Policymakers and the public often find algorithms to be complex, opaque and intimidating - and it can be tempting to pretend that hard moral questions have simple technological answers. But that approach leaves technical experts holding the moral microphone, and it stops people who lack technical expertise from making their ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima TrailJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter ...
Most of us lead drab and colorless lives as drones and cogs in faceless organizations. With his tales of research around southern California oil and gas platforms, Milton (only his wife calls him Dr. Love) will enter your world like a bright and fanciful rainbow, or a swatch of William ...
Join Fred Dortort, author of The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World, on a photographic virtual tour of his many trips to South Africa documenting unusual, spectacular, and increasingly, endangered succulent plants. Over the past twenty-plus years, Fred has had the opportunity to visit some rarely travelled ...
Where: Cost: Free
Marine Invertebrate Responses to Changing EnvironmentsMarine environments are not uniform or constant, and animals have a variety of responses to such change. Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce different phenotypes, and local adaptation, differences among populations under different conditions, are important responses for a variety of animals that live in changing ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Gendered surplus people, food security, and maladaptation to climate changeIn this presentation, I explain why along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border, floodplain farming remains popular when it manifestly causes more problems. I draw upon Karl Marx’s theory of relative surplus population and interviews with farmers. I argue that the creation of relative surplus people through mining-induced land displacement compels farmers ...
OpenAI’s question-and-answer chatbot ChatGPT has shaken up Silicon Valley and is already disrupting a wide range of fields and industries, including education. But the potential risks of this new era of artificial intelligence go far beyond students cheating on their term papers. Even OpenAI’s founder warns that “the question of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General in person, $10 online
Energy and infrastructure are taking center stage as President Biden’s team fans across the country touting his accomplishments and the benefits they bring to American families. Biden’s policy wins have secured vast amounts of funding, and that money is just beginning to flow, with new programs becoming available to everyday ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members in person
Cell Phone Astrophotography - LivestreamIf you would like to be able to capture images of celestial objects using a telescope and don’t have special astrophotography equipment, or do have equipment but would also like to have the option of being able to capture images quickly and easily on the fly, SFAA has you covered. ...
Design for impactful VR training is an incredibly complex challenge. When done well, VR training can result in more efficient workers, decreased injuries, and cost savings. However, if done badly, VR training can result in confused workers, wasted funds, and negative training effects causing more harm than benefit. Whereas limitations ...
Mathematics and the Card Game SET with Dr. Catherine HsuCome play SET, a fun game of pattern recognition universally loved by mathematicians! Although this game was invented as part of a research project on epilepsy in German Shepherds, SET is closely related to many interesting areas in mathematics. Tonight, we’ll ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
Wonderfest: Spider Love and Dark Matter - LivestreamWonderfest 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 entomologist Trinity Walls on Creepy or Captivating: A Spider Scientist's Perspective - How have recent discoveries about spiders ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 03/16/23
Lunch Break Science: 3.5 Million-Year-Old Human Ancestors Found in Outskirts of Nairobi - LivestreamMeet East Africa’s first woman paleoanthropologist Dr. Emma Mbua, learn about the surprising discovery of Australopithecus afarensis fossils at Kantis Fossil Site on the outskirts of Nairobi, and hear Emma’s story in this special Women’s History Month episode. Dr. Mbua is also a Leakey Foundation grantee and Baldwin Scholar.Watch this ...
High-quality surface deformation data are critical for estimating relative sea level change and its implication on future flooding risk of coastal communities. Here we developed a robust and scalable Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) processing algorithm to reconstruct spatially coherent radar phase measurements over densely vegetated terrain. For the first ...
Where: StanfordCost:
Key Technologies for Upgrading Cable Television Networks - LivestreamThe movement towards a remote workforce brought on by the COVID pandemic have combined with competition to place strong pressure on Cable Television operators to increase their network performance. Recent industry initiatives are touting up to 10 GBps using the existing coaxial cables with upgraded repeater amplifiers. A new DOCSIS ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $25 General, Free to SHS Members
The Birth of the Science Communicator - LivestreamWhat is a science communicator? The era of once-a-decade outliers like Carl Sagan is long gone. In the present day of internet-borne disinformation and science denial, science communication has emerged as a vibrant and painfully necessary field, with an army of scholars focusing their expertise exclusively on informing the public.Dave ...
Where: Cost: Free
1.5 C - Methane: the 100x threatClimate Tech Action Network (CTAN) presents 1.5°C, an ongoing climate technology panel event that will focus on the engineering and scientific challenges facing different verticals of the climate crisis. We are bringing together some of the hottest startups in the field to explore the complex trade-offs in cost, feasibility, scalability, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 suggested donation
After Dark: Conversations About LandscapeIn 1992 a groundbreaking new map transformed the way we think about San Francisco’s history. Wild in the City captured the transformation of the ecological landscape over the course of more than 200 years. In doing so, it ushered in an urgent awareness of San Francisco’s Indigenous Ohlone heritage and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightlifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
The Garden is pleased to honor Women’s History Month with a special online talk by New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Aalto, featuring her book Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World (Timber Press, 2020). Her book Writing Wild ventures into ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, Free for Members
Birding while Disabled - LivestreamBonnie Lewkowicz and Judith Smith will share their experiences as wheelchair-using birders and will be joined by Tiffany Taylor, a birder who is blind. Hear what they need from the birding community and birding locations to feel welcome and included.Attend on Zoom by clicking here.
Where: Menlo ParkCost: $25 General, Free to SHS Members
NightSchool: Number 2 - LivestreamThis NightSchool, our number one priority is something everyone does: number two. From conservation clues in scat to fecal breeding grounds, we’re talking all about poop.Ages 21+See weblink for links to the stream
Speaker: Donna Shillington, Northern Arizona Uniuversity
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Unlocking the Sun: Spectroscopy in the 1800'sUnlocking the Sun: Spectroscopy in the 1800's" Have you ever wondered how we figured out what the Sun is made of? The story of how we determined the chemical makeup of our own star combines chemistry, physics, and astronomy in a tale of mystery, far-flung expeditions, and unexpected discoveries. After ...
Where: LivermoreCost: Free
Saturday, 03/18/23
BioBlitz at Kelley Park with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and Santa Clara Valley Audubon SocietyJoin us in exploring Kelley Park with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful! We’ll be looking for birds, bugs, and anything else we come across, using iNaturalist to document our findings. After a winter of rain we’re excited to see what we find, and hope you’ll join us in exploring this large ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
FAMILY PROGRAM: Magical Mini Moss GardensIn honor of St. Paddy’s day, join our moss and lichen hunt, learn a little botany, and make a "magical" mini moss garden to take home. Children must be accompanied by a registered adult.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 General, $18 Child, $2 off for members
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
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Sunday, 03/19/23
Presidio: Changes Through TimeJoin the National Park Service and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the GGNRA!This half-mile, level walk shows the historical changes to the Presidio, from the Spanish fort all the way to the new Tunnel Tops. Who benefitted from these changes, and who did not?Learn about the people who lived here, and ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Women in Archaeology: A Conversation with Members of the Society for California ArchaeologyTo celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re delighted to host Gregg Castro (T'rowt'raahl Salinan, Rumsen, and Ramaytush Ohlone), the Native American Programs Committee Chair for the Society for California Archaeology (SCA) and the Culture Director of The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO). He is gathering together a special panel to conclude ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admissin
Monday, 03/20/23
Life and Science in an Absolute MonarchyWhat is the day-to-day life like in the Vatican? And how does that compare to the ways that such places are depicted in some of your favorite (and not-so-favorite) fantasy novels? What is it really like to live in a five hundred year old palace, to work in an absolute ...
Ben completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He then worked in the lab of Justin Taraska at the NIH as a postbac IRTA, focused primarily on developing computational image analysis approaches and using advanced microscopy to study exocytosis and endocytosis. He next obtained his ...
NASA’s next flagship astrophysics mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, aims to expand our view of the cosmos. Scheduled to launch by May 2027, the Roman Space Telescope will enable new science thanks to its unique combination of a large field-of-view, Hubble-like resolution at near-infrared wavelengths, and the ability ...
This presentation examines how the phonograph and leading record companies of the 1920’s helped to create the modern possibilities and dilemmas of faith and technology.Attend online or in person. See weblink
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Blue-Green Action Platform (BlueGAP): Stories, data & nitrogen managementNitrogen pollution, whether from wastewater effluent, vehicle air emissions, stormwater or agricultural runoff, harms human and ecological health, compromises livelihoods, and costs billions in damages. Moving the needle on actions needed to properly manage nitrogen requires out of the box approaches. Our approach, currently funded through NSF’s Blue Economy Accelerator ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
SETI Talks: The Origin of Water on Earth: Alien Meteors, Icy Comets, or Solar Wind? - LivestreamWater is necessary for life on Earth, but its origin is still unknown. There are multiple hypotheses about its origin. The most common theory is Earth’s water is alien, crashing down in meteors long ago when Earth was very young. Over the eons, icy asteroids and comets delivered oceans to ...
Where: Cost: Free
Ig Nobel Prize face-to-faceOur esteemed founder of the prize (and the journal the Annals of Improbable Research), Marc Abrahams, will take us through the fascinating history of the Ig Nobel Prize, from its inception in 1991 to the present day. We will learn about the inspiration behind the award, the selection process, and ...
Called “the voice of the resistance†by The New York Times, writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit, the author of 20 books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, hope and disaster, and most recently Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General in person, $10 online, $10/$0 members
2023 Spring Birdathon Kickoff - LivestreamJoin us as we kickoff the start of 2023's Birdathon!We'll be sharing our favorite highlights from last year's teams, testing our bird smarts with fun quiz questions, and talking about why we're so amped about Birdathon.Whether you're a seasoned Birdathon participant, or you're just curious about what this whole thing ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 03/23/23
Searching for Cosmic Dawn and Beyond with Radio ObservationsObservations of redshifted 21-cm emission of neutral hydrogen are a rapidly growing area of cosmology research. Measurements of the radio sky at ~200 MHz and below are a promising tool for exploring cosmic dawn, and at the lowest frequencies (tens of MHz), future observations may allow us to one day ...
Join us for the opening night of ¡Plantásticas! and get to know the wonderful world of plants! From science to culture to the oxygen we breathe, plants enrich our lives in countless ways. Touch plants, smell them, magnify them under microscopes, and marvel at the beautiful patterns they make. Tonight, ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Congrats, you’ve leveled up! Put those skills in play because gaming is back at NightLife.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20.75
Mountain Lion LectureCalifornia State Parks presents an evening lecture by Dr. Quinton Martins of True Wild about our local mountain lion population. Learn more about the movement, diet, and behavior of mountain lions tracked by the Living with Lions project.
Where: SonomaCost: $10 General, 12 and under free (at door)
Friday, 03/24/23
Bair Island Walking TourJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a walking tour at Bair Island! You’ll be guided by POST ambassadors who will share the history of this beautiful protected space, information about the species that live there, and what you can do to contribute.This easy 1.5 mile walk with little to no ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: Free
Astro 101: Intro to the Night SkyThe sky is full of stars! How do we know what's what and find our way around? During this talk, you'll learn to recognize key star formations and some tricks that astronomers use to find interesting objects in the night sky. You'll also hear tidbits of star mythology, learn something ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Saturday, 03/25/23
Stewardship Saturday: Restoring Wetlands for Ocean HealthWe are excited to invite you to engage with nature and assist in a Watsonville Wetlands Watch restoration project.After some time working as a team to improve the health of the slough, you will then have the opportunity to explore more about the connection between wetlands and marine mammals as ...
Where: WatsonvilleCost: Free
Life as a Leatherback Workshop - First SessionLearn what it takes to be the world’s largest species of turtle. Participants will discover the life cycle of a leatherback turtle through interactive games and stories. Explore sea turtle skulls and specimens as well as witness real scientific video footage of a leatherback foraging for food in the sanctuary. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Morning Hike at La Honda Open Space PreserveJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful hike at Lower La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve where you’ll experience the area’s sweeping views and gorgeous rolling grasslands! The preserve is over 6,100 acres, of which POST has contributed 5,200 acres. You will be guided by a POST Ambassador on ...
Prepare for April Fools’ Day with us at Science Saturday: Sneaky Natural Tricksters! Like humans, these “tricksters†survive in a wide range of ecological niches and habitats due to their intelligence, ability to problem solve, and the range of foods they can eat. Science Saturday is always free for everyone, ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Women in STEM DayCelebrate the accomplishments women have made in science, technology, engineering and math and our future generation of female scientists. Take part in hands-on science demos throughout the museum with the Center’s youth volunteers, the Galaxy Explorers. Then join a panel of local female scientists as they discuss their journeys to ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Life as a Leatherback Workshop - Second SessionLearn what it takes to be the world’s largest species of turtle. Participants will discover the life cycle of a leatherback turtle through interactive games and stories. Explore sea turtle skulls and specimens as well as witness real scientific video footage of a leatherback foraging for food in the sanctuary. ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Saturday Cinema: Plant PowerJoin us for two short films related to ¡Plantásticas!: Our Lives with Plants, a new exhibition celebrating the history and science of plants and their integral role in connecting us to our cultures and our planet.Native to Right Here: The Plants Animals and People of Tuushtak by Joan H. Hamilton ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
Exoplanet Watch: Inviting Citizen Scientists to Observe Transiting Exoplanets - LivestreamJoin exoplanet astronomer Rob Zellem, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as he discusses how we find and characterize exoplanets, planets outside of our own Solar System, with the ultimate goal of detecting signatures of life. He will also discuss current and near future ground- and space-based missions, such as NASA’s ...
Where: Cost: Free
Jazz Under the Stars - RescheduledJazz Under the Stars is a FREE monthly public stargazing event! Occurring on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon (check our Events Page), join us on the 4th floor observatory for a night of smooth jazz, bright stars, and a lot of fun! We play our jazz from CSM's own ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 03/26/23
How to Speak Whale, A Voyage Into the Future of Animal Communication - LivestreamWhat if humans and other animals could speak to one another? Author and wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill reveals how a close encounter with a humpback whale off the coast of California inspired him to spend years exploring the cutting edge of marine biological research with scientists who are combining underwater ...
Where: Cost: $10 suggested donation
Wonderfest: Wallace, Darwin, and the Discovery of Evolution by Natural Selection - LivestreamIn 1858, two friends and colleagues, Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin, independently proposed one of the deepest ideas in all of science, evolution by natural selection. However, Wallace's extraordinary - and extraordinarily successful - quest to understand how evolution works is not well known. The story is riveting: a man ...
Where: Cost: Free
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point BluffJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for an afternoon walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by a POST representative who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve that hosts tide ...
In late 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made a long-sought breakthrough, achieving self-sustaining “fusion ignition†for the first time, generating more fusion energy than the laser energy used to start the reaction. Supporters see fusion as a game changer for production of unlimited clean energy that can help ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General in person, $10 online, $15/$5 members
Smaller not bigger data: securing an interconnected world - LivestreamFrom the filters ensuring clean water in our homes to the bed monitors keeping patients alive at hospitals, the physical world is being stitched into a digital fabric. This trend is commonly referred to as the internet of things “IoT.†The emergence of IoT has brought on a wealth of ...
Exhuming the Dead to Save the LivingEarth is experiencing a crisis in biodiversity. Surprisingly, the fossil record offers key insights for understanding this crisis, and one scientist's lifelong fascination with dinosaurs - leading to a career in conservation biology - is helping to combat the biodiversity challenge of the present ...
Where: Cost: Free
Tuesday, 03/28/23
Wonderfest: 'Linoleum'Wonderfest celebrates the 10th annual National Evening of Science on Screen with the new sci-fi comedy-drama LINOLEUM and with the expert commentary of planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee. LINOLEUM chronicles the reality-jarring challenges of a midwest dreamer who decides to build his own rocketship. Early reviews give the movie a ...
Where: St. HelenaCost: See weblink
Wednesday, 03/29/23
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima TrailJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter ...
Most of us lead drab and colorless lives as drones and cogs in faceless organizations. With his tales of research around southern California oil and gas platforms, Milton (only his wife calls him Dr. Love) will enter your world like a bright and fanciful rainbow, or a swatch of William ...
Where: Moss LandingCost: Free
March LASER EventChristina Jauernik (Architect and Artist) on "Touching Distance - Inter-Views with the Virtual" Hanna Haslaahti (Media Artist) on "Storytelling with Personal Avatars" Javier Ideami (Filmmaker and A.I. Scientist) on "Encounters of the third kind with Generative Artificial Intelligence" Register here or here
Where: Cost: Free
Centering Health Justice and Trans Well-Being - LivestreamIn celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility, join two scientific presentations that will help raise awareness of systemic issues that impact trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse individuals, as well as those with intersecting identities.Generating Models of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy While Centering the Needs of Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-Diverse IndividualsGender-affirming ...
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future - LivestreamOur predictions of the future are a wild fantasy, inextricably linked to our present hopes and fears, biases and ignorance. The best we can do is try to absorb the lessons from futurism’s checkered past, perhaps learning to do a little better.Our next Skeptical Inquirer Presents event welcomes podcast host ...
Where: Cost: Free
Improving VR/AR Experiences by Understanding the Human Visual System - LivestreamVirtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) wearable displays strive to provide perceptually realistic user experiences, while constrained by limited compute budgets, hardware, and transmission bandwidths of wearable computing systems. This presentation describes two different ways in which a greater understanding of the human visual system may assist in achieving this goal. ...
Ribonucleic acids (RNAs) are one of nature’s most versatile biomolecules and possess a rich variety of functions, but why should we care about them? Because RNA has so much to teach us about our past, present, and future.In this talk, I will highlight how RNA has influenced our lives across ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Thursday, 03/30/23
Science on Tap: Science from 20 Feet UpJoin the Museum for a night of fun and science as we host Doctors Mara Orescanin and Stu Weiss with beverages from Dust Bowl Brewing Co! Mara and Stu will be discussing the work they do to help the planet’s ecosystems and populations, both human and non, from 20 feet ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $15 General, $10 members, Free for Students
After Dark: Trans Day of VisibilityCelebrated on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is an international day of awareness that highlights transgender achievements and greatness in response to intentional exclusion of transgender people, voices, and actions in the current societal culture and discourse. Transgender people exist in all corners of the world so it is ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Learn About:Why coral reefs around the world are in trouble.How there is some hope for these threatened ecosystems. What successful coral-reef restoration would look like and ideas to get there.Speaker: Ilsa Kuffner, USGS St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science CenterSee weblink for link to the lecture
Where: Cost: Free
NightLifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.25
Saturday, 04/01/23
Dìa de la Ciencia This is a community event for the Spanish-speaking public to participate in hands-on activities led by local scientists! This event will include: Hands-on exhibits & booths led by scientists and community partnersTalks and PresentationsSTEM StorytimeDirections here
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Morning Hike at San Vicente Redwoods - RESCHEDULEDJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a community hike at San Vicente Redwoods! This will be a moderate hike of 3.5 miles on fairly level trails with little elevation gain. Guests will be led by a POST ambassador, who will share about the human and natural history of this important ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
STEM Frenzy FestivalThe STEM Frenzy festival is a day where we bring the community of all ages together to celebrate and explore the wonders of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Art.Enjoy 30+ engaging demonstrations and hands-on activities at our exhibitor booths hosted by local STEM professionals and learn how to enroll your ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
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
The Great Blue Heron ColonyNesting at Snow Lake for 30 yearsNancy DeStefanis presents slides of 30 years of Blue Herons at Stow Lake from 1995 to the present and screens the movie Great Blues of the Golden Gate. A question-and-answer session will follow. DeStefanis is the founder and executive director of San Francisco Nature Education.
Drop-in anytime between 9 am and 11 am to bird with us! SCVAS volunteers will be stationed at Palo Alto Baylands on the north side of the duck pond with binoculars to help you identify the huge variety of shorebirds and ducks that call the Bay Area home. No RSVP ...
Where: Palo AltoCost: Free
The Fascinating Influential Electric Wizards of the Enlightenment!You never had so much fun learning about science! Kathy, author of The Lightning Tamers and host of the popular science YouTube channel "Kathy Loves Physics" will tell a tale about how electricity developed in the 1700s that you will have to see to believe.In this spoken word performance, Kathy ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $7.18
Monday, 04/03/23
Yerba Buena Island Natural History WalksYerba Buena Island is unknown to over 99% of San Franciscans, even less by denizens of the greater Bay Area, who may only know it when they drive over the Bay Bridge which spans are connected by the tunnel that traverses the island. Even if city dwellers have ventured over ...
Salinity Intrusion in Northern San Francisco Bay: Observations and ModelsThe problem of predicting how the salinity field in estuaries responds to freshwater inflows is one that draws attention from both physical oceanographers and hydraulic engineers since it has both scientific and practical dimensions. In Northern San Francisco Bay, examination of 20+ years of data spanning the estuary shows that ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Using proxies to assess anthropogenic effects on under-monitored equatorial Pacific reefs - RescheduledCoral reefs are struggling as anthropogenic warming fuels an increase in the frequency and intensity of Marine Heat Waves, causing widespread bleaching and coral death. Yet some reefs, including those in the bullseye of El Niño’s impact, endure. Uncovering their secret could shed critical new light on the mechanisms by ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Correlated Structural Inhomogeneity in Oxide SuperconductorsSuperconductivity has been a major scientific topic for more than a century, yet in many important materials this macroscopic quantum phenomenon remains poorly understood. From nonlinear magnetic response and other experiments, we have uncovered that superconductivity emerges in an unusual manner upon cooling in three well-known families of complex oxides ...
Lauren O'Connell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University. She studies amphibians to learn how animals adapt their behavior and physiology to changing environments. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and then started her own lab at Harvard University as ...
I will be talking about my research on supernovae from conducting preliminary research, writing code, data analysis/visualization to synthesizing all of it into a research paper. My hope for the talk is to showcase my journey from Capstone to finished paper with the hope that it might serve as a model and/or inspiration ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Quantum optics with organic molecules: cavity QED, optomechanics, and cooperativityLaboratory manipulation of single quantum emitters and single photons has matured to a routine procedure over the past two decades. These activities have motivated new emerging topics such as coherent cooperative interactions among several quantum emitters and the development of quantum networks. In this presentation, I summarize our efforts of ...
Electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries will play a dominant role in electrification of transportation and clean electricity from renewables for reaching the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the current dominant technology, is facing an increasing pressure on maintaining a stable supply-chain and their ...
OpenAI’s question-and-answer chatbot ChatGPT has shaken up Silicon Valley and is already disrupting a wide range of fields and industries, including education. But the potential risks of this new era of artificial intelligence go far beyond students cheating on their term papers. Even OpenAI’s founder warns that “the question of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General in person, $10 online
Alaska artist Ray Troll will share the twists and turns of his unique aquatically inspired career as an artist and an educator, and how marine science came to be an important focal point for his unconventional body of work.Settling in the rainswept, coastal town of Ketchikan, Alaska he began producing ...
Biologic and Resource Analog Investigations in Low Light Environments (BRAILLE) is a multi-year, NASA-funded Mars analog project centered around fieldwork in volcanic caves at Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California. We are motivated to search for evidence of life on Mars beneath its surface - and one way to ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members & Seniors
Tuesday, 04/04/23
A class on Aliens in Science and Science Fiction - LivestreamFew areas of astronomy provoke our imaginations as much as the search for “alien life†among the stars. It is a staple of science fiction stories and films, but recently it has also become a legitimate branch of scientific inquiry. In this non-technical class (designed for people without much science ...
The field of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was launched in the 1990s by the remarkable discovery, via naturally-occurring isotopic tracers, that saline groundwater was discharging to the South Atlantic Bight in very large volumes. Subsequent studies confirmed that saline groundwater discharges to the Atlantic Ocean in volumes that rival river ...
Magnetic single atoms and molecules constitute the ultimate spatial limit for data storage, quantum sensors and quantum information units. Recently electron spin resonance spectroscopy combined with the scanning tunneling microscope (ESR-STM) has developed into a powerful tool to address magnetic adsorbates at the single atom level. Compared to other STM ...
With hundreds of bird species found throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, we are fortunate to have several birding organizations dedicated to appreciating and conserving the birds here. In the first part of SFBBO's Birding the Bay Area series, Golden Gate Audubon, Mt. Diablo Audubon, and Ohlone Audubon will each ...
How can we turn the tide on species loss and help biodiversity and bioabundance flourish for millennia to come?Ryan Phelan is Executive Director of Revive & Restore; the leading wildlife conservation organization promoting the incorporation of biotechnologies into standard conservation practice. Phelan will share the new Genetic Rescue Toolkit for ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: TBA
Wednesday, 04/05/23
VC Stories: NEA Cofounder Charles W. Newhall III - LivestreamWho better to share insights about the ever-evolving world of venture capital than an insider?  Charles Newhall, cofounder of NEA, a leading venture capital firm for nearly fifty years, will share stories and insights about founding and building NEA as well as the "good, the bad, and the ugly" of creating ...
The ocean floor is suspected to be a permanent resting place, or sink, of plastic pollution, yet its importance has not yet been quantified. The amount and distribution of plastic pollution in the deep ocean dictates the risks that plastic may pose to living organisms, and also has implications for ...
It is reasonable to expect that artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will eventually exceed those of humans across a range of real-world decision-making scenarios. Should this be a cause for concern, as Alan Turing and others have suggested? Will we lose control over our future? Or will AI complement and augment ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Plastic pollution in marine food webs: pathways, trends, and risk assessments - LivestreamAs plastic production increases, understanding how plastic debris enters and flows through marine food webs is becoming more crucial than ever before. Data from abiotic (water, sediment) and biotic (seabirds, fish) reservoirs have confirmed exponential growth of meso- and microplastics and fibers in marine systems over the past half century. ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
A strategic perspective on rivers processes and infrastructure in the water-energy-food nexusRivers are hotspots of biodiversity, provide important ecosystem services, and are crucial biophysical connectors in the water, food, and energy nexus. Harnessing benefits from rivers, e.g., for hydropower and irrigation typically requires infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, which impact river processes and create negative externalities for people and nature. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Parks4All: Pink Full Moon Hike and PartyIn the spirit of newness, we are throwing a one-of-a-kind pink-out party under April's Pink Full Moon at Presidio Tunnel Tops! Bring all the pink clothing and accessories you own to celebrate change and growth with all of your friends. There will be food, drinks, and all your friends dressed in ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General, $20 Members
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General, $10 Members in person
EV Financial Incentives Clinic - LivestreamThink you can't afford an EV (electric vehicle)? Think again! Learn about the many financial assistance programs available for purchasing an EV. This webinar is available in Mandarin, Spanish and English. For more guidance, opt-in for a free consultation in the post-event survey. Register at weblink
 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:Earthquake Science Using Crowdsourced Data from Smartphones - MyShake is a free citizen-science smartphone app which has been downloaded globally ...
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 04/06/23
Easy Morning Walk at WavecrestEnjoy a refreshing morning hike along the bluffs of the Wavecrest Trail! This family-friendly hike is an easy 2-mile walk and great for all ages and levels of hikers.This serene space is surrounded by POST-protected agricultural land and open space. Many people enjoy this scenic hike because of the great ...
Land surface hydrology is a collection of complex processes. The spatial variability both the land surface properties (soil and vegetation) as well as the meteorological inputs (precipitation and radiation) play an important role in hydrology. Satellite remote sensing has a broad spatial and repeat temporal view of the land surface ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Putting Contemporary Climate Migration in Context: What Do We Know from Two Decades of Research?“Climate-related migration,†“disaster mobility,†and “climate refugees†have become salient topics in the last decade in both the political and scholarly realms. Most of the discourse looks to the future, with mass migrations expected in the wake of ever more severe climate change. These climate mobilities tend to be regarded ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
New Product Introduction - LivestreamNew Product Introduction Engineering is a field of engineering that ensures the quality and robustness of new designs and processes. The role of the NPI engineer is to take a design from R&D and help get it ready for full scale production. This talk will delve into the tasks and ...
Make room for ‘shrooms because fungi are taking over! Enter the world of mycology at this annual NightLife fave.Featured events:Embark on an evening of discovery with Oakland Hyphae in a talk about the fascinating science behind entheogenic (or psychoactive) mushrooms. Learn about the Indigenous and ancestral roots of human use ...
Spring is in swing and new life is popping up everywhere. After the chill of winter, tree buds and young animals remind us of the vitality of our ecosystems. Tonight, be inspired by flora in our ¡Plantásticas! exhibition and enjoy a life-giving cabaret of art and science with the Gold ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Capturing Molecular Motion using Artificial Intelligence Molecules in our cells are in constant motion. Many of them act as tiny machines and carry out a delicate choreography to achieve their tasks. To understand the basic processes of life, we must observe and reconstruct this molecular motion. We can take detailed, atomic-level photographic images, but this is ...
What is “cheating†in the era of generative AI and cognitive enhancers? What rights do we have against institutional misuse of AI and nanotechnology? These technologies have permeated everything from criminal justice to the future of work - and without proper safeguards, they have the power to wreak havoc on ...
This presentation will focus on the new trajectory for Si Packaging technology set by the emergence of AR/VR hardware and advanced wearable computing. We believe the next major step beyond handheld computing will be wearable computing in the form of novel, hands-off and all-day wearable AR/VR devices like AR glasses. ...
First Fridays Climate Series: Drying Out: Understanding California’s DroughtOne of the most obvious effects of climate change in California is our prolific drought. Why is California so prone to these dry spells? What are the long-term effects on our ecosystem? How are different communities in the Bay Area affected? Learn from experts how droughts begin, how they affect ...
Where: OaklandCost: $15 General, $10 Kids/Seniors, $5 Members
How to See with Artistic and Scientific EyesWe have two worlds: In our outer world, we exist, interact with others, and deal with the everyday commerce of life. At the same time, we live, dream, imagine, and think in our inner universe. Our mental imagery connects these worlds, and how we connect them determines the nature of ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sonoma State University Astronomy Public Viewing NightsJoin members of the Sonoma State Physics - Astronomy department for public astronomy viewing. See weblink for map to the site.Event is weather dependent. Check the weblink prior to attending for last minute cancelations.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Saturday, 04/08/23
Guided nature walk at Bouverie PreserveExperience the beauty and rich natural history of Bouverie Preserve by signing up for a Guided Nature Walk Participants are paired with a trained volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest, flower-carpeted oak woodland and rugged chaparral.Visitors of all ages are welcome. Minors MUST be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian. Reservations ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Family Nature Adventures: Eco GardeningLearn how to fight climate change by regrowing your food from seeds and scraps! We’ll teach you how to classify soil with fun hands-on chemistry experiments.Discover the secrets behind amazing hydrophobic plants that perform amazing acts of science at the nanoscale. You’ll use microscopes and other scientific instruments to find ...
Where: OaklandCost: $20 Adult, $10 Youth 3+
Science Safari - Native or Non-Native at Vasona ParkJoin YSI as we walk through the Vasona trails and look for a variety of plants/animals while discussing if they're native or not!Ages 4 - 12. A registered adult must accompany their children.
Where: Los GatosCost: $25
Family Nature Walks - Foothills 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: Los AltosCost: Free
Science and Technology Innovation at Lick ObservatoryLick Observatory has a long history of being at the forefront of science and technology. Lick Observatory persevered through the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the SCU Lightning Complex Fire, recovering to full operations and introducing new telescopes and instruments, such as PANOSETI and PEAS. I’ll give an overview ...
 Eliminating air pollution disparities in the U.S. and beyond is becoming increasingly complex due to the convergence of the national average PM2.5 concentration towards the annual standard despite persistent inequities in exposures across underserved populations. This march toward national compliance provides a sense of strong accomplishment, however, close attention should ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
2023 Annual Biotechnology SymposiumJoin us for a half-day conference filled with the latest Biotechnology topics and research at Stanford. Sponsored by the NIH-Stanford Biotechnology Training Program, we are hosting two panels of world-class researchers and entrepreneurs, a networking and poster session with coffee and refreshments, and research highlights from our own Stanford faculty!See ...
Julien has taken a diverse path throughout his career. His early training focused on conservation biology which later led him to genetics. He completed his Ph.D. in North Carolina with Drs Eric Stone and Trudy Mackay where he developed a system genetic framework to study the genetic basis of complex ...
UC Berkeley Physics ColloquiaNeutrons are stable inside atomic nuclei. Outside the confines of the nucleus, they decay into a proton, electron, and antineutrino, with a lifetime of approximately 880 s. The rate of decay can be precisely calculated, using the theory of electroweak interactions, with an uncertainty on the order of 1e-4. Recent ...
Speaker:Clifford Rechtschaffen was a commissioner at the Calfornia Public Utilties Commission (CPUC)Â from January 2017 to December 2022.Attend in person or online.This event have been moved to June 5, 2023.
The interiors of planets contain clues that inform us about the early processes that led to the formation of the solar system. Until lately, gas giant planets were traditionally considered to consist of a compact core of rocky material confined by an envelope of H and He fluid. Recent NASA ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Direct search for the neutrino mass scale with the KATRIN experimentSince the discovery of neutrino oscillation, we know that neutrinos have non-zero masses, but we do not know the absolute neutrino mass scale, which is as important for cosmology as for particle physics. The direct search for a non-zero neutrino mass from measuring the endpoint spectra of weak decays is ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Emerging Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific: Innovation in an Era of Strategic CompetitionMike Brown will speak on the emerging security challenges that the United States faces in the Indo-Pacific and the role of technological innovation in strategic competition. His remarks will expand on his recent article in Foreign Affairs, “Taiwan’s Urgent Task: A Radical New Strategy to Keep China Away,†as well ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Madagascar: Climate Change in a Hypervariable EnvironmentThe south of Madagascar is currently beset by extended drought and famine, and Madagascar was held up as a posterchild for the devastation wrought by climate change at the 2021 UN Conference in Glasgow (COP26). But this characterization of the present drought has been challenged: rainfall failures are typical of ...
How do we (want to) make music with artificial intelligence? What does it mean to do so--and is it even a good idea? How might we artfully design tools and systems that balance machine automation and human interaction? More broadly, how do we want to live with our technologies? Are ...
The AI Index, currently in its sixth year, tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data relating to artificial intelligence. The AI Index provides unbiased, rigorously vetted, and globally sourced data for policymakers, researchers, journalists, executives, and the general public to develop a deeper understanding of the complex field of AI. Led ...
Pteropods are pelagic snails that have garnered considerable research on ocean acidification due to the susceptibility of dissolution in shell-bearing species. They can constitute an important food source for marine predators, including whales, seabirds, and some commercially important fishes. Due to their small size and planktonic lifestyle, however, their diversity ...
Where: Cost: Free
April LASER Event - LivestreamMargaret Geller (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) on "Mapping the Universe" Roxana Marachi (San Jose State Univ) on "How Surveillance Capitalism Ate Education for Lunch " Piero Scaruffi (Cultural Historian) on "What's in a Transformer: Why ChatGPT works so well" Register at weblink to attend.
Young children’s learning may be an important model for artificial intelligence (AI). Comparing children and artificial agents in the same tasks and environments can help us understand the abilities of existing systems and create new ones. In particular, many current large data-supervised systems, such as large language models (LLMs), provide ...
Now that you've decided to grow California native plants in your garden, learn how to continue to care for them for longevity and beauty year-round. Katherine Greenberg will discuss her seasonal approach to tending a native garden, based on four decades of experience in her Lafayette garden. The class will ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $35 General, $30 Members
Experimenting around climate change: predicting the marine invertebrate responseOcean warming associated with climate change is an inconvenient truth for the future. We are scrambling to keep ahead of warming in terms of our understanding of how communities will respond. Dr. Ashton will present results from two of her research projects which both used manipulations of marine invertebrate communities ...
Where: TiburonCost: Free
Dissecting Generative-AI Hype: Revolution, Retrogression or Something Else?A lot has been made of artificial intelligence but the question remains: is it a net good or something to be wary of? Join the conversation!We now live in a post-ChatGPT world.We hear that November 30, 2022 will be heralded as the birth-date of the so-called Generative AI revolution.We are ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Thursday, 04/13/23
Global AI: Reframing the Conversation - LivestreamThis event will showcase diverse perspectives on human-centered AI with a focus on decolonial values, AI innovation that centers underrepresented languages in technology development, and the use of AI tools in tackling misinformation in global contexts.See weblink for presentation topics and speakers, and to register
Where: Cost: Free
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point BluffJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for an afternoon walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by a POST representative who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve that hosts tide ...
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is a major contributor to global sea level rise, with concerns about the possibility of the ice sheet becoming unstable and causing irreversible retreat on decadal to centennial timescales. While the timing of self-sustaining retreat is challenging to estimate, it is largely controlled by ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Behind-the-Scenes Look at Pupping Season - LivestreamIt’s pupping season at The Marine Mammal Center: a time when our pens are filled with starving, young animals in need of care that Center staff and volunteers work to provide.Please join Veterinarian Dr. Mattison Peters as she describes a typical day at The Marine Mammal Center during our busiest ...
Where: Cost: Free
Virulent: The Vaccine War - LivestreamRecent years have seen the dialogue around vaccines devolve into a highly contentious, emotionally fraught firestorm, an ongoing collision between scientists and charlatans, truth and lies. Virulent: The Vaccine War is an invitation to think again, exposing the myths and laying bare the facts about vaccine science, its history, and ...
Where: Cost: Free
Technology and Diplomacy: The Rise of Multilateralism in the Bay AreaWe will explore the practice of tech diplomacy and the impacts of geopolitics, the opportunities and challenges it represents both for diplomatic representations and tech companies, and their mutual interactions.In 2018, Diplo, in cooperation with Swissnex in San Francisco, the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, and the Geneva ...
Where: San FranciscoCost:
After Dark: See for YourselfThe Exploratorium is your playground after dark! Wander the galleries, sip a cocktail, and choose your own adventure with 600+ interactive exhibits. Can a garden transport you to another place? What memories are stirred by the scents of different plants? And how do sunflowers fit so many seeds in their ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
NightLifeCalling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
The modern “paleo†diet movement makes many assumptions about what our ancient human ancestors ate. But are these assumptions based on actual evidence? Presenting a variety of lines of evidence for prehistoric human diets including early human, animal, and plant fossils, ancient stone tools, DNA, and living human and chimpanzee ...
Where: Cost: Free
International Ocean Film FestivalThe 20th annual Internation Ocean Film Festival is dedicated to using film as a medium to increase public awareness of the environmental, social, and cultural importance of marine ecosystems and foster a spirit of ocean stewardship, IOFF is now the premier venue in North America for ocean-related films.Every year, IOFF ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies by day
Friday, 04/14/23
Alcatraz City Cruises' Community Day by the Bay!Alcatraz City Cruises hosts their first "Community Day by the Bay" on Friday, April 14 at the Pier 33 Landing in San Francisco. This free, day-long event will include prizes and a range of family-friendly activities that combine hands-on fun with informative education stations suitable for all ages!Education stations provided by:The Parks ...
Known worldwide as a legendary financier, philanthropist, medical research innovator and public health advocate, Michael Milken will detail his inspiring crusade to accelerate cures and treatments so more people around the world can live longer, healthier and more meaningful lives.Milken believes a multitude of health advancements are within reach, including ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General, $15 Members in person, $10/Free web
Deception Detection and Social Engineering Attacks - LivestreamHumans are naturally concerned about being deceived, so having assistance in identifying malicious verbal or nonverbal behaviors that may indicate deception would be extremely beneficial. With its emergence in courtrooms, detecting lies and deception has attracted the attention of psychologists, law enforcement professionals, and cognitive scientists. Despite extensive research in ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sonoma State University Astronomy Public Viewing NightsJoin members of the Sonoma State Physics - Astronomy department for public astronomy viewing. See weblink for map to the site.Event is weather dependent. Check the weblink prior to attending for last minute cancelations.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
International Ocean Film FestivalThe 20th annual Internation Ocean Film Festival is dedicated to using film as a medium to increase public awareness of the environmental, social, and cultural importance of marine ecosystems and foster a spirit of ocean stewardship, IOFF is now the premier venue in North America for ocean-related films.Every year, IOFF ...
.png)
