Greetings Science Fans,
I hope that you are not feeling too bad about how this week is starting out. I fear that “Science” is going to be put to many tests and challenges in the next few years. I’m going to try and avoid politics and polemics here! But to do that exclusively would be to deny what for many of us is reality, that science is being denied and decisions are being made without evidence or reason, and also to deny the use of science to preserve or even improve and understand our amazing home planet and universe. There will be risks to be taken as we move forward. Who will be empowered to decide? Should science be “democratized”?
Here’s a bit of a recap of what things were like in the world of science 4 years ago. What might we see in science in the near future? Some in our government seem to be embracing anti-vaccination policies. What are we to make of very large dam projects? There have certainly been some proposals published that make me wonder what is coming in the near future, here’s one. What might we expect in climate and nature science in 2025? We have been watching many fellow Californians live what many say is one more point of evidence of the challenge of climate change. Science makes so much sense to me, I have a very difficult time understanding why so many don’t trust science. I firmly believe we all need to stand up for, talk about, and support Science as one of the most powerful tools we have to better life for all on the planet.
With that in mind here are some presentations that I think warrant our attention in the next week…
-What RFK Jr.’s Confirmation Could Mean for the American Health Care System - Livestream Thu@ 4:00
-After Dark: AI Curious and Open Question: Artificial Intuition will ask some questions that we need to think about as AI becomes more ubiquitous and less recognizable. Thu 1.23@ 6:00
-Wonderfest: The Science of Healthy Muscle, Strength, and Aging Sat 1.5@ 4:00
Under the category of check these out…
The Bay Area Skeptics are hosting their first SkeptiCamp on Feb 9. I hope that you can make this and please spread the word… SkeptiCamp is an opportunity to hear about topics of science and reason that may very well make a difference in your life. It is also an opportunity to speak you thoughts on science and reason and see what others think of your ideas. There will be all sorts of people there to hear and propose ideas. So if you can make it to a very stimulating day of discussions, want to discuss and promote your ideas, or know of any other so inclined to do so make sure they and you are there. It is also in a very cool venue!
I would like to ask something of you. Go to the science museum nearest where you live. Go in and open yourself up to watching the joy of people learning why things are the way the are and why they work that way. Talk to people that you don’t know, ask them a question or help them figure something out. If you aren’t a member please consider joining. Our smaller museums in the communities need our support. They are gateways to understanding science, why it’s important, and how cool it can be. If you are a member and can bring a guest, ask someone outside if they would like to come in as your guest. It’s a gift worth giving that costs you nothing! If you’re not a member, join! Then bring a guest!!
As always, here is a list of links to things I have found to be interesting, intriguing, or challenging…!
As if Times Weren’t Unsettling Enough, Saturn Is Losing Its Rings
What we lose by being overly scientific about healthcare
Living in the Age of Risky Science
Maps That Show How The World Really Is
Earth likely just had its hottest two days in thousands of years again!
ScienceAdviser: Focusing on excitement for 2025
I hope that you have an inspired week of science and reason.
herb masters
“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”
— Louis Pasteur
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Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Tuesday, 01/21/2025
Chemically induced proximity approaches to modulate transcription - 01/21/2025 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Michael Erb, Scripps
From the ribosome to the inflammasome, and back - 01/21/2025 11:00 AM
Weill Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Franklin Zhong, LKC School of Medicine, Singapore
Ocean Worlds of the Outer Solar System - 01/21/2025 12:00 PM
Braun (Geology) Corner (Bldg 320), Rm 220 Stanford
Superconductors, Old and New - CANCELED - 01/21/2025 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Kinetics of water-mediated intra-cluster proton transfer in a temperature-controlled, mass-selective ion trap - 01/21/2025 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Mark Johnson, Yale University
Jonathan Mingle on Climate Policy under Trump - Livestream - 01/21/2025 05:00 PM
San Francisco Public Library
Speaker: Jonathan Mingle, journalist
Popping the Science Bubble - Two Talks - 01/21/2025 05:30 PM
Berkeley Public Library Berkeley
The Marvelous Chemistry of Everyday Life
Speaker: Jeremy Nicolai, UC Berkeley
From Pledges to Progress: City and Regional Climate Action
Speaker: Kaihui Song, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online (click here)
Superagency and Our AI Future - 01/21/2025 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Speaker: Reid Hoffman, Greylock; DJ Patil, Commonwealth Club, moderator
Astronomy on Tap Tucson #103: Radio Telescopes + Extragalactic History - Livestream - 01/21/2025 06:30 PM
Astronomy on Tap
Citizen Science, Seabirds, and a Changing Climate: Why and How Public Engagement Matters - 01/21/2025 07:00 PM
Hopkins Marine Station Pacific Grove
Speaker: Julia Parish, University of Washington
Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of three Pinus species on the California North Coast - 01/21/2025 07:30 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco San Francisco
Wednesday, 01/22/2025
Reconstructing Evolutionary History and Processes: Insights from Analysis of Present-day and Ancient Genomes - 01/22/2025 03:30 PM
Genetics and Plant Biology Building Berkeley
Speaker: Priya Moorjani, UC Berkeley
Evolutionary insights from a functional morphological multiverse of top predators - 01/22/2025 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Jack Tseng, UC Berkeley
Gamechanger: California Sues ExxonMobil Over Plastic Recycling Lies - Livestream - 01/22/2025 04:00 PM
Beyond Plastics
Educability as a Technological Proposal - 01/22/2025 04:00 PM
Soda Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Leslie Valiant, Harvard University
Can Generative AI get the power it demands? And without reversing Grid Decarbonization? - 01/22/2025 04:30 PM
Shriram Center Stanford
Speaker Andrew Chien, University of Chicago
Thursday, 01/23/2025
Harnessing natural variation to study the evolution of social behavior - 01/23/2025 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Speaker: Sarah Kocher, Princeton University
What RFK Jr.’s Confirmation Could Mean for the American Health Care System - Livestream - 01/23/2025 04:00 PM
Skeptical Inquirer
FutureFest 2025: A conversation with the leaders of two Silicon Valley icons - 01/23/2025 05:00 PM
PARC Forum Palo Alto
Pioneering the next energy frontier: From proven pathways to disruptive breakthroughs - 01/23/2025 05:00 PM
Graduate School of Business Stanford
NightLife x Soulovely - 01/23/2025 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Plot Twist: Could Artificial Intelligence Be the Transformative Force for Justice? - 01/23/2025 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
After Dark: AI Curious - 01/23/2025 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Get playful with AI and find out how the technology really works
Open Question: Artificial Intuition Can machines act naturally? - 01/23/2025 07:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Exciting Results with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - 01/23/2025 07:00 PM
Jonas Center Novato
Speaker: Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
Microbes Mining Minerals: A New Route to Plant Cultivation - 01/23/2025 07:00 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Public Lecture Series Menlo Park
Friday, 01/24/2025
Heavier Cyanate, Nitrile and Nitroso Analogues: New Opportunities in Synthesis - 01/24/2025 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Jose Goicochea, Indiana University
In Town Star Party - 01/24/2025 07:15 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
Come join San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) for an evening of stargazing.
Saturday, 01/25/2025
Science Saturday: Sandy's Birthday Party! (Marine Mammals) - 01/25/2025 10:00 AM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
Stewardship Saturday: Eyeing Elephant Seals - 01/25/2025 10:20 AM
Ano Nuevo State Reserve Pescadero
Salamander Search at Sanborn - 01/25/2025 10:30 AM
Sanborn Science and Nature Center Saratoga
Sanborn is famous for its amphibians; you just need to do some extra searching to find them! Join us for a fun day of looking under rocks, logs, and other unique hiding spots that Sanborn’s Salamanders call home!
Register at weblink
Ages 4 - 12
Saturday Cinema: The Art + Science of Luminous Films - 01/25/2025 01:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Celebrate the Exploratorium’s winter exhibition Glow with a program of radiant animation and short documentaries, both meditative and kinetic.
Weekend Workshop: Radical Reactions - 01/25/2025 01:00 PM
CuriOdyssey San Mateo
Wonderfest: The Science of Healthy Muscle, Strength, and Aging - 01/25/2025 04:00 PM
Berkeley Public Library West Branch Berkeley
Speaker: Greg Tranah, UC San Francisco
Sunday, 01/26/2025
Empowering Homes: Transitioning to Renewable Energy - 01/26/2025 03:00 PM
Albany Public Library Albany
Monday, 01/27/2025
Controlling and Protecting Quasiparticles in 2-D Quantum Materials - 01/27/2025 02:30 PM
Birge Hall Berkeley
Speaker:Alex Weber Bargioni, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A Vision for Robotics in the Age of Foundation Models - 01/27/2025 03:30 PM
Speaker: Jeannette Bohg, Stanford University
Quantifying the physical genome - 01/27/2025 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Speaker: William Greenleaf, Stanford University
Descending control of locomotion - 01/27/2025 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Helen Yang, Harvard Medical School
Beyond the first law - Peculiarly quantum conservation in thermodynamics - 01/27/2025 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Nicole Yunger Halpern, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Bitcoin+: Blockchain Architectures, Stablecoins, & Its Transformative Potential - 01/27/2025 07:00 PM
Valley Research Park Mountain View
Speaker: Shachi Sayata, Barclays Bank
Tuesday, 01/28/2025
UC Berkeley Andrew Steitwieser Lecture in Chemistry - 01/28/2025 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Whole-lifespan behavioral tracking to model aging and predict remaining life - Livestream - 01/28/2025 12:00 PM
Stanford Sleep Community Series
Attractors in Black Holes and Cosmology - 01/28/2025 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Towards predictive protein separations: Imaging protein dynamics at nanoscale interfaces - 01/28/2025 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Euclid: Mapping the Geometry of the Dark Universe - Livestream - 01/28/2025 06:00 PM
NASA Night Sky Network
Thinking in Planetary Time - 01/28/2025 07:00 PM
Long Now Foundation San Francisco
Wonderfest: The Emotional Brain in a Sleepless World - 01/28/2025 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary - Discoveries and Surprises - Livestream - 01/28/2025 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
Wednesday, 01/29/2025
I Shared Oceanography Online. Millions Joined the Conversation - Livestream - 01/29/2025 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Engineering Real-Time Sensors and Sustainable Materials for a Healthier Planet - 01/29/2025 12:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
UC Santa Cruz Whole Earth Seminar - 01/29/2025 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Reflecting Worker and Community Outcomes in Decisions to Decarbonize Industry - 01/29/2025 04:30 PM
Shriram Center Stanford
A Philosophy of Planetary Computation: From Antikythera to Synthetic Intelligence - 01/29/2025 07:00 PM
Long Now Foundation San Francisco
NASA's VIPER Mission: Real-time Collaborative Science Operations at the South Pole of the Moon - 01/29/2025 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series Los Altos Hills
Restoring Wetlands for Climate Resilience - Livestream - 01/29/2025 07:00 PM
City of Sunnyvale
Auroraras and Solar Storms - 01/29/2025 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Thursday, 01/30/2025
SETI Live: Automated Discovery of Anomalous Features - RESCHEDULED - 01/30/2025 09:00 AM
SETI Institute
Plant and Pollinator Talk with the Pollinator Posse - Livestream - 01/30/2025 12:00 PM
UC Botanical Garden
UC Berkeley Integrative Biology Seminar - 01/30/2025 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Shaping Public Health Amidst Political Change - Livestream - 01/30/2025 03:00 PM
UC Berkeley
Innovative Women in Climate & Tech - 01/30/2025 04:30 PM
Hay Barn Santa Cruz
Adaptation Incentives in a Risky World: Lessons from Los Angeles - Livestream - 01/30/2025 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy
Science on Tap: Fungus Among Us - 01/30/2025 05:30 PM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
Female Founders in Healthtech: A Panel Discussion - 01/30/2025 05:30 PM
555 California St Business Center San Francisco
NightLife: Lunar Underground - 01/30/2025 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Lunar New Year - 01/30/2025 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Space Bridge Partners: Connecting Funders and Space Missions - 01/30/2025 06:00 PM
Hacker Dojo Mountain View
Silicon Valley Reads 2025 - Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World - 01/30/2025 07:00 PM
De Anze Visual and Performing Arts Center Cupertino
Friday, 01/31/2025
UC Berkeley Inorganic Chemistry Seminar - 01/31/2025 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Monday, 02/03/2025
Skeletal Muscle Cell Physiology, Plasticity, and Performance - 02/03/2025 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Artificial Humanities - 02/03/2025 12:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Seminar - 02/03/2025 02:30 PM
Birge Hall Berkeley
UC Berkeley Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Seminar - 02/03/2025 03:30 PM
Etcheverry Hall Berkeley
Bacterial Lipoproteins: From Bacteria to Biomaterials - 02/03/2025 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - 02/03/2025 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley