Hello again, dear commendably curious person,
NASA just announced that the ISS will be ‘deorbited’ in January 2030 using three Russian rockets, and that future space stations will be built and operated by private industry. NASA just released this somewhat premature In Memoriam. Where are the burning pieces of the ISS going to land? At Point Nemo, the home of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu.
I decided to list a few ISS statistics for you and me:
Continuously occupied since November 2000
Each of the 16 solar panels is about 35 x 5 meters
Pressurized volume: 915 cu. meters / 32,300 cu. feet
Orbit: Altitude - 420 km / 260 mi; Period - 93 mins; Speed - 27,600 kph / 17,100 mph
Distance traveled to date: 5.6 billion km / 3.5 billion mi (distance to Uranus and back)
Last week i rambled on about the JWST orbiting the L2 Legrange point. Here is a video on that.
NASA has an interactive 3D view of JWST. Go here, click on “Webb in 3d Solar System,” then use your mouse to manipulate the view.
Only nine readers entered the contest to win the laser-cut kit for an 8-inch JWST model. Madalyn was the winner. We have another one to give away this week. Just 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 kit to the person who chose the closest number.
COVID-19
New infections are declining; new deaths are still high; over 900,000 Americans have died from the disease; new strains continue to be discovered; 76% of Americans have received at least one COVID vaccine dose. Although the global death toll is listed at a bit under five million, the true count is likely twice that - or more.
I just learned of more of the many ‘reasons’ some refuse to be vaccinated: cognitive shortcuts including anchoring bias. Whether you are already vaccinated - or you are holding out, this essay by Dr. Schmitz rings true.
New Zealand will begin allowing its citizens to return later this month. In its phased plan, visitors will be allowed into the country starting in October. All, citizens included, will be required to self-isolate for 10 days after entry.
An Australian professor rebuts the idea that COVID will become “endemic” in the strict sense of that term. Instead, she says it will continue to be an epidemic disease, similar to measles and influenza.
¿Looking to make big bucks? You might try monetizing COVID disinformation.
CLIMATE
A year ago, the U.S. Postal Service awarded a contract for as many as 160,000 new mail trucks to replace the Long Life Vehicles (LLVs) now in service since 1987. Ninety percent will be gasoline-powered. OUCH! Finally, this last week, the Biden administration launched an effort to halt or amend the contract due to climate concerns. Nearly half a billion dollars have already been given to the winning contractor.
The New York Times just released 193 ‘“Postcards from a World on Fire,” properly labeled as “Opinion.” I admit to reading, watching, and listening nonstop to the end.
The Great Salt Lake is now at a record low in spite of efforts to return to former levels.
Geothermal energy production could theoretically be employed anywhere on Earth; just drill two holes near each other down to where the rock is hot, use fracking to create cracks between the drill holes, pump ‘cooled’ water down one hole (the injection well) and pump the heated water up the other (production well), then use the hot water to power electric turbines. Problem: (1) fracking sometimes fails; (2) the cracks often close down partially or completely due to mineral deposits or when pressure is reduced during equipment maintenance. [Drum roll…] Enter the “micro drilling turbine.” It is claimed that this device can make numerous 3.6 cm holes extending out 50 meters from drill holes, augmenting cracks or replacing them altogether. We shall see whether it lives up to the hype. But wait! There’s more! Earth may cool down faster than previously believed!! Geothermal energy production might not be viable in another billion years.
I recommend that you do not click on this link to a deep dive into wheat farming in Mexico and a greenhouse gas until you can put aside the time. It is long and involved, but well worth it.
Livestream picks for the week
Recreational Biology: from animals in flatland to topological traps - 4:15pm Monday
Artificial Intelligence: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - 5pm Wednesday
Skeptalk: Who’s Making All Those Scam Calls? - 7:30pm Thursday
VIPER - A Next Great Leap in Mapping Water on the Moon - 8pm Friday
Outside activity of the week
February Bird Walk - 9:30am Tuesday, Berkeley, $
Here are stories of an Australian Thunderbird (not the Ford car) with osteomyelitis and an unhatched oviraptorosaur egg.
Enjoy being adventurous and empathetic this week,
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“Science is often caricatured as a purely empirical and objective pursuit. But in reality, a scientist’s interpretation of the world is influenced by the data she collects, which are influenced by the experiments she designs, which are influenced by the questions she thinks to ask, which are influenced by her identity, her values, her predecessors, and her imagination.”
- Ed Yong
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 02/07/2022
Commercial Plant Nurseries as Habitat for Wild Bees - Livestream - 02/07/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium
Speaker: Jake Cecala, UC Davis
See link for Zoom information
Two Condensed Matter Physics Talks - Livestream - 02/07/2022 02:30 PM
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Superexchange-induced valley splitting in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides
Breaking time-reversal symmetry via an external magnetic field or supporting magnetic substrate has been demonstrated to lift the degeneracy of the band gaps at the inequivalent K and K’ valleys in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), a phenomenon known as valley splitting. However, reported valley splittings thus far are modest, and a detailed structural and chemical understanding of valley splitting via magnetic substrates is lacking. In this talk I will present results from my density functional theory (DFT) investigation of magnetic atoms in proximity to monolayer WSe2 and MoS2 TMDs to demonstrate the sensitivity of this phenomenon to the overlap of TMD Bloch states at the valley extrema with the localized d states of the magnetic atom. I will rationalize these results with a model Hamiltonian with second-order spin-dependent exchange coupling to demonstrate that valley splitting via magnetic substrates is driven by a superexchange mechanism. Finally, I will use these results to offer general design principles and propose optimal magnetic substrates for large valley splitting.
Speaker: Liz Peterson, UC Berkeley
A unified ab-initio framework for studying phonon mediated and limited exciton diffusion in molecular crystals
Developing a predictive first principles framework to accurately describe exciton transport in complex materials remains an open challenge. In organic semiconductors - optoelectronic materials with strong light-matter interactions and chemical tunability - understanding exciton transport is further complicated by the fact that exciton bandwidths and exciton-phonon coupling strengths are similar in magnitude. For these systems, it is unclear a priori whether exciton diffusion is best described by phonon-limited Boltzmann-like or phonon-mediated thermally activated hopping theories. Several computational approaches have been put forward to understand exciton dynamics in the hopping or band-like regime separately; however to date, few approaches exist which are general enough to be applied to both regimes in solids. In this talk, using state-of-the-art density functional perturbation theory and the ab initio GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation approach, we develop a self-contained framework for computing exciton diffusion coefficients for solids in both the band-like and hopping exciton-polaron regimes. We apply our method to a select set of acene crystals, comparing our results in the two limits with experiments and elucidating microscopic origins of exciton diffusion in these and related materials.
Speaker: Jonah Haber, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online
Extreme Astrophysical Accelerators: A Microphysical Perspective - Livestream - 02/07/2022 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium
Astrophysical shock waves are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe. Generated by violent interactions of supersonic plasma flows with the interstellar or intergalactic medium, shocks are inferred to amplify magnetic fields and accelerate electrons and protons to highly relativistic speeds. However, the exact mechanisms that allow these shocks to amplify magnetic fields and produce energetic particles so efficiently remain a mystery and cannot be directly resolved in distant astrophysical objects. I will discuss how the fast progress in numerical simulations and laboratory experiments, associated with powerful light sources and accelerator facilities, is opening new windows into the microphysics of these fascinating cosmic accelerators.
Speaker: Frederico Fiuza, SLAC
See weblink for Zoom information
The Revolution Underway in United States Industrial Policy - Livestream - 02/07/2022 04:00 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
United States industrial policy is undergoing a revolutionary change, with important implications for innovation. The historic understanding of the purpose of federal industrial policy is to support the federal government responsibility to maintain employment, stability, and growth. But today federal industrial policy is being defined by a new set of aggressive policy measures, intended to influence private sector investment decisions and how firms operate. The measures are breathtaking in financial scale and scope and enjoy bipartisan support in congress and from the administration.
Speaker: John Deutch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emeritus
Mayte Sanchez was originally scheduled to speak on this date.
See weblink for connection link.
Recreational Biology: from animals in flatland to topological traps - Livestream - 02/07/2022 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Recreational mathematics involves mathematical puzzles and games, often appealing to children and untrained adults, inspiring their further study of the subject. Can a similar analogy be drawn in biology? Without making any claims of usefulness, we will explore a wide range of puzzles in living systems including: Can single cells be toroidal in nature? Can a two-dimensional animal exist? How would these geometries manifest themselves in physiology of these systems. Can cells “literally” talk to each other? Can single cells think? How fast can a cell “blink”? How did the first multicellular life coordinate itself? Finally, we will reflect if curiosity is a good to have or a must have for biomedical progress; and how do we support it.
Speaker: Manu Prakash, Stanford University
See weblink for Zoom information
Tequiologies: Indigenous Solutions Against Climate Catastrophe - Livestream - 02/07/2022 05:00 PM
UC Berkeley
It is a myth of the West’s choosing: perpetual economic growth, advancing through a digestive system of sorts, one that uses technology as one of its core components. In its churn, ecosystems became goods; people, mere consumers. The myth turned the world into a place increasingly inhospitable to human life. An alternative, offered by Abya Yala, lies in separating economic development and the development of new technologies from consumerism. This would place technological creation and ingenuity once again at the service of the common good, not of the market. Technology as tequio; technological creation and innovation as a common good.
Speaker: Yasnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, UC Berkeley
See weblink for connection information
Tuesday, 02/08/2022
February Bird Walk - 02/08/2022 09:30 AM
UC Botanical Garden Berkeley
While winter birds are still abundant in the Garden, this month we will be looking for the earliest of our spring migrants with our guide, Chris Carmichael, PhD. Masks are required during this walk. We suggest bringing binoculars if you have them, and layers in case it is a chilly morning. Heavy rain cancels this walk.
Insights into runoff generation mechanisms in seasonally dry California from field observations and isotopic dynamics - 02/08/2022 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Speaker: Jesse Hahm, Simon Fraser University
Reinventing Batteries through Nanoscience - 02/08/2022 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
The fast growth of portable power sources for transportation and grid-scale stationary storage presents great opportunities for new battery chemistries. The invention of lithium ion batteries has been recognized with Nobel Prize in 2019. How to increase energy density, reduce cost, speed up charging, extend life, enhance safety and reuse/recycle are critical challenges. Here I will present how we utilize nanoscience to reinvent batteries and address many of challenges by understanding the materials and interfaces through new tools and providing new materials guiding principles. The topics to be discussed include: 1) A breakthrough tool of cryogenic electron microscopy, leading to atomic scale resolution of fragile battery materials and interfaces. 2) Materials design to enable high capacity materials: Si and Li metal anodes and S cathodes. 3) Interfacial design with polymer and inorganic coating to enhance cycling efficiency of battery electrodes. 4) New electrolyte design. 5) New battery chemistry for grid scale storage.
Speaker: Yi Cui, Stanford University
Pollinators in the Dark: Bats and their Flowers - 02/08/2022 06:00 PM
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Santa Cruz
Bat diversity around the world includes remarkable adaptations, including species that are highly specialized to drink nectar and pollinate flowers. Worldwide, bats pollinate about 500 different plant species, some of which are commercially important, such as durian in southeast Asia, columnar cacti that produce pitaya fruits in Mexico, and, of course, the wild cultivars of agave for mescal and tequila. Nectar feeding bats live in tropical habitats, although some nectar-feeding bat species perform long distance migrations, following a nectar corridor in Mexico into the southwestern United States.
Speaker Winifred Frick, UC Santa Cruz
Wednesday, 02/09/2022
Targeting the Immune Exoproteome - Livestream - 02/09/2022 12:00 PM
UC Berkeley
Dr. Aaron Ring, Yale University, will present his lab’s efforts to engineer cytokine pathways for cancer immunotherapy and novel approaches in systems immunology to profile functional autoantibody responses.
Register at weblink to attend.
Ask the Scientist - Ben Rubinoff - Livestream - 02/09/2022 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.
Spatial and Temporal Variability in Processes Regulating Estuarine Fouling Communities - Livestream - 02/09/2022 03:40 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center
Estuarine invertebrates experience high interannual variability in abiotic conditions. Additionally, estuaries are hotspots for biological invasions, and increased stress-tolerance among introduced species could change invertebrate species interactions. Using sessile invertebrates, I investigated how processes influencing communities change spatially and temporally in Tomales Bay, CA. Over the summers of 2018 - 2020, I conducted experiments to determine how effects of predators differ inside seagrass, across the estuarine gradient, and over multiple years. I found that the introduction of non-native predators and prey to this system resulted in different outcomes than what is predicted by ecological theory, and effects of predators are not consistent across habitats, the estuarine gradient, or even at the same site over multiple years. While the complexity of these results makes it difficult to predict what will happen to future estuarine communities, climate change will continue to squeeze estuarine ecosystems, favoring non-native species and altering estuarine food webs.
Speaker: Ben Rubinoff, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
See weblink for Zoom registration
Time, Einstein, and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe - Livestream - 02/09/2022 04:10 PM
UC Berkeley
At the beginning of the 20th century Einstein changed the way we think about Time. Now, early in the 21st century, the measurement of Time is being revolutionized by the ability to cool a gas of atoms to temperatures millions of times lower than any naturally occurring temperature in the universe. Atomic clocks, the best timekeepers ever made, are one of the scientific and technological wonders of modern life. Such super-accurate clocks are essential to industry, commerce, and science; they are the heart of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which guides cars, airplanes, and hikers to their destinations. Today, the best primary atomic clocks use ultracold atoms, achieve accuracies of about one second in 300 million years, while a new generation of atomic clocks is leading us to re-define what we mean by time. Super-cold atoms, with temperatures that can be below a billionth of a degree above absolute zero, use, and allow tests of, some of Einstein’s strangest predictions.
Speaker: William Phillips, University of Maryland
Artificial Intelligence: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Livestream - 02/09/2022 05:00 PM
Caltech
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a remarkable technology that has profoundly impacted our lives. It now beats humans at some of their own games. How did we get here? In this lecture, Abu-Mostafa will describe the scientific journey of AI since the 1980s, as well as Caltech's foundational role in its development, providing examples of AI's achievements and its potential. He will also address the hype that surrounds AI, both positive and negative, and put it in scientific perspective.
Speaker: Yaser Abu-Mostafa, Caltech
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Finding Habitable Planets Here and Among the Stars - Livestream - 02/09/2022 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Series
The more we learn about other worlds, the better we understand our own. Astronomers today ask: what makes a world habitable? What creates and sustains an environment friendly to life? NASA has several new missions ready to address this topic, from the Parker Solar Probe, studying our Sun’s wind; to new exploration of cloud-shrouded Venus; to the samples of asteroid now on their way back to Earth as we speak. And NASA’s climate supercomputers stand ready to interpret data on planets orbiting other stars that come back from the Webb Telescope. Dr. Thaller will guide us through the new instruments and new research.
Speaker: Michelle Thaller is an astrophysicist with over two decades of science communication experience. Her research involves the life-cycles of stars, and she has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Headquarters, and the Goddard Space Flight Center, where she is currently the liaison between the Office of Communication and the Science Directorate. Outside her work at NASA, she has appeared in many television science programs, including How the Universe Works and Space’s Deepest Secrets. She has done two TEDx talks about astronomy, and has hosted the podcast Orbital Path on public radio.
Attend, or view later, at this link.
Thursday, 02/10/2022
The International System of Units (the SI), the modern metric system, has recently undergone its most revolutionary change since its origins during the French Revolution. The nature of this revolution is that all of the base units of the SI are now defined by fixing values of natural constants. Our measurement system is now, both philosophically and practically, strongly quantum. This talk will describe why this reform was needed and how it is done.
Speaker: William Phillips, University of Maryland
After Dark: Sexplorations - 02/10/2022 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Looking for a hot night out on the town? Slip into something comfortable and take an intimate look at sex - you know, the transfer of genetic information through sperm and eggs, which has resulted in evolution and specialization among species over time. From the lengths we’ll go to for sex and the mating rituals of zebrafish to the naughty bits of flowers, learn from Exploratorium biologists about the varied and creative ways in which the natural world gets it on.
Nightlife - 02/10/2022 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Calling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude the albino alligator), the night is sure to be wild.
Step inside the iconic Shake House and our four-story Rainforest, where you can explore the Amazon’s treetops surrounded by free-flying birds and butterflies. Reservations for these exhibits are no longer required. However, please note that the last entry into the rainforest is 7:30 pm - our animals need their sleep.
Venture into our latest aquarium exhibit Venom to encounter live venomous animals and learn the power of venom to both harm and heal.
Visit the BigPicture exhibit in the Piazza to marvel at the most recent winners of the BigPicture Natural Photography competition.
Bask in the glow of one of the largest living coral reef displays in the world: our 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef tank.
Take in the interstellar views from the Living Roof, then grab a bite from the Academy Cafe and head to the West Garden outdoor bar to drink and dine under the stars. For adults 21+.
Where is the Wild After Wildfire? - Livestream - 02/10/2022 06:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Forests that have experienced fire are vibrant, dazzling, full of life, and rapidly regenerating. Wildflowers and thousands of tree seedlings are bursting from the earth; the air is full of birdsong. The flowers attract insects, which attract birds and smaller mammals, which in turn attract the raptors and larger mammals. And so the cascading effects continue! Because our understanding is young and rather new, it is quite common to see these public forests logged very soon after wildfire. The best of the young forests - saplings and wildflowers and entire watersheds - are razed to the ground to support plantation-style projects. But there is plenty of hope! Join us as Maya Khosla shares a visually exquisite celebration of wilderness and an awareness of the challenges involved with saving it.
In 2016, Maya completed a film about woodpeckers - Searching for the Gold Spot: The Wild after Wildfire (hint: the male Black-backed Woodpecker has a gold spot on his head!), screening the film all over the US. Since that time, Maya has been documenting bears, foxes, Pacific fishers, bobcats and mountain lions - all utilizing the beautiful post fire forests (that are intact, not logged). Maya will share slides of rare Black-backed Woodpeckers, Goshawks, Spotted Owls, their young, and many other animals using forests soon after wildfire - a surprise and a new sense of hope for all. With Valentine's Day around the corner, we'll also hear about the way pairs of animals bond with each other!
Speaker: Maya Khosla, wildlife biologist
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Skeptalk: Who’s Making All Those Scam Calls? - Livestream - 02/10/2022 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Everyone has experienced the call. “This is Alex from the credit card company. We have a refund we want to give you that has to be deposited directly into your bank account. What is your bank account number?” or words to that effect. Or maybe “Alex” (or “Vicki”, or “Josh”) has bad news: your credit rating will plummet if you don’t send his/her company $200 immediately. What’s your credit card number? Calls like this bilk tens of thousands of people - many of them elderly - out of billions of dollars every year. What happens when a reporter traces one of these calls back to its source - in this case, to an Indian boiler room - with the assistance of a Brit hacker. Who is making all those scam calls, anyway, and what’s their story?
Speaker: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, reporter
See weblink for online information
Virtual Telescope Viewing - Candeled - 02/10/2022 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center
This event is now planned for the third Thursday of each month. See our listing for 2/17/2022
Friday, 02/11/2022
Pyroclastic activity on Venus: what we know and don't know - 02/11/2022 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Indujaa Ganesh, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory - University of Arizona
Designing Functional Sites in Porous Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion - 02/11/2022 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Despite their high theoretical specific energy of 2,600 Wh kg-1, the commercialization of Li-S devices is hindered by irreversible capacity loss from the dissolution of polysulfide intermediates in the electrolyte solution. We report novel strategies to design reactive sites for polysulfide adsorption in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to improve capacity retention and ionic conductivity. Incorporation of redox-active moieties in the framework further enable fast charge and discharge capabilities. These design elements ultimately enhance the charge storage ability and cycle life of the batteries. In addition, we will present new methods to probe the electrode-electrolyte interfaces in electrocatalysis using advanced electrochemical techniques such as in-situ vibrational spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The ubiquity of surfactants and carbon supports in catalysis warrants a closer examination on their influence on the electrode-electrolyte interface during carbon dioxide reduction. New insights on the impact of molecular additives and carbonaceous materials on product formation and Faradaic efficiency in electrocatalytic carbon conversion will be discussed.
Speaker: Sara Thoi, Johns Hopkins
VIPER - A Next Great Leap in Mapping Water on the Moon - Livestream - 02/11/2022 08:00 PM
San Mateo County Astronomical Society
NASA is sending a mobile robot to the surface of the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of ice and other resources. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is the first resource-mapping mission on another celestial body. VIPER will give us surface-level detail of where the water is and how much is available for us to use to support future human space exploration. Scientifically, ground-truthing the water presence at rover/human scales can tackle open questions on the origin of the water, hydroxyl, and other volatiles, how much is there today, how did it get there, and equally important, why is it still there? This talk summarizes the motivations for, the design of, the challenges at lunar poles, and the significance of this mission.
Speaker: Dr. KIimberly Ennico Smith, NASA Ames
Saturday, 02/12/2022
The Renaissance of Astrophysics: A landscape of opportunities in the era of observations with gravitational waves and light - 02/12/2022 11:00 AM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Astronomical transients are events that appear and disappear in the night sky, and are signposts of catastrophic events in space, including the most extreme stellar deaths, stellar tidal disruptions by supermassive black holes, and mergers of black holes and neutron stars. Thanks to new and improved observational facilities, we can now sample the night sky with unprecedented time and depth across the electromagnetic spectrum and beyond. This effort has led to the discovery of new types of stellar explosions, revolutionized our understanding of phenomena that we thought we already knew, and enabled the first insights into the physics of neutron star mergers with gravitational waves and light. In this talk I will review some very recent developments that resulted from our new capability to study the universe utilizing gravitational waves and light.
Speaker: Dr. Raffaella Margutti, UC Berkeley
Sunday, 02/13/2022
A Child's Botanical Valentine Tea - Livestream - 02/13/2022 10:00 AM
UC Botanical Garden
Our annual Botanical Valentine's Day Tea Family Program tradition returns as an at-home tea party and Zoom program. Enjoy a celebration of herbs and flowers as we use all of our senses to explore these fragrant edibles (kit included) and talk about their many uses. Finish the fun by making valentines from pressed botanicals. Kit pick-up from the Garden required either the Friday or Saturday ahead of the Sunday program. Kit includes: - Dried herbal and floral teas - Dried crafting herbs and materials - Pressed botanicals (leaves and flowers) - Blank cards for valentines - Glue stick - Some surprises :) Optional: Purchase a 6x6 Plant Press as an add-on to the program for $15 and your child can make their own pressed botanicals! Parents will need to help with tea-making including hot water and cups. Recommended shopping list to make tea party complete provided in the confirmation email, along with Zoom link.
Afternoon Hike at Mindego Hill - FULL - 02/13/2022 01:00 PM
Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve Los Altos
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful 5-mile hike from the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve to the top of the POST-protected Mindego Hill. You will be guided by POST ambassadors who will share details about how we protected this beautiful property featuring panoramic views of redwood ridges and undulating hillsides.
The hike is strenuous at about 5 miles round trip with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, so be prepared for a workout! Athletic wear and sturdy shoes are recommended! If you’d like to bring your own hiking poles, you’re more than welcome.
Monday, 02/14/2022
Live from the Field: Conservation Through Art & Science - Livestream - 02/14/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium
Speakers: Six Researchers & Artists from Field Stations & Marine Labs Across the Country
See link for Zoom information
Symbolic Systems Forum - Livestream - 02/14/2022 12:15 PM
Stanford Symbolic Systems Forum
Speaker: Chris Potts, Stanford University
See weblink to register
Quantum Nanophotonics Hardware: From Nanofabrication to Quantum Circuit Mapping - Livestream - 02/14/2022 02:30 PM
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Photonic systems are the leading candidates for deterministic quantum sources, quantum repeaters, and other key devices for quantum information processing. Scalability of this technology depends on the stability, homogeneity and coherence properties of quantum emitters. Here, color centers in wide band gap materials offer favorable properties for applications in quantum memories, single-photon sources, quantum sensors, and spin-photon interfaces [1,2]. Silicon carbide, in particular, has been an attractive commercial host of color centers featuring fiber-compatible single photon emission, long spin-coherence times and nonlinear optical properties [3]. Integration of color centers with nanophotonic devices has been a challenging task, but significant progress has been made with demonstrations up to 120-fold resonant emission enhancement of emitters embedded in photonic crystal cavities [4]. A novel direction in overcoming the integration challenge has been the development of triangular photonic devices, recently shown to preserve millisecond-scale spin-coherence in silicon carbide defects [5,6]. Triangular photonics has promising applications in quantum networks, integrated quantum circuits, and quantum simulation. Here, open quantum system modeling provides insights into polaritonic physics achievable with realistic device parameters through evaluation of cavity-protection, localization and phase transition effects [7]. Mapping of this dynamics to gate-based quantum circuits opens door for quantum advantage in understanding cavity quantum electrodynamical (QED) effects using commercial Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) hardware [8].
Speaker: Marina Radulaski, UC Davis
Attend in person or online. See weblink for Zoom information
Energy Seminar: Joel Swisher - Livestream - 02/14/2022 04:00 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
Joel Swisher is Director of the Institute for Energy Studies and Research Professor of Environmental Science in the Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University. The Institute seeks to educate leaders in building a clean and efficient energy future through interdisciplinary studies and research. Dr. Swisher is responsible for guiding the institute's research and academic programs, defining strategy and new directions, securing internal and external support, and executing its mission.
See weblink for connection link.
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - Livestream - 02/14/2022 04:15 PM
UC Berkeley
Speaker: TBA
See weblink for Zoom information
Slugs & Steins : What is the Dark Matter? - Livestream - 02/14/2022 06:30 PM
UC Santa Cruz
Four fifths of the matter in the universe is made of something completely different from the "ordinary matter" we know and love. I will explain why this "dark matter" is an unavoidable ingredient to explain the universe as we observe it, and I will describe what the fundamental, particle nature of the dark matter could possibly consist of. I will then give an overview of strategies to search for dark matter as a particle, describe a few examples of possible hints of discovery, and outline ways forward in this exciting hunt.
Speaker: Stefano Profumo, UC Santa Cruz
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Tuesday, 02/15/2022
Weekday Morning Hike at Rancho Cañada del Oro - FULL - 02/15/2022 10:00 AM
Rancho Cañada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Whales, their song, their culture: another intelligence on Earth - Livestream - 02/15/2022 11:00 AM
SETI Institute
Uncovering Cancer-Associated Epigenetic Events Using Novel Chemical Tools - 02/15/2022 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Whole Earth Seminar - 02/15/2022 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Wild Mushroom Cookery - Livestream - 02/15/2022 07:00 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco
Wednesday, 02/16/2022
This Way to the Universe ... and to the Edge of Reality - Livestream - 02/16/2022 03:00 PM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event
Coastal acidification in estuaries: lessons of vulnerability and exposure from the Eastern oyster - Livestream - 02/16/2022 03:40 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center
Climate Change and Drought - Livestream - 02/16/2022 04:00 PM
Acterra
From Healthy Whales to Healthy Oceans - Livestream - 02/16/2022 05:30 PM
UC Santa Cruz
February LASER Event - Livestream - 02/16/2022 06:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous
Nature x Humanity - 02/16/2022 07:00 PM
Herbst Theater San Francisco
Shocking Origin: Meteor Impacts and the Chemistry of Life - Livestream - 02/16/2022 07:00 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
Nerd Nite SF # 122: Glass, Ecology, Identity! - 02/16/2022 08:00 PM
Rickshaw Stop San Francisco
Thursday, 02/17/2022
Habitat Talk: Woodlands - Livestream - 02/17/2022 11:00 AM
London Natural History Society
Virtual Tour: The UCBG Asian Collection - 02/17/2022 01:00 PM
UC Botanical Garden
Tank Automation for Wine - Livestream - 02/17/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Engineering Colloquium
Playing with Power: Interdisciplinary Insights from the Fastest Creatures - Livestream - 02/17/2022 05:00 PM
Cafe Scientifique Silicon Valley
Noise Pop Nightlife - 02/17/2022 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Science of Cocktails @ After Dark - SOLD OUT - 02/17/2022 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The California Spotted Owl - Livestream - 02/17/2022 07:00 PM
Golden Gate Audubon Society
Virtual Telescope Viewing - 02/17/2022 09:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center
Friday, 02/18/2022
Toward Cognitive Search - Using Machine-Learning on Digital Media Collections - Livestream - 02/18/2022 11:00 AM
Computer History Museum
The Red Sun - Livestream - 02/18/2022 11:30 AM
Astronomical Society of Edinburgh
Crustal deformation and fault slip due to water extraction and injection - 02/18/2022 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Low Temperature Detectors - Livestream - 02/18/2022 07:30 PM
Tri-Valley Stargazers
Saturday, 02/19/2022
#NoToPlastic Community Clean-Ups - 02/19/2022 09:45 AM
Oakland Zoo Oakland
Mars Rover Landing Anniversary Party! - 02/19/2022 11:00 AM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The Messier Marathon - Livestream - 02/19/2022 07:00 PM
East Bay Astronomical Society
Sunday, 02/20/2022
Morning Hike at La Honda Open Space Preserve - FULL - 02/20/2022 10:00 AM
La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve La Honda
Mars Rover Landing Anniversary Party! - 02/20/2022 12:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Monday, 02/21/2022
Microbes in Space: A 'micro' journey from Deep Sea to Deep Space - Livestream - 02/21/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium