SciSchmoozing Events & Issues
Welcome to another SciSchmooze, dear reader.
COP26 ends this Friday and has been highly successful in eliciting pledges to actively confront Climate Change from the governmental parties attending. (BTW, COP means Conference of Parties). But “pledges” are not policy; Brazil is a good example. However, i believe that pledges are more than ‘Greenwashing.’ I believe they at least indicate an increasing awareness of the problems and potential solutions. We and the balance of the biosphere need more than that, of course. There are hopeful examples from Berlin, Bogotá, and Bern. Hope that the pandemic would herald a continuing decrease in global CO2 emissions, however, has been proven wrong. In case you missed it, in September editors of 17 medical journals co-published an urgent call for climate action. ¿And why is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant - biggest source of clean energy in the state - being shut down? A free live stream discussion on this issue is scheduled for Monday at 12:30 PM.
The data are in: last month’s SkeptiCal 2021 registrants and speakers were from 24 different states and from 8 different countries! Those numbers could increase since tickets to view the video recordings are still available at SkeptiCalCon.com. In addition to the seven major presentations (with Q&A) there are: five short presentations, a Tribute to James Randi, four short magic shows by Robert Strong, a Skepardy! contest, and seven short videos highlighting different scientific skepticism organizations and projects. Video chatting simultaneously with folk in Oregon, New York, England, and Australia was a kick!
Although COVID-19 continues to bring death and mourning, the side-stories are frequently engaging. Example: ¿How did wild deer in Iowa get exposed to COVID-19? It’s not surprising when Fluffy and Fido get infected from their owners since they breathe the same air. ¿But deer? And then there is the story of how Aaron Rogers (Green Bay Packers quarterback) got “immunized” against COVID. Misinformation about COVID may be endemic, but accurate knowledge about our immune system is reaching anyone who is curious. It’s hardly surprising that misinformation is exploited for profit. For example, there are 2,754 stem cell clinics in the U.S. selling unlicensed and unproven stem cell products and treatments while the FDA turns a blind eye - so far.
My Picks for the Week:
LIVESTREAM
UC Berkeley & Columbia University: Teaching Robots to Learn - 4pm Monday
Denialism: From Climate Change to COVID-19 - 9am Tuesday
Machineries of Doubt: Climate, Cigarettes, and Confusion - 7:30pm Thursday
IN PERSON
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del Oro - 10am Tuesday, Morgan Hill
NOVA Universe Revealed: Preview screening of “Alien Worlds” - 7pm Tuesday, San Francisco
Afternoon Walk at Pillar Point Bluff - 2:30 Sunday, Pillar Point
Now for Out Of This World News:
Enjoy 5 minutes of time-lapse video from the ISS.
Take a 90-second view of activity at Boca Chica, a SpaceX facility.
You won’t find little green men on the ISS, but you might find little green Hatch chiles - and space tacos. Sometimes you cannot simply pull over at a gas station to use the facilities. Four folk will be returning from the ISS on Monday and four others will launch to the ISS on Wednesday.
After 31 years in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope is experiencing yet another glitch. Later this month, NASA will launch a probe that will crash into an asteroid - because making collisions and explosions are what scientists do. Speaking of explosions, apparently there was a doozy of an airburst about 12,000 years ago above Chile’s Atacama Desert. This event can now join others in the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis.
The James Webb Space Telescope (known as JWST to its friends) has been unpacked after its journey to French Guiana. If you would like a large JWST pin to wear or to gift, send an email to david.almandsmith@gmail.com (only one) before noon Friday with an integer between zero and 1,000. We will then use a random number generator to select the target number and mail the pin to the person who chose the closest number. Dimensions: 3.5 x 4.5 x 0.2 cm
“David Copperfield's History of Magic” is a free webinar hosted by the Skeptical Inquirer at 10AM on Thursday.
The movie, “Living Worlds,” opened last week at Cal Academy of Sciences.
So much to do! And so much Halloween candy yet to eat!
____
I’m privileged to communicate with you. Stay well,
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“The fact that scientists are human like everybody means that there is a susceptibility to bias. The difference is the scientist is supposed to have good self-awareness of that bias so that they can check for it. You ask yourself, ‘Do I have an urge for this experiment to come out one way or another?’ We are trained to invoke, as far as we can see, an analysis of bias. So science may be the most honest enterprise humans have ever constructed.”
- Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 11/08/2021
Understanding variability in cognitive performance - Livestream - 11/08/2021 09:00 AM
Stanford University
Priya Rajasethupathy MD PhD is the Jonathan M Nelson Family Assistant Professor and head of the Laboratory of Neural Dynamics & Cognition at the Rockefeller University. She obtained her B.S. from Cornell University, and an MD / PhD in Neuroscience (2012) from Columbia University, working with Eric Kandel. During this time, she identified a new class of genes in brain, piRNAs, that had novel functions in regulating synaptic plasticity underlying memory storage. She completed her post-doctoral work at Stanford University with Karl Deisseroth where she developed and applied methodologies for paired stimulation and imaging of rodent brain during behavior, leading to the discovery and characterization of a memory retrieval circuit in the brain. She joined the Rockefeller University as assistant professor in 2017. She has been named a top 10 early-career scientist by Science News and has been a recipient of the Searle Scholar Award as well as the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers.
See weblink for Zoom information
A new look into cuprate superconductors using high-precision photoemission spectroscopy - Livestream - 11/08/2021 10:00 AM
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Over the past three decades, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy has contributed extensively to our understanding of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Nevertheless, there are key questions awaiting to be addressed through measurements with new levels of precision and control. In this talk, I will present our recent efforts in tackling the following two questions, whether there is a quantum critical point under the superconducting dome, and what is the nature of the superconducting phase transition.
Speaker: Sudi Chen, UC Berkeley
See weblink for Zoom link
Modeling and Simulation Tools for Industrial and Societal Research Applications: Digital Twins and Genome-based Machine-learning - Livestream - 11/08/2021 11:00 AM
Berkeley Institute for Data Science
Speaker: Tarek Zohdi, UC Berkeley
UC Berkley Theoretical Astrophysics Center Seminar - 11/08/2021 12:10 PM
Campbell Hall, Rm 131 Berkeley
Speaker: Chad Bustard
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant for Zero-Carbon Electricity, Desalination & Hydrogen Production - Livestream - 11/08/2021 12:30 PM
Stanford Energy
Extending the life of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant could help California meet the increasing challenges of climate change by providing clean, safe and reliable electricity, water and hydrogen fuel, according to a new study.
Speakers:
Bruce Cain, Charles Louis Ducommun Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Stanford UniversitySteven Chu, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics, Stanford UniversityArun Majumdar, Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor, Stanford University
Presenters:
Jacopo Buongiorno, TEPCO, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyJohn Lienhard, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyEjeong Baik, PhD Candidate, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford UniversityJustin Aborn, Senior Consultant @LucidCatalyst, LLC
Register at weblink to receive connection information
The Asymmetry of Anti-Quarks in the Proton - Livestream - 11/08/2021 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium
What is really inside a proton? The fundamental building blocks of the proton, quarks and gluons, have been known for decades. However, we still have an incomplete understanding of how these particles and their dynamics give rise to the quantum bound state of the proton and its physical properties, such as for example its spin and mass. The two “up” and one “down” quarks that comprise the proton in the simplest picture account only for a few percent of the proton mass, the bulk of which is in the form of quark and gluon kinetic and potential energy from the strong force. An essential feature of this force, as described by quantum chromodynamics, is its ability to create quark-antiquark pairs through quantum fluctuation inside the proton that exist only for a very short time. In this picture of quark-antiquark creation by the strong force, the probability distributions as a function of momentum for the presence of “up” and “down” antiquarks should be nearly identical, since their masses are quite similar and small compared to the mass of the proton. However, our recent results from the Fermilab E906/SeaQuest experiment at the Main Injector show evidence that they are very different, with more abundant “down” antimatter quarks than “up” antimatter quarks over a wide range of momentum fraction of the parent proton. These results revive interest in several proposed mechanisms as the origin of this antiquark asymmetry in the proton and point to the future measurements at the follow-up E1039/SpinQuest experiment with polarized proton/neutron targets that can distinguish between these mechanisms. Furthermore, the recent new initiative to search for Dark Sector physics with moderate upgrade to the SeaQuest/SpinQuest spectrometer will also be discussed briefly at the end.
Speaker: Dr. Ming Xiong Liu, Los Alamos National Laboratory
CITRIS People and Robots Seminar - 11/08/2021 04:00 PM
CITRIS People and Robots
Speaker: Shuran Song, Columbia University
See weblink for Zoom information
San Diego Community Power - Livestream - 11/08/2021 04:00 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
San Diego Community Power is a coalition of people focused on moving towards a healthier and sustainable clean energy future. Their goal is to manage their community's electricity supply, taking advantage of the affordable, common sense options available for cleaner power, today and for future generations.
Speaker: Byron Vosburg, San Diego Community Power
See weblink for Zoom information
Substantial astronomical observations have established that approximately 25% of the energy density of the universe is composed of cold non-baryonic dark matter, whose detection and characterization could be key to improving our understanding of the laws of physics. Over the past three decades, physicists have largely focused on searching for dark matter within the 10 GeV-1 TeV range (WIMPs), unfortunately without success. Over the past decade, the theoretical physics community has developed a variety of viable dark matter models with mass in the range of 10meV-1GeV and now the race is on to develop the detector technology and search this nearly completely unexplored parameter space. In this talk, we’ll discuss the experimental requirements when searching for dark matter throughout themass range. We’ll also discuss recent R&D breakthroughs in athermal phonon sensor technology that will enable the newly funded DOE experiments SPICE and HeRALD, as well as the SuperCDMS experiment to search for dark matter in this range.
Speaker: Matt Pyle, UC Berkeley
See weblink for connection information
Astronomy on Tap: Los Angeles - Livestream - 11/08/2021 07:30 PM
Astronomy on Tap
Join us for a special Astronomy on Tap celebrating the imminent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope streamed over YouTube Live. We’ll hear from Dr. Colette Salyk: “Where Does Beer Come From? JWST Will Tell Us” and from Dr. Sasha Hinkley: “Seeing Exoplanets in a Whole New Light with JWST”. In addition, we will host interactive, astronomically-themed pub trivia.
See weblink for YouTube link.
Tuesday, 11/09/2021
Denialism: From Climate Change to COVID-19 - Livestream - 11/09/2021 09:00 AM
Stanford University
The preponderance of scientific evidence collected over the course of the past several decades shows that anthropogenic climate change is occurring. However, as documented by historians and journalists, the fossil fuel industry worked to obscure the science and delay action. Parallels have been drawn between these efforts and recent attempts to downplay the severity of COVID-19 and undermine public health measures.
In this panel, we’ll learn about common disinformation tactics, the motivations behind these campaigns, and effective strategies to combat denialism.
Panel: Dr. Benjamin Franta, Stanford University; Larry Au, Columbia University; Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Temperature-Driven Disease Outbreaks Impact Oyster Aquaculture in Tomales Bay - Livestream - 11/09/2021 10:00 AM
Audubon Canyon Ranch
The talk will focus on Priya Shukla’s PhD research which is a collaboration with the Hog Island and Tomales Bay Oyster Companies to develop strategies for improving oysters’ ability to withstand temperature-driven disease and outbreaks. The talk will also cover her work using bivalves to track ocean acidification as part of the Bodega Ocean Acidification Research Group.
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del Oro - 11/09/2021 10:00 AM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for an excursion where you’ll explore the Mayfair Ranch - Longwall Canyon trails of Rancho Cañada del Oro! You will be guided by POST Ambassadors who will share with you the history of the preserve, the region, and the importance of conservation in the area.
The hike is moderate to strenuous at about 4 miles round trip with about 700 feet of gradual elevation gain.
This wonderful preserve is a hub for wildlife, such as deer, bobcats, mountain lions, and more! In the Spring, you can expect a colorful array of wildflowers adorning the hillsides, and you may get a chance to see a beautiful little creek running through Llagas meadow.
Register at weblink to attend.
The architecture of plumbing systems using machine learning thermobarometry and chemometry - Livestream - 11/09/2021 12:15 PM
Stanford University
Professor Luca Caricchi will be introducing the fundamentals of the machine learning approach he used to estimate pressure and temperature of crystallisation, and melt in equilibrium with clinopyroxene and amphibole. He will also present an application of this approach to St. Kitts (Lesser Antilles), Mt. Etna and Colli Albani (Italy) as these systems erupt magmas of a wide compositional variety and are located in different geotectonic settings.
See weblink for Zoom instructions
Flat Bands in Flatlands - Livestream - 11/09/2021 02:30 PM
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
In a flat band system, the charge carriers’ energy-momentum relation is very weakly dispersive. The resultant large density of states and the dominance of Coulomb potential energy relative to the kinetic energy often favor the formation of strongly correlated electron states, such as ferromagnetism, nematicity, antiferromagnetism, superconductivity, and charge density waves. The advent of two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterostructures has ushered in a new era for exploring, tuning and engineering of flat band system. Here I will present our results on transport measurements of high quality few-layer 2D material devices, including topological phases and evidence for intrinsic magnetism in few-layer graphene, and tunable spin-orbit coupling in atomically thin semiconductors.
Speaker: ChunNing Jeanie Lau, The Ohio State University
See weblink for Zoom information
Melting and Mixing at Extreme Pressures: Layered Liquids in Earth’s Outer Core? - 11/09/2021 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Speaker: Sarah Arveson, UC Berkeley
Large-scale Spatial Network Models for modeling disease and information passing for people experiencing homelessness in metropolitan areas - Virtual - 11/09/2021 04:00 PM
Berkeley Institute for Data Science
Recent increases in homelessness in the United States have been described as a nationwide emergency. The negative impacts of homelessness on communities and individuals are well-established, including significant impacts to health, safety, and social and economic equality. To address the effects of increasing homeless populations, particularly in cities on the west coast of the US where numbers are growing rapidly, social scientists must understand the size and distribution of their homeless populations, as well as how information and resources are diffused throughout these communities. Currently, there is limited publicly available information on people experiencing homelessness in the United States. The available information comes largely from the count estimates of homeless across the US gathered annually by the US Housing & Urban Development point-in-time (PiT) survey. While it is theorized in the literature that the networks of homeless individuals provide access to important information for social scientists in areas such as health (e.g. needle exchanges) or access (e.g. information diffusion about the location of new shelters), it is almost never measured and if measured only at a very small scale. In this work I introduce methods for simulating realistic social support and information networks in the homeless population. I then follow this up with new data from Anderson et al (2021) to directly estimate the parameters of this model and estimate the infection and mortality rate of COVID-19 in the homeless population in Nashville, TN. Finally, I will conclude with future directions for this work.
Speaker: Zack Almquist, University of Washington
Register at weblink to attend via Zoom
Japan's Energy Policy in Flux: Uncertain Future of Renewables, Nuclear Energy & Carbon Neutrality - Livestream - 11/09/2021 04:00 PM
Stanford University
In April 2021, then Prime Minister Suga announced to the world that Japan will strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, seemingly setting the country on a path toward accelerated energy transition primarily by renewables. Under Prime Minister Kishida, Japan’s commitment may be on a more shaky ground, as demands for steady energy supply by old industries gained more traction and calls for restarting nuclear power plants are becoming louder. In this new political environment, in which Japan’s energy policy seems to be in flux, what is the future of renewables, nuclear energy, and fossil fuels, and what is the best energy mix for Japan considering its unique geopolitical position?
Speakers:Mika Ohbayashi, Director at Renewable Energy Institute
Phillip Lipscy, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto
Moderator:Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Director of the Japan Program and Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Ask Me Anything (AMA): on Machine Learning - Livestream - 11/09/2021 06:00 PM
SF Bay Association of Computing Machinery
Have a question on Machine Learning and related areas that has been unanswered for long? Here’s your opportunity to get insights into cutting edge research that is driving innovation. Professor, book author, and SIGKDD Innovation Award winner, Pedro Domingos will be hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with the audience of this event.
See weblink for instructions to submit questions, and to register to receive connection information.
Why Mobility is Destiny - 11/09/2021 07:00 PM
Long Now Foundation San Francisco
The map of humanity isn’t settled -- not now, not ever.
In the 60,000 years since people began spreading across the continents, a recurring feature of human civilization has been mobility - the ever-constant search for resources, stability and opportunity. Driven by global events from conflicts, famine, repression and changing climates - to opportunities for trade, social advancement and freedom of thought - humans have relocated around the globe for millennia.
But what happens when billions of people are on the move? As climate change tips toward full-blown crisis, economies collapse, governments destabilize, and technology disrupts, we’re entering a new age of mass migrations. Futurist Parag Khanna uncovers the deep trends that are shaping the most likely scenarios for our future and asks what map of human geography will emerge.
Speaker: Parag Khanna
See weblink for online options, or attend in person.
Editor's Note: This event was rescheduled from October 13, 2021.
NOVA Universe Revealed - 11/09/2021 07:00 PM
KQED, The Commons San Francisco
An exclusive preview screening of the widely acclaimed science documentary series "NOVA Universe Revealed".The wobble method. The transit method. These may sound like strategies for getting home after from the bar, but they're actually two different ways that powerful telescopes detect planets hundreds and thousands of light-years away. These exoplanets, and the mysteries about their movements and atmospheres, help us to better understand the universe and answer one of the most burning questions on earth: Are we alone in the universe?Join us for a special preview screening of the "Alien Worlds" episode of "NOVA Universe Revealed". Take a journey through our galaxy and beyond to learn about how we discover planets previously unknown, whether any of them might hold the keys to life.Stay after the screening for a Q&A with local EXOPLANET experts Gibor Basri and Courtney Dressing.
Presented by KQED Live
Wednesday, 11/10/2021
Ask the Scientist - Corynn Knapp - 11/10/2021 02:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center
How do scientists go from OMG to PhD? How do they turn their passion for science into their profession? What advice do they have for future scientists?
If you are a 5th-12th grade student, undergraduate, teacher or parent, join us to ask these questions and more in a Q&A session with our weekly Seminar speakers on Wednesdays from 2:30 - 3 PM.
Parents must give permission for children under 18 to participate.
Communication in Conservation: Building Bridges, Active Learning, and Flexing Creativity - Canceled - 11/10/2021 03:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center
Speaker: Liska Arata, Point Blue Conservation Science
Register at weblink for Zoom information
The Global Future of Electrified Mobility - Livestream - 11/10/2021 04:30 PM
Acterra
Kameale Terry is the Co-Founder and CEO of ChargerHelp, Inc. an app that enables on-demand repair of electric vehicle charging stations. As the former Director of Programs at EV Connect, Kameale structured and led teams to execute electric vehicle infrastructure projects and programs in the U.S., Australia, and Canada for commercial and government entities. Her most notable projects include the Electrify America - Phase One Program, the Southern California Edison Charge Ready Pilot, and the New York Power Authority portfolio. Prior to this role Kameale created, hired, and oversaw the Customer Experience Department at EV Connect, by partnering with the Southbay Workforce Investment Board to employ candidates from the local community. As a South Central Los Angeles native, Kameale believes that an equitable green economy can be achieved through impactful workforce development and realignment.
Big Life African Wildlife Protection - Livestream - 11/10/2021 06:00 PM
Oakland Zoo
Host: Amy Gotliffe, Oakland Zoo
See weblink for YouTube and Facebook Live links
November LASER Event - Livestream - 11/10/2021 06:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous
Albert Russell Ascoli (UC Berkeley/ Literature) on "Dante and the Invention of Italian, Italians, and Italy" (on the 700th anniversary of his death) Kat Mustatea (Playwright & Technologist) on "Augmented Reality and the Decaying Book" Neil Shubin (University of Chicago) on "Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA" Register here or here
Thursday, 11/11/2021
Nightlife: Neon - 11/11/2021 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Expand your notion of neon beyond commercial signage with a night dedicated to neon: a glowing medium that has inspired adventurous artistry and represents fascinating science.
Learn all about the history and science behind neon, plus the medium’s bright, artistic applications, in a talk with Meryl Pataky and Kelsey Issel, co-founders of She Bends, a womxn-focused neon art collective dedicated to pushing the boundaries of the medium by fostering sustainability and diversity while preserving and honoring the trade and its craftspeople.
After Dark: See For Yourself - 11/11/2021 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Spark your curiosity at After Dark! As the sun sets, we’ll hit the rainbow lights, turn the music up, and open our doors, inviting you to take your imagination out to play. Be ready to bring fresh eyes to old favorites and uncover phenomenal new experiences.
Machineries of Doubt: Climate, Cigarettes & Confusion - Livestream - 11/11/2021 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Well-informed skepticism is crucial, especially in an era of Internet-amplified mis/disinformation often employed to create doubts about well-established science. That was famously the case with Big Tobacco’s use of PR agencies, front groups and think tanks, but climate doubt creation turns out to use the same tactics and often the same people. This talk examines the organized structure, tactics and groups who abuse good skepticism to manufacture doubt about science. Some call themselves “skeptics” on climate science, in abuse of the term, as they are really “pseudoskeptics.” If anyone saw the recent SkepTalks by Mark Boslough and John Cook (both long-time friends), this talk is related, but focuses on other areas than theirs, so should have minimal overlap.
Speaker: John Mashey, Silicon Graphics, retired
See weblink for connection information
Friday, 11/12/2021
Global Morphometrics of Barchan Dunes on Mars Revealed by Artificial Intelligence - 11/12/2021 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Barchan dunes are crescentic windblown features that emerge when the sand supply is limited and the wind is approximately unidirectional. The complex morphology of barchan dunes is influenced by of the environmental conditions in which they form. For that reason, barchans are routinely used to investigate arid climates on both Earth and Mars. Motivated to understand how global trends in barchan morphology relate to global and local environmental conditions, we use a convolutional neural network to map and outline barchan dunes on Mars. Our trained model reviewed 137,111 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera (MRO CTX), detecting over a million instances of barchan dunes. From the dunes’ outlines, we derive morphometrics such as dune width, length and horn ratio - and provide an estimate for the dune volume. Our dataset reveals geospatial patterns related to frost coverage and sand supply and is used to infer dune migration directions on a global scale, which are a proxy for the direction of near surface winds.
Speaker: Lior Rubanenko, Stanford
Saturday, 11/13/2021
A Career Journey in the field of Environmental Toxicology - Livestream - 11/13/2021 10:30 AM
California Section American Chemical Society
Dr. Alicia Taylor, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, will cover her early education, what drew her to environmental chemistry, and in particular, environmental toxicology. She will share some tips for early career scientists on how to network, specifically on how to prepare for conference networking and the importance of volunteering in expanding ones network. She will give examples from her own participation in the CA Section ACS, where she serves as the current Chair.
Register at weblink
Raptor Fest - 11/13/2021 12:00 PM
Rancho San Vicente Open Space Preserve San Jose
Join POST and Santa Clara County Parks for an educational experience like no other: Raptor Fest! This incredible event will highlight very important species of raptors, who play an integral role in the health of our ecosystems!
This free educational event will feature presentations and a chance to visit local wildlife and conservation nonprofits or groups who work to protect vital species in the Bay Area.
This is a unique opportunity to see and learn about birds of prey and the importance of conservation in our communities. Presentations will include Master Falconer Kenny Elvin of Full Circle Falconry. Kenny Elvin will be providing a 45-minute falconry presentation several times during the event. Kenny will share about the history of falconry as well as the biology and habits of raptors. The presentation may involve a flight demonstration depending on conditions
Seating for the presentations will be on the ground. Please come prepared with a picnic blanket, a jacket, and sun protection to help you be comfortable sitting in the open field. Low-profile chairs will be allowed, but we will ask that you set-up behind guests seated on blankets.
See weblink to register
Sunday, 11/14/2021
Afternoon Walk at Pillar Point Bluff - 11/14/2021 02:30 PM
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for an afternoon Hike at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by a POST representative who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve that hosts tide pools and breeding grounds for harbor seals.
The walk is moderate at about 2.5 miles round trip with around 300 feet of gradual elevation gain.
In 2004, POST stepped in to fund protection of the bluff, restore it to ecological health, and construct a 1.6-mile section of the California Coastal Trail that now runs across it. Today, all 161 acres of the bluff are fully protected in perpetuity - a process that took four transactions, 11 years of work, and an array of visionaries, landowners and donors, both public and private.
Register at weblink to attend.
Monday, 11/15/2021
Taking Stock of COP26 - Livestream - 11/15/2021 09:00 AM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event
In 2015, delegates from 196 nations entered into the legally binding treaty on climate change known as the Paris Agreement, which set a goal of limiting global warming to “well below 2 and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.” Yet in August of this year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new Assessment Report, which starkly illustrated the world’s collective failure to take meaningful action. UN Secretary General António Guterres called the report “code red for humanity.”
Against this backdrop, delegates from across the globe are again convening, this time in Glasgow from October 31 through November 12, for the international climate summit known as COP26. Six years on from the Paris Agreement, is there finally enough urgency to turn promises into action?
The Monday immediately following this historic summit, join Climate One as we and our expert guests analyze what - if anything - will have come out of the Glasgow summit.
Speakers: Yamide Dagnet, World Resources Institute; Jiang Lin, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab; Greg Dalton, Climate One, Moderator
Register at weblink to receive connection information
UC Berkley Theoretical Astrophysics Center Seminar - 11/15/2021 02:00 PM
Campbell Hall, Rm 131 Berkeley
Speaker: Mark Krumholz
What Physicists Do - Livestream - 11/15/2021 04:00 PM
What Physicists Do - Sonoma State University
Speaker: TBA
Tuesday, 11/16/2021
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del Oro - 11/16/2021 10:00 AM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
The fall and rise of the mass on a spring - Livestream - 11/16/2021 02:30 PM
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Whole Earth Seminar - 11/16/2021 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
The Mushrooms of Cacadia: Why I wrote a new kind of field guide - Livestream - 11/16/2021 07:00 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco
All the Humpback Whales of the Pacific Ocean - Livestream - 11/16/2021 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
Wednesday, 11/17/2021
A Star is Born, and Planets Too - Livestream - 11/17/2021 07:00 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
Postcards from Mars: The Latest from the International Armada of Robot Explorers - Livestream - 11/17/2021 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Series
SETI Talks: UAPs: Are they worth scientific attention? - Livestream - 11/17/2021 07:00 PM
SETI Institute
Thursday, 11/18/2021
The Human and Economic Costs of Climate Inaction - Livestream - 11/18/2021 10:00 AM
The Climate Center
Weekday Morning Walk at Pillar Point Bluff - 11/18/2021 10:00 AM
Peninsula Open Space Trust
AI Is Transforming Health, Space, War, and More - Livestream - 11/18/2021 11:00 AM
Computer History Museum
UC Berkeley Astronomy Colloquium - 11/18/2021 12:40 PM
Campbell Hall, Rm 131 Berkeley
Fun with Flicker Feathers: Studying Genomes to Understand Coloration in the Northern Flicker - Livestream - 11/18/2021 05:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Photosynthesis: How Plants Build the Air we Breathe - Atom by Atom - Livestream - 11/18/2021 05:00 PM
SLAC Public Lecture
Wonderfest - Imagination and Learning - Livestream - 11/18/2021 05:30 PM
Wonderfest
After Dark: GLOW Opening Night - 11/18/2021 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Nightlife - 11/18/2021 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Micromitigation: Fighting Air Pollution with Activated Carbon - Livestream - 11/18/2021 07:00 PM
Counter Culture Labs
Climate and Birds in California - Livestream - 11/18/2021 07:00 PM
Golden Gate Audubon Society
Busting Myths About One of the Largest Volcanic Systems in the World - The Top 10 Misconceptions about Yellowstone Volcanism - Livestream - 11/18/2021 07:00 PM
US Geological Survey Public Lecture Series
Friday, 11/19/2021
Next Steps for United Climate Action - Livestream - 11/19/2021 09:00 AM
Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force
Lawrence Berkeley Lab Virtual Tour - 11/19/2021 11:00 AM
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Understanding the Evolution of the Early Solar System through Paleomagnetism of Meteorites - 11/19/2021 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
From Astrometry to Discovery - Livestream - 11/19/2021 07:00 PM
San Mateo County Astronomical Society
Introduction to modern narrow band filters & Coloring with Narrowband Images using Pixel Math- Livestream - 11/19/2021 07:30 PM
Tri-Valley Stargazers
Saturday, 11/20/2021
Holiday Rock, Gem, and Lapidary Show and Sale - 11/20/2021 10:00 AM
Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange Santa Cruz
Sunday, 11/21/2021
Holiday Rock, Gem, and Lapidary Show and Sale - 11/21/2021 10:00 AM
Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange Santa Cruz
Environment vs. Ecology: Decoding the Decline of a Kelp Forest Ecosystem in Northern California - Livestream - 11/21/2021 01:30 PM
Seymour Science Center