Hello SciSchmoozians (only when Halloween is nigh!),
As you may know the Ig Nobel Awards were awarded last month at the 32nd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in their continuing recurring annual series celebrating science that makes you laugh and then makes you think. I really recommend that you listen to it on Fri Nov 25 on an NPR Science Friday special. Should you want to get a jump on the awards and learn about such wondrous things as whether or how constipation affects the mating prospects of scorpions nobody will accuse you of cheating! Please note that these awards are fun, crazy, entertaining, and educational as well!
On to other sciencey things… I think that science and technology have different purposes. Science leads to the knowledge we use to develop technology which helps make the tools we use for everything to do anything and everything. I think there is a good argument that technology is applied science. Mathematics is one of the points where the crossover from science to technology occurs. We tend to think mostly or only, of things we have been exposed to for most of our lives. Often we don’t learn how other cultures or groups of people have done this. Please consider what the Inca did with a khipu. We have so much to learn from the past! When I consider the khipu being a relatively recent tool, how hard it is to shoot a pool ball in a straight line, then to consider hitting an asteroid 7 million miles away… that is remarkable. Have you ever wondered how scientists figure it all out and what they use to do it?
Science can also help weed out inaccurate or wrong information that could even harm us. Often it is difficult to evaluate claims of medicine and so many other things. One topic I hear discussed often is medicine and cures or treatment. Not only do you have to sort out your hopes, fears, and preconceptions, you have to sort out the claims from others that may truly believe in what they are doing. Check out As some lose faith in the factory-like care of conventional medicine, these curious remedies are ascendant. Score One for the Good Guys—A Major Battle Won in the Continuing War on Homeopathy Fraud
The offerings of informal science learning are increasing now that schools are starting up, many have come back from vacations, and covid seems to be becoming less problematic. Though it is still a very real problem. Here’s the most important video clip I can offer today… the cost of bothsideism of science. I hope that you watch the whole video as well, it’s more than science and technology it has some blunt talk. You might also want to catch Science vs. … History? - Livestream Thu @ 7:30
There are a lot of opportunities to learn more. Here are a few for the week…
KQED Live: Art & Tech in a Warming World with The New York Times Tue @ 7 on-line
After Dark: Conversations about Landscape Th @ 6 live in SF
Investigating Space: Understanding our Oceans Sa @ 1
Have you ever considered what a species is? I ask that because I came across this article that I’m still trying to grok. Six recent discoveries that have changed how we think about human origins Here’s one more to look at to make us all think… How many early human species existed on Earth? This isn’t closely related but if you donate blood…
Another great advocate for Science has retired. Joe Palca Here’s a sample 25 years later, looking back on the accomplishments of the Mars Pathfinder
Have a great week learning cool new (and old) stuff about science,
herb masters
“If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be - without communicating its critical method, how can the average person possibly distinguish science from pseudoscience?” - Carl Sagan
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 10/10/2022
A Balance of Power: Shifts in Mitochondrial Homeostasis Lead to Metabolic Suppression in a Diapausing Beetle - 10/10/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Dr. Jackie Lebenzon , UC Berkeley
Voices in the Code: A Story About People, Their Values, and the Algorithm They Made - 10/10/2022 12:00 PM
Social Sciences Building Room 820 Berkeley
CLTC is co-sponsoring an October 10 “Authors Meet Critics” panel about the book Voices in the Code: A Story About People, Their Values, and the Algorithm They Made, by David Robinson, a visiting scholar at Social Science Matrix and a member of the faculty at Apple University. Robinson will be joined in conversation by Iason Gabriel, a Staff Research Scientist at DeepMind, and Deirdre Mulligan, Professor in the UC Berkeley School of Information.
Algorithms - rules written into software - shape key moments in our lives: from who gets hired or admitted to a top public school, to who should go to jail or receive scarce public benefits. Today, high stakes software is rarely open to scrutiny, but its code navigates moral questions: Which of a person’s traits are fair to consider as part of a job application? Who deserves priority in accessing scarce public resources, whether those are school seats, housing, or medicine? When someone first appears in a courtroom, how should their freedom be weighed against the risks they might pose to others?
Register to attend in person or online
Stanford Symbolic Systems 2022 Summer Research Poster Fair - 10/10/2022 12:30 PM
Stanford University Stanford
12:30 Welcome and Brief Poster Introductions 12:35 Poster Presentations
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 10/10/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Alex Thomson, UC Davis
See weblink for Zoom information.
The Fault In Our Numerical Stars: Dynamical Chaos in Stellar Evolution Models - 10/10/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Over the past century, stellar structure and evolution models (SSEMs) have become foundational to many areas of astrophysics - from exoplanets to cosmology. Thus, the accuracy of SSEMs continues to be a topic of intense interest with nearly continuous refinements to numerical methods, empirical inputs, and parameterizations of hydro- and magnetohydrodynamic effects. The accuracy of these models, however, may be fundamentally limited by dynamical chaos - the exponential growth of uncertainty in deterministic systems. Using the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) code, we show that indeed SSEMs can display dynamical chaos for rotating solar-like main sequence stars. The combination of coupled boundary-value and initial-value solves leads to an exponential growth in model uncertainty on relatively short timescales, causing models initially different by less than 1 part in 108 to show exponential divergence. We report initial work on the implications of this chaos, including fundamental uncertainties in the calculated stellar radii, effective temperature, and depth of the outer convective layer.
Speaker: Nicholas Nelson, CSU Chico
Understanding the Nature of Matter with Polarized Targets - 10/10/2022 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Since the discovery of the proton in 1917, physicists have been studying its properties: Asking questions about the internal structure and external phenomena of this basic piece of matter. This past century has been working to build an understanding that begins at the most fundamental quark level, builds up to protons and neutrons, and describes how they come together to form the atomic nuclei that make up everything we see around us. In just the past few decades, our understanding of this internal structure of nucleons has been greatly increased thanks to developments of high-energy electron accelerators and spin-polarized targets. From the quark sea through the internal electric structure of nucleons and beyond, this colloquium will cover the discoveries that have given us our current understanding of matter and detail current and future developments being led by the UNH Nuclear Physics Group that will teach us more about the nature of matter.
Speaker: Elena Long, University of New Hampshire
Sustainable Liquid Fuel Production | Measuring Solid-Electrolyte Interphase - 10/10/2022 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
This seminar will highlight the work of two of the winners of the Stanford Energy Student Lecture series.
Carbonate-catalyzed CO2 hydrogenation for sustainable liquid fuel production
Despite increasing electrification, generating carbon-neutral liquid fuels remains critical for decarbonizing sectors that cannot readily electrify. Recently commercialized gas fermentation, a technology that makes alcohols from CO and H2, has created a new opportunity for sustainable liquid fuel production provided that CO and H2 can be sourced renewably. While H2 can be made from water electrolysis, the renewable production of CO remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a scalable, selective, and stable thermochemical catalyst that upgrades H2 and CO2 into a CO-containing feedstock appropriate for gas fermentation to ethanol. The combination of water electrolysis, our process, and gas fermentation could convert electricity into ethanol fuel with nearly 50% overall energy efficiency, highlighting a unique opportunity to generate renewable liquid fuels at scale.
Speaker: Chastity Li, Stanford University
Quantification of solid-electrolyte interphase composition during nonaqueous electrochemical nitrogen reduction
To accommodate the growing population and decarbonize synthetic ammonia (NH3) production, electrified alternatives to Haber-Bosch must be developed. However, electrified methods are often hindered by poor selectivity to NH3, which is underpinned by a poorly formed solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the cathode surface. In this work, our novel quantitative SEI composition measurements reveal that SEI growth coincides with improved Faradaic efficiency to NH3, suggesting that the SEI acts as a membrane which selectively hinders transport of ethanol while still allowing N2 transport to the cathode surface. Our findings provide important insights for the rational design of electrolytes to impart beneficial SEI properties which can improve selectivity in emerging electrochemical NH3 synthesis systems.
Tuesday, 10/11/2022
October Bird Walk - FULL - 10/11/2022 09:30 AM
UC Botanical Garden Berkeley
Join Chris Carmichael in search of both resident and migrant birds in the Garden's many bird friendly micro habitats. Chris will be joined by Susan Greef, Garden Member and avid birder. Beginning and experienced bird watchers are welcome. Limited to 15 participants. This walk follows uneven terrain, with areas of paved and unpaved trail. We suggest bringing binoculars if you have them. Wear layers in case it is a chilly morning. Walk is rain or shine, though heavy rain cancels.
Research Panel on the Energy System Resilience Challenge - Livestream - 10/11/2022 10:00 AM
Stanford Energy
The electricity sector is going through fundamental changes due to the urgency to decarbonize, improve resilience against climate-induced extreme weather events, and provide affordable, reliable access to at-risk communities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool that can be used to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns and trends. This grand challenge seeks to identify, benchmark, and scale the adoption of AI technologies for resilience applications including proactive maintenance, resilience investment planning, or event response.
The 2022 webcasts survey the diverse utility resilience challenges, objectives, and activities focused on the role of AI. On October 11th, the panel will highlight the latest research regarding Stanford’s AI for Energy System Resilience, and EPRI's ClimateREADi efforts to “close” or tighten the pipeline of resilience and adaptation R&D.
See weblink for Zoom information
Resiliency in the Face of Changing Climate - Livestream - 10/11/2022 12:30 PM
SF Planning + Urban Research Assoc. (SPUR)
Californians - and citizens worldwide - are feeling the effects of a changing and warming climate. Sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting and wildfires are more intense and frequent. As California grapples with how to address the impacts of climate change, the California Natural Resources Agency has been tasked with building California's climate resiliency, preserving the state's biodiversity and expanding equitable access to natural areas. Join our chat with California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot as we discover what the California Natural Resources Agency is working on and how it's preparing California for a more climate-resilient future.
Speakers: Nick Josefowitz, SPUR; Secretary Wade Crawfoot, California Natural Resources Agency
Causes and consequences of the rise of atmospheric oxygen in Earth history - 10/11/2022 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Speaker: David Catling, University of Washington
Two Applied Physics/Physics Talks - 10/11/2022 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The Black Hole Photon Ring
What does a black hole look like? The first images of the supermassive black hole M87* display a bright ring encircling the event horizon, which appears as a dark patch in its surrounding emission. But Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that within this image there also lies a thin "photon ring" consisting of multiple mirror images of the main emission. These images arise from photons that orbited around the black hole multiple times, probing the warped space-time geometry just outside its horizon. The photon ring carries an imprint of the strong gravity in this region and encodes fundamental properties of the black hole. A measurement of this predicted (but not yet observed) ring could provide a precise test of general relativity and will be the target of a NASA mission proposed to fly within the next decade.
Speakers: Alex Lupsasca, Vanderbuilt University
The Art of Black Holes
What does a black hole look like? The first images of the supermassive black hole M87* display a bright ring encircling the event horizon, which appears as a dark patch in its surrounding emission. But Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that within this image there also lies a thin "photon ring" consisting of multiple mirror images of the main emission. These images arise from photons that orbited around the black hole multiple times, probing the warped space-time geometry just outside its horizon. The photon ring carries an imprint of the strong gravity in this region and encodes fundamental properties of the black hole. A measurement of this predicted (but not yet observed) ring could provide a precise test of general relativity and will be the target of a NASA mission proposed to fly within the next decade.
Speaker: Pamela Davis Kivelson, Stanford University
Dynamics of Optically Induced Transformations in Complex Oxide Electronic Materials - 10/11/2022 04:00 PM
Physics North Berkeley
The conventional approach to developing an understanding of the electronic and magnetic properties of complex oxides has been to adjust their chemical composition, to impose elastic constraints, and to create nanoscale interfaces. It has recently become increasingly possible to supplement this conventional approach by using strategies that drive electronic materials into states far from equilibrium using ultrafast optical excitation. States reached by the electronic or elastic perturbation resulting from optical excitation have a challenging range of characteristic times. At the shortest times, the characteristic effects occur at the sub- or single-digit picoseconds an excellent match for emerging free-electron-laser-based x-ray characterization techniques. Examples of the perturbation induced by optical excitation include the reorganization and reconfiguration of ferroelectric polarization in thin films and superlattices and strain-induced perturbation of structural order. The stress producing these phenomena arises at the sub-picosecond timescale and provides insight into how electronic excitation is linked to structural distortion. In addition, the elastically induced reorientation of oxygen octahedral rotation in BiFeO3 holds the possibility of using optical pulses to modify phenomena such as superexchange that are linked to structural order. The results also define the limits of x-ray fluences before x-ray-induced chemical and structural effects arise. Future prospects hold the possibility that the magnetic dynamics, including magnon-elastic coupling can be understood and exploited using this approach.
Speaker: Paul Evans, Johns Hopkins University
Fishbowls, Fentanyl Test Strips, Patient Navigators: One Hospital's Team-Based Response to the Overdose Epidemic - 10/11/2022 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Last year, drug-related overdoses killed more people than COVID-19 in San Francisco, and Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. Fentanyl and COVID-19 have only fueled our overdose crisis. While addressing this might seem overwhelming, we can respond in practical and evidence-based ways.
Come learn how we can address this crisis with solutions that might surprise you from San Francisco General Hospital's Addiction Care Team director. How can M&Ms help stem the crisis? What is a patient navigator? How do we change the experience of people who use drugs in the hospital? Dr. Marlene Martin will address these issues.
Our speaker, Dr. Marlene Martin, M.D., is an associate professor of clinical medicine at UCSF and a hospitalist at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Martin is the director of addiction initiatives for the UCSF Latinx Center of Excellence and founded and directs the Addiction Care Team (ACT), an interprofessional consultation service that provides compassionate person-centered care focused on harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and linkage to care for emergency department and hospitalized patients with unhealthy substance use. Dr. Martin is passionate about improving health-care systems and reducing inequities for people with substance use disorders and Latinx individuals through innovation and interprofessional collaborations, including community partnerships.
Moderator: Patrick O'Reilly, UC San Francisco
Attend in person or online
The Plant Hunter: The Potential of Medicinal Plants to Fight Superbugs - Livestream - 10/11/2022 06:00 PM
San Mateo Public Library
Plants are the basis for an array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. Medicines for malaria? Some are derived from cinchona and wormwood.
In today’s world of synthetic pharmaceuticals, many people have lost this connection to the natural world. By ignoring the potential of medicinal plants, we lose out on the opportunity to discover new medicines needed in the fight against the greatest medical challenge of this century: the rise of the post-antibiotic era.
Join us for a virtual program at the San Mateo Public Library to hear scientist, professor, and author Dr. Cassandra Quave share stories of her quest to discover nature’s next medicines. Dr. Quave has explored the flooded forests of the Amazon, the rolling hills of Italy, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and isles arising out of the Mediterranean - all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs.
Registration is required for this virtual event
This program is coordinated by the library's Biotechnology Learning Center.
KQED Live: Art & Tech in a Warming World with The New York Times - 10/11/2022 07:00 PM
KQED, The Commons San Francisco
From global warming models rendered as haunting musical compositions to augmented reality games designed to confront us with the disparate impacts of climate change for those most vulnerable, art and technology are converging in the face of our escalating climate emergency. Join KQED Live and The New York Times to experience the work of Bay Area creatives deploying technology in response to this crisis and to experience some of the art it is inspiring.Schedule6:00pm - Doors Open & Bar Service7:00pm - Program8:30pm - Post-Show Reception, feat. a Trash-Based Art Experience by Danielle Baskin Program
Aniya Butler, Youth vs. the Apocalypse; Ana Teresa Fernandez, Multidisciplinary Artist; Micha Cardenas, Director of the Critical Realities Studio and Associate Professor at University of California, Santa Cruz; Whendee Silver, Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at University of California, Berkeley; Eduardo Del Signore, Musician & Composer who will perform the premiere of Audyssey, a new work of music and data visualization commissioned by ClimateMusic.
This program is a prelude to an all-day event hosted by The New York Times the following day called "A New Climate: How can technology and art inspire change in a warming world?" Ticket-holders to the next day's event can register for free with a promo code provided by The New York Times, or ticket-buyers to this event at KQED will receive a code for 25% off tickets to the all-day Times event.
Register at weblink to attend in person, or virtually.
Wednesday, 10/12/2022
A New Climate conference - Livestream - 10/12/2022 09:00 AM
The New York Times
Technology has transformed our lives, but in spite of its many promises, it hasn't yet saved us from the perils of a warming climate. Shifts in society have often come from art, but will they be able to mobilize change this time around?
Join us at the nexus of innovation, cultural movements, and climate change, as we gather pioneers in technology, business, and the arts to examine our collective response to the climate challenge.
How are leading U.S. companies reducing emissions, mobilizing their workforces and perfecting climate friendly eating practices? How are writers, musicians and filmmakers inspiring different ways of thinking and doing? How are philanthropists and investors funding projects that will change the world?
See what happens when ideas and expertise from different disciplines collide and shine a light on the role we can all play in this increasingly urgent crisis.
Feature speakers:
Brad Smith, Microsoft; Linda Zhang, Ford Motor Company; John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Laurene Powell Jobs, Emerson Collective; Leah Thomas, Intersectional Environmentalist; Diana Beresford-Kroeger, Medical Biochemist and Author
See weblink for full list of speakers
The in person event is sold out. Register at weblink to attend virtually
Electric Propulsion in Agriculture Vehicles: Opportunities and Challenges - Livestream - 10/12/2022 12:00 PM
CITRIS Research Exchange
Off-road vehicles, such as tractors, are crucial to a wide range of farming tasks, including tillage and harvesting. Almost all self-propelled agricultural equipment relies on diesel engines, a main source of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other greenhouse gases. According to the California Air Resources Board, off-road vehicles are on track to surpass road transportation as the state’s largest source of NOx emissions by 2022. This is particularly problematic in the San Joaquin Valley, where more than 50 percent of California’s agriculture equipment is used. There is a critical need to decarbonize agriculture and promote sustainable, clean agricultural vehicles. Electrification of tractors is the long-term solution. California aims to transition all off-road vehicles to zero-emission propulsion by 2035 and adopt stricter air pollution regulations for this sector. This talk will focus on the transition from today’s diesel-dominated machines to tomorrow’s zero-emission tractors.
Speaker: Ricardo de Castro, UC Merced
Register at weblink to attend.
Environmental and Energy Economics Seminar - 10/12/2022 12:00 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Robert Metcalfe, University of Southern California
October LASER Event - Livestream - 10/12/2022 12:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous
A Special LASER: "Art & Science at Ars Electronica 2022" with: Christa Sommerer (Austria-France) on "The Artwork as a Living System" Klaus Spiess (Austria) on "Ecolalia" Bill Ayton (Media Artist) on "Interplanetary VR Sustainable Futures" Morten Sondergaard (Denmark) on ""
Register at website
Welfare and Congestion - 10/12/2022 12:10 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Sufficient statistics have proven to be a very useful tool for measuring welfare changes. Our paper extends this literature in three ways: First, we extend the theory for estimating the welfare impacts of price changes by including externalities that affect consumption decisions. Second, we apply the theory to an area of growing policy importance: congestion pricing. We develop estimates of peak and off-peak demand elasticities for urban mass transit in San Francisco using a large natural experiment and a natural field experiment that subsidized travel across 4.8 million trip sessions. Third, we estimate the welfare impacts for these subsidies using a sufficient statistics approach and a marginal value of public funds (MVPF) approach, and provide a way to connect these approaches. Our analysis suggests that off-peak subsidies can increase welfare, but the positive effects are reduced when consumers take the decisions of others into account compared to when they do not. We also find a large variation in the welfare impacts of shifting travel to different periods, which is explained by differences in demand and congestion characteristics. Finally, we show that the targeting of subsidies can increase welfare, but need not do so if the regulator does not have accurate information on demand.
Speaker: Robert Metcalfe, University of Southern California
Understanding Air Quality Data in the Bay Area - 10/12/2022 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Speaker: Michael Flagg, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Thursday, 10/13/2022
Our second event will feature diverse youth voices from the Cupertino teamof the umbrella organization Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action. Their topic will be harnessing youth advocacy to combat our climate crisis. This will be a one-of-a-kind event hosted by The Forum at Rancho San Antonio and presented via Zoom for members of the general public.
Speakers: Elise Chiu is a junior at Monta Vista High School and co-leads the Cupertino Youth Climate Action Team. Her interests include environmental activism, advocacy, and research.
Nicole Domingo is a senior at Cupertino High School. Her hobbies include singing in the school choir, hiking, and a love of cats.
Sarah Liu is a junior at Monta Vista High School and co-leads the Cupertino Youth Climate Action Team. She enjoys baking, participating in speech tournaments, and writing for her school news magazine.
Xinpei Lu is a student at Cupertino High School and is a co-lead of the Cupertino Youth Climate Action Team. Xinpei recently received an award in the EmPower Silicon Valley short film contest for “A Future Without Car Dependency.”
Purva Marfatia is a sophomore at Cupertino High School. Purva’s free time is often spent reading a book, working on a coding project, or laughing with friends.
Ria Narang is a senior at Cupertino High School. Ria is active in the school’s UNICEF Club, speech and debate club, and other local community organizations. In addition, she loves to draw and listen to new music.
NightLife: Makes Sense - 10/13/2022 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Touch, smell, hear, taste, and feel your way through the museum for a night that just makes sense.
After Dark: Conversations about Landscape - 10/13/2022 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The Exploratorium is your playground after dark! Wander the galleries, sip a cocktail, and let a DJ from Hip Hop for Change set the vibe. Tonight, join us for a conversation with Ohlone writer and activist Gregg Castro, Presidio Trust Chief Park Officer Michael Boland, and Edward (Redbird) Willie of the Cultural Conservancy. They’ll explore the relationship Indigenous communities have with their homelands, what caring for those landscapes means, and more.
Conservations About Landscape explores the issues that shape contemporary landscapes.
More Than Dirt: Landscape Is Homeland With Gregg Castro, Michael Boland, and Edward (Redbird) Willie 8:30 p.m.
Join writer and activist Gregg Castro to explore the ancient and complex bonds that Indigenous communities have with the land that gave birth to them. Oral narratives often explain that these communities are not just from a land, but of a land: their very bodies and existence are made of the materials of their homes, be it soil, plants, tree branches, and more. For modern Indigenous communities, this relationship continues to power the sacred responsibility to take care of the land and all that lives on it. Gregg will be joined in conversation by Michael Boland of the Presidio Trust and Edward (Redbird) Willie of the Cultural Conservancy.
Gregg Castro (T’rowt’raahl Salinan/Rumsen and Ramaytush Ohlone) is a 2021 Exploratorium Osher Fellow and a writer and activist within the California Indigenous community on issues of cultural preservation, protection, education, and traditional practices.
Michael Boland is Chief Park Officer at the Presidio Trust. For three decades, he has focused on the future of parks as vehicles for addressing the pressing social and environmental challenges of our time.
Edward (Redbird) Willie (Pomo/Wailaki/Wintu) is a native ecologist, an artist, and a land steward for the Cultural Conservancy. He teaches Traditional Ecological Knowledge, fire ecology, permaculture, and ancestral skills to people of all ages.
Space Paint & Sip - 10/13/2022 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Join a guided painting session with friends in a beautiful outdoor setting in the redwoods. In our Space Paint & Sip program, learn how street artists make stunning colorful depictions of the cosmos in just minutes. It’s the perfect evening for a date, birthday party or a night out with friends! Each guest will take home a completed work of art. We will supply the gloves, masks and goggles. Please dress appropriately. This is an outdoor activity. While the art dries we will watch a complimentary showing of Inspired by Space in the Planetarium and enjoy 2 complimentary glasses of wine or beer (ID required) and light refreshments. Limited to 25.
Science vs. … History? - Livestream - 10/13/2022 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
A skeptical science podcaster and a skeptical history podcaster walk into a bar…. Following was a fascinating conversation asking big questions, like: What do good science and good history have in common? What makes a good science or history podcast, and how do two award-winning podcasters decide what skeptical topics to research? And what does the research process look like for such podcasts? A conversation moderated by Bay Area Skeptics’ Eugenie Scott.
Speakers: Sebastian Major, "Our Fake History" podcast; Wendy Zuckerman, "Science Vs" podcast
See weblink for connection information
Friday, 10/14/2022
Investigating spectral distortion of volcano infrasound by nonlinear propagation - 10/14/2022 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Sean Maher, USGS California Volcano Observatory in Moffett Field
Book Talk: 'MEME Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America' - 10/14/2022 06:00 PM
Internet Archive San Francisco
A groundbreaking investigation into the digital underworld, where far-right operatives wage wars against mainstream America, from a masterful trio of experts in media and tech.
Memes have long been dismissed as inside jokes with no political importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Memes are bedrock to the strategy of conspiracists such as Alex Jones, provocateurs like Milo Yiannopoulos, white nationalists like Nick Fuentes, and tacticians like Roger Stone. While the media and most politicians struggle to harness the organizing power of the internet, the “redpill right” weaponizes memes, pushing conspiracy theories and disinformation into the mainstream to drag people down the rabbit hole. These meme wars stir strong emotions, deepen partisanship, and get people off their keyboards and into the streets--and the steps of the US Capitol.
Meme Wars is the first major account of how “Stop the Steal” went from online to real life, from the wires to the weeds. Leading media expert Joan Donovan, PhD, veteran tech journalist Emily Dreyfuss, and cultural ethnographer Brian Friedberg pull back the curtain on the digital war rooms in which a vast collection of anti-establishmentarians bond over hatred of liberal government and media. Together as a motley reactionary army, they use memes and social media to seek out new recruits, spread ideologies, and remake America according to their desires.
A political thriller with the substance of a rigorous history, Meme Wars is the astonishing story of how extremists are yanking our culture and politics to the right. And it's a warning that if we fail to recognize these powerful undercurrents, the great meme war for the soul of America will soon be won.
Panel: Joan Donovan (Harvard University) and Emily Dreyfuss (Journalist), co-authors of this book with Brian Friedberg; Moderator: Amelia Acker, University of Texas at Austin
Register at weblink
Astro 101: Sights of the Cosmos, Intro to Astronomy - 10/14/2022 06:00 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
This event provides a different introduction to astronomy than our Intro to the Night Sky talks. During this hour, you'll gain an appreciation for the size and scale of the cosmos and our place within it. You'll see many examples of the beautiful objects visible in the night sky, learn something about how we see them through our telescopes and what we can deduce about them through the light they send us. And then you can make your own prediction of whether we're alone in the universe.
Speaker: Wolf Witt, SJAA
In Town Star Party - 10/14/2022 07:30 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
Come join San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) for an evening of stargazing.
Event details:
Events are held at the parking lot of our headquarters, Houge Park San Jose. Event duration is 2hrs. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their personal telescopes.
Saturday, 10/15/2022
Family Nature Day at Huddart Park - FULL - 10/15/2022 10:00 AM
Huddart Park Woodside
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Friends of Huddart & Wunderlich Parks, and San Mateo County Parks for a family-friendly morning filled with hikes for all ages, hands-on learning experiences, read-a-loud sessions, and arts activities. Register now to reserve a free ticket for you and your friends and family!
Register at weblink to receive additional details
Investigating Space: Understanding our Oceans - 10/15/2022 01:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Discover more about Earth science, oceanography, and NASA’s investigative oceanic programs spanning the globe. We’ll hear from NASA scientists working on two ocean research programs and see a full-length documentary about the lake hidden under Antarctica.
SWOT brings together two communities focused on a better understanding of the world’s oceans and its terrestrial surface waters. U.S. and French oceanographers and hydrologists and international partners have joined forces to develop this satellite mission to make the first global survey of Earth’s surface water, observe the fine details of the ocean’s surface topography, and measure how water bodies change over time. The SWOT satellite is targeted for launch in November 2022.
NASA’s Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics and Vertical Transport Experiment (S-MODE) will measure ocean dynamics and is currently working off the coast of Northern California, near San Francisco.
After the presentations, engage in a hands-on activity demonstrating ways to mapping techniques to track sea level changes and explore the chemical reaction between frozen carbon dioxide and water - naturally occurring in our ocean’s ecosystems.
The Lake at the Bottom of the World:
The feature-length science documentary, The Lake at the Bottom of the World, follows a team of researchers as they explore the uncharted surface of the Antarctic continent 3,600 feet beneath the ice to reveal buried truths about our planet’s dynamic past.
Extraterrestrial Life and Where to Find It - Livestream - 10/15/2022 07:00 PM
East Bay Astronomical Society
What are we, and are we alone in the universe? For hundreds of years, philosophers and scientists have been trying to answer this question. Today, we explore this question in astrobiology, a multidisciplinary field that involves astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, and engineering. In my presentation, I will be discussing our current understanding of life, habitable conditions for life, and the possible places to search for extraterrestrial life. I will also introduce the effort humankind has made to search for and get in contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, the “aliens.”
Speaker: Xinnan Du, Kavli Institute, Stanford University
Planet formation in disks around young stars - Livestream - 10/15/2022 08:00 PM
San Jose Astronomical Society
Stars form in a few million years, a very short span compared to their billion-year lifetimes. Their formation is initiated by the accumulation of gravitationally collapsing material into a flattened disk, which first forms the central object and then forms planetary systems before it gets dispersed. Disks are thus intriguing objects that potentially hold the answers to many outstanding questions on how stars and planets form. How does material accrete toward the center? How does mass in the disk move around? Where and when do planets form? What determines their composition? How do stars disperse their disks? What is the role of magnetic fields?
With the advent of new facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array and the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope,
capable of peering through the obscuring cloud material to observe disks, we are getting closer toward answering some of these crucial questions. I will summarize our present understanding of how disks mediate star and planet formation, and discuss how new discoveries are leading to rapidly shifting paradigms in the field.
Speaker: Uma Gorti, SETI Institute
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Sunday, 10/16/2022
Raindrops to Streamflow: The Pathways of Water Through a Central Coast California Landscape - Livestream - 10/16/2022 01:30 PM
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
When a raindrop falls from the sky, it can take many different routes through soil, rock, and groundwater before re-emerging at the surface in a river or stream. Understanding how water moves through our landscapes is vital to predicting floods and droughts and managing water quality in rivers and oceans. Over the past three years, Lauren and other scientists have studied the hill slopes and streams of watersheds located in the Diablo Mountains above San Jose and gained insight into the unique water pathways through the hillslopes around us.
Join Lauren to learn how rock and soil types influence streamflow, resilience to drought, and the impacts of wildfire.
Speaker: Lauren Giggy, UC Santa Cruz
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Monday, 10/17/2022
Nature-Based Strategies to Support Resilient and Biodiverse Estuarine Wetlands in California - 10/17/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Christina Toms, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 10/17/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: TBA
See weblink for Zoom information.
Advancing Electromagnetics for Energy Applications - 10/17/2022 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium Series Menlo Park
Electromagnetic fields represent a fundamental aspect of nature and serve as the primary carrier of energy. New abilities to control electromagnetic fields, as enabled for example by the developments of metamaterials and nanophotonic structures, can therefore have profound implications for energy technology. In this talk we will discuss some of our efforts in applying the concepts of electromagnetic field control towards developing new energy technologies, with examples including radiative cooling, and energy transfer.
Speaker: Shanhui Fan, Stanford University
Attend in person or online here.
Editor's Note: This series is usually held in Kavli Auditorium in building 51. The searchable Stanford map does not show Redwood Rooms C & D, so we don't know what building they are in, but suspect it is also building 51.
Dark Matter Scattering in Low Threshold Detectors - 10/17/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Only 20% of the matter in our universe is visible to us, while the remaining "dark" matter has so far remained elusive to our best experimental efforts. Upcoming detector technology however makes it possible to search for much lighter dark matter candidates than every before. For these dark matter candidates, DeBroglie wavelength would be comparable or larger than the interparticle spacing in a noble liquid or solid state target. This means that collective effects in the target material, such as phonons, must be included in scattering rate calculations. These calculations take place on the interface between particle physics and theoretical material science.
Speaker: Simon Knapen, Lawrence Berkeley Lab
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - 10/17/2022 04:15 PM
UC Berkeley
Speaker: Surya Ganguli, Stanford University
See weblink for Zoom information. In person attendance TBD.
Energy Seminar: Sarah Kearney, Founder & Executive Director, Prime Coalition - Livestream - 10/17/2022 04:30 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
Sarah Kearney is Founder & Executive Director of Prime Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works with philanthropists and other mission-driven organizations and individuals to support sustainable, effective, and scalable solutions to climate change. Every Prime program is designed to catalyze, deepen, or acceleratesolutions that aim to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
See weblink for connection information
Tuesday, 10/18/2022
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del Oro - 10/18/2022 10:00 AM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Alternating macroevolutionary regimes: Do mass extinctions alter the rules of evolution? - 10/18/2022 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
In Search for the Next Magic Stone - 10/18/2022 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Diverse Voices: Brooke Coley - 10/18/2022 05:00 PM
Engineering 2, Room 180 Santa Cruz
Two Talks: Popping the Science Bubble - Livestream - 10/18/2022 05:30 PM
Berkeley Public Library
“Doors Open” Go Behind-the-Scenes at the Physical Archive - 10/18/2022 06:00 PM
Internet Archive Physical Archive Richmond
Brown Dwarfs and Directly Imaged Exoplanets in the Era of JWST - Livestream - 10/18/2022 06:00 PM
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Intellectual Property Wars: The Battle for Access to Medicines - 10/18/2022 07:00 PM
Kuumbwa Jazz Center Santa Cruz
John Muir Laws: Let's Draw Mushrooms! - Livestream - 10/18/2022 07:00 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco
Wednesday, 10/19/2022
PG&E’s Approach to Balance Resiliency, Reliability, Decarbonization and Climate Change - Livestream - 10/19/2022 12:00 PM
CITRIS Research Exchange
Marin Green Home Tour - Livestream - 10/19/2022 06:00 PM
Marin Green Home Tour
Next Steps on Climate: Putting a Price on Carbon - 10/19/2022 07:00 PM
David Brower Center Berkeley
We are Born Within a Bubble of Stars - Livestream - 10/19/2022 07:00 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
The Fast Radio Sky: A New Window on the Violent Universe - Livestream - 10/19/2022 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Series
Nerd Nite SF #128: Consciousness, Managing Your Manager, & a Spelling Bee! - 10/19/2022 07:00 PM
Rickshaw Stop San Francisco
Science on Tap: Exploring Combinatorial Puzzles, Games, and Counting - 10/19/2022 07:30 PM
Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz
Thursday, 10/20/2022
Science at Cal - All About Animals - Livestream - 10/20/2022 12:00 PM
UC Berkeley
Photovoltaic Microinverters and Energy Storage Systems - Livestream - 10/20/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Engineering Colloquium
Marin Green Home Tour - Livestream - 10/20/2022 06:00 PM
Marin Green Home Tour
NightLife - 10/20/2022 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Revealing Landscapes - 10/20/2022 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Listening to Oceanic Giants with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute - 10/20/2022 06:00 PM
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Santa Cruz
Exploring the Night Sky - Livestream - 10/20/2022 07:00 PM
Peninsula Open Space Trust
NightSchool: Rocktoberfest - Livestream - 10/20/2022 07:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences
Friday, 10/21/2022
Laboratory Studies of Organic Cryominerals: Implications for Titan’s Geology and Chemistry - 10/21/2022 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Cocktails and Conservation: Wild Wolves - 10/21/2022 06:00 PM
Oakland Zoo Oakland
Saturday, 10/22/2022
Morning Hike at La Honda Open Space Preserve - 10/22/2022 10:00 AM
La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve La Honda
Bat Fest - 10/22/2022 04:00 PM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Monday, 10/24/2022
Using Bioenergetic Analysis to Understand Cellular ATP Supply and Demand During Cell Growth, Cancer, and More - 10/24/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Fall Birds of the East Bay Hills - Livestream - 10/24/2022 12:00 PM
UC Botanical Garden
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 10/24/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Imaging Atomically Thin Quantum Material Devices at the Nanoscale - 10/24/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as scientific supercomputers - 10/24/2022 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Introduction to the Ray AIR for Scaling AI/ML and Python Workloads - Livestream - 10/24/2022 07:00 PM
SF Bay Association of Computing Machinery