Analogies of the Higgs Field Local artist Ned Kahn will show videos and discuss the analogies between his kinetic sculptures and some of the insights of Quantum Field Theory.
The nature of dark matter remains one of the most pressing questions in physics, driving searches across a vast range of scales - from microscopic interactions of individual particles to macroscopic gravitational effects on the cosmos. In this talk, I will explore two exciting avenues for probing dark matter: direct ...
As wildfires grow more frequent and devastating, they expose vulnerabilities in infrastructure, governance, and community preparedness. Tackling this escalating threat demands interdisciplinary solutions that address not just the immediate risks but also the broader systemic changes driving extreme weather events.This UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix on Point discussion will feature ...
Christina Agapakis (UCLA) on "AI as feminist technology: biology, computation, and new paradigms for engineering" Tina Rivers Ryan (Artforum Magazine) on "Media Art and/as Contemporary Art" Jason Eshraghian (UC Santa Cruz) on "Larger Language Models on Smaller Budgets"On Zoom: Click here to register or here.
Delivery and loss of volatile elements and compounds (such as water, carbon, nitrogen and the noble gases) during Earth’s accretion set the stage for the rest of our planet's history. Volatiles were gained through delivery by accreting solids and magma ocean ingassing during the lifetime of the solar nebula, and lost from the Earth ...
Classical and quantum light sources play a fundamental role in science and technology from laser fusion, to communication, manufacturing, defense, sensing, medicine, or quantum computing. Fundamental challenges have prevented the “scaling” of light sources. For example, efficiently scaling the power of lasers has always come at the cost of single ...
We are moving towards a future where intelligence is embedded into everything around us, operating autonomously for years on harvested energy. However, realizing this vision faces fundamental challenges in overcoming physics bottlenecks of miniaturized sensing, scaling intelligence across large deployments, and doing so in a sustainable way. In this talk, ...
Electrons are indistinguishable particles - you cannot tell one electron from another by the color of its hair, or the shape of its ears, or the way it laughs. A basic tenet of quantum mechanics is that all elementary particles are either bosons or fermions, distinguished by their quantum statistics. ...
In this talk I review the phenomenological picture of tunneling defects in low-temperature glasses. Despite the successes of this model, it has been very difficult to verify its microscopic foundations. Leveraging the power of a novel Monte Carlo method, we have prepared in silico glasses annealed in a manner ...
We are members of the genus Homo, distinguished from other primates as bipedal great apes. So far, we have found fossil evidence for several other members of our genus, i.e., several other humans. How does a fossil gain entry into this exclusive club? How many members are there? What do ...
Ecuador, a country with roughly the same area as the state of Colorado is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and is home to countless species yet to be discovered, particularly fungi. The fragility of these ecosystems and looming threats of destruction mean the clock is ...
Biotransformation plays a crucial role in understanding the environmental fate ofanthropogenic chemicals in both engineered and natural environments. While efforts have been made tostudy the contaminants persistence across environmental compartments, identifying the molecular insights of these reactions (e.g., microorganisms and enzymes) remains challenging. In this seminar, I will showcase how ...
The idea that dolphins communicate with a complex form of language has been entrenched in our culture since the days of the TV show “Flipper.” I will discuss how this idea originated, and its continuing impact, bygiving a brief history of the study of dolphin communication. I will then discuss ...
As the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement approaches, climate targets - for reducing emissions, expanding clean energy, phasing out fossil fuels, and more - are as central to climate policy as ever. Yet targets are useful only to the extent that they drive action. This talk will examine how ...
A discussion on the challenges presented by the energy transition and ExxonMobil's research to develop technical solutions to reduce emissions while meeting growing global energy demand.Speaker Nick Clausi, ExxonMobile
Many peoples’ perception of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is tied to activities associated with the Manhattan Project that occurred from 1943 to 1945. Those perceptions have been reinforced by the recent movie Oppenheimer. Although led by scientists, that project was a large-scale, multidisciplinary engineering effort. Today, approximately half of ...
Where: Cost: Free
In the Footsteps of Galileo - LivestreamIn this 90-minute workshop classroom and informal educators will experience activities recreating the observations Galileo used to promote the heliocentric model of the solar system.When Copernicus set out a heliocentric model for the solar system, there was scant evidence in support of the idea. It took the observations of Tycho, ...
Every day, 10,000 people in the United States turn 65 - a statistic that underscores one of the most significant demographic shifts in history. But the story of longevity is not just about aging, it's about learning new ways of living, working, and thriving across all life stages. From doctor's ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 General in person, $5 online
The possibility of a future in astronomy, or any STEM ?eld, seems daunting for students with blindness/visual impairments (B/VI). Three-dimensional (3-D) printing, however, holds promise for students with blindness/visual impairments (B/VI) in addressing astronomy content, concept development, and providing access to information normally displayed visually. To help bolster astronomy and ...
The Sun, Moon, planets, and stars have accompanied sky watchers over millennia. The Pleiades star cluster, observable from every continent except Antarctica, is tied to Indigenous worldviews, astronomy, calendaring, traditional weaving, weather prediction, and agriculture. For the original peoples of Polynesia, Mesoamerica, and the Andes, the Pleiades cluster continues to ...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are not only transforming industries such as autonomous vehicles and healthcare - they are also revolutionizing science. In astronomy, early applications of ML focused on using algorithms to process datasets too large to be inspected manually by scientists. These efforts were significantly bolstered ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Thursday, 02/20/25
SETI Live: Looking for Lunar Anomalies Using Automated Methods - LivestreamOver the past decade, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has captured thousands of high-resolution images of the Moon's surface??"far more than humans can manually review. To tackle this challenge, scientists have developed an automated system that quickly identifies scientifically significant images from the LRO data, making it the first anomaly ...
Where: Cost: Free
Lunch Break Science - LivestreamLunch Break Science is a dynamic live web series featuring fascinating short talks, engaging interviews, and lively Q&A with Leakey Foundation scientists. Each episode digs deeper into the latest human origins discoveries, with topics like Neanderthals, chimpanzee behavior, and more! Even better, you can interact with researchers during the show ...
State of Secure Communications in 2025Have you ever wondered why cybersecurity professionals recommend messaging apps like Signal or use terms like “zero-knowledge encryption” and “privacy by design”? Join the UC Berkeley Cybersecurity Clinic and Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity as we demystify these topics and talk about the state of secure communications in 2025 for organizations ...
Back-propagating Ruptures in Fast and Slow EarthquakesBack-propagating ruptures, characterized by a secondary front reversing into previously ruptured regions - such as boomerang earthquakes and rapid tremor reversals - have been recently documented due to advances in seismological techniques. While rupture complexity is often attributed to fault heterogeneity, its underlying physics remains unclear. I will present two ...
Understanding how a large number of neurons connect to create higher functions holds central importance in neuroscience and is key to bridging artificial intelligence and natural intelligence. Extracting such a functional synaptic connectivity map from biological neuronal networks is, therefore, one of the most widely pursued yet daunting tasks.In this ...
As power grids integrate renewable energy sources and grow in complexity, efficiently solving AC Optimal Power Flow (AC-OPF) is essential for grid stability, operational efficiency, and market participation. This talk presents two complementary approaches to accelerate AC-OPF solutions while ensuring accuracy and reliability. First, we introduce two novel deep learning ...
What’s the secret sauce that makes geostationary satellites a critical resource in commercial communications and defense applications? Let’s explore the the critical role of satellites in geostationary orbit, with an emphasis on the importance of the payload in mission success. Covering foundational topics like systems engineering, satellite orbits, and the ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Countering the Next Phase of American Anti-Vaccine ActivismAnti-vaccine activism has been present throughout American history, but the movement gained considerable momentum in the twenty-first century based on false claims that vaccines cause autism in the 2000s and “health freedom” protests against childhood immunization mandates in schools in the 2010s. Anti-vaccine disinformation may have hit a new peak ...
For its February seminar, the Stanford Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFI) is delighted to host Adrien Bilal, Assistant Professor of Economics at Stanford University as he discusses: The Macroeconomic Impact of Climate Change: Global vs. Local Temperature*. This paper estimates that the macroeconomic damages from climate change are six times larger than previously ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Exploring Lunar Eclipses' - Prepare for the Lunar Eclipse on Mar 13/14 - LivestreamThis 90-minute workshop will help prepare you to engage your audiences and/or students in the wonder of the total lunar eclipse visible across North America the night of March 13-14.Unlike a total solar eclipse, a total lunar eclipse is observable over an entire hemisphere. As long as you can see ...
Songbirds communicate with one another for many reasons - to find and attract a mate, to defend their territory, or even to band together to ward off a predator. However, levels of human-generated noise, also known as anthropogenic noise, and encroachment into bird habitats continue to rise year after year. ...
Greetings beloved nerds, and welcome to the 2025 Season of Nerd Nite SF! Get ready for your monthly dose of nerdy delight starting with our inaugural show! Seek refuge from the chaos of 2025 with fun, funny, inspiring talks about the art of a classic Nawlins dish, the future of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 Advance, $15 at door
The Universe Through a Wine GlassDr. Frank Qu of Stanford University will introduce the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and explain how measurements of its tiny variations have enabled scientists to determine the age, geometry, and size of the universe. Dr. Qu will also discuss how distortions in the CMB, caused by intervening large-scale structures, provide ...
Where: Los AltosCost: Free
'Try It and See' Film PresentationAre you interested in mushrooms for dying fabric? BAMS is hosting an exclusive presentation of this beautiful film, which showcases the early work of two well known Mendocino mycologists, the pioneering mushroom dyer Miriam Rice, and her watercolor artist partner, Dorothy Beebee, as they explore, document, illustrate and publish groundbreaking ...
Effective water treatment is essential for producing safe drinking water, particularly for removing organic contaminants and naturally occurring dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can react during disinfection to form harmful byproducts. Understanding the underlying chemical processes involved in water treatment is greatly enhanced by the application of advanced analytical tools. ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The Science and Policy of Energy and Climate Justice - LivestreamClimate change disproportionally impacts low-income and vulnerable communities around the world, the people and places least responsible for the problem. Berkeley professor Daniel Kammen will discuss the science and policies that address the root causes of climate change - and the social, racial, and environmental injustices entangled with it - ...
Situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, straddling an active plate boundary and influenced by hemisphere-scale climatic and oceanic processes, Aotearoa New Zealand is well placed to provide past perspectives and future constraints on Southern Hemisphere climate and carbon cycling. I will present ongoing work using sediment records obtained from fjords, ...
Catalysis Achievements and Needs for the Refinery of the FutureAs we wish to gradually transform our society in a more sustainable and circular one, it is important to revisit our main chemical production complexes, thereby aiming to build the so-called refinery of the future. This requires a.o. new needs from a chemistry and chemical engineering point of view, including ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Astro 101: From the Big Bang to BiosignaturesThis event is one of several different introductions to astronomy offered by SJAA. During this hour, you'll take a tour through our universe's 13.8 billion years of evolution, touch on some of the highlights of discovery that led to our understanding of that long history, and get a glimpse of ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Mushrooms + Culture of GreeceTake a visual journey into the diverse and lush natural world of Greece. Ancient forests, traditional land-based living still exists, providing a rich culture weaved within nature itself. Connections to fungi are ever-present and they’re only gaining attention. Take a look into the relationships the locals have with certain species ...
Where: SebastopolCost: Free
In Town Star PartyCome 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. The event duration is 2 hours. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their telescopes.Please refrain from bringing your own telescopes (Binoculars are ...
Where: San JoseCost: Free
Saturday, 02/22/25
AI Enhanced Project ManagementWelcome to our immersive AI technology workshop series. During these sessions you will be introduced to new and established AI tools that will help you create and manipulate content in new and powerful ways. Each session is led by an industry expert who will guide you through the material and ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $95
Stewardship Saturday: A Walk through the Marshes with Cafe OhloneThis free program for high school students features rotating events along our 600-mile range exploring various realms of conservation.Join Cafe Ohlone co-founders and chefs Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino and The Marine Mammal Center as we take a walk through the marshes, build our own miniature tule boats, and taste ...
Where: FremontCost: Free
Science Saturday: Fabulous FungiJoin us for our Free Science Saturday event, where we will explore the fabulous world of Fungi and Mushrooms. Learn about native mushrooms and fungi local to the central coast and the vital role they play in our ecosystem. This engaging day will feature collection displays, insightful facts, and activities ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Salamander Search at SanbornSanborn is famous for its amphibians; you just need to do some extra searching to find them! Join us for a fun day of looking under rocks, logs, and other unique hiding spots that Sanborn’s Salamanders call home!Register at weblinkAges 4 - 12
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
Foothills Family Nature WalkEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help community members get to know our local open space areas. Small 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 activities, and a ...
The U.S. Navy’s Zeppelins were the largest, most expensive, most technologically sophisticated aircraft of their day. Intended to patrol the Pacific to prevent a surprise attack by Japan in the days before radar, Zeppelins were also poised to become the dominant form of long distance transportation. In fact, Moffett Field was built ...
Where: San CarlosCost: Free with admission, free for members
CuriOdyssey Weekend Workshop: Dissection LabBiologists can learn as much from the insides of animals as they do the outside. This workshop will explore the internal anatomy of squids, eggs, flowers, and learn about the importance of x-rays.Ages 5 to 10 years old
Where: San MateoCost: $45-$55
Radical Then, Critical Now: Interdisciplinary Strategies in Environmental ConservationJoin us at the Hay Barn for our annual public natural history symposium: Radical Then, Critical Now: Interdisciplinary Strategies in Environmental Conservation. The event features: UCSC speakers, including Distinguished faculty Dr. Karen Holl and Dr. Gary Griggs; participatory art with Norris Center Art + Science graduate fellows; live music; and a ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: $10 donation suggested, free for students
Bair Island Walking TourJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a walking tour at the Bair Island Unit of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge! 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 ...
Where: Redwood CityCost: Free
Counter Culture Labs Tour we're giving a lab tour to the public! Come check out your community biology laboratory anytime Saturday, February 22 from 3-4PM for a tour by Anthony, our outreach facilitator and workshop instructor. RSVP only.
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Starry Nights Star PartyJoin the San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) and Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (OSA) for an unforgettable night of exploring the night sky. Our knowledgeable docents, members of SJAA, will be your guides to providing valuable insights into the wonders of our universe. The viewing site, Rancho Canada del ...
The Dragonfly mission to Titan is under construction and scheduled to launch in July 2028. Titan is the largest Moon of Saturn and has a rich organic chemistry with lakes of liquid methane and ethane on its surface. The goals of the Dragonfly include the search for signs of life ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free
Sunday, 02/23/25
Twilight Tales at the RefugeJoin us for an evening at the refuge in Alviso to hear tales of rails, tales of tails, and tales of gold, silver, and … garbage. You’ll learn why the refuge was created and why it is so important to all of us. Then as the sun sets, you’ll go ...
The humanities provide useful frameworks for understanding cultural production and the human experience, in all its complexity and uncertainty. As a result, humanities theories and methods have an important role to play in our decisions about how to integrate machines into our lives and how machines are designed. We will ...
Clean energy transitions in many jurisdictions involve dramatic increases in shares of variable wind and solar power in their electricity grids, supplemented by clean firm power to provide reliability. To plan a resilient, clean energy future, we will need to account for natural resource constraints as we develop and deploy ...
The interplay between attractive and repulsive Coulomb interactions can stabilize a wide variety of quantum multiparticle composites and rich quantum phases. Analogous to atoms, ions and molecules formed by electrons and nuclei, electrons and holes in semiconductors can produce multiparticle states - excitons, trions, biexcitons, and mesoscopic droplets - but ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope: A quest to explore the restless, high-energy UniverseProf. Peter Michelson from Stanford University, will discuss the development of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, an international observatory led by NASA, and its many discoveries during the past 16 years of operation.Speaker: Peter Michelshon, Princeton University
Dr. Wong studies the developmental mechanisms that shape the structure, function and circuitry of the retina. Her research has identified activity-dependent and independent mechanisms working in concert to assemble the stereotypic wiring patterns of retinal circuits.Speaker: Rachel Wong, University of WashingtonRoom: Auditorium
Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is a key resource in enabling zero-emissions electricity grids but its role within different types of grids is not well understood. In this work, we find that a) LDES is particularly valuable in majority wind-powered regions and regions with diminishing hydropower generation, b) seasonal operation of ...
The nature of dark matter remains one of the most pressing questions in physics, driving searches across a vast range of scales - from microscopic interactions of individual particles to macroscopic gravitational effects on the cosmos. In this talk, I will explore two exciting avenues for probing dark matter: direct ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AI and the Future of Citizenship: Preparing for a Digital DemocracyAs artificial intelligence becomes an ever-present force in our lives, it’s clear that this technology is not going away. And as it continues to transform education, governance and civic engagement, one crucial aspect remains largely unexplored: how to develop informed, engaged citizens for a democracy shaped by artificial intelligence.This event ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General in person, $5 online
This workshop combines the best of two engaging sessions, offering a comprehensive and hands-on experience in building advanced AI applications and AI agents. We will use the state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) and Vision Language Models(VLMs) to explain the process. Participants will explore practical techniques to leverage these powerful models ...
Black Holes: Discovering the InvisibleBlack holes are among the most extreme objects in the universe. They push the boundaries of our knowledge, holding many unsolved mysteries. This talk will explore black holes from “small” to enormous, including how to detect these invisible marvels. In the process, we will probe the ...
Lithium (Li)-morphology and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are among the most significant performance regulators in Li-metal batteries (LMBs). While both Li-morphology and SEI composition play key roles in the cyclability of LMBs, less is understood about the individual contributions of each factor to overall Li reversibility, particularly at a practical ...
Where: Cost: Free
Bystander T cell activation: an immunologic double-edged swordMemory CD8 T cells are conventionally called to arms by TCR recognition of cognate antigen; however, inflammation alone can elicit T cell cytotoxicity in the absence of cognate antigen. The consequences of this phenomenon, termed bystander activation, can range from beneficial (pathogen clearance) to deleterious (autoimmune pathology), yet the mechanisms ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Nucleic Acid Chemical BiologyI will present our efforts to design and develop molecular probes that can selective label nucleic acids in vitro and inside cells. These probes allow RNA secondary structure mapping, profiling single-stranded DNA for active transcription annotation, mapping RNA-RNA interactions inside cells, and covalent targeting of nucleic acids. I will also ...
Throughout the Mediterranean Sea, scores of ancient marine concrete monuments, once components of artificial harbors constructed by Roman builders as part of their vast imperial maritime infrastructure, have survived for two millennia and counting. Modern marine concrete usually survives in the sea for little more than 50 years and sometimes ...
In their new book, “Data Grab,” Ulises A. Mejias and Nick Couldry argue that the role of data in society must be understood not only as a development of capitalism, but also as the start of a new phase in human history that rivals in importance the emergence of historic ...
The Matter Compiler is a modular, AI-driven, fully autonomous real-time digital manufacturing platform capable of designing and fabricating complex 3D micromachines using arbitrarily extensible material and process libraries. It pioneers a revolutionary approach to building advanced devices beyond the constraints of semiconductor fabs - ushering in the era of MEMS ...
Fueled by advances in microelectronics, software, and large optics fabrication, a new type of sky survey will begin in 2025. With 1000 deep images per night, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will cover the entire southern sky to 24th magnitude every 3 nights ...
Metallic nanoparticles, used since antiquity to impart intense, vibrant color into materials, known in the 19th century as “Faraday’s colloid” and in the 21st as the optical readout of COVID antigen tests, are a central tool in the nanoscale manipulation of light. When excited by light, metallic nanoparticles undergo a ...
The Western Snowy Plover is a threatened shorebird that breeds along the west coast of the U.S. Because of this status, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set goals to restore plover numbers throughout the region. In addition, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project has established goals to ...
NASA’s 4th New Frontiers Mission is the Titan Dragonfly relocatable lander. This coaxial quadrotor vehicle will be launched on a rocket to Titan in 2028. Following a gravity assisted Earth flyby and an approximate 6-year transit, Dragonfly will enter the Titan atmosphere around 2034 with the goal of exploring Titan’s ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
James Web Space Telescope: Revealing the Invisible Universe - LivestreamThe universe is filled with beauty beyond even our wildest imaginations. Sophisticated observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope help us peer into that sublime reality, and it is to the great fortune of humanity that these science instruments produce data that captures the essence of the natural beauty ...
We invite you to explore the art of sustainable cuisine through our upcoming lecture, "The Business of Ocean Sustainability." This presentation will trace the journey of how Passionfish pioneered sustainable practices in the restaurant industry, from our humble beginnings to becoming a beacon of environmental stewardship. Discover how our commitment ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
K Allado-McDowell on Neural MediaIn this lecture, K Allado-McDowell presents a framework for understanding generative AI through the concept of neural media. Drawing on histories of design, technology, and culture, Allado-McDowell reveals how previous media regimes shaped culture and subjectivity, and how neural media like AI now shape our perception, self-conception, and knowledge of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 General
An Evening with Amy Tan: The Backyard Bird Chronicles - LivestreamJoin POST for a special evening with New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, known for her iconic novel The Joy Luck Club. Amy will share insights from her latest work, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a heartfelt exploration of her connection to nature through birdwatching. Through this intimate look at ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Nicaragua Humpback Whales - What Do We Know About Them? - LivestreamFormal research on Nicaragua humpback whales has been ongoing since 2016 uncovering intriguing information and discoveries for this important breeding area. Join us as Joëlle De Weerdt presents the latest research advancements drawing from the results of her PhD thesis as well as giving us new, exciting perspectives in what ...
Black Holes: Discovering the InvisibleBlack holes are among the most extreme objects in the universe. They push the boundaries of our knowledge, holding many unsolved mysteries. This talk will explore black holes from “small” to enormous, including how to detect these invisible marvels. In the process, we will probe the ...
Where: NovatoCost: Free
Wednesday, 02/26/25
Impact of Environmental Disasters on Drinking Water InfrastructureThe frequency and intensity of environmental disasters, both natural (e.g. wildfires and hurricanes) and human caused (i.e. chemical spills), is increasing and public drinking water systems operating in impacted communities are at risk. Since 2017, widespread organic compound contamination has been found in at least 20 wildfire impacted water systems. ...
Tandem PV is a startup commercializing a new solar technology (perovskite-silicon tandem panels). In this seminar, CTO and co-founder Colin Bailie will discuss his journey to date from technology to startup and hopefully soon to product. Starting from a graduate student at Stanford working on the seminal demonstrations of the ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
The AI We Deserve: A Boston Review DiscussionGenerative AI tools, released by a handful of powerful tech companies, are remaking the economy, society, and human life as we know it. Must their vision be our common destiny?In Boston Review’s recent issue AI Futures, technology writer Evgeny Morozov explores a radically different way of thinking about artificial intelligence ...
Marine natural products chemistry is the field of studying compounds from marine organisms. The biosynthetic potential of our natural world to make unique chemistry scaffolds and exotic compounds exceeds what most chemists consider in medicinal chemistry or drug discovery. These unique compounds often exhibit biological properties that have the potential ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
New Luddites vs. Biopiracy and AI“New Luddites” Camila Morena and Jim Thomas join us fresh from the latest conference on biotech at Asilomar. Up close and deep in the international negotiations on biodiversity, climate change, and synthetic biology, both of them have seen how the proponents of AI are working to inject their techno-fantasies into ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Thursday, 02/27/25
Elevated and Dangerous: Health Implication of High Nitrate in Central Valley Well Water - LivestreamJoin us as we discuss the upward trend in nitrate levels in Central Valley groundwater, its link to dairy manure, and its subsequent health concerns. The California Water Resources Control Board recently released a draft of new dairy manure management regulations with the intent of better addressing rising nitrate levels. ...
Fossils, footprints, and the evolution of human locomotionBipedal locomotion is considered one of the defining features that “makes us human”. Hypotheses about the evolution of human bipedalism date back at least as far as Aristotle, and questions about locomotion remain fundamental to the study of human evolutionary biology. Over the past century, paleontological discoveries have shed light ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Fire Safe Sonoma Speaker Series - LivestreamErika Lutz, Prescribed Fire Information Coordinator for Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward program and Devyn Friedfel, Pepperwood‘s Fire & Stewardship Manager will share more about their roles while providing valuable knowledge on prescribed burning basics and its role in keeping ecosystems healthy. Register HERE for their presentation.
Where: Cost: Free
SETI Live: Space is the Case - LivestreamDuring his time as an Artist in Residence (AIR) at the SETI Institute, visual artist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst Martin Wilner invited prominent SETI Institute scientists to participate in his ongoing project, The Case Histories. Interested in exploring how scientists relate to the possibility of encountering an alien life form, Wilner ...
Where: Cost: Free
Rules, Regulations, and Randomness: From Biological to Social SystemsAcross both biological and social systems, rules and regulations play a crucial role in ensuring robustness and resistance to fluctuations across diverse environments. The expansion of rule systems over time is particularly relevant in contemporary political discourse, where some argue that society is over-regulated and that bureaucratic structures should be ...
Join us for an insightful discussion with Tom Steyer, former Presidential candidate and a leading advocate for climate action, as he breaks down the potential progress to be made in 2025 and the critical role the private sector must play in driving real change.Attend in person or online
Meet NASA's Mars rovers and orbiters, interact with the Mars Relay Network, and play with 700+ interactive exhibits that will upend your perception of the universe.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95
DeepSeek AI: What You Need to Know & Why It Matters - LivestreamJoin us for an insightful conversation about the disruptive AI reasoning model R1 by DeepSeek. Developed by the Chinese AI company founded in 2023, DeepSeek has quickly risen to prominence with its open-source large language model (LLM) that rivals top-tier international models. We'll explore the origins of DeepSeek, its advanced ...
Where: Cost: Free
Firewise Landscaping PanelJoin us for an informative session featuring experts from the UC Master Gardeners, Monterey County Firewise, and the local fire department. These specialists will discuss effective fire-wise landscaping techniques tailored for our unique environment. Learn how to create defensible spaces around your area, select fire-resistant plants, and implement practices that ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $15 General, $10 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 60,000 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: Varies
Friday, 02/28/25
Signal (re)processing: How disease states shape signal transduction in CD8+ T cellsPersistent antigen signaling is known to drive CD8+ T cell exhaustion (TEX) in cancer and chronic infection, but which downstream kinase cascades control this process are unknown. We found that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) triggers degradation of PKC theta while sparing PKC eta, leading to terminal TEX cells. In chronic ...
In this talk, Brent Pease will discuss how darkness during the day affected wildlife and highlight the power of the public in large-scale research. Dr. Pease played a key role in the Eclipse Soundscapes project as a facilitator, organizing and engaging almost 100 volunteers to participate as Data Collectors during ...
Mt. Tamalpais Turtle Observers TrainingSaturday, March 19:00 - 10:30 over zoom1:00 - 3:00 field visit Western pond turtles are the only species of freshwater turtle in California and they are important indicators of the health of our lakes. By becoming a Turtle Observer you can turn your interests into action by contributing to conservation efforts ...
Where: FairfaxCost: Free
First Saturday: Free Tour of the Santa Cruz ArboretumAround the World in 60-90 Minutes!On the first Saturday of each month, the Arboretum offers a docent or staff-led tour of the Arboretum.Sometimes you will see New Zealand, South Africa, California, and Australia. Sometimes you might see combinations of several gardens or the developing World Conifer Collection or Rare Fruit ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission, and for members
Frontiers in AI: Language, Inference, and InnovationUC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Graduuate Student Assembly Presents an afternoon with Nathan Lambert, Alessio Fanelli, and Dylan Patel.Held in the Event CenterRegister at weblink
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
Sunday, 03/02/25
Morning Hike at Lower La Honda CreekJoin 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 POST ambassadors on the ...
The second Trump administration hit the ground running with a flurry of Executive Orders, the scope of which raises questions of legality and constitutionality. Can the presidency unilaterally eviscerate USAID activities if the programs had been created and funded by Congress? Doesn't that violate the principle of separation of powers? ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: $10 donation suggested if in person for lunch
Solar ObservingIt’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 ...
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape the knowledge economy by automating cognitive, non-codifiable work. This paper introduces a framework to analyze this transformation, incorporating AI into an economy where humans form hierarchical firms to use their time and knowledge efficiently: Less knowledgeable individuals become "workers" ...
Galactic Accretion through the Dynamic Circumgalactic MediumThe region of space surrounding galaxies, the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is the site of all gas flows into and out of galaxies and is therefore responsible for regulating or promoting galaxy growth. Observations reveal an interesting diversity of gas properties in this tenuous medium, but it is only recently that ...
A tension appears in contemporary social-scientific studies of the causal effects of race. Race is understood by most scholars today to be a deeply social phenomenon??"a category that not only explains distinctive patterns of social inequality but is defined by these myriad social differences. But this fact about race, on ...
Since the early 21st century, over 80% of major U.S. blackouts have been weather-related. Intensifying extreme events such as hurricanes, heatwaves, and wildfires, have nearly doubled weather-related outages in the past decade compared to the first decade of the century. Meanwhile, our energy sector, especially the electric power system, is ...
The exponential growth of electronic devices and data processing has pushed charge-based electronics to their energy and performance limits, with power consumption and heat dissipation becoming critical bottlenecks. As Moore’s Law slows, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift in our approach towards next-generation computing. Here, I investigate ...
Take a breath. Just breath.And then reserve your ticket for a special online-only talk with New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer, who will tell you all about what just went into your lungs. Zimmer will share the ideas that are in his new book Air-Borne, giving a fascinating, previously untold ...
Where: Cost: $10 General, discount for members
Generative Agent Simulations of Human BehaviorSimulations of human behavior can empower applications ranging from immersive environments to social policy simulation. However, traditional simulations have struggled to capture the complexity and contingency of human behavior. In this talk, I demonstrate an alternative approach: constructing an agent architecture that accurately simulates individual behavior in open domains. I ...
Disruptive technologies are groundbreaking innovations that fundamentally transform existing markets, create new economic opportunities, and render previous technologies or business models obsolete by offering more efficient, cost-effective, and user-friendly solutions.In my talk I illustrate, from cognitive, pedagogical, and curricular perspectives, why Generative AI (GenAI) can be viewed as a disruptive ...
The quest for learning the fundamental building blocks of matter and underlying laws of Nature has seen colliders playing a major role in the past century. Such projects have become complex international endeavours requiring multi-decade vision to be realized to their full potential.With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN ...
This presentation by Dr. Descartes Li (UC San Francisco) looks at some of the complexities and controversies about psychiatric diagnoses. It examines the DSM-5's "Harmful Dysfunction" definition, contrasting it with the NIMH's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. The lecture also discusses philosophical approaches to understanding mental illness, including reductionism, cultural ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 General, discounts for members
Many people are convinced our lives, and all actions in the universe, are totally determined. One question remains: How did they make up their minds that that is true?One decent definition of the difference between mind and matter is that minds make decisions. Even if you decide to let someone ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 in person, $5 online, discounts for members
Why are we here? Although we may think we know our place in the Galaxy, the Sun was likely born far from where it resides today. In recent years, ESA’s space-based Gaia satellite and NASA’s K2, Kepler, and TESS missions have helped to uncover not only our own Sun’s history ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $15 General, $12 Members/Seniors
Tuesday, 03/04/25
Intracellular lipid transport in immunoregulation and metabolismAnimal cells are essentially assemblies of membrane compartments marked by diversity and asymmetry of lipids. There remains a significant gap in understanding the biological processes and purposes of lipid localization and trafficking in specialized cell types. Immune cells, with their remarkable adaptability to evolving threats and ability to migrate to ...
Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean is a polyvocal chorus, weaving together essays, maps, art, and poetry to share the impacts of sea level rise on island nations around the world and the solutions to them. Low-lying islands are least responsible for global warming, but ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Material-Driven Construction Automation: Advancing Low-Carbon, Adaptive Building SystemsOur built environment faces a critical dilemma: By 2050, global urbanization will require us to double our current building stock, yet construction and building operations account for 37% of annual global CO2 emissions (Weber, Mueller, and Reinhart 2021). Ramping up industry-standard materials and methods to meet housing demand will increase ...
Neutron stars are physicists' dreams come true: they bring together aspects of classical and quantum electrodynamics, coupled with strongly magnetized plasma physics in the curved rotating spacetime of a massive compact object. They are observed to be powerful emitters of non-thermal electromagnetic radiation, spanning about 20 orders of magnitude in ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Musings on AI Policy from a Former U.S. Senate StafferIn this talk, Simons Institute Law and Society Fellow Serena Booth will first discuss the challenges of crafting specifications for AI systems; how easy it is for these systems to go rogue, whether through misspecification or other means; and her research studying both experts’ and nonexperts’ specifications. This technical research ...
Layered materials consist of crystalline sheets with strong in-plane covalent bonds and weak van der Waals out-of-plane interactions. These materials can be easily exfoliated to a single layer, obtaining 2D materials with radically novel physico-chemical characteristics compared to their bulk counterparts. 2D semiconductors exhibit very strong light-matter interaction and exceptionally ...
Recent advancements in deep neural networks (DNNs), especially transformer-based large language models (LLMs), have driven significant progress in artificial intelligence (AI). As demand grows, models expand to trillions of parameters, potentially requiring dedicated nuclear power plants for data centers. While GPUs are commonly used, they are outperformed in energy efficiency ...
Even when we overcome climate change denial, the question of how to motivate ecological moral priorities remains. Many hold that high consuming citizens’ ethical understanding of the extreme and present/future dangers of climate chaos for human wellbeing is sufficient to provoke effective climate action. However, without intense ethical caring about nature itself, the motivation ...
This year, we are excited to invite Dr. Ben Santer, Fowler Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, as our lecturer. In addition to having been one of Dr. Schneider’s close friends, Dr. Santer is a renowned climate scientist who has helped to reshape the way we understand climate ...
Emerging contaminants, such as pesticides, plasticizers, and perfluorinated compounds, are well-documented for their harmful eGects on ecosystems and human health. However, the chemicals we have identified so far represent only the tip of the iceberg, with countless potentially harmful contaminants remaining unknown in our environment. In this seminar, Dr. Zhao ...
The global pandemic highlighted a medical oxygen crisis in African health systems. Poor electricity quality has emerged as a major bottleneck. This talk explores the intersections between power and health, focusing on a study of 25 health facilities monitored between 2022-2024 in East and SouthEast DRC using IoT sensors and ...
The transition from an economy mainly driven by fossil fuels to one that is more sustainable, secure, and resilient is often discussed in terms of climate and energy policy. But in reality, shifting from an extractive to a more distributed energy model will have profound impacts on workers, tax structures, ...
Noah Whiteman is Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution and Development in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology and the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. His new book is Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins - From Spices to Vices, published in 2023. Professor Whiteman will ...
The story of the anesthesia service at Stanford is one of many firsts. In 1909, Caroline Palmer, MD founded a modern, all-physician anesthesia department at the Cooper Medical College, the predecessor of Stanford's Medical School, creating a model for other hospitals in the country. William Neff, her successor, later ...
Building Smarter, Safer Systems: Unlocking AI’s Potential for Autonomous Systems with Proven PerformanceToday’s most exciting technologies - self-driving cars, air taxis, space transportation, and healthcare breakthroughs - rely on advanced systems that combine physics, computing, and data. However, the inherent uncertainty in ensuring their safety, reliability, and performance is challenging. Traditional methods often fall short, and while AI techniques like machine learning ...
Copernicus’ work in 1543 was the kick-off date in the cosmic decentralization of Planet Earth. First, we were relegated to be just another planet in the solar system, then our sun to being just another star in the Milky Way. Now our galaxy seems to be just a suburban member ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free
Earthquakes and their impact on San FranciscoSan Francisco sits on shaky ground. How prepared are we for the next big earthquake?Join us at Manny’s for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Annemarie Baltay, a leading geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, as we dig into the science behind earthquakes and what they mean for our city.How likely ...
In 1929 Edwin Hubble discovered that our Universe is expanding. Eighty years later, the Space Telescope that bears his name is being used to study an even more surprising phenomenon: that the expansion is speeding up. The origin of this effect is not known, but is broadly attributed to a ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Thursday, 03/06/25
The impacts of hybridization: from molecular mechanism to evolution in natureHybridization, or the exchange of genes between different species, is much more common than previously recognized. In the past decade, the genome sequencing revolution has allowed us to peer into the evolutionary histories of myriad species. This has led to the realization that many if not most plant and animal ...
Our cities are changing profoundly, experiencing increasing urbanization and more frequent extreme weather events. To understand how these drivers impact our cities, we need precise tools to measure and track urban change over time. However, existing census and survey data have constraints in spatial and temporal granularity, failing to capture real-time physical ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
SETI Live: Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) - LivestreamNASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, or PUNCH mission, is a constellation of four small satellites in low Earth orbit that will make global, 3D observations of the Sun’s corona to better understand how the mass and energy there become the solar wind that fills the solar system. ...
Where: Cost: Free
AI Governance at a Turning Point: New Realities Post AI Action SummitAI governance is at a turning point. The Paris AI Action Summit (Feb 10??"11) marked a shift from AI safety to societal harms like environmental impact??"while also moving toward a pro-innovation, deregulatory agenda. Rising geopolitical tensions, fueled by China’s DeepSeek model and the AI arms race, led to the US ...
The increasing capability of Large Language Models (LLMs) makes them appealing for adoption in labor-intensive human tasks. For example, significant efforts have recently focused on developing agents -- systems that map observations and instructions to executable actions -- and their benchmarks in real-world tasks like web navigation. In this talk, ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Clear Thinking About Climate | Bill Nye - LivestreamSkeptical Inquirer was honored to have Bill Nye as the guest editor of its January/February issue, in which he called climate change and critical thinking “the two most serious problems facing us.” Nye has spent his award-winning, decades-long career working to address both of them - and has plenty of ...
Where: Cost: Free
NightLife: Hot Dino NightsStep into a colossal party millions of years in the making that will awaken your dino-loving inner child. We’re celebrating the launch of our latest exhibit Dino Days with a nod to the most popular dinosaur movie of all time.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
After Dark: Play of LightImmerse yourself in the world of moving images, cinema arts, and optical illusions.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95, free for Members
Take a visual journey into the diverse and lush natural world of Greece. Ancient forests, traditional land-based living still exists, providing a rich culture weaved within nature itself. Connections to fungi are ever-present and they’re only gaining attention. Take a look into the relationships the locals have with certain species ...
Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in extreme wildfires, driven by climate change factors likeincreasing temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and prolonged droughts. The escalating wildfire crisis poses a complex and growing environmental engineering challenge, threatening ecosystems, communities, and critical infrastructure. Climate change intensifies these wildfire events, with areas like ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Morning Hike at Bear Creek RedwoodsJoin us for this beautiful hike! A POST volunteer will share a few words about POST’s decades of conservation success before the hiking group explores a strenuous but mostly shaded 5.4 mile hike with ~900 feet of elevation gain.In one of the county’s best preserved, second-growth coastal redwood forests, we’ll ...
Science is for everyone - and benefits everyone. When the federal government supports scientific research through taxpayer funding, it fuels innovation, creates jobs, and sustains the world we live in. From purified water to the polio vaccine to the cell phone you might be reading this on, science has significantly ...
Join us for a conversation with Eric Schmidt as he delves into AI’s societal and ethical implications. Drawing from his new book, Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit, Schmidt will share insights and stories about the critical role of AI in U.S. national security, the ethical and trust ...
UCSC Silicon Valley Graduate Student Assembly Presents an afternoon with Nathan Lambert, Alessio Fanelli, and Dylan Patel.Room: Event CenterAttend in person or watch on Youtube
Where: Santa ClaraCost: Free
First Friday: Space for HerIn September of 2025, NASA’s Artemis 2 is set to launch their first crewed mission of the Orion Spacecraft, which will land the first woman on the moon. Meanwhile, women have been making monumental advancements in space science for decades. This First Friday, come hear from some phenomenal women and ...
Where: OaklandCost: $10 General, $5 kids/seniors, free for members
Free First Friday: Wild Monterey Bay Book Talk and 'From the Unreal to the Real' exhibit openingJoin us for a special night with the editors and storytellers of Wild Monterey Bay, a beautiful book that explores the interactions between humans and the wildlife that lives here. Authors of the book will be there to tell their amazing tales, and copies of the book will be available ...
The Moon and Mars are humanity’s destinations in space this century. Why and how will we explore these worlds? When will we go? Where will we land, what will we see, and what will we do? And who will go? Dr. Pascal Lee is a leading planetary scientist working on planning ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Saturday, 03/08/25
Morning Hike at Windy HillJoin POST on a guided hike on one of the first open spaces we protected as an organization! A POST Representative will share a few words about POST’s decades of conservation success before hiking groups leave to explore a strenuous but rewarding 7 mile hike with 1,500 feet of elevation ...
Where: Portola ValleyCost: Free
Mt. Tamalpais Frog Docent Program TrainingFoothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) are special because they are only found in isolated ranges in California and nowhere else in the world and are a federal and state listed species. They also tell us important things about the health of fast-flowing streams where they live.Join ecologists at Marin Water, ...
Where: FairfaxCost: Free
Wake up to Nature Breakfast BenefitWe are excited to announce Environmental Volunteers annual Wake Up to Nature breakfast benefit! Join us for a morning of inspiration, connection, and celebration of the work that we do to nurture the next generation of environmental stewards. We will have inspiring speakers, testimonials, and more!Speakers: Alison Cormack, former Palo ...
Where: Palo AltoCost:
Fire ecology hike at Bouverie PreserveJoin us for a walk and talk through the oak woodlands, covering prescribed fire management at the Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen. We will look at prescribed fire sites burned last spring and fall of 2024.The hike will be led by Hannah Lopez, projects manager of our Fire Forward program.Hannah ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Donations encouraged
Future of Food Grand OpeningCome experience our newest hands-on exhibition Future of Food! Discover a world where food choices can help heal the planet, fuel our bodies, and build more sustainable communities. Explore a cow’s microbiome, learn about farmbots, and see how new technologies can be to produce foods with a respect for cultural ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 or free for members, active duty, UCB students
The North Bay Science Discovery Day is a one-day public free science festival designed to spark children's wonder and curiosity for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. With over 70 organizations and 100 hands-on interactive exhibits, explore rockets and beehives, robots and sharks, catapults and hearts, animation, animals, and art, and ...
Where: Santa RosaCost: Free
Family Nature Adventures: The Buzz About Bees - Discovering Nature’s Tiny Heroes!Buzz into the world of bees, from beloved honeybees to the other hidden helpers of our local ecosystem! Learn all about these amazing pollinators, their unique behaviors, and how to identify different species. Head into the redwood forest for a closer look at bees in their natural environment and explore ...
Where: OaklandCost: $25 General, $35 Youth 3 - 8, Members $10 off
EV Ride and Drive Charge up your weekend and experience electric vehicles (EVs). At this event, you’ll have the opportunity to:Sit in, ride and drive EVs to experience the joy of switching to electric firsthand.Explore a lineup of various electric vehicles.Learn from local EV owners and experts.Discover how to save on your next ...
Where: SunnyvaleCost: Free
CuriOdyssey Weekend Workshop: Rocket PowerBecome a rocket scientist for the day! Participants will design and test different methods of launching rockets and discover what shapes make the best flyers. From using air pressure to causing a chemical reaction blast see how far your designs can go!Ages 5 to 10 years old
Where: San MateoCost: $45-$55
Cinema Arts: 'Universe in a Grain of Sand'How do we make sense of the world around us? Our understanding of nature is shaped by the tools we create to observe it. Both scientists and artists have pushed the frontiers of understanding through an astounding array of human ingenuity and innovation: from glassmaking to semiconductors; from Leibniz’s 17th ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free with admission
City Public Star PartyCome join the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers for free public stargazing of the Moon, planets, globular clusters and more!The event will take place in Tunnel Tops National Park, parking is located adjacent to Picnic Place (210 Lincoln Blvd for GPS) with the telescopes setup in the East Meadow.Dress warmly as conditions ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Jazz Under the StarsJazz Under the Stars is a FREE monthly public stargazing event! Occurring on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon, join us for a night of smooth jazz, bright stars, and a lot of fun! We play our jazz from CSM's own KCSM 91.1. Founded in 1964, KCSM has grown to ...
Where: San MateoCost: Free
Sunday, 03/09/25
'SEA Adventures: Stories of Wildlife Encounters'Meet the editors and some of the storytellers from the 2024 published book: "Wild Monterey Bay: Up Close and Personal Stories of Memorable Wildlife Encounters". Within its pages, over 40 people from all walks of life were interviewed about their most memorable wildlife encounter in Monterey Bay.Learn about the history ...
With the advent of large language models, the number of artificial texts we encounter on a daily basis is about to increase substantially. This talk asks how this new textual situation may influence what one can call the “standard expectation of unknown texts,” which has always included the assumption that ...
In this talk, i describe the problem of “future contingents” - in effect, how we determine the truth of statements about the future - and outline “branching times” theoretic approaches to this question. in recent work in linguistic semantics, these models have shed light on the notion of “reality status”, ...
Humidity in the air is a vast water resource representing 6 times more freshwater than all rivers and lakes. This humidity can be converted to drinking water via moisture sorption-desorption, serving as a potentially decentralized, passive, and low-cost pathway to mitigate the pressing water scarcity challenge. However, the productivity and ...
The quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), first observed in Cr/V-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 [1], holds promise as a disruptive innovation in quantum metrology, for its potential to define a new generation of quantum standards of resistance. A goal of modern metrology is to combine the various standards into a combined “quantum electrical ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
AWAKE: beam-plasma interactions and plasma wakefield accelerationPlasma-based accelerators have demonstrated their ability to accelerate electrons at very high gradients (>100GeV/m). They have a number of niche applications. The AWAKE experiment, located at CERN, aims at producing high-energy electron bunches (50 to 200GeV) for application to particle physics. Large energy gain is in principle possible by avoiding ...
Digital technologies are transforming fresh produce retail by enabling real-time freshness tracking and direct consumer access to supply chain data. However, adopting these technologies comes at a high cost. It is therefore essential to determine whether an innovator - the first retailer to adopt supply transparency technology - gains a ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The quantum limit of gravitational-wave detectionSpeaker: Prof. Victoria Xu from UC Berkeley will share how the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) uses subtle tricks in quantum squeezing to expand our new gravitational-wave window into the Universe.
The enduring mystery of high-temperature superconductivity in copper-based materials, with critical temperatures surpassing earlier expectations set by the BCS theory, remains one of the most intriguing puzzles in physics, even three decades after its initial discovery. What makes this enigma so captivating is its simultaneous simplicity - characterized by a ...
Join Stanford Energy Club for an in-depth conversation with Scott Burger, Director of Business Development & Analytics at Form Energy, to explore the evolving landscape of long-duration energy storage.Form Energy is pioneering multi-day energy storage with its iron-air battery technology, designed to enable a reliable, fully renewable electric grid.With extensive experience in clean energy investment, economic ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
March LASER EventFor this LASER we'll experiment a different format than the traditional 20-minute talks. We'll try the "A.T.O.M.I.C." format: A for Anthropology, T for Technology, O for "Omega Point", "M" for Music, "I" for Images, "C" for Cognitive Science. Six discussions on six topics. "I" will be led by Jennifer Parker, ...
The Golder Research Team utilizes fundamental principles of molecular structure to control synthetic polymer function. Many of society’s greatest advancements spanning health, sanitation, construction, electronics, and transportation have been enabled by the invention and application of plastics. Simultaneously, these materials have created significant concerns about global sustainability, climate impact, ...
Body size drives the energetic demands of organisms, constraining trophic interactions between species and playing a significant role in shaping the feasibility of species' populations in a community. On macroevolutionary timescales, these demands feed back to shape the selective landscape driving the evolution of body size and diet. We develop ...
Agilent is a global leader in analytical instrumentation, software, and services, supporting scientists and engineers in addressing complex challenges across life sciences, pharma and biopharma, clinical diagnostics, advanced materials, and food and environmental analysis. With a legacy originating from Hewlett-Packard (HP) and operating independently since 1999, Agilent combines decades of ...
Where: Cost: Free
Large scale data processing with MapReduceLarge scale data analytics frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Apache Hadoop, Map Reduce, FlumeJava, and Dryad) are now widely used to derive value from massive amounts of raw data. In this talk, I’ll describe how these frameworks work. I’ll introduce the Map Reduce paradigm, and describe why it made it much ...
We study the unintended environmental consequences of “bonus depreciation,” one of the largest investment tax incentives in US history. To do so, we pair emissions data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and National Emissions Inventory with quasi-experimental policy variation in the extent to which establishments benefited from the policy. ...
Excitons are composite bosons made of bound electron-hole pairs in semiconductors. With a much smaller mass than atoms, they are expected to Bose-condense at much higher temperature scales. This is especially the case for the tightly bound excitons in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors; theoretical studies have predicted the possibility of realizing ...
Zeolites are the principal solid catalysts in the chemical industry and are also widely used as adsorbents and detergent builders. Their remarkable topological diversity - 255 realized polymorphs to date, with over 300,000 more proposed - enables highly tunable shape-selective catalysis and adsorption. However, this same diversity underlies a longstanding ...
Why is the human brain so vulnerable to false beliefs and conspiracy theories despite evidence to the contrary? And what can be done to protect ourselves, our families, and society from our collective propensity to fall into these seductive traps?Dr. Joe Pierre, health sciences clinical professor at UCSF and a ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22 General, discounts for members
Spritacular: Electrical Discharges Above Thunderstorms - LivestreamSpritacular is a community science project that aims to collect observations of sprites and other optical phenomena occurring above thunderstorms - collectively known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs). TLEs have been frequently captured by storm chasers all around the globe with off-the-shelf DSLR cameras, however, they are sporadically shared over ...
Where: Cost: Free
Sal Khan's Brave New WordsSave the date for an inspiring evening with Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, as he shares insights from his upcoming book, Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That's a Good Thing). Discover how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of learning and why it offers ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
Feed the Planet: A Photographic Journey to the World’s FoodDo you know where your food comes from? To find out, acclaimed photographer George Steinmetz spent a decade documenting food production in more than 36 countries on 6 continents, 24 US states, and 5 oceans. In his new book, Feed the Planet, filled with never-before seen aerial images, Steinmetz documents ...
I’m an evolutionary geneticist and I’m interested in identifying complex patterns of evolutionary adaptations within fishes. I use genomes and transcriptomes (genes expressed within a given set of cells or tissue type) to better understand adaptations related to diet, metabolism, and depth. I’m interested in looking at the genetic variation ...
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have leaped from the confines of computer labs into our vibrant social, business and organizational fabric.Leaders and members of established organizations - from governments to hospitals and nonprofits - are zealously exploring ways to harness these powerful tools to amplify their intended impact. ...
Join the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity for an expert panel examining the implications of “open radio access networks,” or Open RAN, a movement focused on “unbundling” the hardware and software in wireless telecommunication systems to reduce dependence on a small number of suppliers.This webinar will feature key insights ...
The UK is going through an accelerated transition of its' energy system with the grid to deliver net zero clean power by 2030, deployment of green/blue hydrogen into decarbonisation and ramping up of small and large nuclear power. There are ambitious plans related to decarbonisation of transport. This is the ...
Circadian rhythms are highly conserved, 24-hour, oscillations that tune physiology to the day/night cycle, enhancing fitness by ensuring that appropriate activities occur at biologically advantageous times. Circadian rhythms are a phenomenon that exist across the tree of life and throughout biological scales, with broadly conserved atomic-level timekeepers enhancing fitness at ...
In this conversation, we explore the creative power of rock, clay, soil, and salt in catacomb architecture designed to contain nuclear waste. Scattered across the American West, these man-made structures resemble meso-American pyramids and ancient subterranean crypts designed to function at 1,000-to-10,000-year timescales and beyond. These structures are becoming cultural ...
Three major global challenges - climate change, loss of biodiversity and its benefits, and inequality and inequity among people - are typically tackled within three separate silos. However, scientific knowledge tells us that the three are inextricably linked. If the problems are not considered together, solutions to one may undermine ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Artificial Art - AI vs Human ComposersArtificial Art - AI vs Human Composers is an innovative production of the interdisciplinary Swiss music festival Interfinity that explores the fascinating interplay between human and artificial intelligence in music - set in an engaging and interactive game show format, this production invites the audience to become musical detectives, testing ...
Humans impact ecosystems in a variety of ways, with urbanization, climate change, and infrastructure projects posing unique challenges organisms must overcome. In freshwater river systems, human-made dams pose major risks to endangered fish species, disrupting habitats in many ways. Jackie Galvez’s research investigates the influence of damming on one important ...
In the work presented, we use an incentivized consumption measure to assess the behavioral impacts of watching a roughly 15-minute video about industrial-scale pork production (clipped from the Dominion documentary). They find, provisionally (based on data collected thus far), that the demand for meat-containing meals decreases by 26.4% immediately after ...
Robotics in Construction: Advancing Refurbishment and Material ReuseThe current construction industry is inherently misaligned with the planetary boundaries. Not only do we exceed our budget of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, but the industry’s increasing demand for new resources is damaging our natural environment. Robotics in construction promises to support the transition to a sustainable building industry. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Four Fish: How Science and the Media Shaped What We Eat from the SeaThere are plenty of fish in the sea, we’re told, but over the last fifty years, Americans have seen their seafood choices shrink to the point where often we’re usually choosing among just four “flesh archetypes” of protein from the ocean. How did this simplification of our markets and our ...
Data-driven dynamical modeling, fundamental to control and Reinforcement Learning in systems with unknown dynamics, faces challenges from data scarcity, such as low-resolution measurements. For example, in power systems, smart meter data may not capture fast load dynamics. This prevents us from training an accurate and robust Deep Learning model.In this talk, ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
SETI Live: Amino Acids on Bennu! Building Blocks for Life Detected in Asteroid Bennu SamplesThe OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security - Regolith Explorer) mission has been a resounding success so far, from taking a sample of asteroid Bennu to returning that sample to Earth. Now, the first in-depth analysis of the space rocks is complete, and the results have been published ...
Where: Cost: Free
Theoretical perspectives on modern machine learning paradigms: generative, scientific and out-of-distributionOver the past decade, machine learning models have grown in scale and complexity. Generative models, for instance, have gone through many iterations of model classes (e.g., GANs, diffusion models, autoregressive models), architectures (e.g., Transformers), as well as an increasingly involved training and inference-time pipeline. Machine-learned systems have also started to ...
It’s time for a new narrative for the ocean, one that reflects current scientific knowledge and acknowledges innovative new partnerships and solutions that center the ocean in our future. The two current dominant narratives for the ocean are anchored in the past. The older one considers the ocean to be ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Vector MediaThe capability of neural networks to generate texts and images by learning from large amounts of data is often framed as both the most significant contribution and the most obvious flaw of contemporary artificial intelligence research. Much critical work thus starts from a reading of training datasets - but the ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
After Dark: SyzygyDive into the science and history of eclipses with experts from the Exploratorium.
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95 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 60,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.Step inside the iconic ...
Motivated reasoning - confirmation bias, disconfirmation bias, and related concepts - can get in the way of making well-reasoned decisions. And people certainly are capable of poor reasoning, especially when it comes to conspiracy theories. Psychologists debate whether mistaken ideas are the result of “information deficit”, and even whether it’s ...
Beavers and their dams create wetlands, store and filter water, augment fish populations, raise the number of migratory and songbirds, and have a dramatic positive impact on biodiversity. Dr. Perryman will discuss how working to help people understand and coexist with this single species will continue to have a beneficial ...
Join Chabot astronomers for a live watch party of the magnificent Total Lunar Eclipse from Chabot’s Observation Deck. Bring your friends & family and a lawn chair to enjoy Eclipse-themed crafts and demonstrations, then get bundled up with a cup of hot cocoa to watch this stunning celestial show. Between ...
Where: OaklandCost: $10 Adults, $5 kids/Seniors, Members Free
Lunar Eclipse Observation - CANCELEDCome to the Foothill Observatory to see the moon pass through Earth's shadow. The Foothill College Astronomy Department and the Peninsula Astronomical Society will open the observatory and have additional portable telescopes out at parking lot 4 to observe our cosmic companion as our planet blocks direct sunlight from its ...
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: Free
Lunar Eclipse Watch PartyOn the night of Thursday, March 13, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across the United States for the first time since 2022. Join us at The Lawrence for a late-night watch party to catch this celestial spectacle, also known as a Blood Moon! Learn from local astronomers about ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free with admission
Friday, 03/14/25
Bair Island Walking TourJoin Peninsula Open Space Trust for a walking tour at the Bair Island Unit of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge! 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 ...
"Construction" contributes around 20% of human related GHGs every year. This is from the embodied emissions of materials, the transportation and construction processes. These embodied emissions occur mainly “upfront” before the building or infrastructure is even in use and is then effectively “locked in”. This means it has become the ...
Where: StanfordCost:
Pi DayJoin the 38th annual celebration of our own homegrown holiday! March 14 (3/14) commemorates the irrational, transcendent, and never-ending ratio that helps describe circles of all sizes. Explore math-inspired activities and presentations, then join our pi parade and eat a free piece of pie. Come for the STEAM and stay ...
Superconducting van der Waals Devices For Quantum Technology2D van Der Waals materials-based heterostructures have led to new devices for fundamental science and applications. Superconducting Josephson devices based on 2D materials offer unique opportunities to engineer new functionality for quantum technology.I will present results from two classes of materials. First, proximitized graphene-based Josephson junctions lead to a quantum ...
KALW LIVE: Pi Day with Science Friday featuring Ira FlatowIra Flatow and Ethan Elkind will take the stage of 111 Minna to do an exclusive live in-person Science Friday with a focus on climate change and environmental solutions.Special guest speakers also include:Etosha Cave - Cofounder and Chief Science Officer at Twelve, a company that recycles carbon dioxideKrishna Niyogi - ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $10 - $20 donation requested
Sonoma Mycological Association General Meeting: David AroraDavid Arora’s Wheel of FungiJoin us with the esteemed mycologist for a variety of mushroom-related topics across Asia, Africa, and California!Mycologist David Arora is the author of the very popular mushroom guidebooks All that the Rain Promises and More as well as the epic and humorous tome Mushrooms Demystified. He ...
Where: SebastopolCost: Free
Saturday, 03/15/25
Keeper Academy at CuriOdysseyIf you have ever dreamed of being an Animal Keeper this is the workshop for you! In this four-hour crash course, participants will experience a day in the life of an Animal Keeper. Spend a morning with us cleaning, prepping food, and making behavioral observations as you learn what goes ...
Where: San MateoCost: $130-$150
AI Workshop: Humanoid RoboticsWelcome to our immersive AI technology workshop series. During these sessions you will be introduced to new and established AI tools that will help you create and manipulate content in new and powerful ways. Each session is led by an industry expert who will guide you through the material and ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $95
Salamander Search at SanbornSanborn is famous for its amphibians; you just need to do some extra searching to find them! Join us for a fun day of looking under rocks, logs, and other unique hiding spots that Sanborn’s Salamanders call home!Register at weblinkAges 4 - 12
Where: SaratogaCost: Free
Foothills Family Nature WalkEnvironmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help community members get to know our local open space areas. Small 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 activities, and a ...
Dr Karen Holl will discuss what we can and cannot achieve from tree planting and how we can improve project outcomes. Research from her lab evaluates how well the many nonprofit organizations and private companies who support tree-growing projects are following best practices for successful, long-term reforestation.Editor's Note: The event's ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
April Fools: After Hours at the Museum of the EyeCelebrate our popular exhibit, Hoodwinked: 19th Century Quack Medicine, at our special after-hours event! Explore bonus quack devices and patent medicines that didn’t make it into the original show while enjoying a specialty cocktail. Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity before these artifacts return to the vault and before the “Hoodwinked” ...
