Asia-Pacific Energy Challenges and the Role of APECEnergy is essential for economic development, but energy use is a major contributor to global warming. Most can agree that transition from fossil fuels to sustainable (green) energy is imperative for long-term sustainability, but how to make that transition while maintaining and increasing growth and prosperity is not self-evident. This ...
Antony Jose (University of Maryland) on "Heredity constrains the nature of living systems" Curtis Suttle (Univ of British Columbia) on "Viruses and their Role in the Environment"TBARegister at weblink to attend
Climate change is the defining global environmental justice, human rights and public health issue of the twenty-first century. The most vulnerable populations in the United States and around the world will suffer the earliest and most damaging setbacks because of where they live, their limited income and economic means, and ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
We Need New Antibiotics - Why Do We Have So Few?Dr. Julia Schaletzky is the Executive Director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases and the Drug Discovery Center at UC Berkeley. After studying biochemistry in her native Germany, she moved to Harvard Medical School for graduate school. Interested in applied science, Dr. Schaletzky joined a biotechnology company, Cytokinetics, ...
Where: San RafaelCost: Free
Thursday, 11/02/23
Easy Walk at WavecrestJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a very easy 2-mile walk at Wavecrest Open Space in Half Moon Bay! We’ll walk through groves of trees and fields where we’ll have a great chance to spot a variety of birds, especially raptors! We’ll also walk along the coastal bluffs where we ...
Where: Half Moon BayCost: Free
Generative AI: Race, Art, and PowerFrom ChatGPT, DALL-E, Bard, and Midjourney, the use of AI as a creative tool has increased dramatically both from technological breakthroughs and a flood of new users. Users and researchers have offered both praise and criticism - about the veracity of AI-generated art, race and gender bias engrained in these ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Quality of Groundwater Used for Public Supply in the Continental United StatesWhat is the quality of groundwater used as a source of public supply in the continental United States (CONUS)? Â More specifically: Which constituents are most prevalent at elevated concentrations? How many people are potentially affected? What are the hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics of the aquifers where elevated concentrations are observed? ...
As people around the world face undeniable climate impacts and sobering risks to their future health and livelihoods, California’s policy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 can be a model for other states and nations. However, success requires unprecedented innovation and coordination across planning, policy and technology. Significant electrification - ...
I've been thinking about how robots and AI agents more broadly can optimize for what we actually want as end users for a while now. I'll take the opportunity to reflect on what we've been able to accomplish in this area, as well as what's missing.Speaker: Anca Dragan, UC Berkeley ...
Cancel culture - the term and the practice - has left its mark on American culture, business, academia and society at all levels over the past few years. Was it inevitable? Is it permanent? Or is it, as authors Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott argue, a dysfunctional part of how ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General, $15 Members in person, $10/Free web
Once a year the living and dead reunite in celebration of DÃa de los Muertos. Join us in honoring departed souls in a night of tradition and connection, featuring ballet folklorico, mariachi, and more.At 5:45pm, Xiuhcoatl Danza Azteca kicks off the celebration with a traditional Aztec blessing right outside the ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
After Dark: See for YourselfAt After Dark, we’ve got date night down to a science. Stop by the infrared camera to see the heat between you on a big screen, mess around and find out at the Music Bench, and steal a moment to yourselves in the Shadow Box. Caught feelings? We have an ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
The Future of Medicine: How AI Will Effect the Medical FieldIn recent years, AI has taken the world by storm especially with things like ChatGPTFrom poetry to resumes, AI is being used for all different purposes. While this technology has been mostly used for written work, AI has recently been making its way into the medical field.How will AI be ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15
Goodbye Gas, Hello EVs! - LivestreamEveryone’s talking about electric vehicles: they cost less to fuel and maintain, and they fight climate change. Come to this webinar to learn why EVs are all the rage and how to go electric. Join a breakout room after the main presentation to ask about a specific model you're eyeing. ...
 Next Scientist is a new Wonderfest series of online presentations. Every Next Scientist Zoom consists of two 30-minute presentations (including 10 minutes of Q&A), each featuring a young researcher describing next-level science:Earthquake Science Using Crowdsourced Data from SmartphonesMyShake is a free citizen-science smartphone app that delivers earthquake early warnings(!) to ...
These tours are led by our wonderful crew of ocean-loving docents, and visitors will learn about ongoing marine and coastal science research at Bodega Marine Laboratory and its history on the Sonoma Coast. Plus, you'll get to meet a variety of colorful and diverse ocean creatures.The front gates will be ...
Where: Bodega BayCost: Donations suggested
First Friday: Science ObscuraDid you know there are scientists that study glowing organisms, a whole agency looking for alien life, and people that are designated asteroid hunters? This First Friday we will explore the surprising world of the unknown side of science. Spend the evening learning about some of the lesser-known interesting fields ...
Where: OaklandCost: $15 General, $10 Kids/Seniors, $5 Members
In Town Star Party - CANCELEDCome join San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) for an evening of stargazing.Event details:Events are held at the parking lot of our headquarters, Houge Park San Jose. Event duration is 2hrs. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their personal telescopes.Please refrain from bringing your own telescopes (Binoculars are welcome). ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Public Astronomy Viewing NightsCome for public viewing of the night sky at Sonoma State University's Observatory.Check the weblink for weather conditions before going as the event is weather dependent.
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
The Vera Rubin Observatory and LSST CameraResearchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory with the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera, the world’s largest digital camera ever built for astronomy (Hannah Pollek second from right). The LSST Camera is roughly the size of a small car and weighs three tons. It features a five-foot wide ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 11/04/23
Raptor Fest at Rancho San Vicente!Join POST and Santa Clara County Parks for an educational experience like no other: Raptor Fest! This incredible event will highlight very important species of raptors who play an integral role in the health of our ecosystems!This free educational event will feature presentations and a chance to visit local wildlife ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Crawlies Aren't CreepyCome learn about the wonderful world of Arthropods! Learn about what makes them so unique and how they play such an important role in the world. Time to debunk the phrase “Creepy Crawlies!â€
Addressing climate change requires transitioning to renewables such as photovoltaic solar panels, but one key barrier to this transition is that we need better materials. In this talk, we’ll start at the sun and then zoom into a solar panel all the way down to the nanoscale, highlighting materials challenges ...
Dr. Sarah Strand will discuss the neurobiological basis of out-of-body experiences (OBEs). The presentation begins with a description of what is an out-of-body experience, including testimony given by those who have had an OBE. Next, Sarah provides a brief tour of the brain and the neuroanatomy responsible for OBEs and ...
Where: Cost: Donation requested
Starry Nights Star Party - CANCELEDThe San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA), working with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA), is glad to co-host a public star party at Rancho Canada del Oro (RCDO) Open Space Preserve. This site, just 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose, features dark skies. It's dark enough to ...
It’s there for us year round, lighting our days and providing energy for our lives, so maybe it’s time to give it a closer look. Join SJAA for amazing and detailed views of the Sun, and be assured that we’ll be using special telescopes that will keep your eyeballs perfectly ...
From quantum hard drive to foliated manifoldOne major open problem in quantum information theory is how to build a quantum hard drive, i.e. a quantum system that can store quantum information reliably for a long time without active error correction. No completely satisfying solution to this problem has been found, but in the search a whole ...
I fell in love with foundation models because they radically improved data systems that I had been trying to build for a decade. Motivated by this experience, the bulk of the talk focuses on efficient building blocks for foundation models. The first line of work describes fundamental trends in hardware ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
From Astronomical Research to Communicating AstronomyAstronomy, sometimes considered a gateway science, can stir great curiosity and inspire students to pursue a STEM-related career. I was trained as an astronomer specialized in spectroscopy of distant galaxies, before deciding to change my focus from galaxies to people. In this talk, I’ll share what is intriguing about those ...
Mercedes Burns is an evolutionary biologist and arachnologist. She is currently an assistant professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, since 2017. Her research primarily focuses on the evolution of sexual reproduction and attendant sexual conflict, which occurs between males and females due to their differing ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Testing relativity on a tabletop with a miniature network of optical lattice atomic clocksThe remarkable precision of optical atomic clocks offers sensitivity to new and exotic physics through tests of relativity, searches for dark matter, gravitational wave detection, and probes for beyond Standard Model particles. While much of optical clock research has focused on improving their absolute accuracy, many searches for new physics ...
This presentation will introduce the concept of virtual power plants (VPPs), describe their potential for facilitating affordable decarbonization of the power sector, and address barriers to deploying VPPs at scale.Speaker: Ryan Hledik, BrattleAttend in person or online
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Fukushima nuclear waste release: Is it safe? Hear from scientists &. healthThe public will hear from scientists, environmental experts, and health professionals as the world faces, for the first time ever, the planned release of 31,000 tons of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean by March, 2025, and then more releases over the next 40 years. This is an in-person event. ...