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” ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: FREE
Monday, 03/17/25
Searching for Wandering MHBs and Stornly Lensed Transients in the Ear of Rubin, Roman, and EuclidThe Euclid and Roman wide-field surveys conicide with an exciting new era for transient discovery, in which Rubin Observatory's LSST will indentify thousands of tidal disruption events (TDEs) and millions of supernovae - including hundreds of gravitationally lensed supernovae (gLSNe). These surveys will enable us to identify populations of transients ...
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 ...
We consider the task of producing a single trajectory of a dynamical system under some state dependent policy. This ‘policy simulation’ task is often the core computational bottleneck in modern Reinforcement Learning algorithms. The multiple, inherently serial, policy evaluations that must be performed in one such simulation constitute the bulk ...
Speaker: Andres Bendesky, Columbia UniversityRoom: Auditorium
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Radical-SAM Enzymes Nature’s Choice to Initiate Radical ReactionsRadical reactions are central to enzymatic catalysis, and overwhelmingly are carried out by Nature’s largest enzyme superfamily, the radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) enzymes (RS enzymes), with over 700,00 members that span all kingdoms of life and exhibit remarkable catalytic diversity. These enzymes initiate a reaction through H-atom abstraction from substrate by ...
The amino acid sequence of a protein encodes more than the native three-dimensional structure; it encodes the entire energy landscape - an ensemble of conformations whose energetics and dynamics are finely tuned for folding, binding and activity. Small variations in the sequence and environment modulate this landscape and can have ...
William G. Dauben LectureSociety depends on polymeric materials now more than at any other time in history. Although synthetic polymers are indispensable in a wide array of applications, ranging from commodity packaging and structural materials to technologically complex biomedical and electronic devices, the negative impact of their synthesis and disposal ...
Dr. Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer is the inaugural Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). His principal responsibility is to realize the Allies’ vision for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in support of NATO’s purpose to safeguard freedom and security for its 32 member nations. He is tasked ...
In this talk, Professor Ajoy will present their experiments leveraging electron and nuclear spins out of equilibrium to build highly sensitive, deployable quantum sensors. These sensors utilize solid-state systems, such as semiconductors, where nuclear spins can be optically "hyperpolarized" to levels thousands of times greater than thermal equilibrium. Remarkably, these ...
Understanding the mechanisms of DNA repair, one molecule at a timeThe Passmore lab uses biochemical reconstitution, structural biology and functional studies to gain mechanistic insights into mRNA processing, mRNA stability and genome integrity - fundamental processes that affect all eukaryotes. DNA must be passed on faithfully from cell to cell and across generations. This lecture will discuss work on the ...
Achieving ballistic charge and energy flow in materials at room temperature is a long-standing goal that could unlock ultrafast, lossless energy and information technologies. The key obstacle to overcome is short-range scattering between electronic particles and lattice phonons. I will describe two promising avenues for realizing ballistic transport in two-dimensional ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
When Eagles Roar - The Amazing Journey of an African Wildlife AdventurerJames Currie is a safari guide with the world-renowned company Wilderness Safaris. As a lifelong wildlife enthusiast and native of South Africa, he has led professional wildlife and birding tours for many years, and his passion for adventure and remote cultures has taken him to nearly every corner of the ...
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:UC Berkeley biologist Kristy Mualim on Genetic Biodiversity Loss in the Anthropocene - In the Anthropocene, the age of planet-wide ...
This month, we’ll be joined by two Steward Observatory graduate students: Aafaque Khan will be telling us about how to use small satellites to study the collision between our very own Milky Way and its nearest neighbor, and Lily Whitler will be talking about the very earliest galaxies to exist ...
Dr. Meier will present the problems associated with severe mushroom poisoning from her perspective as the Senior Toxicology Management Specialist at the San Francisco Division of California Poison Control. This presentation will focus on the most dangerous poisoning syndromes, mechanisms of toxicity, clinical aspects, and medical managementSpeaker: Kathi Meier, ...
The widepread deployment of AI systems in critical domains demands more rigorous approaches to evaluating their capabilities and safety. While current evaluation practices rely on static benchmarks, these methods face fundamental efficiency, reliability, and real-world relevance challenges. This talk presents a path toward a measurement framework that bridges established psychometric ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Acorns, Shellfish, and Uplands: Archaeology in the Santa Cruz MountainsThe archaeological record of the Santa Cruz Mountains, particularly around the San Vicente Creek Watershed, provides evidence of human occupation and utilization from approximately 4000 BP to the present. Despite extensive anthropogenic modifications??"resulting from over a century of logging, mining, and topographic restructuring??"the preserved deposits within this watershed offer a ...
Genome editing as an enabling tool has been revolutionizing the ways scientists advance basic understanding of biology and speed up application in medicine and agriculture. Creating and breeding broad-spectrum disease resistance to elite crops is critical to sustainable agriculture. Prime Editing, as one of CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, offers advantages ...
The long and the short of it: Mechanistic insights into the mRNA poly(A) tail machineryCells are defined by the genes they express. Moreover, rapid changes in gene expression allow cells to respond to their environments. The Passmore lab uses biochemical reconstitution, structural biology and functional studies to gain mechanistic insights into mRNA processing, mRNA stability and genome integrity - fundamental processes that affect gene ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Energy and Resources Group ColloquiumPersistent spatialized, racialized, and socioeconomic disparities characterize drinking water access in the U.S. Despite California’s legal recognition of the human right to water more than a decade ago, many residents face challenges accessing safe and affordable water. California presents a critical case to examine how state-society interactions shape water access. ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
Carbon, Climate, and Humanity Join us live for a journey into the world of carbon, the most versatile element on the planet. Your tour guide is New York Times bestselling author Paul Hawken.Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25 in person, $10 online, members get discount
A Logic For The Future: International Relations in the Age of TurbulenceStephen Heintz and Kim Stanley Robinson will discuss our polycrisis, and the swift and holistic reform of global governance institutions that is needed to respond to these urgent transnational and planetary challenges we are facing.We are living in an age of exceptional complexity and turbulence. What distinguishes this period in ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: TBA
Two Eyes are Better than One: JWST and ALMA Look at Star FormationStars and their planetary systems form in cold interstellar gas and dust clouds impermeable to the optical light our eyes can see. By contrast, light at much longer wavelengths is able to penetrate these regions allowing us to directly observe stars that are currently forming. The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) aboard ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Waves of Change: Ensuring Equity in Coastal Access - LivestreamMany people across the Bay Area face safety, cultural and economic barriers when trying to access our shared outdoor spaces. How can we begin to change this? Join us as we explore equitable ways for communities to safely experience the beauty of the California coast. Find out how you can ...
Where: Cost: Free
Exploring BioAstronautics: A Path to the Stars - LivestreamRight now, we’re at the dawn of a new space age. As humanity prepares to return to the moon and beyond, one might ask: how can I be a part of this? Join Ben Foehr, BS in Aerospace Engineering and former graduate student studying Human Spaceflight at Colorado University at ...
Discover the intricate process of traditional cheese-making, focusing on the vital interactions between bacteria and fungi. This presentation emphasizes the scientific methods used to explore microbial communication and its implications for health and cheese production.Did you know that the unique flavors, textures, and aromas of traditional cheeses are crafted by ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Thursday, 03/20/25
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 ...
We introduce an empirical framework for valuing markets in environmental offsets. Using newly-collected data on wetland conservation and offsets, we apply this framework to evaluate a set of decentralized markets in Florida, where and developers purchase offsets from long-lived producers who restore wetlands over time. We find that offsets led ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The evolution and genomics of migratory body shape in a marine fishAnimal migration is one of the most fascinating phenomena in the natural world. While we know that animal migrations are often driven by food availability or tradeoffs between survival and breeding, we know relatively less about the evolution of migration at the genetic level. This seminar will explore the evolution ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
The Ocean's Stories Symposium - Afternoon SessionJoin us for a transformative day focused on the future of our oceans. Through lightning talks, expert panels and an inspiring keynote address, we’ll explore the critical role oceans play in our planet’s health. We’ll highlight how, together, marine scientists, journalists and entrepreneurs can address major challenges in an era ...
The ocean is vital to all living beings but still needs to be explored, leaving many questions unanswered. Fortunately, underwater robotics has greatly improved ocean exploration by accurately mapping the seafloor in high resolution and tracking animals in midwater. However, these platforms are often too expensive to build and operate, ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Super-Earth Laboratory: Using HD 20794 d to Understand Habitability - LivestreamWith over 7,000 exoplanets identified in our galaxy, scientists are shifting their focus to studying these worlds' characteristics in the quest for extraterrestrial life. The backdrop for one team is the discovery of super-Earth HD 20794 d, an exoplanet detected by researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and NCCR ...
Computer vision has made remarkable advances through data-driven learning of image-text associations. Large-scale vision and language models like CLIP, SAM, and ChatGPT can generate compelling descriptions of images. However, these models, trained with scripted data and limited grounding, often struggle to provide detailed visual evidence and to generalize across a ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Evolution, Education, and a Century of Scopes - LivestreamThis July, the Center for Inquiry and the Freedom From Religion Foundation are teaming up to host the Scopes Trial Centennial conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This special event will explore the landmark trial’s history and its lasting impact on science, education, and the law.One of the featured presenters at that ...
Pre-laboratory preparation in chemistry education often depends on students’ ability to interpret textual descriptions from lab manuals and mentally construct representations of unfamiliar spatial phenomena. Conventional pedagogical approaches??"such as passive video demonstrations or static manual-based instruction??"frequently fall short in effectively conveying the complex laboratory processes.Virtual reality (VR) chemistry laboratories present ...
Join us for an enlightening presentation that bridges the gap between ornithology and entomology. We'll explore how insects share fascinating parallels with birds while playing equally crucial roles in our ecosystems. This talk will illuminate the remarkable world of insects, highlighting their complex behaviors, intricate social structures, and vital ecological services. ...
Where: Cost: Free
The Ocean's Stories Symposium - Evening SessionJoin us for a transformative day focused on the future of our oceans. Through lightning talks, expert panels and an inspiring keynote address, we’ll explore the critical role oceans play in our planet’s health. We’ll highlight how, together, marine scientists, journalists and entrepreneurs can address major challenges in an era ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
NightLife in the DeepMysteries of the deep meet cocktails of the night. Plunge into the deep sea at our new exhibit, Unseen Oceans.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
After Dark: See for YourselfUncover the secrets of the cosmos: what are the green patches on Mars? How do NASA spacecraft communicate with each other? And what was the final message of the Curiosity rover? Find the answers to these celestial mysteries - and more - at After Dark, plus our Open Question session ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95 General, free for members
Exploring Mental Health and Wellness: An Experiential Event In an era of fragmentation and uncertainty, having collective and safe spaces that allow for sharing and fully hearing each others’ experiences is as vital as ever. We invite you to join us at Commonwealth Club World Affairs for an interactive and experiential event exploring a breadth and depth of ...
Alcatraz Island Brandt’s Cormorants moved into San Francisco Bay in the early 1990s during a coastward population shift. Alcatraz is now one of the largest Brandt’s Cormorant breeding colonies, outperforming its ocean counterparts despite a high level of human disturbance in this urban setting. The bay hosts a large anchovy ...
Spring has sprung and here at Nerd Nite SF headquarters, we’re preparing - as so many critters in the natural world do - to strut our stuff in the sunshine. We’ve put together a program to help you look and feel your best as the weather warms and longer days ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Open Question: Health Tech - When does Tech Make Us Healthier?Technology has made health seemingly quantifiable and trackable, but does it actually improve our well-being? Co-presented with UC Davis Grand Challenges, this Open Question session invites you to explore the intersection of technology, fitness, and happiness.Part of After Dark
Where: San FranciscoCost: $19.95 General, Free for members
Molecular Confinement Effects by Self-Assembled Cages Size does matter in host-guest chemistry. In the early days, crown ethers and macrocyclic hosts recognized metal ions and small molecules in their cavities. However, due to the size limitation (typically, 1500 ų) was obtained, which demonstrates the ability to completely encapsulate medium-sized molecules (M.W. 1000 - 2000), which are ...
Our new temporary exhibit "From the Real to the Unreal" displays pieces from the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Enjoy a special documentary screening to learn more about the history of this amazing collective and make some art yourself! Space for this special evening is limited, so make sure to reserve ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $15 General, Free for members
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, 03/22/25
Aquatic Exploration at Alum RockSpringtime is a great time for creek exploration! Come to Alum Rock to learn about the creek habitat and what calls it home. Meet some real animals and then go out and see what you can find in Penitencia Creek.Register at weblinkAges 4 - 12
Where: San JoseCost: Free
CuriOdyssey Weekend Workshop: Sensational SensesEmbark on an exciting journey to discover your five senses and the amazing information they help us observe about the world. Through fun activities and experiments, you’ll learn how sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell work together to enhance our everyday experiences.Ages 5 to 10 years old
Where: San MateoCost: $45-$55
Xixoxa’s Spaceship: A Space OperaJoin us for the inaugural performance of our Spring Concert Series: Xixoxa’s Spaceship. Set 500 years in the future, Xixoxa’s Spaceship is a 21st-century opera that utilizes the backdrop of futuristic technology, galactic colonization, and the infinite cosmos to tell a groundedly human story of love and loss.Composed by Victoria ...
Where: OaklandCost: $25 Ages 18+
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 ...
Where: Morgan HillCost: Free
Sunday, 03/23/25
Alviso Bird WatchingJoin us at the Youth Science Institute for an engaging morning of birdwatching in the beautiful natural reserve of Alviso. This event is perfect for bird enthusiasts of all ages, offering a unique opportunity to observe a diverse array of bird species in their natural habitat. Whether you're a seasoned ...
2024’s The Thinking Game takes us on a fascinating journey into the heart of DeepMind, one of Earth’s leading AI labs, as it strives to unravel the mysteries of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Inside DeepMind’s London headquarters, Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis and his team are pursuing the creation of AI ...
Where: St. HelenaCost: $10
Living with Lions: Coexistence with an Iconic American CarnivoreJoin Willow Camp for an exciting lineup of local speakers at their beautiful outdoor venue. The series features experts in various fields who will share their knowledge and insights with you.Large cat expert Dr. Quinton Martins, founder of True Wild and our partner on the Living with Lions project, will ...
Speaker: Russell Huddleston, Environmental Protection Agency
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Non-crystalline altermagnetismAltermagnetism (AM) has gained recognition in the last few years as a new form of collinear magnetism, distinct from ferromagnetism (FM) and antiferromagnetism (AFM). It was defined by expanding our classification to account for symmetries in real space as well as spin space, where altermagnetism emerged as a distinct class ...
The demonstration of energy gain by nuclear fusion in the laboratory and its eventual utilization as an unlimited energy source has been a grand challenge for physicists and engineers for 70 years. The realization as an industrial energy source would have a tremendous impact on our society and would change ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Are We Smart Enough to Curb AI’s Environmental Impacts?Proponents of artificial intelligence (AI) proclaim that its potential for solving thorny problems outweigh the risks. At the same time, the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or even triple in just the next three years - though new players such as China’s DeepSeek could ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 General/$10 Members in person, $5/free online
Defense Against LLM and AGI Scheming with Guardrails and ArchitectureA January 2025 paper called “Frontier Models are Capable of In-Context Scheming”, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.04984, demonstrated how a wide variety of current frontier LLM models (i.e. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Llama) can, under specific conditions, scheme to deceive people. Before models can scheme, they need: a) goal-directedness, b) situational awareness, including an ...
The Saratoga Historical Foundation is sponsoring this lecture by Life Fellow and IEEE DL Paul Wesling. The story goes back to the 1910’s - to angel investors in new technology, the sinking of the Titanic, local ham radio operators trying to break RCA tube patents, Fred Terman and Stanford University, ...
Where: SaratogaCost: $10 advance, $15 at door
Baja in Spring - An Extravaganza of Marine Life - LivestreamMarine Biologist Marc Webber will be fresh off his annual Spring boat trip leading whale lovers down the Pacific coast of Mexico and up the Gulf of California.Join us as Marc shares his knowledge and photos from what truly is an extravaganza and celebration of marine life. We will be ...
Where: Cost: $10 Donation encouraged
The Great Chatbot DebateChatbots based on large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, answer sophisticated questions, pass professional exams, analyze texts, generate everything from poems to computer programs, and more. But is there genuine understanding behind what LLMs can do? Do they really understand our world? Or, are they a triumph of mathematics and ...
Where: Mountain ViewCost: Free
The Hubble Deep Field 30 Years LaterUnder the direction of then-director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Bob Williams, the Hubble Space Telescope was pointed at a seemingly empty patch of sky for 10 days. The result of that image, filled with thousands of unknown galaxies, forever changed the way we look at the universe.Join us ...
Project AZORIAN was a CIA project to covertly recover the sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine, K-129. The K-129 went down with all hands approximately 1,600 miles northwest of Hawaii on 8 March 1968 at a location that was unknown to the Soviets. However, using underwater surveillance technology, the U.S. Navy ...
Where: Cost: Free
An Evening with Kara SwisherJust when we thought the era of “move fast and break things” might be over, the biggest tech billionaire of them all has moved lightning-quick to “fix” the federal government. Who better to consult about the confusing entanglements of technology and power today than “bad-ass journalist and OG chronicler of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $20 advance, $25 at door
The National Institutes of Health is the major funder of America's medical research, which is the finest in the world. Cuts in staff and funding at NIH could stall the development of treatment for diseases like Alzheimer's, stroke, cancer and infectious disease epidemics. Bruce Miller, Clausen Distinguished Professor of Neurology ...
Where: San RafaelCost: $15 General, free for students, discounted members
Though parasol mushrooms are very beautiful mushrooms, their history is muddled, and their naming still far from complete. But, they have fantastic characters, and perform fascinating roles in nature. We'll delve into all of the above and more!Else Vellinga is a mycologist who is interested in naming and classifying mushroom ...
In our seat upon the California Coast, we who live in the territory of Yelamu are favored with remarkable biodiversity. A conversation between Sara Moncada, the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone Director of Native Ecology, and Obi Kaufmann, author of The State of Fire: Why California Burns as well as the ...
In The Climate Chronicles, a podcast with 42 episodes across eight seasons, Professor Dagomar Degroot of Georgetown University "takes you on a journey through 50 million years of climate change." He delves into how climate change has shaped civilizations - from the earliest hominid ancestors to the present era of rapid ...
Computer vision has made remarkable advances through data-driven learning of image-text associations. Large-scale vision and language models like CLIP, SAM, and ChatGPT can generate compelling descriptions of images. However, these models, trained with scripted data and limited grounding, often struggle to provide detailed visual evidence and to generalize across a ...
Where: Rohnert ParkCost: Free
Science on Tap: Raptor ConservationCome to the Museum for a special night of conservation discussions all about raptor birds with experts in the field! Learn about the biology of these popular birds of prey, the ways in which humans impact them, and the work that’s being done to save them. From avoiding lead bullets, ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: $25 General, $10 Members, Students free
After Dark: Aha(ha)Humor can bond us and open us to new experiences. This Thursday night, come celebrate phenomena that will make you laugh - and then think. Learn about research and discoveries that are silly or unusual, and perceptual illusions that will blow your mind. Find out the essential role of laughter ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95 General, free for members
AI Regulation Essentials : how to develop a cohesive global strategyJoin us for an insightful panel on the EU and US AI regulations, where we will explore the similarities and differences between the AI regulatory approaches and how to develop a uniform strategy.This in-person discussion will feature experts from both European and American perspectives, diving into the legal implications of ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
NightLife: IntersectionsJoin us for our second annual celebration of global connection through music, fashion, and dance in the Bay Area.
Where: San FranciscoCost: Varies
The Energy Transition ChallengeThe energy transition is a monumental task, still in its early stages, with only about 10 percent of the necessary low-emissions technologies deployed to meet 2050 targets, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.As the world strives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while meeting growing global energy demand, significant challenges lie ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Revealing the Secrets of Transistors using Supercomputers For a decade, SLAC has been using its X-ray laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source, to explore the properties of matter at the atomic level. One example, which is the subject of my own research, is the measurement of atomic defects in semiconductors that can be used in transistors. At ...
Where: Menlo ParkCost: Free
Long Now: 'Abundance'Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's forthcoming book Abundance is a once-in-a-generation, paradigm-shifting call to rethink big, entrenched problems that seem mired in systemic scarcity: from climate change to housing, education to healthcare. This evening's program will delve deeper into the abundance agenda within the context of the next and last ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: TBA
Saturday, 03/29/25
Guided bird walk at Bouverie PreserveJoin us for a fun-filled morning of birding at Bouverie Preserve! Whether you’re an experienced birder or just starting out, this event is perfect for nature enthusiasts of all ages. Spend the day exploring the beautiful preserve and spotting a variety of bird species in their natural habitat.Bring your friends ...
Where: Glen EllenCost: Free
Family Program: Magical Mini Moss GardensCelebrate spring and join our moss and lichen hunt, learn a little botany, and make a “magical” mini moss garden to take home. Child must be accompanied by a registered adultRegister at weblink.
Where: BerkeleyCost: $20 adult, $18 child, $2 off for members
Science Saturday: Dinosaurs and Fossils Get ready to roar with excitement at Science Saturday at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History!We're diving into the dino-mazing world of dinosaurs and fossils! Enjoy from activities, games, and fossil escavation! Unravel the mysteries of fossils and discover the facts about these colossal creatures that once stomped around ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free with admission
Stewardship Saturday: Navigating the Intricacies of RehabilitationThis free program for high school students features rotating events along our 600-mile range exploring various realms of conservation.Join Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue and The Marine Mammal Center as we explore the similarities and differences in our terrestrial and aquatic rehabilitation facilities. Through this event we will navigate how to ...
Where: PetalumaCost: Free
The Physics Show - Three PerformancesThe Physics Show is a fun science show for kids and their families.Tickets go on sale the first week of December, pending completion of construction at the venue.Performances at 10:00, 1:00, and 3:30 each day.Venue: Smithwick Theater
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: $6
Beginner BirdingCome join a Ranger Guided Hike and Birding Program with a Marin Headlands Interpretation Ranger! Learn all about the many different types of birds that call the Marin Headlands home while hiking along the scenic Rodeo Lagoon Loop Trail beginning at Rodeo Beach.The program will consist of a 1.5-mile hike ...
Where: Mill ValleyCost:
'Music of the Stars' by Cecilia McDowallWritten just a few years ago, Music of the Stars offers an enlightening commentary on the power of music to console and uplift in challenging times.Accompanied by string orchestra, the piece showcases characterful instrumentation and engaging vocal lines, yielding a piece with a celestial sparkle throughout.Additional pieces, Durufle's Requiem and ...
Where: San MateoCost: $40 Advance, $45 at door, $20 students with ID
Sunday, 03/30/25
The Physics Show - Three PerformancesThe Physics Show is a fun science show for kids and their families.Tickets go on sale the first week of December, pending completion of construction at the venue.Performances at 10:00, 1:00, and 3:30 each day.Venue: Smithwick Theater
Where: Los Altos HillsCost: $6
Jewels of the Garden: a Darwinian Natural History of Humming BirdsDr. Bruce Lyon continues to travel, photograph, and study birds since retiring from UCSC last year. During his rich career teaching and conducting research, Bruce’s work included the long-term project studying golden-crowned sparrows at the Arboretum. His lecture will explore hummingbird natural history from the perspective of a scientist who ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free with admission
Plastics: Climate Change & Health Impacts - What You Can DoDid you know that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 at current rates?Also, the average person globally breathes in 2,000 to 7,000 microplastics per day. Core samples extracted off the coast of California show that microplastics have doubled every 15 years (from 1945 to ...
Over 20,000(!) species of mushroom-forming fungi support the health and diversity of multiple ecosystems. Technically, what are mushrooms? How do they live, and what are some of the myriad ways they disperse, reproduce, and (even) communicate? Perhaps most important, how can we use mushrooms to help feed humanity and heal ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
'Music of the Stars' by Cecilia McDowallWritten just a few years ago, Music of the Stars offers an enlightening commentary on the power of music to console and uplift in challenging times.Accompanied by string orchestra, the piece showcases characterful instrumentation and engaging vocal lines, yielding a piece with a celestial sparkle throughout.Additional pieces, Durufle's Requiem and ...
Where: San MateoCost: $40 Advance, $45 at door, $20 students with ID
Update on the Bird Flu - LivestreamSpeaker: John Swartzberg, MD, is a clinical professor emeritus at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Dr. Swartzberg is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. Before joining UC Berkeley’s faculty part time since 1980 and full time since 2001, he spent 30 years in clinical practice. He is ...
Correlative microscopy is not a single method but rather a diverse collection of techniques that share a common approach. By applying multiple microscopy techniques to the same sample, researchers can analyze it across a broader range of magnifications than what a single technique can offer. The integration of Scanning Electron ...
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) has been carrying out a major reconstruction programme, which started in 2009 and ended in 2023. This programme, referred to as the ESRF Upgrade Programme, is grounded on ESRF role and mission of pioneering synchrotron science to the benefit of science and society at ...
I am the Curator of Flowering Plants at the Field Museum, and a faculty affiliate at the University of Chicago. I completed my undergrad at UBC and PhD at Harvard. My research focuses on plant evolution, biogeography, and systematics, with special emphasis on mountains and East Asia.Speaker: Richard Ree, Field ...
The adaptive immune system consists of highly diverse B- and T-cell receptors, which can recognize a multitude of diverse pathogens. Immune recognition relies on molecular interactions between immune receptors and pathogens, which in turn is determined by the complementarity of their 3D structures and amino acid compositions, i.e., their shapes. ...
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a much needed CO2 mitigation technology and it also has an interesting history in global climate and environmental policy and law. Now with engineered-CDR, it is still an active topic. Tim will provide an up-to-date summary of CCS in the global climate scene and ...
