama White House, and is a former journalist for The ...
 This presentation highlights how a group of amateur and professional astronomers (The NGC/IC Project) have re-examined the source material used to compile the original NGC in 1888 and have produced a corrected NGC that reflects the original visual discoveries.The NGC and IC objects were discovered over 100 years ago, but ...
Biotechnology Vendor Showcase ™ @ Mission Bay Crazy About Research? So Are WE!  Save Research Time!Finding More Efficient ProductsNetworking with Industry ProfessionalsInteracting Across Departments Get Fresh Research Ideas:By Seeing the Latest Technologies • By Asking Technical SpecialistsBy Sampling New Products Get Answers to Your Research Questions Professors, PI’s, Post-Docs, Laboratory Researchers, Graduate Students and Purchasing Agents are invited ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Opening the 21 cm Window on Our Cosmic Dawn21 cm cosmology promises to become a revolutionary new 3D probe of our early universe. With it, we can uncover the astrophysics of the "Cosmic Dawn" - the era of the first stars and galaxies - and test our standard model of cosmology with exquisite precision. Realizing the potential of ...
Dr. Tibshirani will discuss the hot area of supervised learning, focusing specifically on the lasso method for obtaining sparse models. He will also describe some applications of these methods to his own collaborative work, including prediction of platelet usage at Stanford Hospital.Editor's note: This talk has been moved to January ...
Feeling is Believing? With Zeke Kossover6:30, 7:30, and 8:00 p.m. | Osher Gallery 1 Demo StationYou won’t believe your hands-experience this demonstration of surprising tactile illusions.Science of the Sense With Sophia Rose Williams 7:00 p.m. | Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar ForumGet in touch with the science in your skin! Researcher ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, $14.95 Daytime Members
Earthquakes in our BackyardThe Hayward Fault, in our East Bay backyard, is a big earthquake hazard. What have we learned recently? What are we doing to improve earthquake outcomes? What can you do to be prepared? Come learn more from Dr. Peggy Hellweg (UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory)
Where: El CerritoCost: Free
Scalable Deep Neural Network Accelerator Design and MethodologyMachine learning systems are being widely deployed across billions of edge devices and datacenter across the world. At the same time, in the absence of Moore’s Law and Dennard scaling, we rely on building vertically integrated systems with domain-specific accelerators to improve the system performance and efficiency. In this talk, ...
Heermann’s Gulls were thought to breed exclusively on small islands in the Gulf of California and off the Mexican coast, where their numbers are declining due to warming seas and overfishing. But in 1999, a few nested on a man-made island on Roberts Lake in Seaside, California - the only ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Friday, 01/17/20
Biotechnology Vendor Showcase ™ @ UCSF Parnassus Crazy About Research? So Are WE! Save Research Time! Finding More Efficient Products Networking with Industry Professionals Interacting Across Departments Get Fresh Research Ideas: By Seeing the Latest Technologies • By Asking Technical Specialists By Sampling New Products Get Answers to Your Research Questions Professors, PI’s, Post-Docs, Laboratory Researchers, Graduate ...
The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: clustering measurements, lessons, and prospects In this talk, I will present the clustering analysis of the ELG (Emission Line Galaxy) sample from the eBOSS (extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) program of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and review the other clustering analyses of the eBOSS program, dedicated to Luminous Red Galaxies and Quasars. I will ...
Leonard D'Avolio, Ph.D. shares lessons learned from 15 years of experience designing, developing, and deploying machine learning-enabled systems in academic, government, philanthropic, and industrial healthcare environments. This talk is a painfully honest view of the promise and potential of machine learning in healthcare as well as the cultural, economic, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Did comet impacts jump-start life on Earth?Recent observations confirming the presence of the protein-forming amino acid glycine in comets lend support to cometary impact as a possible source for delivering simple amino acids to early Earth. Little is known regarding the survivability or reactivity of glycine during impacts, especially considering that condensed phase chemistry at extreme ...
Still looking for the perfect holiday gift? Our January Sanctuary Explorations trip makes a great experiential gift for you or your loved ones!Witness the mighty gray whale migration on this half-day cruise. Join our sanctuary naturalists as we venture into the migration path of the gray whales as they head ...
Where: Half Moon BayCost: $70
Mushroaming Along the Presidio Coastal BluffsGet your caps on and be prepared to enter our mycelium/fungus season in the Golden Gate National parks! Come and join us in the underbrush of the Presidio Coastal Bluffs as there is much to explore and learn about the fungus in our parks! We welcome everyone of all ages ...
'In the Woods: Who’s Been Here?'Join us for story time at YSI! This month hear the story of Cammie and William as they explore a forest and encounter some of its mysteries and inhabitants. Then after the story, meet an animal from our Nature Center!
Where: Los GatosCost: Free
Geology Rocks on the HillsEver wondered why the Coyote Hills rise up out of the surrounding marshland? Take a walk with Dr. Malcolm Pringle around the hills of the refuge. Observe rocks that formed deep in the ocean during the time of the dinosaurs. Ponder how they could have joined North America, then been ...
As humans, our appreciation of the natural world is tied to our senses and the sights, sounds, and smells we experience. Recent scientific research however has shown just how limited this viewpoint is. The majority of life on earth use sights, sounds, and smells that are imperceptible to humans and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Twilight Marsh WalkExperience the salt marsh at twilight on an easy stroll along Tidelands (1.3 miles) Trail. At the setting of the sun we will observe the beginning of nature’s night shift. Come discover the sights, sounds, and smells of the refuge as night descends. Not suitable for young children. Call 510-792-0222 ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Sunday, 01/19/20
Fishing for Conservation Solutions: Protecting Manta Rays from Our Seafood SystemManta and devil rays are a group of charismatic and biologically fascinating ocean icons. Unfortunately, they also face enormous threats from wildlife trafficking, plastic pollution, and accidental entanglement in fishing gear. A unique collaboration of scientists, fisheries managers, and industrial tuna fisheries is out to document and understand this accidental ...
