Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down with the SciSchmooze
Calendar | Submit an Event | Contact
SciSchmooze Weekly Events Newsletter
Greetings fellow travelers,
Thumbs Up
From the DNA sequence for building a protein, we know exactly what the amino acid sequence of the protein will be. However, it is largely the shape of the protein that determines its functionality with all its hydrophobic, hydrophilic, electron-rich, and electron-poor sites - and the functionalities of proteins are truly amazing. The problem of predicting the protein shape from its amino acid sequence has stymied scientists for decades. Starting twenty years ago, the effort to predict how proteins ‘fold’ (or ‘misfold’ leading to disease) as they are assembled from the ribosome was handed over to the public - to anyone who agreed to share time on their home computer to help. The Stanford-based project is named Folding@home. (It is similar in strategy with SETI@home based at U.C. Berkeley.) Recently, other computer strategies and universities have joined in this effort. Every two years they compete against each other in a tournament called Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction or CASP. Last week, the company DeepMind won the contest using an AI program named AlphaFold. Its success is being touted as a major breakthrough that will soon lead to medical advances. Possibly so.
Thumbs Down
I visited the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico a few years ago and I was thoroughly incapable of comprehending its size as we gazed down into its 305 m (1,000 ft) diameter reflector dish from the visitor center. I suggested they put a manikin or two out there to help us comprehend its size. Completed 57 years ago, it sustained minor damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017. On August 10 of this year a support cable broke causing a 30m gash in the dish. A replacement cable was being prepared when another cable cable broke on November 7. An engineering assessment concluded that the structure was no longer safe and that the telescope had to be decommissioned for safety’s sake. On the morning of December 1, major cables snapped, the tops of the three support towers collapsed, and all came tumbling down.
Thumbs Up
China’s Chang’e 5 Lunar Probe has succeeded in grabbing a two-kilogram sample of lunar soil and is on its way back to Earth. It is noteworthy that the China National Space Administration (CNSA) could have merely sent the probe straight to the Moon and then returned straight back to Earth but instead they followed the mission strategy used by NASA for the Apollo lunar landings. (1) The Chang’e 5 vehicle went into orbit around the Moon after spanning the distance from Earth. (2) A portion of the vehicle - the lander - separated, left orbit, and landed on the Moon’s surface. (3) After collecting the sample, the top portion or the lander blasted off from the surface - leaving the lower part of the lander behind. (4) The two active portions rejoined in orbit and the payload was transferred to the orbiter.(5) The lander portion was jettisoned and the orbiter fired its rockets to return to Earth. As NASA calculated back in the ‘60s, this is the most energy efficient method for getting astronauts there and back. It is reasonable to guess that CNSA used this mission to hone the skills needed to send astronauts there and back. Could be. Stay tuned.
Thumbs Down
The Earth continues to warm up. High temperature records were broken across Australia in November - in some places exceeding 114°F. In the Northeastern U.S., winter temperatures have risen 4.8°F over the previous 50 years. This year’s hurricane season saw a record 30 ‘named’ storms. Thirteen of those became hurricanes - the second highest number ever recorded. A massive bush fire destroyed 40 percent of the UNESCO world heritage-listed Fraser Island off the coast of Australia. And Greta Thunberg is pissed off. I watched the film “I am Greta” last week and learned a bit about her. She summed up the basics during her TED Talk, “I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, OCD, and selective mutism. That basically means I only speak when I think it's necessary. Now is one of those moments.” What she did not mention is that her near eidetic memory allows her to instantly counter spurious claims with accurate data, and that her earlier severe depression and obstinacy over her concern of the climate crisis forced her family to give up air travel - which has hindered her parent’s professional lives - and to eat only sustainably sourced foods. She has added weight to the hypothesis that major players on the world’s stage are not for the ‘normal’ among us. I am grateful she is on the side of science - our side. ¿What can you and i do? (1) Use our power at the ballot box. (2) Make our next car a plug-in hybrid or make it an EV if a long-range car is also available. ¿Want to learn more? Electric Vehicles (EV) 101 is scheduled for 5:30 Wednesday online.
Thumbs Up
COVID-19 vaccines are being approved.
Thumbs Down
Vaccines are being hoarded.
Thumbs Up
Material from the asteroid Ryuga parachuted safely to Australia Saturday night - a significant technological feat for advancing basic research.
My picks for the week (all livestream, of course):
COVID-19 Misinformation: Understanding and Seeking Truth during a Pandemic - Tuesday 10:30 AM
Telomeres: from curiosity driven research to human disease - Tuesday 5:30 PM
A Grand Tour of Remarkable Exoplanets - Tuesday 7 PM
Wonderfest: COVID Perspectives - Historical, Personal, Biological, and Medical - Wednesday 8 PM
SkepTalk: Deepfakes, GANs and Visual Misinformation - Thursday 7:30 PM
Snowy Plovers: The Cutest Birds on the Beach! - Friday Noon
One more Thumbs Up
Technology to the rescue. Last Sunday (29 November) on the first lap of the Formula 1 race in Bahrain, Romain Grosjean's car went off course and collided with an armco barrier. Because of telemetry on these sophisticated vehicles, we know that the collision was at 222 kph (137 mph). Because of an accelerometer worn in the ear by these race drivers, we know he experienced 53Gs deceleration. The car broke in half as the front half went through the barrier in a massive fireball with Grosjean inside. Still conscious, he unsuccessfully tried several times to flee the burning cockpit before he realized that one of his shoes was jammed next to the pedals. He managed to get his foot out of the shoe and eventually found a twisting motion that freed his torso from the crumpled cockpit. After twenty-eight seconds in the inferno, he scrambled back over the barrier to safety with no more than a sore foot and burns on his hands. The car did not fare so well. He survived because of sheer will and technology. The armco barrier was no match for the strength of the multi-layered carbon fiber cockpit with a nine kilogram (20 lb) titanium ‘halo’ protecting the driver’s head. Also, drivers are totally covered in fire-resistant Nomex except for the eyes and nose. Still - amazing.
Please stay safe, damn it!
David Almandsmith
Bay Area Skeptics board member
"Our minds are adapted to a world that no longer exists, prone to misunderstandings correctable only by arduous education, and condemned to perplexity about the deepest questions we can ascertain.”
- Steven Pinker (1954- ), Canadian Psychologist
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 12/07/2020
Energy Futures: Smart Grids - Livestream - 12/07/2020 09:00 AM
swissnex,
University of Applied Sciences in Engineering and Management of the Canton Vaud (HEIG-VD) share their research and discuss how we might face the complexity of future supply and demand of energy sources with three focused areas of research.
Mauro Carpita and Mokhtar Bozorg at HEIG-VD’s new Reine laboratory test these control methods for smart grids, power electronics, and smart meter devices. They present how the transition away from fossil fuels as the main carrier of energy transforms the way the grid functions.
Pierryves Padey from the Thermal Engineering Institute at HEIG-VD, presents his research around new approaches and business models for energy management.
Massimiliano Capezzali, the Head of the Energy Competence Center at HEIG-VD, speaks about the new planning tools that manage the complexity of energy supply and demand dynamics.
Their research cumulatively looks at how to decarbonize the energy footprint of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, which often have fossil-powered and/or inefficient energy consuming heating and cooling systems and appliances. Tackling how to use “demand side management” to more efficiently control energy use “behind the meter” and turn buildings into a flexibility asset that can help avoid use of fossil-”peaker plants” (gas turbines or gas engines that burn natural gas), or nuclear-based production (which the country is now phasing out since a governmental decision in the days following Fukushima’s accident) is key. As renewable energy becomes cheaper and more prolific, managing the volatility it introduces into the grid when it comes from “prosumers” on the distribution end of the grid is a crucial challenge. Finally, the research addresses how best to control and further modernize the grid, to make it smart, energy- and carbon-efficient.
RSVP at weblink to receive connection link.
Near-Field Communication (NFC) is already in billions of devices and is popular for its "tap-to-pay" functionality, but did you know that NFC can also be used for wireless charging? It's true. NFC charging is emerging as a powerful solution for devices with power requirements up to 3W that can appear in products ranging from small wrist-wearables to the Ki Cordless Kitchen appliances. In this 60-minute webinar, the NFC charging experts at NuCurrent will sit down with the IEEE to share insights into this technology and its applications including:
- How does NFC Charging differ from Qi-based charging?
- What products currently use NFC Charging?
- What products are high-growth categories for NFC Charging?
- How do power and data work together in an NFC Charging system?
- Q&A
SPEAKERS
Greg Kuchuris, Product Manager, NuCurrent
Jason Luzinski, Senior Field Applications Engineer, NuCurrent
Fundamental bounds on the fidelity of sensory cortical coding - Livestream - 12/07/2020 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium,
Perception is limited by the information that the brain can extract from the noisy dynamics of sensory neurons. I will present a new microscope to monitor neural activity across the primary visual cortex and analyses to quantify the information conveyed by large neural ensembles. The data reveal limitations on the accuracy of sensory cortical coding due to correlated fluctuations in neural dynamics.
Seminal experiments published three decades ago suggested that correlated activity fluctuations within sensory cortical neural ensembles is what limits their coding accuracy. However, without concurrent recordings from thousands of cortical neurons with shared sensory inputs, it has remained unknown whether correlated noise actually limits coding fidelity. We found that, in mouse visual cortex, correlated noise constrained signaling for ensembles of 800 - 1,300 neurons. Moreover, neural ensemble visual signals were perpendicular to the largest noise mode, which therefore did not limit coding fidelity. The information-limiting noise modes were approximately ten times smaller and concordant with mouse visual acuity. Cortical design principles appear to enhance coding accuracy by restricting ~90% of noise fluctuations to modes that do not limit signaling fidelity, whereas much weaker correlated noise modes bound sensory discrimination.
Speaker: Mark Schnitzer, Stanford
See weblink for Zoom information
CIRTIS People and Robots Seminar - Livestream - 12/07/2020 04:00 PM
Stanford University,
Speaker: Alberto Rodriguez, MIT
See weblink for webcast connection link.
Safer Made: Building Sustainable Materials and Safer Products - Livestream - 12/07/2020 05:30 PM
UC Berkeley,
Venture capital may not be a common career path for PhD chemistry students, but learning about how venture capital fits into the funding ecosystem is valuable to anyone interested in how innovations are commercialized. This talk will share some of my own journey from an academic career path to the creation of Safer Made, a mission driven venture capital fund focused on the elimination of hazardous chemicals from consumer products and supply chains. I will discuss entrepreneurship in chemistry, the demand for safer chemistry solutions from the marketplace, and the opportunity for early career scientists to make a positive impact on the future of chemistry.
Speaker: Marty Mulvihill, Safer Made
See weblink for connection information
Tuesday, 12/08/2020
COVID-19 Misinformation: Understanding and Seeking Truth during a Pandemic - Livestream - 12/08/2020 10:30 AM
Berkeley Institute for Data Science,
Misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic continues to create confusion and contention along scientific and political lines. In this conversation, Berkeley faculty will help us understand the nature of misinformation in order to assess, evaluate and engage more effectively with the information resources we consult. They will discuss some of the reasons for the rapid spread of misinformation, how predictive algorithms often reinforce existing beliefs and stereotypes, and how current legislation is addressing issues such as partisanship, accountability, and human rights. They will also present some new online tools for determining the trustworthiness of news sources, and for recognizing multiple vantage points of different issues.
Panel: Saul Perlmutter, Nobel Laureate, UC Berkeley; Nick Adams, Goodly Labs; Hany Farid, UC Berkeley; Deirdre Mulligan, UC Berkeley
See weblink to watch the conversation.
Carbonate clumped isotope geochemistry as an applied tool in paleoclimate and paleoceanography - Livestream - 12/08/2020 03:30 PM
UC Santa Cruz,
The carbonate clumped isotope thermometer is a promising proxy for the study of environmental change through time. In principle, this technique can provide a thermodynamically based estimate of carbonate mineral formation temperature and a relatively assumption-free calculation of water 18O/16O ratios. Over the past thirteen years, I have studied the systematics of carbonate clumped isotopes in foraminifera and coccoliths and other geological archives including la custrine and soil carbonates. In this talk, I will discuss work we have done to improve measurement capabilities, overcome challenges such as sample size requirements and accuracy, and develop its usability for paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions. I will highlight applications to reconstruct terrestrial hydroclimates and tropical sea surface temperature in the past, including proxy-model comparisons to understand underlying dynamical mechanisms. My talk will also touch on new developments relating to the physical geochemistry of clumped isotopes in carbonates. We are using both theory and experiments to quantify kinetic isotope effects, and have developed the novel capability to make measurements of multiple clumped isotope species in carbonates. I will also briefly discuss the work we have been doing in my research group and in the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science to support equity, justice and innovation in the geosciences.
Speaker: Aradhna Tripati, U C Los Angeles
See weblink for connection/location information
UC Botanical Garden - A Botanical Treasure - Livestream - 12/08/2020 04:00 PM
UC Botanical Garden,
Join us for a special Director's talk to discover what makes UCBG one of the most plant diverse places on the planet. How did the collection come to be, what does it represent, what work is the Garden involved with, and how can you get involved. Come on a virtual tour with Dr. Lewis Feldman, the Garden's Director, and learn why, now more than ever, the UC Botanical Garden is a priceless collection worth protecting and growing.
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
The Future of Breathing - Livestream - 12/08/2020 05:00 PM
Long Now Foundation,
Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, journalist James Nestor questions the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function, breathing.
Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary specialists to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. His inquiry leads to the understanding that breathing is in many ways as important as what we eat, how much we exercise, or whatever genes we’ve inherited.
See weblink for links to live stream on several outlets.
Telomeres: from curiosity driven research to human disease - Livestream - 12/08/2020 05:30 PM
UC Santa Cruz,
Telomeres are structures made of repetitive DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, telomeres shorten by a small amount. This shortening is counterbalanced by the enzyme telomerase, which elongates telomeres by adding repetitive DNA to maintain an equilibrium in length. Increased telomere length enables the continuous proliferation of cancer cells, while telomere shortening is associated with aging and age-related diseases. Inherited telomere syndromes involving abnormally short telomeres can lead to bone marrow failure, lung disease, liver disease, and other conditions. Join us for this important talk with Professor Greider as she helps us understand telomere maintenance mechanisms at a fundamental level, and how it may allow new approaches to these diseases.
Speaker: Carol Greider, Nobel Laureate, UC Santa Cruz
A Grand Tour of Remarkable Exoplanets - Livestream - 12/08/2020 07:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center,
Exoplanets are everywhere. Astronomers have discovered more 4,000 of them and today we know that in average each star in our galaxy has 2 planets! Among them, 300 million could be habitable. That’s a lot of worlds!
The SETI Institute’s Franck Marchis will give us a tour of the most remarkable exoplanets, those who could be a twin of Earth as well as those weird worlds which are very different to the planets we find in our solar system. Lava worlds, ocean worlds, hot Jupiters, super-Earths? What do those names mean to astronomers? We will dive into these other worlds and discuss why they are important to scientists who are searching for life.
See weblink for Youtube and Facebook links
Wednesday, 12/09/2020
The Impact of COVID-19 on Refugees - Livestream - 12/09/2020 10:00 AM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event,
Our distinguished panel will discuss how beleaguered nonprofits are struggling to deal with the increased challenges for desperate refugees and aid workers in the Middle East and elsewhere during the COVID-19 crisis.
Dr. Niveen Rizkalla will present findings from her timely research with an emphasis on Syrian refugees and aid workers in Lebanon. Amanda Lane will share the importance of small grass-roots organizations, like the Collateral Repair Project that she directs and which mostly works with Syrian, Iraqi and Kurdish refugees in Jordan. They will both discuss how dedicated NGOs, aid workers and volunteers are striving to nimbly solve basic human needs - physical and psycho-social - in the face of disease, violence, fear and other challenges.
Data science in mental health: Opportunities and advancements - 12/09/2020 11:00 AM
Magnimind Academy,
The use of data science in healthcare has been rapidly accelerating for several years, although data science applications designed to understand and address mental health problems have lagged behind the rest of the field. In many ways, however, mental health is the perfect application for healthcare data science: the burden of mental illness in the US is enormous, often unaddressed, and not fully understood, creating enormous potential for data-driven research and solutions. In this talk I will highlight the need for expanding the use of data science in mental health, walk through 3 case studies representing important advancements in this area, and describe one of my own research projects using Google search data to assess suicidality.
Agenda:
10:50 am - 11:00 am Arrival and socializing
11:00 am - 11:10 am Opening
11:10 am - 12:50 pm Emily Halford, "Data science in mental health: Opportunities and advancements"
12:50 pm - 1:00 pm Q&A
Speaker: Emily Halford, data analyst
Zoom link
Webinar ID: 857 5827 5277
Flipping the Switch on Right and Wrong: Evolving Ethics in Science - Livestream - 12/09/2020 01:00 PM
Science and Entertainment Exchange,
Most people have a pretty strong sense of right and wrong and can be quick to judge others through that sharply focused ethical lens. What if everything you accepted about the notions of right and wrong changed… and all of a sudden you were the one being judged? History has shown that the lines that separate right from wrong move over time as circumstances evolve, and that advances in science and technology are often the driver of those shifts. What was once broadly acceptable becomes unthinkable. Burning heretics, previously considered a fair and just punishment is without doubt barbaric. Child marriage is no longer applauded as a family value. Slavery was practiced for thousands of years in societies spanning the globe before being deemed inhuman. Before we condemn our ancestors for these missteps, perhaps we should pause to ask ourselves what is likely to prompt the inevitable ethical realignment in our definitions of right and wrong. Join us for this provocative look at how our understanding of right and wrong is likely to evolve and how that evolution will be pushed by rapid changes in science and technology.
Speaker: Juan Enriquez, Consultant
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Electric Vehicles (EV) 101 - Livestream - 12/09/2020 05:30 PM
Ecology Center,
Thinking about buying an electric car? Curious about the benefits of driving all-electric? Interested in clean transportation?
Our Electric Vehicles (EV) 101 workshop will discuss the wide variety of vehicles on the market today, and their respective ranges. Other topics of discussion include home and public charging, available rebates and incentives, special programs for income-qualified drivers, buying and leasing opportunities, and tips for finding the right plug-in car for your lifestyle. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers at the end of the presentation.
This EV 101 workshop is open to all, whether you're ready to swap out your old vehicle for a new one, or just interested in learning more about electric vehicles in general.
Register at weblink to receive connection information
We are confronting a challenging Pandemic paradox. Just as vaccines have begun to show promise and new coordinated policies provide a sense of optimism, the virus onslaught rages uncontained producing a wave of death and disease exceeding anything we have seen. Stanford virus expert Dr. Bob Siegel will discuss humanity’s year-long struggle with COVID-19: where we are now, how we got here, and where we might be heading. He will discuss the unusual biology of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, and he will identify some key unanswered questions. Dr. Siegel will also respond to audience queries pertaining to all things viral.
Speaker: Robert Siegel, Stanford University
See weblink for Zoom information
Thursday, 12/10/2020
After Dark Online: Celestial - Solar Eclipse - Livestream - 12/10/2020 07:00 PM
ExplOratorium,
On December 14, the shadow of the moon will cross Earth in a rare event called a total solar eclipse. For a small portion of Earthly observers - in this case, those in a narrow stripe across South America - the moon will be perfectly lined up between our planet and the sun, casting an eerie darkness and offering a magnificent view of the solar corona. Join us to learn more about this fascinating alignment and prime yourself for the upcoming eclipse.
The movements and mechanics of the planets, moons, and stars create awesome effects for us observers on earth. Predictable yet coincidental, these cycles among the stars lead to gravitational bulges, lunar alignments, and a turnaround of apparent motion. Join us this month as we explore these effects as opportunities for wonder and harbingers of future change.
Ages 18+
NightSchool: Science Craft Fair - Livestream - 12/10/2020 07:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences,
We’re teaming up with SF Bazaar to present a special virtual version of our annual Holiday Bazaar event with an evening of nature- and science-inspire d crafts! Get some DIY gift ideas, craft alongside artisans and makers, and browse a hand-selected virtual “fair” to help you shop online and support local artists.
Ages 21+
See weblink for Facebook connection.
Astronomy at Home - Seattle: Charting the High Frontier of Space - Livestream - 12/10/2020 07:00 PM
Astronomy on Tap,
How can we find and track all of the asteroids in our solar system? How can we map space? Join us and former astronaut(!) Dr. Ed Lu as he’ll talk about his efforts mapping space with the B612 Asteroid Institute. The event will begin at 7pm and there will be lots of time to ask questions afterwards. We’ll be going live on Zoom and Youtube at 7pm PST! Then join us at 8pm on our Instagram for an Instagram Live Q&A with Dr. Lu!
See weblink for connections.
Deepfakes, GANs and Visual Misinformation - Livestream - 12/10/2020 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics,
The rise of Deepfakes has prompted intense coverage in the press, concern from government officials, and fear among the public. Deepfakes, along with GANs (generative adversarial networks), are a class of “generative” neural networks capable of creating highly realistic synthetic images. The widespread availability of open-source Deepfake tools means anyone with access to a computer can potentially create photorealistic fake videos and images. These fakes can, for instance, portray high-profile individuals in arbitrary - possibly compromising - situations. Because of their wide availability, relative ease of use, and harm potential, the technology has been the subject of considerable scrutiny and debate.
In this talk, we’ll discuss the current state of AI-generated imagery, including Deepfakes and GANs: how they work, their capabilities, and what the future may hold. We’ll try to separate the hype from reality, and examine the social consequences of these technologies with a special focus on the effect that the idea of Deepfakes has had on the public. We’ll consider the visual misinformation landscape more broadly, including so-called “shallowfakes” and “cheapfakes” like Photoshop. Finally, we’ll review the challenges and promise of the global research community that has emerged around detecting visual misinformation.
Friday, 12/11/2020
Snowy Plovers: The Cutest Birds on the Beach! - Livestream - 1 2/11/2020 12:00 PM
Peninsula Open Space Trust,
If you’re a regular visitor to Bay Area beaches or bay land parks, you may have come close to this bird, but chances are you didn’t even notice this tiny resident! San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) Biologist Jessica González will teach participants to identify this adorable bird and learn how to play a part in efforts to protect their threatened habitats.
Western Snowy Plovers are a ground nesting shorebird species found along the Pacific Coast and interior Western United States. Since 1993, the Pacific Coast population has been listed as Federally Threatened due to loss of habitat, increasing predator populations, and high rates of disturbances at beach and bay breeding habitats. This includes places like Stevens Creek Shoreline Nature Study Area, now managed by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Tunitas Creek Beach, which was recently protected by Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and is now managed by San Mateo County Parks. For park agencies, planning how to protect the sensitive nesting sites of snowy plovers while enabling community members to enjoy their local parks is a tricky issue, and a topic being addressed in current efforts to plan the opening of Tunitas Creek Beach as a new public park.
Register at weblink to receive connection information
AI Talks in Healthcare - Livestream - 12/11/2020 12:00 PM
Magnimind Academy,
Magnimind Academy presents AI Talks in Healthcare. We are starting a new talk series where we will host top AI experts in different fields of data science, biotech, and medicine. You will h ave a chance to learn the most recent trends in the field which may inspire you to transition to take an initiative as a data scientist. In this webinar, we will be listening to speakers from top AI companies in the healthcare field, and one of the best universities in the world.
Next talk, we are going to have our ninth "AI Talks in Healthcare" webinar. We will host Dr. Nicole F. Roberts who is the Founder and President of Health & Human Rights Strategies.
Speakers: Dr. Nicole F. Roberts, Health & Human Rights Strategies; Chirag Patel, Stanford University School of Medicine; Ryan Spitler, Stanford University; Murat Baday, Magnimind Academy
Zoom link
Webinar ID: 863 9070 2124
Saturday, 12/12/2020
Virtual King Tides - 12/12/2020 11:00 AM
Environmental Volunteers,
Each year, the King Tides come to the Palo Alto Baylands (and much of the California Coast!). Join us virtually over Zoom in a fun, interactive learning experience which will teach you about what a King Tides is, and why they are so exciting. This program will be offered twice in December and January. Each date is the Saturday before a King Tide, so you are encouraged to visit the Baylands for a chance to see what you learned about in person!
All ages are welcome - activities will be accessible and enjoyable for kids and adults alike. The program is not intended to be drop in so please join on time.
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information.
Virtual Telescope Viewing - Livestream - 12/12/2020 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center,
Join our resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening live from Chabot’s Observation deck!
Each week, our astronomers will guide us through spectacular night sky viewing through Nellie, Chabot‘s most powerful telescope. Weather permitting we will be able to view objects live through the telescopes and our astronomers will be available for an open forum for all of your most pressing astronomy questions.
We will go live the Chabot Space & Science Center Facebook page 10-15 minutes before the event. You can find the live video stream on our Facebook page and in the Facebook event discussion. To receive a notification when we go live, “like” Chabot Space & Science Center on Facebook and RSVP that you’re going to this event.
Sunday, 12/13/2020
California King Tides: Dec 13-15 - 12/13/2020 01:00 PM
California Coastal Commission,
The California King Tides Project is asking the public to safely photograph the highest high tides of the year, arriving December 13-15. Photographing the impact of these tides on beaches, wetlands, roads, harbors, and homes helps California plan for future sea level rise. Anyone with a smartphone can participate. Find out what time your ne arest king tides arrive, how to contribute your photos to this community science project, and kids' educational activities at california.kingtides.net.
Monday, 12/14/2020
California King Tides: Dec 13-15 - 12/14/2020 01:00 PM
California Coastal Commission,
Tuesday, 12/15/2020
Destination Health: Driving Equity in Health Care - Livestream - 12/15/2020 12:00 PM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event,
California King Tides: Dec 13-15 - 12/15/2020 01:00 PM
California Coastal Commission,
Popping the Science Bubble - 12/15/2020 05:30 PM
Berkeley Public Library,
Wednesday, 12/16/2020
Renaissance Medicinal Recipes - 12/16/2020 12:00 PM
Truhlsen - Marmor Museum of the Eye,
Using Genetic Tools to Understand the Master Regulator: The Spliceosome - Livestream - 12/16/2020 07:00 PM
Science on Tap,
A Rainbow of Exoplanets - Livestream - 12/16/2020 07:00 PM
SETI Institute,
Why Do Galaxies Die? How Silicon Valley’s “Spectral Revolution” will Solve a 100 Year Old Mystery - Livestream - 12/16/2020 07:30 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers,
Thursday, 12/17/2020
Digital Transformation for Social Impact - Livestream - 12/17/2020 11:00 AM
Computer History Museum,
December LASER Event - Livestream - 12/17/2020 12:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous,
After Dark Online: Celestial - Winter Solstice - Livestream - 12/17/2020 07:00 PM
ExplOratorium,
Friday, 12/18/2020
How to build the world's biggest telescopes- Livestream - 12/18/2020 07:00 PM
Tri-Valley Stargazers,
Saturday, 12/19/2020
Virtual Telescope Viewing - Livestream - 12/19/2020 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center,
Monday, 12/21/2020
Wonderfest: Madame Curie - Livestream - 12/21/2020 07:30 PM
Wonderfest,