In his new book, Fire and Blood, Eugene Linden examines the role of business interests in muddying messages from scientists and derailing attempts to galvanize the public. He tells a story of big monied interests doing what they do to protect short-term profits against longer-term threats. One of the through-lines ...
Dr. Dyson is a mission-driven entrepreneur with a passion for creative problem-solving. She will provide her insights on pressing environmental challenges and developing and scaling technologies that will sustainably manage and renew the planet’s resources. There will be opportunities for Q&A from attendees.Speaker: Dr. Lisa Dyson, Air Protein.
Where: Cost: Free
Science Denial: Why It Happens And What To Do About It - LivestreamHow do individuals decide whether to accept human causes of climate change, vaccinate their children, or practice social distancing during a pandemic? Understanding key psychological explanations for science denial and doubt can help provide a means for improving scientific literacy and understanding - critically important at a time when denial ...
Are you a fan of the forest? Whether in remote or urban settings, trees are an essential part of our ecology. They provide habitat, control erosion, and release oxygen into our atmosphere. The complex structures of their communication networks and contribution to resilient landscapes are now beginning to be recognized ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an international collaborative research network that uses automated radio telemetry to track birds, bats, and insects. Join us for an overview of how Motus works, highlights from various research projects that have used Motus, and current and developing initiatives. New research projects, new technological ...
 Get a free virtual ticket at: https://www.simpletix.com/e/rfo-speaker-series-the-top-tourist-sights-tickets-100742In this illustrated, non-technical program, we will explore the most intriguing future “tourist destinations†among the planets and moons in our cosmic neighborhood. Our stops will include the 4,000-mile lava channel on Venus, the towering Mount Olympus volcano on Mars (three times the height ...
Imprisoned in a remote Turkish POW camp during World War I, having survived a two-month forced march and a terrifying shootout in the desert, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, join forces to bamboozle their iron-fisted captors. To stave off despair and boredom, Jones takes a handmade Ouija ...
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 04/15/22
Observing the Upper-Atmosphere with Satellite Stellar Occultation Measurements - LivestreamIn this talk we will investigate measurements from an orbiting nanosatellite and upcoming measurements from an instrument Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is adding to the International Space Station in 2023. We will discuss how well we can retrieve the atmospheric profile (temperature, density, pressure) and extract atmospheric gravity waves ...
Where: Cost: Free
Saturday, 04/16/22
Construing Reality: The Distortions of the Mind - California Cognitive Science ConferenceThe California Cognitive Science Conference at UC Berkeley is an annual all-day symposium bringing together hundreds of students, researchers, and members of the general public from around the world who are passionate about the interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science for a day of talks and research presentations. We feature talks given by prominent scientists ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $10 General, Faculty and Students free
#NoToPlastic Community Clean-UpsBe part of the solution! Join other wildlife enthusiasts to help our local wildlife by cleaning up important habitats in Oakland.Meet at the Lower Entrance to Oakland Zoo (in front of the Zimmer Auditorium) at 9:45am; shuttle departs at 10:00am sharp for cleanup site.Location of cleanup will be a different ...
Family Nature Walks - Baylands Nature PreserveEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help students and their families get to know our local open space areas. Small family groups will be guided by a knowledgeable environmental educator during an exploration of a local open space. These small groups will be introduced to fun nature-based ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
Investigating Space: Spacecraft of SpaceXAs part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the fourth SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket is preparing to launch from Kennedy Space Center later in April! This mission will carry 4 astronauts to the International Space Station. Chabot welcomes former SpaceX Dragon and Falcon Quality Supervisor Erik Li to ...
Join us for The Universe in Verse an annual charitable celebration of science and nature, winged with poetry and music, created and hosted by Maria Popova (The Marginalian) in collaboration with astronomer and UC Santa Cruz Director of Astrobiology Natalie Batalha. In the majestic Quarry Amphitheater in the redwoods, we will explore the marvel and mystery of life, ...
The stars beckon. But humans evolved to survive on Earth, not to hurtle through space. For long-duration travel - interplanetary and, even, interstellar - what spacecraft accommodations are necessary? Is on-board human hibernation an option? Might we overcome the problems of space radiation and prolonged weightlessness? Finally, scientists may argue ...
Air pollution levels in the US have decreased dramatically over the past several decades, yet racial-ethnic exposure disparities persist. There is a need to better understand the underlying causes of these disparities in order to develop more effective policies to address them. In the first part of this talk, I ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Kitaev materials and time-dependent Majorana mean-field theory - LivestreamAs a rare example of an exactly solvable 2D quantum spin system, the Kitaev model has generated considerable theoretical interest as a playground for anyonic, neither fermionic nor bosonic, physics. Engineering the peculiar bond-dependent Ising interactions in a material initially seemed challenging, but today there is a collection of “Kitaev ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Experimental demonstration of continuous quantum error correction - LivestreamGiven the inherent fragility of quantum systems, quantum error correction (QEC) promises to be a powerful tool in performing quantum computations. QEC traditionally consists of discrete rounds of error detection, where errors are detected using entangling gates and projective measurement. However, physical measurements consist of finite coupling strengths and are ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
A Dean's LifeSpeaker: Jeremy Qualls, University of Southern Maine
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Assembling, cutting and steering to construct polarized microtubule highways in neuronsMelissa Rolls is the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry at Penn State. Her research focus is the cell biology of neurons, particularly microtubule organization. She uses this long-term background in cell biology to understand how neurons respond to injury. She is also committed to training scientists and Chairs the Molecular, ...
Mainspring was founded in 2010 by three Stanford engineers seeking a new approach to generating clean, resilient, affordable electricity. Their research into high-efficiency methods of converting fuel to electricity led to the founding of the company and the development and prototype of their first linear generator. They also built a ...
Where: Cost: Free
Evolving Networks in Matter and Mind - LivestreamNetworks exist in both physical and conceptual spaces. Those networks can be treated as static and fixed, but in many cases evolve appreciably over a variety of time scales. In this talk, I will discuss the evolution of networks in matter and mind. I will separate my comments into three ...
Where: Cost: Free
Tuesday, 04/19/22
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del OroJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for an excursion where you’ll explore the Mayfair Ranch - Longwall Canyon trails of Rancho Cañada del Oro! You will be guided by POST Ambassadors who will share with you the history of the preserve, the region, and the importance of conservation in the area. The ...
In this nontechnical talk (illustrated with color images), you will hear the behind-the-scenes story of how Pluto got “demoted,†and why its story nevertheless turned out OK. We’ll discuss other demotions in astronomy history, and show the latest results from the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew by the “double planet†...
Where: Cost: Free
Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey: Public Briefing - LivestreamWhat new discoveries are on the horizon for the next decade of planetary exploration? The Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 highlights key science questions, identifies priority missions, and presents a comprehensive research strategy that includes both planetary defense and human exploration. The report also recommends ways to support ...
Where: Cost: Free
Astrophysics with high energy neutrinos - LivestreamThe IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a detector consisting of a billion tons of ice at the geographic South Pole instrumented with thousands of photomultiplier tubes to detect neutrinos from GeV to EeV energies. In addition to neutrino physics measurements, IceCube discovered a substantial flux of astrophysical neutrinos in the TeV ...
Where: Cost: Free
Two Talks: Popping the Science Bubble - LivestreamAging gracefully: cognitive aging and brain healthSpeaker: Xi Chen (Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley) Black Holes: The Most Fascinating Zoo in the UniverseSpeaker: Natasha Abrams (Astrophysics, UC Berkeley)See weblink for connection options
Where: Cost: Free
Wednesday, 04/20/22
Got Metal? Life and Metals, The Unexpected Connection - LivestreamSingle-cell life appears quickly after the formation of our Earth and co-evolve with our planet over the eons. Biologists understand that all life requires trace elements, many of which are metals, to perform crucial chemical reactions. Recent studies show that geological activity, such as plate tectonics, plays a key role ...
Where: Cost: Free
How to increase IoT data platform performance for edge devices? - LivestreamAs the number of sensors and devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) increases by a CAGR of ~25%, i.e. doubles every 3 years, a critical question that arises is how to store, analyze and take quick actions on the massive amounts of time-series data for real-time applications for oil ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, $5 IEEE members, Free IEE CT members
 How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with ...
Where: Cost: Free
Response of the Delta and Estuary to a major change in wastewater nutrient loading - RescheduledIn April of last year, the largest wastewater treatment plant discharging waste into the Northern Sacramento San Joaquin Delta completed a >$2B upgrade to its treatment processes. This resulted in a large reduction of total nitrogen loading to the Delta and a change in the chemical form of that nitrogen ...
Dr. Adrian Munguia-Vega, University of Arizona, will present his research for the first 30 minutes and the last half of the seminar will be a Q&A open to the audience.See weblink for Zoom link
Where: Cost: Free
April LASER Event - LivestreamNicole Yunger Halpern Joint Institute for Quantum Information and Computer Science, University of Maryland) on "Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday's Tomorrow"Betty Sargeant (Media Artist) on "The Art of Collaboration: Decolonising Digital Landscapes"Katia Zolotovsky (RISD) on "Bio-Futures: Engineered Living Materials for Transplanetary Habitats" Register here or here
Women widely perceive aging as a change worthy of fear and resistance. But what if approaching the second half of life is actually more of a celebration?Researcher, clinician and UCSF professor Dr. Louann Brizendine dives deep into the workings of the brain and finds that women can discover their best ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General in person, $5 general online
At the heart of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) lies the Drake Equation, a mathematically simple yet enigmatic formula proposed by American astronomer and SETI founder Frank Drake. The Drake Equation provides a way to estimate the number N of advanced civilizations present in our galaxy. Although N is ...
A text obtained by a deep learning (DL) content generation system (raw text) usually has major issues in terms of randomness and incorrectness. We build a content improvement system specifically oriented towards repairing these errors by finding correct and consistent sentences from various sources and substituting problematic entities, phrases, and ...
Where: Cost: Free
Nerd Nite SF #124: Songs & Psychedelic Assisted Therapy! Get the f*** out of the bike lane! with Noam OsbandNoam is our friendly neighborhood anthropologist-director-producer-singer-of-nerdy-songs. Through his tunes you’ll learn about moth lifecycles and various other topics, including but not limited to urban cycling etiquette and his PhD research on migrant labor. Noam is an anthropologist, musician, and director/producer living in San Francisco.Wake the f*** ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 Advance, $15 at door
