Greetings Science Fans,
問候科學迷們
Wènhòu kēxué mímen (Mandarin)
Man6hau6 fo1hok6 mai4 (Cantonese)
[Over half a million Bay Area residents speak Chinese at home.]
“Scienceploitation” is the misuse of science to influence the governed. Examples:
Fossil-fuel-industry-picked climate-crisis deniers wrote the government’s 2025 Climate Synthesis report. [Note: Direct U.S. government subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry is about $140 per person per year.]
David Geier, a conspiracist who claimed vaccines cause autism, heads an HHS study on the links between vaccinations and autism spectrum disorder.
The Administration halted mRNA vaccine research because of imagined “limitations” of the technology.
The Administration halted research and support of renewable energy because it claims wind and solar energy are wasteful, expensive, and harmful to agriculture and the environment.
The Administration has withdrawn billions of dollars for scientific research from Universities and billions from federal agency science research.
I strongly urge you to watch this short video of Fareed Zacharia’s take on U.S. science.
Question: What is the political ideology that is based on notions of the nation’s superiority and exceptionalism, with a government led by a strong, central authority that emphasizes military power, suppresses opposition, squelches independent centers of thought, and scapegoats minorities?
Answer: Fascism
There are hundreds of #WorkersOverBillionaires Labor Day demonstrations planned. Find one near you. Let your neighbors - and the world - know that things are not OK.
RAFFLE
Noelle? Where are you? Your guess of 228 was closest to the eOracle’s 209 so you won the James Webb Space Telescope t-shirt, but my emails to you have not been answered.
Who could turn down an R2D2 color-change LED lamp. (R2D2 is ‘flat’ rather than 3D as it appears.) It’s 23 cm tall with stand. You can let it change color or choose your favorite. Just send an email before noon Friday to david.almandsmith <at> gmail <dot> com with your guess of an integer between 0 and 1,000.
PHYSICS
This neatly shows how the fabric of space is distorted with waves propagating from a mass that is accelerating radially (i.e. going in a circle). Those are the gravitational waves that LIGO detects from the spiralling mergers of massive objects like black holes and neutron stars.
Sign up for a physics course on Zoom taught by Professor Andrew Fraknoi
Atomic Science for Poets: The Mysterious World Inside the Atom
Tuesdays Oct. 7 – Nov. 11 from 12:30 to 2:30pm via Zoom
It is brought to you by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University. “No background in science or math will be assumed or necessary, but some of the ideas might just make your brain sizzle.” Space is limited: Register early.
Sign in or create a free account HERE
Join the Institute HERE (a modest $55 fee)
Register for the class HERE
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK – My Picks
IMAX: Space the New Frontier Monday multiple times, The Tech Interactive, San José, $
SETI Live: Life in Titan’s Ocean? Livestream Thursday 11am
Separating Hope from Hype in the Search for Alien Life Livestream Thursday 4pm
After Dark: Unplug and Play Thursday 6 - 10pm, ExplOratorium, S.F., $
First Friday: Close Encounters Friday 6 - 10pm, Chabot Space & Sci. Ctr., Oakland, $
World Shorebirds Day Bird Walk Saturday 10 - 11:30am, Alviso
ConnectFest Sunday 10am - 2pm, San Francisco
PALEONTOLOGY
Before there were dinosaurs, our planet harboured many species of reptiles - as it still does. This beastie was about 25 cm from nose to tail tip and sported an intriguing huge colorful crest likely made of cartilage. ¿For wooing lady Mirasauras?
Yikes. That spiky weaponized tail puts this two-ton dinosaur in the family of ankylosaurs. But those meter-long neck spikes are beyond anything we have seen before. I wonder how they mated. Spicomellus afer lived about 160 mya. It was herbivorous, so the Nightmare of the Week goes to our next creature.
Kostensuchus was a walking terrestrial crocodilian. It had hips that nearly replicated those of dinosaurs which would have improved its speed for catching prey. Its 3.5 meter length made it smallish compared to aquatic crocodilians of its day (70 mya), but large enough and fast enough to gorge itself on human time travelers. Kostensuchus easily qualifies as our Nightmare of the Week!
FUN NERDY VIDEOS
Livestream video from the ISS: Watch Earth Live (but maybe mute the soundtrack)
12m Radar Reflector Deployed in Space - NASA - 1 min
Solar Farm “Panel Sheep” - RE Alliance - Tony Inder - 1.5 mins
The Mediterranean Sea: Ancient Cataclysm - Hannah Fry - 2 mins
General Relativity: 7 Levels of Complexity - Minute Physics - Henry Reich - 5 mins
New Dark Matter Clues - Sabine Hossenfelder - 5 mins
Skepticism: Your Mind’s Most Underrated Defense - Big Think - Alex Edmans - 6 mins
82,000 year-old Footprints - History with Kayleigh - Kayleigh During - 8 mins
¿Is it Aliens? - Star Talk - Neil deGrasse Tyson - 11 mins
Gimbal UFO Analysis - Mick West - 21 mins
¿Is Xylitol Actually Good for Us? - SciShow - Savannah Geary - 12 mins
Meatless Meats of the Future - Sci Show - Stefan Chin - 15 mins
Debunk the Climate Nonsense - Just Have a Think - Dave Borlace - 17 mins
Reasons We Refuse the Metric System - Type Ashton - Ashton Schottler - 19 mins
Lutetium - Tales from the Periodic Table - Ron Hipschman - 23 mins
Lithium-Ion Battery: History & Danger - Veritaseum - Derek Muller - 34 mins
You may have noticed that i often sign off encouraging you to practice empathy with people of other ideological and social realities - and even with other living things - in order to realize their existence and their reality is much like yours, and in that realization it becomes easier to feel compassion toward them. However, there is also tactical - or strategic - empathy. Tactical empathy is understanding how others perceive things in order to negotiate with them or to manipulate them. Child-rearing, for example, requires empathy for compassion, for negotiation, and for manipulation. Political campaign advisors use tactical empathy to manipulate voters. Wranglers use tactical empathy to induce horses to cooperate with riders. You are not a horse, but you are a voter and a target for manipulation.
Have a fun week and expand your bubble of empathy - with compassion in mind
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“Good liars are skilled at reading others well, putting them at ease, managing their own emotions, and intuitively sensing how others perceive them.”
—Pamela Meyer, American author, fraud examiner, and entrepreneur
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 09/01/2025
'Space: The New Frontier' in IMAX at The Tech Interactive - 09/01/2025 11:30 AM
The Tech Interactive San Jose
A new space age has arrived, and audiences can witness it unfold on the largest dome screen in the West. Space: The New Frontier takes viewers behind the scenes of the groundbreaking technologies and bold missions that are bringing humanity closer to becoming a spacefaring species.
Narrated by Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman), the film offers a thrilling front-row seat to history in the making: rockets that launch without fuel, self-assembling habitats, commercial space stations, and the Lunar Gateway that will serve as our launchpad to deep space. Filmed in stunning 8K, the documentary captures the awe-inspiring rumble of Artemis I, putting audiences right inside the action.
The film also features real-life pioneers shaping our future beyond Earth, including astronaut Victor Glover - set to become the first Black man to orbit the Moon - and space architect Ariel Ekblaw, who is designing the infrastructure for life beyond our planet.
Showings at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm
Tuesday, 09/02/2025
Understanding Addiction and Recovery Night 1 - Harm Reduction - 09/02/2025 06:00 PM
Manny's San Francisco
Join Mission Local managing editor and columnist Joe Eskenazi along with Dr. Daniel Ciccarone in a discussion about what harm reduction is, what it isn't and why it's demonization is not helpful or scientific.
Dr. Daniel Ciccarone is Professor, Family and Community Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco. He is a recognized international scholar on the medical, public health, and public policy dimensions of substance use, risk, and consequences.
Part one of "Understanding Addiction and Recovery"
Attend in person or online (See weblink).
Full series pass is $46
Wednesday, 09/03/2025
OceanOneK: A Deep-Sea Robotic Avatar - Livestream - 09/03/2025 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Distancing humans physically from dangerous and unreachable spaces while connecting their skills, intuition, and experience to the task promises to fundamentally alter the future of work and remote robotic operations in extreme environments. This has been thoroughly illustrated during the recent expeditions of OceanOneK, where its advanced autonomous skills for physical interaction in deep-sea have been effectively combined with the cognitive abilities of a human expert through an intuitive haptic/stereo-vision interface. During several archaeological expeditions in the Mediterranean, OceanOneK demonstrated remarkable performance in operating at deep depths. These developments show how human-robot collaboration-induced synergy can expand our abilities to reach new resources, deliver medical care to distant patients, build and maintain remote infrastructure, and perform disaster prevention and recovery operations - be it deep in oceans and mines, at mountain tops, or in space.
Speaker: Oussama Khatib, Stanford University
Register at weblink
The peacebuilding potential of international ocean science cooperation - 09/03/2025 11:00 AM
Coastal Biology Bldg Santa Cruz
A historical perspective provides a rich catalogue of examples of ocean science collaboration flourishing even in parts of the world facing a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, overlapping and rapidly expanding ocean uses, unresolved maritime boundaries, and outright conflict. How do these collaborations emerge? How do they persist? And how can we understand their capacity to mitigate conflict? This talk will draw on environmental peacebuilding literature to suggest that such collaborations are a meaningful contribution to a more peaceful world, and will open into a discussion of how to build and foster collaboration in a polarized world.
Speaker: Robert Blasiak, Stockholm University, Sweden
Attend in person, or register at weblink to attend via Zoom
Warming seawater and disease in iconic crustacean fisheries - Livestream - 09/03/2025 03:00 PM
Bodega Marine Laboratory
Join us for the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Seminar Series, featuring speakers from within the marine sciences community and beyond.
Speaker: Maya Groner, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, Maine
Register at weblink to receive connection information
EUV Lithography: History, Latest Results, Technology Roadmap - 09/03/2025 04:00 PM
Soda Hall Berkeley
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, various research groups - not UC Berkeley, which focused on optical lithography - started to work on next-generation lithography (NGL) technologies. The chief rationale was the “foreseeable” resolution limit of optical lithography being no better than 0.5 µm. In those days, excimer-laser-based deep-ultraviolet lithography was not yet around and high-numerical-aperture (NA) lenses were considered difficult to fabricate without introducing a lot of aberrations. In short, the future of optical lithography looked discouraging. Among the NGL technologies, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) was actually a later comer, with its long development process starting in the mid-1980s. Never could its pioneers imagine that the technology’s gestation period would be more than thirty years. In the meantime, optical lithography continued to make progress, culminating in 193-nm immersion lithography. Advances in optical lithography carried the geometrical scaling and provided the needed extra years for EUVL to mature.
EUVL entered the high-volume production of semiconductor chips in 2019, at the 7-nm node of logic integrated circuits, and enabled the continued geometrical scaling. Since then, it has been used in research and development as well as the production of advanced logic and DRAM chips, and the performance of EUV exposure systems in both imaging and productivity continues to improve. Meanwhile, after about ten years of development, 0.55 NA exposure systems became available in 2024. The latest lithographic results from such a system will be presented. High-NA EUVL will enable further scaling of logic and DRAM devices, and perhaps new-type devices of the future.
Like optical lithography, the resolution of EUVL, in terms of the half-pitch, follows the well-known expression k1NA. So what’s next? In optical immersion lithography, k1<0.3 is realized in routine production while in EUV lithography the corresponding number is k1=0.4. How to lower the k1-factor further? Do we need an even higher NA? Our presentation will conclude with a discussion on resolution enhancement and ASML’s EUV technology roadmap.
Speakers: Anthony Yen, UC Berkeley, ASML; Ronald Goossens, ASML
Attend in person or click here to watch online
Osprey Part 2 - Eggs, Chicks, and Foster Families - Livestream - 09/03/2025 05:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
In 2023, Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care's Executive Director was tasked with incubating two sets of Osprey eggs, raising the chicks and finding them suitable wild foster nests. In 2024, Stephanie gave a wonderful Birdy Hour talk for our Fall Challenge about this experience, which you can watch for free on our website.
At this year's Birdy Hour, Stephanie will discuss this intensive process along with its successes and challenges, and how the strategies have changed in the past three years. In 2025, Stephanie worked with a local utility company to find suitable nests and gave an infertile Osprey mother a chance to hatch her own eggs. Stephanie will touch upon the history of Osprey on Cape Cod - a true conservation success story, and discuss legalities involved in working with Osprey nests, eggs and chicks.
Register at weblink
We are excited to hear from the Southwest Research Institute’s, Dr. Stephen Fuselier: “Exoplanet Habitability and Interstellar Travel: It’s Complicated!” and University of Texas - San Antonio/ Southwest Research Institute”s Jasmine Singh: “The Ins and Outs of Being a “STEM-fluencer”“.
Click here to watch the lectures, then click on "live".
Technology for Good: Nonprofits Use Software & Data to Solve Problems - 09/03/2025 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Join us to hear from a MacArthur genius awardee, former rocket engineer, and passionate leader in the social enterprise movement - Jim Fruchterman - about using technology for positive social change.
To a lot of people in big business, the only worthy ideas are those that make a lot of money, preferably billions. But Jim Fruchterman believes there is a different path for technology. What if tech returned to its roots and made people more effective and powerful? What if the benefits of technology came to the 90 percent of humanity traditionally neglected by for-profit companies in favor of immense profits gained by focusing on the richest 10 percent? Fruchterman explores these questions in his book Technology for Good and delivers a comprehensive how-to for leaders who want to create, expand, join, support and improve organizations that see building technology as a key element of delivering on their social good mission.
Fruchterman argues that tech is required for social change at scale. He offers guidance on how to structure, fund, staff, manage, scale and sustain nonprofits that leverage technology for social good. His vision is a call to action with a genuinely global focus, creating a path toward a future in which human beings come before profits.
Understanding Addiction Night 2 - the Overdose Epidemic and Recovery Debate - 09/03/2025 06:00 PM
Manny's San Francisco
In late 1990s San Francisco, more than 100 people died of heroin overdoses a year. In the fentanyl era, those numbers seem quaint. At least 600 people have died of overdose every year since 2020, with a high of 810 in 2023.
The unrelenting tragic pace - 358 more in the first half of 2025 - has spurred debate about harm reduction, a complex set of policies and tools that grew out of the AIDS crisis and became official city policy in 2000. It includes Narcan, medication-assisted treatment, and supportive housing that permits the use of drugs and alcohol. Some policy makers, health providers, and advocates are examining what’s working and what isn’t. How can San Francisco get beyond its typical polarization to help people with addiction and recovery?
Join us for a discussion with two people on the front lines. Del Seymour knows the Tenderloin, ground zero of SF’s overdose epidemic, better than anyone. He was an addict and dealer in the neighborhood for 18 years. He now runs Code Tenderloin and leads walking tours there, and serves on a local homelessness oversight board. Keith Humphreys is a Stanford University professor who studies addiction science and public policy. He was a policy advisor in the Bush and Obama administrations.
Humphreys and Seymour will be in conversation, moderated by The Frisc editor Alex Lash
Part two of "Understanding Addiction and Recovery"
Attend in person or online (See weblink).
Full series pass is $46
Thursday, 09/04/2025
SETI Live: Life in Titan’s Ocean? - 09/04/2025 11:00 AM
SETI Live
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is a world of methane rivers and lakes, icy boulders, sandy dunes, and a vast subsurface ocean. Could this distant world harbor life? A new study led by Dr. Antonin Affholder, now a fellow at ETH Zurich, suggests that Titan’s ocean might support life - but only in the tiniest amounts, making it incredibly hard to find. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with Dr. Affholder to explore what this means for the search for life beyond Earth, why organics on Titan may not provide enough fuel, and how NASA’s Dragonfly mission might help answer these questions.
Click here to watch on YouTube
Bridging the Gap: Linking Disk Observations to Exoplanet Demographics - 09/04/2025 03:30 PM
Campbell Hall, Rm 131 Berkeley
Speaker: Ilaria Pascucci, University of Arizona
Roger, It's Just Test Equipment - 09/04/2025 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Dept. of Engineering Science Rohnert Park
“Roger, it’s Just Test Equipment”: Lessons From Four Decades of Engineering 1985: the year introducing both Microsoft Windows and the GNU Manifesto; 2025: the year of GPT4.5 and injectable pacemakers. This talk is for those entering or about to enter the technical fields. It will focus on a few lessons learned in those intervening four decades. The lens and perspective are from a career not in one of the big visible tech firms, but in the technology of measurement and numerical analysis. Such has allowed a small-town boy to get direct and more objective exposure to wider variety of some of the more visible technical innovations of those forty years.
Separating Hope from Hype in the Search for Alien Life - Livestream - 09/04/2025 04:00 PM
Skeptical Inquirer
The search for alien life is entering a thrilling new phase as next-generation telescopes and missions open unprecedented windows into distant worlds. That means we’re likely to experience an avalanche of “possible biosignatures” that might point to alien life. The truth is out there, but it is not likely to be very forthcoming.
Join us as Skeptical Inquirer Presents livestream with science reporter Becky Ferreira. While popular culture has primed us to expect a slam-dunk “first contact” moment, a more likely scenario is some ambiguous atmospheric chemistry on a planet 500 light years away that may simply vex us for generations - or all time. Ferreira will discuss how to manage our expectations about biosignatures and shift the conversation from certainty to probabilities as we embrace the search for life on its own enigmatic terms.
Register at weblink
NightLife - 09/04/2025 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
When the lights dim, the museum comes alive at NightLife. With live DJs, hand-crafted drinks, glowing lights, and 60,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.
Plus, you can:
Explore our two newest exhibits, Dino Days and Unseen Oceans: Roam among 13 life-size animatronic dinosaurs in our outdoor gardens then embark on a journey to the deep sea with interactive activations and glowing supersized models.
Step inside the iconic Shake House earthquake simulator and our four-story Osher Rainforest, where you can explore the Amazon’s treetops surrounded by free-flying birds and butterflies.
Venture into our aquarium exhibit Venom to encounter live venomous animals and learn the power of venom to both harm and heal.
Bask in the glow of one of the largest living indoor coral reef displays in the world: our 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef habitat.
Take in the interstellar views from the Living Roof, then grab a bite from the Academy Café and head to the West Garden to drink and dine under the stars.
After Dark: Unplug and Play - 09/04/2025 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Spend a cozy evening at one of San Francisco’s most beloved museums. Test your knowledge at science trivia, get curious about human perception and cognition, and play with 700+ interactive exhibits that will delight and surprise you.
Ages 18+
Science is a Piece of Cake: Marine Biology - 09/04/2025 07:00 PM
KQED, The Commons San Francisco
Learn all about ocean creatures via ... cake! KQED's Check, Please! Bay Area producer Cecilia Phillips is hosting a cake bake-off where marine biology will serve as our visual prompt. Each cake will be inspired by the marine life featured in the California Academy of Sciences' aquariums.Enter the competition as a beginner, intermediate or advanced baker or join the audience to learn about who is living in our beautiful waters - while eating delicious cake!
Friday, 09/05/2025
First Friday Nights at CuriOdyssey - 09/05/2025 05:00 PM
CuriOdyssey San Mateo
Swing into the weekend with science, animals, music, food trucks, and fun! On the first Friday of every month, parents and kids celebrate together at CuriOdyssey.
Dance to some of your favorite hits, while enjoying animal presentations and science activities. Activities and programs are different each time, so make it a monthly tradition!
First Friday: Close Encounters - 09/05/2025 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Are we alone in the universe? Or could there be other forms of life out there, waiting far away in the vast expanse of space? Hear from researchers, astrobiologists and astronomers on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and distant exoplanets that could sustain it. Show off your best out-of-this-world attire by wearing your best alien-themed costume, engage in hands-on alien crafts then take a trip across the universe in our Planetarium - who knows what could be lurking among the stars?
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sun’s Atmosphere - 09/05/2025 08:00 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San Mateo
The Sun, our nearest star, is more than just a blazing ball of fire. Its atmosphere, hotter than its already scorching surface, presents a puzzle that has intrigued scientists for years. How does the Sun’s magnetic field drive the heating of its 10,000-degree chromosphere and million-degree corona? This enigma holds significant implications for Earth, as the Sun’s corona hosts powerful explosions and eruptions that can trigger space weather events affecting our technology-dependent society. From mesmerizing auroras to disruptions in communication systems and satellite operations, the Sun’s activity touches our daily lives in unexpected ways.
In this talk, I will delve into the recent strides made in understanding the Sun’s atmospheric dynamics. Thanks to breakthrough observations from space-based telescopes like NASA’s IRIS and SDO, coupled with advancements in supercomputing, we are gaining deeper insights into the mechanisms driving solar heating. Moreover, I will explore the upcoming frontier in solar research, with future observatories like MUSE poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Sun’s behavior and its impact on our planet and beyond.
Speaker: Bart De Pontieu, Lockheed Martin
This event was originally scheduled for February 7, 2025.
Saturday, 09/06/2025
Youth Conservation Photography Workshop - 09/06/2025 10:00 AM
Bouverie Preserve Glen Ellen
Join us for a photography workshop geared toward youth ages 13-18. Limited number of spaces, register at Eventbrite.
Conservation Kids is a non-profit that connects teenagers to conservation and the environment through the use of photography. This workshop, co-led by professional photographers Daniel Dietrich and Sarah Killingsworth, will teach youth about the power of conservation photography, provide a professional camera for the teens to use for the workshop, teach camera use, and provide a lesson in basic photography.
We will spend the rest of the workshop exploring Bouverie Preserve and creating images (water, trees, animals, etc.). Daniel and Sarah will post-process the young adults’ best images and share the processed photos, along with all their other images, to use however the youths wish.
World Shorebirds Day Bird Walk - 09/06/2025 10:00 AM
Don Edwards Refuge Environmental Education Center Alviso
The Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a haven for shorebirds. In honor of World Shorebirds Day, join us for a beginner- and family-friendly bird outing. We will discuss the wildlife refuge and provide an introduction to shorebirds and a few identification tips!
Please RSVP at the weblink to guarantee your spot.
See weblink for other considerations
First Saturday: Free Tour of the Santa Cruz Arboretum - 09/06/2025 11:00 AM
Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden Santa Cruz
Around the World in 60-90 Minutes!
On the first Saturday of each month, the Arboretum offers a docent or staff-led tour of the Arboretum.
Sometimes you will see New Zealand, South Africa, California, and Australia. Sometimes you might see combinations of several gardens or the developing World Conifer Collection or Rare Fruit Garden. Tour length varies depending on what's in bloom and what the participants request.
Meet your tour guide(s) at 11:00 am at the entrance to the visitor parking lot. (Tours are canceled when the weather isn't suitable.)
Arboreteum cost is $10 General, $8 Seniors, $5 Ages 4 - 17
Science Is A Piece of Cake: Marine Biology (Kids Edition) - 09/06/2025 02:00 PM
KQED, The Commons San Francisco
Kids and their adults are invited to show off a homemade cake inspired by the Bay Area's marine life! Each cake in this bake-off follows a prompt focused on the incredible creatures featured in California Academy of Sciences' aquariums. Enter the competition with your family (by age bracket) or join the audience to learn about who is living in our beautiful waters - while eating delicious cake! Ages 6-16.
Sunday, 09/07/2025
ConnectFest - 09/07/2025 10:00 AM
Outside Children’s Creativity Museum San Francisco
Dive into hands-on science fun with 10 of the Bay Area’s top science and technology centers, treat yourself to delicious flavors from local vendors, groove with local deejay, DJ Lex, and enjoy live music from the GRAMMY-winning ALPHABET ROCKERS.
California Biodiversity Day BioBlitz - 09/07/2025 10:30 AM
Don Edwards Refuge Environmental Education Center Alviso
California Biodiversity Day is all about appreciating the many species that call California home. We'll be leading a BioBlitz to celebrate! BioBlitzing involves exploring an area in search of plants, birds, insects, mammals, fungi, reptiles and any other organisms around. We'll be snapping photos and posting them to iNaturalist so we have records of our amazing biodiversity, essential to understanding how things are changing or staying the same on the Refuge.
We will lead a leisurely walk in the Butterfly Garden and on the New Chicago Marsh boardwalk at the Alviso Unit of the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge to look for plants, insects, birds, and much more. This program is suitable for all ages, and the trails are accessible. Those of all experience levels with iNaturalist are welcome to participate. You're also welcome to participate on your own at other parts of the Refuge!
See weblink for additional considerations, and to register.
Monday, 09/08/2025
Sonoma State University Biology Colloquium - 09/08/2025 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Dr. Bree Grillo-Hill, San Jose State University
UC Berkeley Structural & Quantitative Biology Seminar - 09/08/2025 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Carlos Bustamante, UC Berkeley
4D Printing: AI-driven Additive Manufacturing of Functional Composites - 09/08/2025 04:00 PM
Etcheverry Hall Berkeley
Additive manufacturing is well-known for its ability to place a wide variety of materials at precise locations in 3D space with very few limitations on geometrical complexity. Recent advances in active, shape morphing materials have enabled the design of structures which can change their shape or function in response to external stimuli such as temperature, light, or water. By combining smart/active materials and 3D printing, a new paradigm of 4D printing can be realized where printed objects can behave in carefully pre-programmed ways to achieve target functions, directly after printing. The complex shape design offered by 3D printing can be leveraged to generate active composites for soft actuators, biomedical devices, or energy harvesters with previously unseen complexity. This talk will focus on the design and 3D printing of shape morphing materials to create active composites such as soft robots or drug delivery systems. The talk will also explore the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for 3D printing. Specifically, how machine learning and genetic algorithms can be leveraged to design objects in complex design spaces or create autonomous, self-correcting AM approaches towards the future of manufacturing.
Speaker: Devin Roach, Oregon State University
Room 3110
Scientific Dating: It's About Time: Cosmogenic Particles or Bust! - 09/08/2025 06:00 PM
Science Buzz Cafe Sebastapol
Speaker: Mike Price, Science Magazine
Formed too fast? The Biggest Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn - 09/08/2025 07:30 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
The incredible capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope have allowed us to look back nearly to the very beginning of time, enabling us to observe some of the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. Before the launch of JWST, astronomers believed that the first few hundred million years - when the Universe was only a small fraction of its current age - were relatively quiet. To our surprise, we have discovered many more bright galaxies than previously expected. These bright galaxies challenge our understanding of how the first galaxies and black holes formed. In this talk, Dr. Casey will guide us through the journey of discovery in the universe's earliest moments and address some of the key questions raised by JWST’s groundbreaking findings.
Speaker: Caitlin Casey, UC Santa Barbara
Tuesday, 09/09/2025
Counting Molo - a Volunteer Bird Counter's Experience - 09/09/2025 07:30 PM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
Astronomy on Tap East Bay: Heavy Metal and Supermassive Black Holes - 09/09/2025 07:30 PM
Two Pitchers Oakland Oakland
Wednesday, 09/10/2025
Homeschool Days at The Tech Interactive - 09/10/2025 10:00 AM
The Tech Interactive San Jose
Ocean Travelers: the role of plastic debris on non-native species dispersal - 09/10/2025 01:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center Tiburon
Bodega Marine Lab Seminar Series - Canceled - 09/10/2025 03:00 PM
Bodega Marine Laboratory
From the Mountains to the Sea: Restoring Relationships for Landscape and Community Resilience - Livestream - 09/10/2025 03:00 PM
Bodega Marine Laboratory
After explosivity, what remains? - 09/10/2025 03:30 PM
McCone Hall Berkeley
Thursday, 09/11/2025
SETI Live: Worlds of Fire? - 09/11/2025 02:30 PM
SETI Live
After Dark: Dance Machine - 09/11/2025 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
NightLife: Claude's Big 3-0 - 09/11/2025 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Their Year in Birding - Livestream - 09/11/2025 07:00 PM
Marin Audubon Society
'James Randi in Australia' - Livestream - 09/11/2025 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Friday, 09/12/2025
ACROConnect x Gator Bio: South San Francisco Antibody Worksho - 09/12/2025 01:00 PM
The Lighthouse Cafe South San Francisco
Understanding Addiction Night 3- Drugs Over Dinner - 09/12/2025 06:30 PM
Manny's San Francisco
Saturday, 09/13/2025
The Physics Show - Three Performances - 09/13/2025 10:00 AM
Foothill College Los Altos Hills
Kits Cubed 5th Annual STEM Fair - 09/13/2025 10:00 AM
Oakland Technical High School Oakland
Family Nature Adventures: Reptile Roundup - RESCHEDULED - 09/13/2025 10:30 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Family Nature Adventures: Discover the Secrets of Local Owls! - 09/13/2025 10:30 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
City Public Star Party - 09/13/2025 06:30 PM
City Star Parties - Tunnel Tops Park San Francisco
Starry Nights Star Party - 09/13/2025 08:00 PM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Sunday, 09/14/2025
The Physics Show - Three Performances - 09/14/2025 10:00 AM
Foothill College Los Altos Hills
Monday, 09/15/2025
How Sleep Neurons Are Involved in Both Sleep and Alcohol Behavior - 09/15/2025 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Communicating Climate Solutions Symposium - 09/15/2025 05:00 PM
Institute of the Arts and Sciences Santa Cruz