Greetings, I hope you're warming up, SciSchmoozers!
I hope that you are enjoying the weather. Soon it will either be too cold or hot again! Remember your sunscreen! It's a bit late but, Happy Earth Day! Here's a bit of entertaining edumarketing that came out for Earth Day! (It really does make you think.) Here's a more serious article worth attention... Earth Day Is The Victim Of Its Own Success
One of the amazing things to watch this week was the launch, RUD, and successful failure of the SpaceX Starship from Boca Chica, Texas. You may have seen it briefly but I think it's worth a watch a few times to get a sense of how the reporting of the launch synced or didn't sync with the sounds from the launch crew. Some things didn't quite look right 35 seconds or so in to the flight! Take note of the time, the pitch indicator, altitude and velocity as you watch. At T+1:14 it didn't look good. The cheering is changing in tone. Then, of course it wasn't a flip, it was a loop! At T+3:30 the narrative really changes! You have to wonder how much data they got from all of this. In case you forgot or are too young to remember, NASA broke a bunch of stuff too! (It wasn't until 1962 that the world failure rate broke 67% (1 9 6 2 | 31 failures in 96 missions = 67.7% success) )
Science Isn’t Broken It’s just a hell of a lot harder than we give it credit for.
I fear that science is going to be in for a lot of abuse in the near future. We are seeing more cases of science being challenged in the courts. Of course the worst right now may be the right of women to maintain the freedom to choose to end a pregnancy without some guy who knows nothing about the science or the woman is claiming to have superior knowledge and power over women and young girls. It's more than that though, end of life and quality of life decisions can be complicated in the same way as abortion when someone claims law has priority over life. Just imagine how confusing it is for some to understand scientific law vs. scientific theory! Here's another article for thought... Red States Are Trying To Fight The World On Climate
Now for a bit of levity after that paragraph... I am a regular attendee at CSICon a conference for Skeptics and anyone who wants to learn more about science, culture, and why there is such a wide range of beliefs. Neil deGrasse Tyson was there last year and gave what I thought was an excellent talk about how we live our lives while challenging how we think we rationalize them. I can't find a copy of the talk he gave but here is a very similar one from Star Talk. Most of the links about this, I think, miss the point. You can find many if you go to the google!
This week has a lot great learning opportunities to offer both live and on-line. Here are a few that I think warrant your consideration.
- Swiss Cyber Night at RSA - 04/25/2023 06:00 PM @ swissnex
- Wonderfest: Geometry from the Inside - 04/25/2023 07:00 PM @ Hopmonk Tavern (special note: ( I was never that good at math. A mathematician that only puts some of his recipes for what looks like great food on his website needs to explain why!?)
-Stewardship Saturday: Exploring Land and Sea (for High-Schoolers) 04/29/2023
-Why are Thursdays so difficult to choose from? The Scientific Magic of Total Solar Eclipses Gravity Never Sleeps - Landslide Science and Risk Reduction Genetic Ghost
I have mentioned before that CuriOdyssey has been closed since March 14th when the storms beat the park mercilessly. While the park is able to open with limitations on weekends, due to power distribution problems, CuriOdyssey will have to remain closed until June! It's at times like this that I ask and hope people will step up to help their local community treasures survive challenges like these.
I'm hearing and seeing lots of chatter about the upcoming eclipses. I'm dropping this in here so you can plan a bit to be able to catch An Eclipse Double-Header: Two U.S. Eclipses of the Sun in 2023-2024 on Wed May 10. This will be followed the next day by Extraterrestrial Life? presented by on May 11 by Alex Filippenko. Hot tip... you can catch a bunch of previous SkepTalks there as well.
You may have noticed the image at the top. I have always been fascinated by Homunculus! The homunculus or ‘little man’ is a foundational concept in neuroscience.
That's a lot of links this week! In case you're looking for more, may I suggest The Morning Heresy?
Have a great week learning cool, strange, and interesting things.
herb masters
"The danger to society is not merely that it should believe wrong things, though that is great enough; but that it should become credulous, and lose the habit of testing things and inquiring into them; for then it must sink back into savagery." -- William Kingdon Clifford
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 04/24/2023
Sonoma State University Biology Colloquium - Livestream - 04/24/2023 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Dino Sbardellati, UC Davis
See weblink for connection information
Using Research for Regulatory Development: Direct Potable Reuse in California - 04/24/2023 12:30 PM
Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
In several places throughout the world, water scarcity is driving communities to pursue new water resources such as the potable reuse of wastewater. The State of California has long been a leader in the field of indirect potable reuse, where purified effluents are routed through environmental buffers (e.g., aquifers or surface water reservoirs) before distribution to consumers. The final frontier is direct potable reuse (DPR), which eliminates the need for the environment and allows water to be sent directly to distribution. DPR has the potential to expand the geographic region where potable reuse can be pursued and potentially decrease the overall cost of distributing water. This practice, however, removes many of the safeguards inherent in passing water through an aquifer or reservoir. To protect public health, direct potable reuse will need to compensate for the loss of these benefits. This talk discusses research that California’s regulatory bodies funded to address knowledge gaps and inform their development of the DPR regulations. The two research studies - conducted by a collaboration of industry and academic partners - focused on the question of pathogen control and how to determine what level of treatment is needed to protect public health in direct potable reuse.
Speakers: Brian Pecson and Brie Post, Trussell Technologies
A brain-inspired electronic learning machine - 04/24/2023 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Contrastive learning algorithms have recently been proposed for training physical networks such as mechanical, flow and electrical networks to perform arbitrarily complex machine learning tasks not by minimizing a global cost function as in artificial neural networks, but in a manner more similar to the brain, using only local information. To date, however, they have only been implemented {it in silico} due to the need for a central processor and memory storage in order to compare the response of the network to two different sets of boundary conditions and accordingly update the network elements. Here, we introduce a method to implement a physics-driven contrastive learning scheme in the laboratory for a network of variable resistors, using circuitry to compare the response of {it two} networks that have identical resistances but are subjected to the two different sets of boundary conditions. With this innovation, we demonstrate how our system optimizes its resistances and effectively trains itself, without use of a central processor or information storage, to perform specified allostery, regression, and classification tasks. Once the system is trained, the desired tasks are subsequently performed rapidly and automatically by the physical imperative of local currents to adjust in order to minimize power dissipation for the given voltage inputs. Our twin-network laboratory approach may be readily scaled to extremely large or nonlinear networks using modern microfabrication techniques. Moreover, our implementation has an enormous scaling advantage compared to {it in silico} implementations because the forward computation is done by the physics and without need for information storage; even a modestly larger laboratory network of 500 nodes will outperform its in silico counterpart. Finally, we demonstrate that such learning systems are robust to extreme damage due to their decentralized character.
Speaker: Douglas Durian, University of Pennsylvania
What Physicists Do - 04/24/2023 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Speaker: Tomi Akindele, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Unraveling the tangled web: genetics and evolution in natural populations - 04/24/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Molly Schumer is an Assistant Professor in Biology. She is interested in genetics and evolutionary biology. After receiving her PhD at Princeton, she did her postdoctoral work at Columbia and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and Hanna H. Gray Fellow at Harvard Medical School. Current research in the lab centers on understanding the genetic mechanisms of evolution, with a focus on natural populations.
Room: Auditorium
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - 04/24/2023 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: William Irvine, University of Chicago
The Fusion Breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility - 04/24/2023 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
Nuclear fusion powers the stars, and the goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is to bring this game-changing energy source to Earth in a controlled laboratory setting. After many decades of research by a cast of thousands, for the first time ever, a laser-driven fusion experiment on December 5, 2022 produced more energy through fusion reactions than was delivered by the laser to initiate them. This talk reviews the incremental steps that were required to attain this historic achievement, in addition to providing some context around the NIF facility and its contributing role to our national security. We will conclude with some of the current and upcoming directions for inertial confinement fusion research - the future is bright!
Speaker: Chris Young, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Attend in person or online.
Tuesday, 04/25/2023
Drilling, Denial and Disinformation - 04/25/2023 12:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Amy Westervelt has made a career out of exploring the underbelly of the oil industry through complex and compelling storytelling. From her investigative series Drilled to her latest project Light Sweet Crude, focused on the new wave of "oil colonialism," Westervelt dives deep into the true crimes of the fossil fuel industry’s biggest players, including their misinformation campaigns regarding the climate emergency. As executive producer of the independent podcast production company Critical Frequency, her narrative podcasts shine a light on stories oil companies would rather keep in the dark.
Join us for a live conversation with award-winning investigative journalist and podcaster Amy Westervelt.
Attend in person or online ($5 General, free for members)
Groundwater Rise Adaptation: Insights from Miami and San Rafael - Livestream - 04/25/2023 12:30 PM
SF Planning + Urban Research Assoc. (SPUR)
Sea level rise has increased the urgency of adapting to groundwater rise. As the Bay Area experiences higher and higher water tables, it must contend with a greater frequency of flooding, potentially compromised underground infrastructure and structural foundations, increasing liquefaction risk during earthquakes, and movement of soil contaminants. Join us for a discussion with representatives from San Rafael, California, and Miami, Florida, which has grappled with high water tables for decades, to discuss strategies for living with groundwater and sea level rise.
Speakers:
Sarah Atkinson, SPURSarah Harper, SPURKate Hagemann, City of San RafaelMichael Sukop, Florida International University
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Anomalous hydrodynamics of low dimensional quantum systems - 04/25/2023 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The field of hydrodynamics of quantum systems has experienced a revival in the past decade, as an effective theory describing how many-body quantum systems evolve from local to global equilibrium. This has been largely driven by the advent of new experimental platforms, from strongly interacting ultracold gases to pristine solid-state systems with strong interactions and long mean free times. Hydrodynamics is particularly rich for low-dimensional fluids, featuring transport anomalies such as long-time tails, and proximity of many realistic systems to integrability. In this talk, I will focus on the hydrodynamics of systems close to integrable limits, featuring infinitely-many approximate conservation laws and long-lived quasiparticle excitations. I will review recent successes of this theory, and use it to argue that isotropic magnets in one dimension can exhibit a breakdown of Fick’s diffusion law, corresponding to anomalous, “superdiffusive” transport properties. I will discuss recent experiments probing these transport anomalies, and conclude with open questions that they raise.
Speakers: Romain Vasseur, University of Massachusets, Amherst
Active faults and permanent deformation in subduction zone forearcs: examples from Cascadia and beyond - 04/25/2023 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Speaker: Kristin Morell, UC Santa Barbara
Practical Organization, Planning, and the Core Capacity Conjecture - 04/25/2023 04:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
Our human lives involve remarkable forms of practical organization: diachronic organization of individual activity; small-scale organization of shared action; and the organization of institutions. A theory of human action should help us understand these multiple forms of human practical organization and their inter-relations. I argue that a key is our capacity for planning agency. Drawing on earlier work on the roles of planning agency in the cross-temporal and small-scale social organization of our agency, I turn to the role of our planning agency in the structure of organized institutions. I draw on ideas from H.L.A. Hart that our organized institutions are rule-guided, and that to understand this we need a theory of social rules. I draw on the planning theory of shared intention to understand social rules. I understand an organized institution as involving authority-according social rules of procedure in a way that makes room for pluralistic divergence. This leads to a model of institutional intention and institutional intentional agency. And it supports the conjecture that our capacity for planning agency is a core capacity that underlies not only string quartets and informal social rules but also, thereby, the rule-guided structure of organized institutions.
Speaker: Michael Bratman, Stanford University
Room 126
Swiss Cyber Night at RSA - 04/25/2023 06:00 PM
swissnex San Francisco San Francisco
2023 is set to be pivotal for digital technologies, presenting significant opportunities as well as potential risks. On one hand, we are seeing tremendous advances reaching the masses, like ChatGPT and generative AI.
On the other hand, the global discussions around the regulations of technology and the volatile global geopolitical environments might impact technologies in an unprecedented way.
Many unknowns are ahead of us, not only when considering the impact that technology will have, but how it will benefit society and build trust.
In this complex environment, what's next for cybersecurity? How can we ensure that we develop sustainable and resilient digital solutions with trust at their core? Join us for an interactive exchange with food and drinks as we explore the future of cybersecurity and how it relates to a changing society.
We are inviting a diverse range of speakers offering different perspectives on the future, and how to strengthen trust in digital technologies.
Register at weblink
What Feces Can Tell Us About the Health of the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales - Livestream - 04/25/2023 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
The Southern Resident killer whales are one of the most studied and well-known endangered species on the planet, yet efforts to save them have been largely unsuccessful. How can research be translated into meaningful policy or action to guide their recovery to reverse the declining trend in the population? In the acclaimed PBS 2022 documentary, The Lost Salmon, Dr. Deboarah (“Giles”) Giles, Research Director for Wild Orca, underscored the correlation between the health of the salmon population and the Southern Resident killer whale population.
In this talk, Dr. Giles will bring new dimensions and understanding to both the plight of this celebrated, endangered group of cetaceans and the way forward to their recovery. In the Q&A session following her presentation, she will be joined by “The Lost Salmon” filmmaker, Shane Anderson.
Register at weblink
Wonderfest: Geometry from the Inside - 04/25/2023 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
The geometry of the ancient Greeks took place on an ideal, infinite, flat plane. In the millenia since then, mathematicians have opened our minds to the more general and flexible geometries of curved spaces - from the fabric that makes up our clothing, to the spacetime around a black hole. Now, we can develop an 'insider's view' of such geometries. This newfound intuition has intriguing applications, including to recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope! Such understanding allows us to better appreciate Einstein's greatest insight: that gravity is not a force, but rather a consequence of living in a curvy world.
Speaker: Steve Trettel, University of San Francisco
SETI Institute Movie Night: Fire of Love - Livestream - 04/25/2023 07:00 PM
SETI Institute
Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things �€" each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, chasing eruptions and documenting their discoveries. Ultimately, they lost their lives in a 1991 volcanic explosion, leaving a legacy that forever enriched our knowledge of the natural world. Director Sara Dosa and the filmmaking team fashion a lyrical celebration of the intrepid scientists’ spirit of adventure, drawing from the Kraffts’ spectacular archive. FIRE OF LOVE tells a story of primordial creation and destruction, following two bold explorers as they venture into the unknown, all for the sake of love.
Special Guest: Mika McKinnon, geophysicist
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Wednesday, 04/26/2023
Coastal Walk at Cowell-Purisima Trail - 04/26/2023 10:00 AM
Cowell Purisima Coastal Trailhead Half Moon Bay
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful walk along the Cowell-Purisima trail that POST helped create by protecting adjacent farmland. While it may be foggy, we hope to catch gorgeous views of the ocean, nearby farmland, and glimpses of harbor seals, pelicans, hawks, rabbits, and whales during the winter season.
You will be guided by POST ambassadors who will share details about POST’s work with farmers on the coast, and to create recreational opportunities along one of the most scenic stretches of our state’s coastline!
The walk is moderate at about 5 miles round trip with about 400 feet of gradual elevation gain. It is mostly flat throughout, however, it is quite a long walk.
Register at weblink
Our love and fear of Orcas: The Killer whales in Norway, Iceland, and Greenland - Livestream - 04/26/2023 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Killer whales are not universally loved. Through history and in many different places of the world their story is one of fear and persecution. Marine mammal biologist and cofounder of The Whale Center in Andenes, Norway Hanne Strager talks about her research in Norway and her book The Killer Whale Journals. When she started studying orcas in Norway a decade long persecution where more than 1000 orcas were killed had just ended. And the same was true for Iceland. In both these places the orcas were persecuted because they were (or were seen as) competitors in the fishery. In Greenland they are still hunted, mainly because they are believed to scare seals and smaller whales like narwhals away that are attractive to the hunters. The hope for conservation of the species lies in knowledge and in communication. Norway has witnessed an enormous change in attitude since she started studying orcas in the 90’s.
Speaker: Hanne Strager, "The Whale", Andenes, Norway
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
Generative AI Meets Copyright - 04/26/2023 12:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
The question that has intrigued copyright professionals since the mid-1960s is whether computer-generated texts and images would be eligible for this law’s protection. Early on, the consensus was that artificial intelligence (AI) is just a tool, like a camera, so humans could claim copyright in machine-generated outputs to which they made contributions. Now the consensus is that AI-generated texts and images are not copyrightable for the lack of a human author. The urgent questions today focus on whether ingesting in-copyright works as training data is copyright infringement and whether the outputs of AI programs are infringing derivative works of the ingested images. Four recent lawsuits, one involving GitHub’s Copilot and three involving Stable Diffusion, will address these issues.
Speaker: Pamela Samuelson, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online. See weblink to register
Revealing connections in the sea: insights into the processes shaping the spatial distribution of marine fishes - 04/26/2023 03:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center Tiburon
Speaker: Richard Coleman, Assistant Professor, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami
Attend in person or online.
Energy and Resources Group Colloquium - 04/26/2023 04:00 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Valeri Vasquez
'Social Forestry' by Tomi Hazel Vaarde - 04/26/2023 04:30 PM
Ecology Center Berkeley
The Ecology Center and book publisher, Synergetic Press, presents the official release of Tomi Hazel Vaarde’s book, Social Forestry: Tending the Land as People of Place with an intimate book signing with renowned author, Tomi Hazel Vaarde. This book is a must for anyone who wants a reciprocating relationship with their communities, themselves and most importantly their awe-inspiring forests and landscapes.
After the book signing, there will be a special livestream viewing of Hazel’s Eco-Grief & Stewardship Conversation, an Earth Day panel featuring Starhawk.
See weblink for schedule and to register
Lessons from the Covid War - 04/26/2023 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
As the formal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end nationally and locally, a growing number of reports and investigative bodies are beginning to explore what went wrong and right with the country’s response to the COVID crisis. One of the most important is the COVID Crisis Group (CCG), a team of 34 experts and scholars that has tried to lay the groundwork for a National Commission on the Covid Pandemic. It is led by Phillip Zelikow, who was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission.
With no national commission in sight, in late April, the CCG will release its first major investigative report, "Lessons from the Covid War," a nonpartisan and plainspoken look at the key choices made during the pandemic, what worked, what didn’t and what we could do better next time. The comprehensive investigative report tells the story of how America’s scientific knowledge has far outpaced the country’s ability to apply it in a crisis. The report shows how Americans can come together, learn hard truths, build on what worked, and prepare for global emergencies to come.
Several high-profile local contributors to the report will speak on their new report and what else needs to be done to understand one of the greatest domestic crises the United States has faced in decades. These include Dr. Charity Dean, CEO, founder, and chairman of The Public Health Company; Dr. Robert Rodriguez, professor of clinical emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; Dr. David A. Relman, Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in Medicine, and professor of microbiology & immunology, and senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University; and our moderator, Dr. Emily Silverman, internal medicine physician and assistant volunteer professor of medicine, UCSF, and creator of The Nocturnists.
Attend in person or online
Panel:
Charity Dean, The Public Health CompanyDavid Relman, Stanford UniversityRobert Rodriguez, Zuckerberg San Francisco General HospitalEmily Silverman, UC San Francisco, Moderator
The Legendary Alto and Research at the Edge - 04/26/2023 07:00 PM
Computer History Museum Mountain View
What if we had a time machine that could help us invent the future?
In 1973, the innovators at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) had exactly that. The Alto computer transported computing 15 years into the future with its groundbreaking features and functions. A half century later, how we live with computing is still shaped by the Alto.
But revolutionary changes are underway in the world of computing and its applications. How are today’s pioneers redefining what is possible for the next 50 years?
How did researchers at PARC succeed in building tomorrow’s computer?What lessons does the Alto story hold for those working to build the future of computing today?Where might computing research labs take us 15 years from now, with AI, computer-human interaction, and more?
On the 50th anniversary of the Alto, join us on a journey through time with the creators of the Alto and some of today’s leading inventors of the future.
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink
Peninsula Gem & Geology Society - 04/26/2023 07:00 PM
Peninsula Gem & Geology Society Los Altos
Neil Delfino will be giving us a presentation on field trips that are near to the Bay Area. These are locations where agates, jaspers, magnesite, agatized magnesite, and possibly a few other useful rocks are found. None of the sites involve 4X4 travel. Examples of the rocks to be found will be shown/passed around during the presentation.
Machine Vision for Medical Monitoring - 04/26/2023 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Speaker: Art Wallace M.D. Ph.D. of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF Medical School
Opening the Infrared Treasure Chest with JWST - 04/26/2023 07:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Dec. 25, 2021, and commissioning was completed in early July 2022. With its 6.5 m golden eye, and cameras and spectrometers covering 0.6 to 28 μm, Webb is already producing magnificent images of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, star-forming regions, and planets. Scientists are hunting for some of the first objects that formed after the Big Bang, the first black holes (primordial or formed in galaxies), and beginning to observe the growth of galaxies, the formation of stars and planetary systems, individual exoplanets through coronography and transit spectroscopy, and all objects in the Solar System from Mars on out. It could observe a 1 cm2 bumblebee at the Earth-Moon distance, in reflected sunlight and thermal emission. I will show how we built the Webb and what we hope to find. Webb is a joint project of NASA with the European and Canadian space agencies.
Speaker: Nobel Laureate John Mather, Senior Project Scientist, JWST
Science on Tap: Let's Talk Toxins! - 04/26/2023 08:00 PM
Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz
Nature makes a variety of small molecules with unique chemical structures and sometimes useful biological activities to enhance and improve human health. However, naturally-occurring small molecules can also have detrimental effects on human health and the environment as a whole. One major example of this are harmful algal blooms that plague both the marine and freshwater biospheres and produce potent neurotoxins with devastating bioactivities. Our lab has focused on understanding how neurotoxins are constructed at the molecular level using a combination of chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology techniques. We will highlight our work on two major neurotoxins produced by different biological organisms from diverse environments: first the marine neurotoxin domoic acid produced by single-celled microalgal diatoms with disastrous global ecological and economic implications; and the incredibly potent guanitoxin produced by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) that is presently not monitored in any freshwater testing. An increased understanding of how these molecules are constructed in a lab setting will provide harmful algal bloom researchers with additional tools to identify and ideally predict environmental toxicity on our ever-changing planet.
Speaker: Shaun McKinnie, UC Santa Cruz
Thursday, 04/27/2023
Educator Workshop: Unstable Table (K-5) - Livestream - 04/27/2023 03:30 PM
ExplOratorium
Build your own Unstable Table! Experience a classic Exploratorium tinkering project, then bring it back to your classroom. In this activity, tinker with objects on a platform to figure out how to balance them in ways that don’t always look like they should be possible. Arrange and rearrange objects on top of the surface to make it tilt, move - and sometimes fall over! Then build on the reflections and questions that come up to make sense of the balancing phenomenon together.
Register at weblink. Limited capacity
Henry Gonzalez, Green Climate Fund - Livestream - 04/27/2023 04:00 PM
Stanford Energy
Henry Gonzalez, Deputy Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), will discuss the GCF's climate projects, specifically focusing on climate mitigation and adaptation perspectives.
See weblink for stream information
Videogame Science and UFOs - Livestream - 04/27/2023 04:00 PM
Skeptical Inquirer
What’s a videogame programmer doing analyzing UFO videos? And why should people trust what a programmer has to say when people with PhDs in physics disagree with him? In many ways, videogame programmers make ideal UFO investigators: the simple math used to make 3D objects move in a virtual setting and the code used to display them can be reversed, used to break down UFO videos and figure out where the object is, how far away it is, and what it’s doing.
Speaker: Mick West, viedogame programmer
Register at weblink
After Dark: Genetic Ghosts - 04/27/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Parents share more than just DNA with their children; they pass down biological information from past lives: genetic ghosts. These ghosts come in many forms, from cells to antibodies to bits of ancient DNA. Children inherit cells from their mothers - actual cells that persist through their lives. Offspring can inherit echoes of their parents’ individual histories: hard-won immunity to infections, survival tricks against drought, and even their propensity for fear. Tonight at After Dark, gather ’round for genetic ghost stories about all sorts of species. Hear from scientists at the frontlines of this emerging research and artists inspired by these biological puzzles.
Gravity Never Sleeps - Landslide Science and Risk Reduction - Livestream - 04/27/2023 06:00 PM
US Geological Survey Public Lecture Series Landslides contribute to the cascading hazards from wildfire, flooding, earthquakes, and climate change.Learn about the latest science and technologies for detecting, survelling and forecasting landslides.Learn about the new National =Strategy for Landslide Loss Reduction.
Speaker: Jonathan Godt, USGS Landslide Hazards Program Coordinator
See website for link to Microsoft Teams to attend.
The Scientific Magic of Total Solar Eclipses - Livestream - 04/27/2023 06:00 PM
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Throughout the millennia, total solar eclipses have instilled fear in some people while inspiring others, as the Sun’s wispy corona reveals itself in fleeting moments lasting anywhere from seconds to under 7 minutes. The recognition that the Sun’s corona is the extension of the solar atmosphere into space, together with deep rooted magnetic fields which pop up in strange ways from the solar surface, is less than a century old. With this discovery, our nearest star has paved the way for understanding some fundamental processes in nature that shape not only our immediate environment but the Universe itself. The consequences of such an expansion can be awe-inspiring yet fearful in some rare cases. In this talk, I will lead the audience through some of the recent scientific discoveries and adventures across cultures of the Solar Wind Sherpas.
Speaker: Shadia Habbal, Solar Wind Sherpas
Click here to watch the lecture on YouTube.
Friday, 04/28/2023
Sounds of the subduction plumbing system - How transient fluid circulation processes in the subduction shape sources and patterns of seismic tremor - 04/28/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Gaspard Farge, UC Santa Cruz
Saturday, 04/29/2023
Silicon Valley's 'Possible Self' STEAM experiential/Expo - 04/29/2023 09:00 AM
Foothill College Los Altos Hills
“Possible Self” is a STEM experiential family event unlike any other. The mission of the "Possible Self" experiential is to stimulate and increase the interest of our youth in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) by presenting and producing exciting demonstrations, hands-on, engaging experientials, geeky games, historical exhibits, stage performances and more astounding activities for all ages!
This super-charged, super-fun celebration will include tons of interactive, hands-on activities and experientials, robotics, Artificial Intelligence coding; Along with internet game coders: exclusive and handpicked group of organizations, companies, and visionaries, who aim to empower and inspire all kids about careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics… and more… All offered at no cost to the attendees nor to the exhibitors/vendors
Go to the weblink to reserve a spot
Science Saturday: Fossil Festival - 04/29/2023 10:00 AM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
This Science Saturday it's the Fossil Festival at the PG Museum! Come to the museum to see some of the coolest fossils in our collection, as well as fossils from some of our special guest community partners! Visit the Nature Exchange and get 100 extra credits if you bring in your own fossil to show off on this special day!
EV Ride and Drive: Electrify your Ride - 04/29/2023 11:00 AM
Sunnyvale Community Center Sunnyvale
Test drive electric vehicles (EVs) at the Sunnyvale Community Center. You can ask owners and experts questions about EVs. Attendees can ride along as passengers or take the driver seat in various EV models. Take a test drive to get a ticket for the on-site complimentary food truck. Take e-bikes and e-scooters for a spin to try out different forms of electric transportation.
Stewardship Saturday: Exploring Land and Sea (for High-Schoolers) - 04/29/2023 01:00 PM
Lafayette Library and Learning Center Lafayette
we are excited to invite you to learn more about the terrestrial and aquatic animals The Marine Mammal Center and Lindsay Wildlife Experience care for! Through this event you will discover more about wildlife conservation careers, practice climate change communication, analyze the similarities and differences between various marine mammals and terrestrial animals, and more. Hopefully you will leave this event with an increased passion for all land & sea animals and use that passion to help advocate for the protection of our environment.
For teens, 13 - 18
DART: The Double Asteroid Redirection Test - Livestream - 04/29/2023 07:00 PM
East Bay Astronomical Society
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, is the world’s first full-scale planetary defense test, demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection technology. As part of NASA’s larger planetary defense strategy, the DART mission proved that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it, a method of asteroid deflection known as kinetic impact. DART simultaneously tested new technologies and provided important data to enhance our modeling and predictive capabilities and help us better prepare for an asteroid that might pose a threat to Earth, should one be discovered.
True to its name, DART was a focused spacecraft, designed to direct itself to impact an asteroid at roughly 14,000 miles per hour, or approximately 4 miles per second (6.15 kilometers per second). Its target, which poses no threat to Earth, is the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos (Greek for “two forms”), which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for “twin”).
The spacecraft was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 23, 2021 and successfully collided with Dimorphos on September 26, 2022.
Speaker: Dr. Andy Rivkin, Johns Hopkins University, Lead Investigator of the DART Mission
See weblink for Facebook link to attend
City Star Party - Presidio - 04/29/2023 08:00 PM
City Star Parties - Parade Grounds at the Presidio San Francisco
Come join the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers for free public stargazing of the Moon, planets, globular clusters and more!
SFAA members with telescopes are encouraged to attend and share their views of the stars with the general public.
Dress warmly. Due to the pandemic, social-distancing and masks are encouraged, but not required.
Rain, heavy fog and overcast skies cancel. Check the SFAA website for a cancellation notice before leaving for the star party.
Humpbacks as a Model for Interstellar Communication - Livestream - 04/29/2023 08:00 PM
SETI Institute
Josephine Hubbard and Lisa Walker are researchers in the SETI-Templeton Humpback Whale Research team within the McCowan-Vandeleest Laboratory of Biobehavioral Complexity, co-directed by Brenda McCowan, which seeks to understand how spatial and mathematical relations of networks relate to the content and quality of relationships and how such variation influences a diversity of health outcomes.
Register at weblink to attend via Zoom
Jazz Under the Stars - 04/29/2023 08:30 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San Mateo
Jazz Under the Stars is a FREE monthly public stargazing event! Occurring on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon (check our Events Page), join us on the 4th floor observatory 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 become one of the top 35 most listened to non-commercial stations in the US. With their help, the Astronomy department at CSM opens its observatory doors and balcony, for a night of science and fun! We operate for public viewing four 8” dobsonian telescopes, prefect for viewing the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. We also have a 140mm refractor, with which we view the craters on the moon. Finally, our 8’ schmidt-cassegrain is for our deep sky needs. It can peer deep into globular clusters, and nebulae! Our astronomers will also be available for questions and conversation, which you wouldn’t get anywhere else! Feel free to ask us your questions about the cosmos. Occasionally we even have the chance to image galaxies! Don't miss out, join us at our next Jazz Under the Stars!!
Event is weather dependent. Check the website for up-to-date information.
Sunday, 04/30/2023
Community discussion: Bolinas Lagoon, Duxbury Reef, and the Bolinas Field Station - 04/30/2023 10:00 AM
Audubon Canyon Ranch Stinson Beach
Please join Audubon Canyon Ranch and College of Marin (COM) for a presentation and discussion of the current and future science and state of Bolinas Lagoon, Duxbury Reef, and COM’s Bolinas Field Station. Post-presentation field trip led by Gwen Heistand and Joe Mueller.
Please bring your binoculars for the field trip.
SPEAKERSGwen HeistandResident Biologist and Preserve ManagerAudubon Canyon Ranch, Martin Griffin PreserveJoe MuellerCollege of Marin, Biology ProfessorKent KhtikianEnvironmental ActivistCalifornia Academy Rocky Shores Partnership Naturalist
RSVP at weblink to attend
Easy Morning Walk at Wavecrest - 04/30/2023 10:00 AM
Wavecrest Open Space Preserve Half Moon Bay
Enjoy a refreshing morning hike along the bluffs of the Wavecrest Trail! This family-friendly hike is an easy 2-mile walk and great for all ages and levels of hikers.
This serene space is surrounded by POST-protected agricultural land and open space. Many people enjoy this scenic hike because of the great bird watching opportunities. There is also a chance to head down to the beach for a quiet place to relax or to catch a gorgeous summer sunset.
On this walk, closed-toed shoes are required and we recommend bringing plenty of water and a light snack. Minors are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Please leave the pups at home!
Register at weblink
Urban Natives in the Bernal Cut - 04/30/2023 01:00 PM
Glen Park BART Station San Francisco
Come explore the hidden treasure trove of urban open spaces filled with natives and a potential super bloom this Spring. We will travel along the Glen Park Greenway and tour the native grass meadow. Skirting along Arlington Street to San Jose Ave we will see both the impact of transportation on the landscape and the local efforts to build a corridor of biodiversity. Habitat stops along the Natick Triangle sanctuary, the Arlington Path and its hidden seeps, the bridges of Richland and Highland Aves, two murals with San Francisco history and the Bernal Cut path. Support citizen stewardship and the native nurturing that is transforming the most unexpected corners of the city while testing your plant identification and local history knowledge.
Meet up at the Glen Park BART station where there is ample bike and car parking on Bosworth and street parking is free on Sundays. Sign this waiver in advance
Leader: Sophie Constantinou
Monday, 05/01/2023
Targeted DNA Editing Within Microbial Communities - 05/01/2023 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Dr. Brady Cress, UC Berkeley
Using proxies to assess anthropogenic effects on under-monitored equatorial Pacific reefs - 05/01/2023 12:30 PM
Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
Coral reefs are struggling as anthropogenic warming fuels an increase in the frequency and intensity of Marine Heat Waves, causing widespread bleaching and coral death. Yet some reefs, including those in the bullseye of El Niño’s impact, endure. Uncovering their secret could shed critical new light on the mechanisms by which coral reefs could withstand 21st century climate change. However, a paucity of ocean temperature and coral bleaching observations in the remote equatorial Pacific renders conclusions elusive. Massive, centenarian corals have lived through the effects of anthropogenic warming, archiving ocean conditions in their skeletons as they grow. In this seminar I will use novel geochemical and structural proxy techniques to access past ocean conditions, and the reef response. I will showcase a new thermometer sampled with laser ablation ICPMS to extract monthly resolved ocean temperatures from coral skeleton. I will then use reconstructed bleaching histories of the reefs based on CT images revealing skeletal stress bands formed during bleaching. Using these tools, I uncover a long history of bleaching in the CEP, and reef-specific differences in thermal tolerance linked to past heatwave exposure. Over time, reef communities have adapted to tolerate their unique thermal regimes - but are they prepared for the future?
Speaker: Nathan Mollica, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Editor's Note: This talk was originally scheduled for April 3, 2023
What Physicists Do - 05/01/2023 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Speaker: Henry Maxfield, Stanford University
Testing Remote Sensing Aerial and Satellite Methane Detection Capabilities - 05/01/2023 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with anthropogenic emissions serving as a key contributor to climate change. In the oil and gas sector, “super-emitters” are a relatively small number of methane sources that are disproportionately responsible for a large fraction of total methane emissions. However, advances in remote sensing technologies are enabling airplanes and satellites to rapidly identify and quantify these large emitters, changing our understanding of the overall methane budget and advancing mitigation efforts. In Fall 2022, Stanford conducted a 2-month field campaign to test five airplanes and nine satellites used for detecting methane. We performed over 700 single-blind controlled releases to evaluate to evaluate their detection and quantification capabilities. In this talk, I will share results of aircraft and satellite performance, and discuss implications for methane mitigation efforts.
Speaker: Sahar El Abbadi, Stanford University
Attend in person or online.
Tuesday, 05/02/2023
Stanford Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium - 05/02/2023 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Global reorganization of deep-sea circulation and carbon storage after the last ice age - 05/02/2023 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Stanford Symbolic Systems Forum: Radhika Koul and Filippos Nakas - 05/02/2023 04:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
Lecture: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge - 05/02/2023 06:00 PM
San Mateo Public Library San Mateo
Birdy Hour - Birding the Bay Area Part 3 - Livestream - 05/02/2023 06:30 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Wave-like Dark Matter: Listening Through A Dark Matter Radio - Rescheduled - 05/02/2023 07:00 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Wednesday, 05/03/2023
Polycentric governance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta - 05/03/2023 03:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center Tiburon
Thursday, 05/04/2023
Climate Displacement in the Shadow of War: Feminist Refugee Perspectives on Hydro-disaster - 05/04/2023 03:30 PM
Dwinelle Hall Berkeley
The Insect Crisis is a Human Crisis - 05/04/2023 06:00 PM
David Brower Center Berkeley
NightLife: Feel the Force - 05/04/2023 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Roots - 05/04/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Michio Kaku: Quantum Supremacy - 05/04/2023 07:30 PM
Sydney Goldstein Theater San Francisco
Friday, 05/05/2023
Bair Island Walking Tour - 05/05/2023 10:00 AM
Bair Island Wildlife Refuge & Trail Redwood City
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Seminar - 05/05/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
First Friday Climate Series: What is Weather? - 05/05/2023 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
The Future of the Past with New Technology and Ancient Fossils - 05/05/2023 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Introduction to the Dobs Telescope - 05/05/2023 08:00 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San Mateo
Saturday, 05/06/2023
Drop-in at Palo Alto Baylands - 05/06/2023 09:00 AM
Palo Alto Duck Pond Palo Alto
Bringing Back the Natives In-Person Garden Tours - 05/06/2023 10:00 AM
Bringing Back the Natives
'All the Little Things' - EcoCenter Family Event - 05/06/2023 10:30 AM
Environmental Volunteers EcoCenter Palo Alto
The Experience Machine: Mental Prediction & Reality - Livestream - 05/06/2023 01:00 PM
Wonderfest
Sunday, 05/07/2023
Bringing Back the Natives In-Person Garden Tours - 05/07/2023 10:00 AM
Bringing Back the Natives
Monday, 05/08/2023
A Personal Reflection on Thirty Years of Energy Transitions - 05/08/2023 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
May LASER Event - 05/08/2023 07:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous Stanford
Wave-like Dark Matter: Listening Through A Dark Matter Radio - 05/08/2023 07:00 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
A Star is Born - 05/08/2023 07:30 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco