Hello again fans of science,
Dumelang hape barati ba mahlale, (Lesotho Peace Corps memories)
I trust you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, avoided coming to blows with contrary cousins, and survived Black Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
ARCHAEOLOGY
¿Have you been to the Mayan ruins of Copán, Chichen Itza, Palenque, Tikal, Uxmal, or others in Mexico or Central America? Well another ancient Mayan city of 30,000 to 50,000 people has been found using lidar. Given the name ‘Valeriana’, the site has over 5,000 structures dating to the 1st century C.E.
Roughly six thousand years before Valeriana, people were painting on cave walls in what now is modern day Argentina.
BIOLOGY / ETHOLOGY
Texas turtles in Northern Europe?? Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles and Loggerhead Sea Turtles are denizens of the Gulf of Mexico, but warmer waters have apparently enticed some to venture into the Atlantic where currents have taken them to New England and some as far as Europe. Survivors have been found in Wales, The Netherlands, and Sweden where they have been well taken care of. One that was treated in Rotterdam was flown to Galveston Bay in Texas for release.
Twenty-four years ago, marine biologists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute - MBARI - found a living blob at a depth of 1,500 meters. They have now determined that the creature is a type of nudibranch. Outwardly it looks nothing like nudibranchs which are typically colorful sea slugs. Because it is so different, they propose it be classified in a new family, Bathydeviidae, which roughly translates to ‘devious ones from deep in the ocean.’
Old Man's War is a science fiction novel by John Scalzi where soldiers had chloroplasts in their skin so they could survive without food using photosynthesis. Leave it up to some biologists to attempt doing just that - but into hamster ovary cells, not into soldiers.
Whale Sharks are the world’s largest fish - some reaching the size of Humpback Whales. A pod of Orcas has figured out how to dine on them. They head-butt a Whale Shark until it is stunned, flip it onto its back, and calmly munch on it.
¿Which do you think we should name ‘nightmare monsters of the week’? Deep sea blobs or Orcas?
RAFFLE
Again we are offering this coffee mug because so many people like this prize. It is disguised as a 450ml laboratory beaker displaying the chemical structure of caffeine. Just send an email before noon Friday to david.almandsmith [at] gmail.com with your guess of an integer between 0 and 1,000. Last time, Edward guessed closest to the randomly generated 506 to win a Solar System jig-saw puzzle.
CLIMATE
The latest international meeting on the climate crisis adjourned with much disagreement over the urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels. COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan did, however, result in a non-binding monetary pledge to assist poorer nations make the transition.
Our planet may have passed the tipping point for a feedback loop of methane release. This is bad. Methane is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Huge amounts of methane are stored in arctic permafrost and extensive areas of permafrost are melting and releasing methane due to warmer weather in the arctic. Also methane escapes from oil wells and industrial processes. Fortunately, there are now satellites for detecting escaping methane so that authorities can enforce environmental laws.
MY PICKS of the WEEK (Hint: save dates & times to your mobile phone)
Exploring the Milky Way: Galaxy Formation Mon 7:30 PM Morrison Planetarium, S.F., $
Life-Cycle Carbon Intensity of Natural Gas Production Tue Noon, Stanford
Climate Change, Environmental Degradation, & Worker Health - Livestream Wed Noon
Living with Mountain Lions Livestream, Thurs Noon - 1 PM
NightLife: Santa Claude's Workshop Thurs 6 - 10 PM, Cal Academy, S.F., $
The Future of Mars Helicopters Fri 8 - 9:30 PM, San Mateo
Jazz under the Stars Sat 5:30 - 7:30 PM, San Mateo
52nd Annual Fungus Fair Sun 10 AM - 5 PM, South San Francisco, $
MEDICINE / HEALTH
Fluoridation. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s “ideas about vaccination, raw milk, hyperbaric oxygen, HIV, Wi-Fi and COVID fly in the face of evidence-based science. But once in a while, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn, so not all of Kennedy’s ideas are outrageous.” [McGill Office for Science and Society] It is known that adding one part per million to drinking water supplies reduces dental caries (cavities) in the population. There is also some evidence that more than 4 parts per million could be deleterious. In addition, many toothpastes contain fluoride. It is quite likely there is a ‘sweet spot’ of fluoride ingestion that is perfectly safe and renders effective resistance to the formation of dental caries. Further research will indeed be helpful.
BBP [benzyl butyl phthalate] makes plastics more durable and flexible, but it also interferes with the human hormonal reproductive system. Also - if you are a nematode - BBP causes chromosome damage in sex cells. More research is needed, but since microplastics are found in human testes, BBP might be responsible for declining sperm counts in men. [However, it is possible that the evidence of declining sperm counts is suspect.]
I wrote a sci-fi story where everybody has an implant that monitors health, synthesizes medications, and releases them into the body as needed. Except for the synthesis of medications, implants are already being used for a variety of health issues - especially diabetes. ¿How about drug overdoses? An implant is being developed that releases naloxone to prevent overdose deaths. It goes by the name Naloximeter.
FUN (?) NERDY VIDEOS
Fennec: World’s Smallest Wild Dog - BBC Earth - 4 mins
Dr. Oz’s Descent into Quackery - The Right Chemistry - Joe Schwarcz - 5 mins
Entanglement, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Gravity - Sabine Hossenfelder - 6 mins
Clean Green Energy in the U.S. - Just Have a Think - Dave Borlace - 10 mins
Video Pair:
The Paradox of an Infinite Universe - Kurzgesagt - 10 mins
¿Is the Universe Finite or Infinite? - Sabine Hossenfelder - 11 mins
¿Can Space Time Remember? - PBS SpaceTime - Matt O’Dowd = 11 mins
How Animals Got Butt Holes - PBS Eons - Kallie Moore - 12 mins
Animals that Give Each Other Names - SciShow - Jaida Elcock - 12 mins
NASA’s Search for Life: Europa Clipper - Veritaseum - Derek Muller - 16 mins
¿Do Black Holes Create Dark Matter & Dark Energy? - Dr. Becky - Becky Smethurst - 16 mins
Climate Change & Ocean Shipping - Bloomberg Originals - Haslinda Amin - 23 mins
Finding the First Stars in the Universe - Dr. Becky - Becky Smethurst - 24 mins
Water: Crises, Conflicts, & Answers - The Future with Hannah Fry - 24 mins
Solar System: Strange Worlds - PBS NOVA - 52 mins
Trust in the inestimable value of empathy -- and have a great week,
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“But however mysterious is nature , however ignorant the doctor, however imperfect the present state of physical science , the patronage and the success of quacks and quackeries are infinitely more wonderful than those of honest and laborious men of science and their careful experiments.”
P. T. Barnum (1810 - 1891) American showman, businessman, and politician
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 12/02/2024
Why Do Plants Use Water? - 12/02/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Benjamin Blonder, UC Berkeley
The Need to Uplevel Human Mindset & Objectives for the Coming Age of Abundance - Livestream - 12/02/2024 12:00 PM
Gates Computer Science Building Stanford
By our nature, humans need challenge. We get bored easily and stop playing a game if it is too easy. We are happiest when we are living a purpose driven life, that is "just challenging enough". This talk will dive into the importance of Mastering Mindset, and discuss the question - "what do we do when we are living in technological socialism? When all of our needs are met, and challenges no longer arise?" The Universe 25 experiments (from the 1970’s) tells of chilling result to a life of too much ease and abundance
Speaker: Peter Diamandis, XPRIZE Foundation
Register at weblink to attend via Zoom. Stanford community may attend in person.
Cell and Battery Design Considerations for Electric Aviation - 12/02/2024 12:30 PM
Green Earth Sciences Building Stanford
Lithium battery technology is critical to the decarbonization of air transport via electric aircraft, and is the enabler behind new concepts in air transportation such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi services. The needs of battery technology for electric aviation are greatly different from consumer electronics and electric ground vehicles. This talk will discuss how lithium-ion battery cells of today can empower these technologies, and how the design and chemistry of these battery cells differ from those in other applications such as EV. Battery pack design considerations for aerospace will also be highlighted, especially those around safety and thermal runaway management.
Speaker: William Huang, Stanford University
Getting to Yes - 12/02/2024 12:30 PM
Shriram Center Stanford
Good technical and analytical work is the foundation of every successful project, but by itself, it is not enough to ensure that a needed project moves from the drawing table to the ribbon cutting. Ms. Menard will describe key lessons learned during a 40-year career as local government water utility leader and manager to achieve success in moving projects through their development and approval processes. Using real-life examples, she will share her tried-and-true approaches to the development of strategies for successfully getting to yes.
Speaker: Rosemary Menard, City of Santa Cruz
Election Integrity: Perception and Reality - 12/02/2024 12:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
For this session, we are honored to be joined by David Dill, the Donald E. Knuth Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus. In 2004, Prof. Dill founded the Verified Voting Foundation, whose mission is "to strengthen democracy for all voters by promoting the responsible use of technology in elections.” We will discuss the current state of, and future possibilities for, securing the U.S. election system following the 2024 election season ??" during which concerns about the integrity of voting and election administration were prominently expressed by many across the political spectrum.
After a review of the some of the issues, attendees will have a chance to pose their own questions, with priority given to students in SYMSYS 280. Possible discussion questions include the following:
"Was the 2020 presidential election stolen as Donald Trump claims?""In general, how do we evaluate such claims?""What is a rational approach to election security? What problems should we worry about the most?""What are the strengths and weaknesses of the American election system in terms of trustworthiness?”“Should voters be required to show an ID at the polling place?""Where do we go from here?"
See weblink for entry instructions
Room 126
Leveraging Operations Research for Responsible AI in Medicine - 12/02/2024 03:30 PM
Etcheverry Hall Berkeley
An estimated 133 million - or nearly half - of all Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases. Chronic diseases consistently account for 5 of the top 10 leading causes of death. Moreover, 90% of annual healthcare expenditures are attributed to chronic diseases. Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) specifically comprise a significant portion of these chronic diseases in the United States, and advances in disease management for ASCVD and T2D can potentially reduce healthcare expenditures and adverse outcomes associated with these diseases. To this end, many algorithmic approaches to disease management have been proposed in the name of personalized medicine. Yet, few have accounted for two key principles in the emerging area of Responsible AI - namely interpretability and equity. In this talk, I will discuss my recent work on designing models to facilitate disease management for ASCVD and T2D with a focus on interpretability and equity. Chiefly, this work includes the formulation and analysis of interpretable treatment planning for Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). We specifically analyze the problems of optimizing monotone policies, which increase treatment intensity with worsening patient health, and optimizing class-ordered monotone policies (CMPs), which generalize monotone policies by imposing monotonicity over classes (i.e., groups) of states and actions. We establish key analytical properties of both problems and propose exact formulations for optimizing interpretable policies in general. Next, we define and analyze the price of interpretability (PI), proving that the CMP’s PI does not exceed the PI of the monotone policy. We then design and evaluate MDPs for hypertension treatment planning using a nationally representative dataset of the United States’ population. At the patient level, we find that optimal MDP-based policies may be unintuitive, recommending more aggressive treatment for healthier patients than sicker patients. Conversely, monotone policies and CMPs never de-escalate treatment, reflecting clinical intuition. Across 66.5 million patients, optimized monotone policies and CMPs save over 3,246 quality-adjusted life years per 100,000 patients over current clinical guidelines, while paying low PIs. We conclude that interpretable policies can be tractably optimized, drastically outperform existing guidelines, and pay low PIs - potentially increasing the acceptability of decision-analytic approaches in practice. To conclude the talk, I will briefly discuss ongoing works that touch on interpretable personalized treatment via counterfactual optimization and a Responsible AI-based framework to design and evaluate risk estimation models for ASCVD and T2D.
Speaker: Gian-Gabriel Garcia, Georgia Institute of Technology
Room 3108
Advancements and Applications of Protein-Based Sensors for Neurochemical Detection - 12/02/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Dr. Tian is a Scientific Director at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. The Tian Laboratory for Optical Neurophysiology engineers biosensors and optical probes for monitoring and controlling brain activity in living, behaving research animals. Dr. Tian and her team have created a novel class of genetically encoded indicators to sense neuromodulators, enabling the precise measurement of spatiotemporal dynamics of neuromodulator release. These tools, when combined with behavioral and circuit manipulations, can reveal the brain mechanisms underlying the control of various behaviors in health and disease and serve as drug discovery platforms for the identification of novel therapeutic targets.?
Speaker: Lin Tian, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
Room: Auditorium
Microbiomes in the Anthropocene: A genes to ecosystem approach to understanding how global change is shaping microbial community dynamics - 12/02/2024 04:00 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
We are in the Anthropocene, a period when human activity is a dominant influence on the Earth’s climate and environment. Anthropogenic change threatens ecosystem services by pushing environments around the world to new extremes and exposes organisms to unprecedented levels of stress. Microbiomes and their interactions with plants are important to our future on Earth; they not only underpin many ecosystem services, but their incredible diversity and long evolutionary history provides a deep well of biological innovation and function that can ameliorate host stress. In this talk, I will highlight how my lab uses a multiscale approach to understand (1) how microbiomes can mediate plant responses to global change, (2) mechanisms plants can use to regulate microbial symbiosis to match changing environmental conditions, and (3) how stress reshapes microbiome community dynamics and function. The research will emphasize the importance of integrating plant-microbial interactions with key ecological and evolutionary concepts (e.g., keystone species, community stability and assembly, habitat connectivity, context-dependency, gene family expansions, and gene duplications) to develop a holistic perspective of resilience of microbiomes and their interactions with plants in our changing world.
Speaker: Michelle Afkhami, University of Miami
Note time change. Originally listed for 12:30.
Chemical methods to monitor and manipulate the proteome - 12/02/2024 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
The development of potent probe molecules and drug leads for proteins that lack deep pockets remains an important and difficult problem. This seminar will focus on methods being developed in the Kodadek Laboratory to address this problem. Topics to be discussed will include the development of “beyond rule of 5” macrocycles to engage difficult targets, screening strategies that will allow the facile discovery of molecular glues and the development of Ubiquitin-independent protein degraders.
Speaker: Thomas Kodadek, University of Florida
Statistical methods for assessing the factual accuracy of large language models - 12/02/2024 04:00 PM
Evans Hall Berkeley
We develop new conformal inference methods for obtaining validity guarantees on the output of large language models (LLMs). Prior work in language modeling (Mohri & Hashimoto, 2024) identifies a subset of the text that satisfies a high-probability guarantee of correctness. These methods work by filtering a claim from the LLM’s original response if a scoring function evaluated on the claim fails to exceed some estimated threshold. Existing methods in this area suffer from two deficiencies. First, the guarantee is not conditionally valid. The trustworthiness of the filtering step may vary based on the topic of the response. Second, because the scoring function is imperfect, the filtering step can remove many valuable and accurate claims. Our work addresses both of these challenges via two new conformal prediction methods. First, we show how to issue an error guarantee that is both valid and adaptive: the guarantee remains well-calibrated even though it can depend on the prompt (e.g., so that the final output retains most claims). We will also show how to optimize the accuracy of the scoring function used in this procedure, e.g., by ensembling multiple scoring approaches. We will explain how this methodology works and demonstrate its performance on several real-world examples.
Speaker: John Cherian, Stanford UniversityF
Building AI Policy - 12/02/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Effectively governing AI stands as a grand challenge for the 21st century as we reckon with this generation-defining technology. In this talk, I will present my theory for change, articulating why academia is vital for creating superior-quality AI policy. My research embodies this, as I describe through three lines of work: (i) ensuring transparency to build collective understanding, (ii) demonstrating risks that apply at scale, and (iii) increasing rigor in policymaking on open models. Overall, my work shapes global AI policy by influencing powerful world governments (e.g. the US, EU, UK) and powerful AI companies (e.g. OpenAI, Google, Meta).
Speaker: Rishi Bommasani, Stanford University
An Exploration of the Milky Way: Our Cosmic Home - 12/02/2024 07:30 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Our Universe is made up of many billions of galaxies, yet astronomers are still trying to figure out how they form, evolve, and assemble themselves. The question of how and when galaxies - including our own - take shape across cosmic time is among the most fundamental in modern astronomy. But the answer still eludes us. One of the best ways to answer this question is to explore our home galaxy, the Milky Way, which is made up of some 200 billion stars - and is the optimal laboratory for answering the questions of galaxy formation because, to date, it is one of the only systems where we can obtain detailed and precise data on the positions, motions, and chemical compositions of billions of individual stars. Using our own galaxy as a sandbox for exploring galaxy assembly is the essence of galactic archaeology. In this talk, Dr. Keith Hawkins will take us on a journey through our own galaxy and explore how we can use state-of-the-art data from large-scale missions - visualized in the planetarium - to chart the Milky Way's structure and assembly over the last 10 billion years.
Speaker: Dr Keith Hawkins, University of Texas, Austin
Tuesday, 12/03/2024
Necessity is the Mother of Invention: Natural Products and the Chemistry They Inspire - 12/03/2024 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
The chemical synthesis of natural products provides an exciting platform from which to conduct fundamental research in chemistry and biology. Our group is currently pursuing the synthesis of several structurally complex natural products, with a particular focus on the development of new convergent fragment coupling and annulation strategies. The densely packed arrays of heteroatoms and stereogenic centers that constitute these polycyclic targets challenge the limits of current technology and inspire the development of new synthetic strategies and tactics. In concert with our total synthesis efforts, we have an active program on the development of new reductive coupling reactions, including Ni-catalyzed asymmetric reactions of C(sp3) electrophiles and Sm-catalyzed reductive lactonization. This seminar will describe the latest progress in our target-directed synthesis and reaction development efforts.
Speaker: Sarah Reisman, Caltech
Detailed life-cycle carbon intensity of United States natural gas including extraction, processing, and transmission - 12/03/2024 12:00 PM
Green Earth Sciences Building Stanford
This talk will explore the state-of-the-art methodologies for assessing carbon emissions across the lifecycle of natural gas production in the U.S. The difficulty in providing a reasonable carbon intensity (CI) numbers for the US natural gas lies in unorganized production facility data reportage and long-standing underestimates of super-emitter activities in our methane emission estimation models. This talk, as one of the first studies to systematically include the methane super-emitter activities in O&NG life cycle assessment, will explain how much emissions we were overlooking by integrating the latest aerial and satellite measurement data into the analysis. This talk will also walk us through how we leverage high-resolution spatial data analysis to harmonize various public and proprietary oil and natural datasets, offering a detailed look at carbon intensity variations from exploration to transmission. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of natural gas production while ensuring energy security.
Speaker: Zhihao Spencer Zhang, Stanford University
Climate Models for Guiding Action: Adequacy, Inadequacy, and the Ethics of Downstream Model Use - 12/03/2024 04:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
As concern about climate change intensifies, there is increasing demand for ‘actionable’ information to help mitigate to effects of climate change through sustainable policy. As this demand has increased, so has the complexity and resolution of Earth System Models (ESMs) and Global Climate Models (GCMs), which play a central role in generating this information. However, the increased complexity and resolution of ESMs/GCMs does not guarantee that they will offer increased adequacy-for-purpose in applied domains. This talk will review numerous recent case studies that highlight specific research questions that ESMs/GCMs cannot reliably answer, due to features that these models possess as a result of their development history and what is described as the problem of “pseudo-detail”. These include case studies of modelling surface water availability in the Upper Colorado River Basin, regional changes to precipitation regimes surrounding the Great Lakes, and red tide patterns in the Gulf of Mexico. The inadequacy of ESMs/GCMs for certain applied purposes raises the risk of downstream harm, what philosophers of science and modelling have called ‘representational risk’. Strategies for managing representational risk include implementing both tailored and general strategies to better communicate models’ adequacies and inadequacies for different purposes and increasing awareness of the ethical significance of potential climate model misuses. In a review of literature from climate science and philosophy of modelling, this talk will establishe the adequacy of ESMs/GCMs for a range of applied purposes and underlines the connection between model inadequacy and emerging issues in the ethics of climate modelling.
Speaker: Eric winsberg, University of South Florida
Room: Hartley Conference Center
Sustainability and Open Innovation: Honda’s Approach to Realigning Global Manufacturing - 12/03/2024 04:30 PM
Lathrop Library Stanford
For the closing keynote of our autumn 2024 series of weekly seminars, we are very happy to welcome Ryan Harty, Division Lead of Sustainability and Business Development at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Ryan will share insights into Honda’s efforts toward clean energy, carbon neutrality, and resource circularity, focusing on how the company is driving innovation across manufacturing and supply chains in Asia.
The talk will highlight Honda’s collaborations with startups and research institutions to address environmental challenges while navigating the realignment of global manufacturing toward resilience and sustainability. Find out more on how Honda is positioning itself at the forefront of the energy transition and the future of sustainable innovation.
Register at weblink to attend in person or online
Disruptive & low-cost solutions on AI-enabled platform - 12/03/2024 07:00 PM
Frontegg Mountain View
Computer Ghost of Christmas Past says: "Remember the whirr of dial-up tones and floppy disks? Ah, simpler times when every kilobyte was precious!"
Computer Ghost of Christmas Present says: "Look at the world now??"always online, apps for everything, and streaming cat videos in 4K! Enjoy the moment, for technology never pauses!"
Computer Ghost of Christmas Future says: "Behold a future where machines and humans are seamlessly intertwined. But beware: cherish what you create, or risk losing touch with what makes us human."
Come join us for food and drinks as we celebrate this past year, catch up with friends, and look into the future. Not a member? That's ok, come rub elbows with members and see what its all about!
Swaza is transforming respiratory care with the world’s first nanofluid breathing aid capable of raising blood oxygen levels without the need for O2 tanks or ventilators. Swaza disruptive, low-cost solution provides a safe, non-invasive alternative to mechanical ventilation, redefining the standard of care for a critical unmet need. In addition to respiratory care, we’ve engineered products on our AI-enabled platform for burn, wound, and trauma care, harnessing oxygen's power to promote tissue regeneration.
Speaker: Artem Trotsyuk, Stanford University
Attend in person or online.
In-person meet and greet event begins at 6:00.
Wednesday, 12/04/2024
This presentation will provide a conceptual framework for thinking about the ways climate change can affect worker health. It will then provide examples of industries at high risk, vulnerable worker populations, and specific health threats. Strategies to protect workers from climate-related health threats will also be discussed.
Speaker: Gina Solomon, UC San Francisco
See weblink to join the event
WaterPalooza! 2024 - Livestream - 12/04/2024 10:00 AM
Acterra
Sustainable Silicon Valley has joined Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet and SSV’s Water Program is now Acterra Water.
One thing remains the same, however: WaterPalooza! continues getting bigger and bolder as a festival of ideas across the water cycle. “You don’t win on Climate if we lose on Water,” VERGE’s Sarah Golden recently opined, and we heartily agree. These interesting times demand we go for the big win-win, smashing smashes silos, investigating interdependencies, framing challenges and identifying opportunities.
WaterPalooza! is comprised of a series of “deep watershed dives” into an ocean of timely topics, engrossing and interrelated water, climate and resiliency issues. Join an audience of thought leaders, changemakers, stakeholders and gatekeepers from throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond.
Event Speakers:
UC Berkeley Professor David Sedlak on the challenges of Water for All
Former Microsoft Head of Data Center Strategy Priscilla Johnson on data centers, water, AI & cybersecurity
The Interview: Valley Water Board Chair Nai Hsueh
The US Army Corp on Bay dredging and the value of sludge
Aquarry’s Kate Murphy on capturing atmospheric carbon through water
Soquel Creek’s Melanie Mow Schumacher on Pure Water Soquel
Acterra’s Genevieve Lucas-Conwell on homelessness and waterways
Dr. Cindy Russell on Groundwater Pollution and Rethinking Artificial Turf
And more!
Register at weblink for either/both days
See weblink for agenda
Broadband Submarine Fiber Sensing: Unveiling Ocean Dynamics from Acoustics to Tsunami Waves - Livestream - 12/04/2024 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Research Institute
Imagine transforming the vast network of submarine fiber optic cables into a real-time observatory that unveils the ocean’s hidden dynamics.* Over the past decade, advancements in fiber sensing technology have rapidly progressed, offering an unprecedented opportunity to establish large-scale geophysical observatories on the seafloor more cost-effectively than ever before. In this talk, I will delve into the recent breakthroughs in submarine fiber sensing, demonstrating how it enables us to capture a broad spectrum of oceanic processes??"from high-frequency acoustics that reveal marine life and seismic activity, to very low-frequency phenomena like tsunami waves and tidal movements. Join me as we explore the exciting scientific possibilities this technology unlocks for ocean research and environmental monitoring. We’ll also discuss the key engineering challenges we face and the innovative solutions being developed to overcome them in the coming years.
Speaker: Zhongwen Zhan, California Institute of Technology
Register at weblink to watch
Whole Earth Seminar - 12/04/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
This lecturer will be remote.
Speaker: Mark Brandon, Yale University
Temperature-responsive circuitry that drives fungal pathogenesis - 12/04/2024 12:10 PM
Barker Hall, Rm 101 Berkeley
We are interested in the biology of a small, evolutionarily related group of fungi that cause disease in healthy humans. These environmental fungi are exquisitely responsive to mammalian body temperature, which triggers drastic changes in cell shape and the induction of virulence properties. We dissect temperature-dependent signaling in these organisms to reveal fundamental molecular paradigms with broad significance to our understanding of cellular circuits. We study the circuitry used to establish and maintain thermosensation in these simple eukaryotic pathogens and elucidate how temperature-induced fungal effectors manipulate the biology of innate immune cells. Ultimately we hope fundamental discoveries can be applied to a variety of biological contexts, including generating synthetic temperature-response circuits and harnessing fungal effectors as immunomodulatory agents during disease.
Speaker: Anita Sil, UC San Francisco
Mapping and Mending Dexterous Movement Control with Neurotechnology - 12/04/2024 04:00 PM
Soda Hall Berkeley
Dexterous movement is a hallmark of human motor ability, enabling us to interact skillfully with our environment. The loss of this capability due to movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or stroke, strips individuals of independence and quality of life. This talk explores the neural underpinnings of dexterity, focusing on how the nervous system integrates sensory and motor signals to achieve precise control. We then examine how these mechanisms break down in movement disorders, leading to impaired motor function. Finally, we turn to neuroengineering technologies which aim to restore movement in affected individuals. By leveraging advances in neural interfaces and wearable systems, we are seeking to design systems to repair motor function. Overall, we highlight our highly interdependent scientific and translational goals to understand and restore complex movement.
Speaker: Preeya Khanna, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online via "join event" button at the weblink
The Arc of Energy Justice: A Pursuit to Ensure Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy for All - 12/04/2024 04:10 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
We are at a critical moment in our society. While we advance efforts to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, across the globe, millions are experiencing issues of energy affordability, reliability, and equitable access to modern energy technologies. This lecture will explore the intricate intersection of energy, class, race, and place, shedding light on inequities in access to and the distribution of energy resources. Reames will discuss how various factors, including socio-economic conditions, policy landscapes, and environmental characteristics contribute to energy inequities. The talk underscores the importance of understanding and addressing these issues in the pursuit of energy justice, emphasizing the need for inclusive scholarship, policies and funding that empower marginalized communities.
Speaker: Tony Reames, University of Michigan
Astronomy on Tap Baton Rouge - Two talks - 12/04/2024 05:00 PM
Astronomy on Tap
De Stella Nova
Speaker: Adrien Picquenot
Red Hot Martian Moments
Speaker: Carlos Gary-Bicas
Sea Meets the Stars: How Artificial Intelligence is Accelerating the Scientific Pursuit - 12/04/2024 05:30 PM
UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Campus Santa Clara
In less than 10 years, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have built systems that can distinguish cats from dogs, translate English to Japanese, and even record your sentiments on Facebook. With the appearance of chat-bots, AI has reached astonishing??"if not uncomfortable??"levels. In science, the impacts of AI have also been impressive, although tempered by the rigor and greater scrutiny of the scientific method.
Professor J. Xavier Prochaska will describe the rise of large datasets in astronomy and oceanography on the sky and ocean and then explain how AI enables scientists to perform unprecedented analyses. Prochaska will speculate on the future of scientific pursuit accelerated by ChatGTP and its friends.
Register at weblink
From Perception to Pleasure: the Neuroscience of Music and Why We Love It - 12/04/2024 05:30 PM
San Mateo Public Library San Mateo
Music has existed in human societies since prehistory, likely because it allows expression and regulation of emotion, and evokes pleasure. But how do humans go from perceiving sound patterns to pleasurable responses? Learn about what happens in our brains when we listen to music, in this virtual talk with Dr. Robert Zatorre, a cognitive neuroscientist from McGill University. Hosted by the San Mateo Public Library as part of its Biotechnology Learning Center science speaker series. Registration required at weblink.
After COP29: The Energy Transition Challenge - 12/04/2024 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
The energy transition is a monumental task, still in its early stages, with only about 10 percent of the necessary low-emissions technologies deployed to meet 2050 targets, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
As the world strives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while meeting growing global energy demand, significant challenges lie ahead. Join us as we explore the complexities of transforming the global energy infrastructure, a system optimized over centuries but now needing a rapid decarbonization in just decades to minimize global warming and head off the most severe impacts.
As the dust settles on this year’s COP29, industry leaders will share insights on the progress being made and the critical steps needed to scale low-emission technologies while ensuring energy access and equity worldwide. Don’t miss this forward-looking discussion on the physical and technical hurdles that must be overcome to achieve a sustainable energy future.
Panel: Scott Jacobs, Generate; Mekala Krishnan, Global institute; Mark Patel, McKinsey Global Institute, Moderator
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink
Science on Tap: Conservation genomics and ancient DNA: understanding and conserving biodiversity in the Anthropocene - 12/04/2024 07:00 PM
Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz
Genetic diversity provides the raw material necessary for species to adapt to changing conditions, which unfolds over millions of years as populations accumulate variation. However, especially in the Anthropocene, the rate of genetic loss often far exceeds the rate at which diversity can be generated, posing significant challenges for biodiversity conservation. DNA is a powerful resource for unraveling ecological and evolutionary processes, revealing patterns of genetic diversity, population structure, and adaptation that are critical for understanding and addressing these challenges. Conservation genomics harnesses these insights to develop strategies that mitigate biodiversity loss, while ancient DNA offers historical context to better understand evolutionary processes and extant diversity. By integrating these approaches, we can uncover how past and present dynamics shape species’ resilience and apply this knowledge to conservation efforts. In this talk, I will discuss the challenges of working with ancient DNA and explore examples of both from my research, highlighting how conservation genomics and ancient DNA together provide complementary perspectives to address conservation challenges.
Speaker: Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, UC Santa Cruz
Refusing Silicon Valley - 12/04/2024 07:30 PM
Shaping San Francisco San Francisco
Wendy Liu’s Abolish Silicon Valley pulled back the façade on the Horatio Alger myths surrounding tech work and start-up culture and left no doubt about the emptiness of life in that world. Erin McElroy, a co-founder of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, has turned her prodigious analytical skills to the expansion of the tech industry to the periphery of the former Iron Curtain in Romania in their new Silicon Valley Imperialism. As San Francisco gropes its way through yet another faltering tech bubble pushed by AI hucksters and grifters, join us for a blisteringly honest look at what the titans of silicon are really promoting.
Thursday, 12/05/2024
WaterPalooza! 2024 - Livestream - 12/05/2024 10:00 AM
Acterra
Sustainable Silicon Valley has joined Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet and SSV’s Water Program is now Acterra Water.
One thing remains the same, however: WaterPalooza! continues getting bigger and bolder as a festival of ideas across the water cycle. “You don’t win on Climate if we lose on Water,” VERGE’s Sarah Golden recently opined, and we heartily agree. These interesting times demand we go for the big win-win, smashing smashes silos, investigating interdependencies, framing challenges and identifying opportunities.
WaterPalooza! is comprised of a series of “deep watershed dives” into an ocean of timely topics, engrossing and interrelated water, climate and resiliency issues. Join an audience of thought leaders, changemakers, stakeholders and gatekeepers from throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond.
Event Speakers:
UC Berkeley Professor David Sedlak on the challenges of Water for All
Former Microsoft Head of Data Center Strategy Priscilla Johnson on data centers, water, AI & cybersecurity
The Interview: Valley Water Board Chair Nai Hsueh
The US Army Corp on Bay dredging and the value of sludge
Aquarry’s Kate Murphy on capturing atmospheric carbon through water
Soquel Creek’s Melanie Mow Schumacher on Pure Water Soquel
Acterra’s Genevieve Lucas-Conwell on homelessness and waterways
Dr. Cindy Russell on Groundwater Pollution and Rethinking Artificial Turf
And more!
Register at weblink for either/both days
See weblink for agenda
Deciphering Continental Collision: Earthquakes, Helium, and Rheology of Tibet - 12/05/2024 12:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
Speaker: Simon Klemperer, Stanford University
Attend in person or via Zoom
Room 350/372
Disrupting a delicate balance: Emerging pathogens in a changing world - 12/05/2024 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
‘Emerging’ pathogens are defined as infectious agents with increasing incidence that are expanding into new host populations in response to ecological or epidemiological change. Over 20% of emerging pathogens are vector-borne, meaning transmitted by arthropod vectors, and over 60% of emerging pathogens are zoonotic, meaning derived from animal (often wildlife) reservoirs. Broadly, the Brook lab investigates the impacts of climate change, demographic change, and land use change on host-pathogen interactions. In this seminar, we first explore how rising global temperatures and elevated precipitation interact with human demography to synchronize dengue dynamics into explosive epidemics throughout the past two decades in Cambodia. We next interrogate our eleven-year longitudinal field study to describe how seasonality and land use shape the persistence and transmission of bat-borne viruses in Madagascar. As a result of a long coevolutionary history, bats demonstrate minimal clinical disease from infection with viruses known to cause extreme pathology following spillover to other mammals. However, the past three decades have witnessed countless perturbations to the delicate balance of bat-virus symbiosis across the globe, resulting in unprecedented rates of bat virus emergence into novel hosts, including humans. From Southeast Asia to Africa, we investigate the impact of environmental disturbance on emerging pathogen dynamics in some of the world’s most vulnerable human and wildlife populations.
Speaker: Cara Brook, University of Chicago
High Res Exoplanet Spectra - 12/05/2024 03:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Dimitri Mawet, California Institute of Technology
When Do Firms Oversell or Undersell Their Environmental Sustainability? - Livestream - 12/05/2024 04:00 PM
Stanford University
Gaku Morio is a Researcher at Hitachi America, Ltd. He received his M.D. in Engineering from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. He is interested in natural language processing and applied machine learning, with emphasis on facilitating these technologies to the real-world business/industrial data.
Jungah (Isabella) Yoon joined the University of Otago (Department of Accountancy & Finance) as a Teaching Fellow in July 2023. Prior to this, she had been an integral part of the Department, serving as both a PhD student and a casual Teaching Fellow / tutor. Isabella possesses a deep-seated passion for finance education and additionally contributes as a member of the AKO teaching and learning committee within the department.
Isabella’s research centers on derivatives markets. She is a member of the Derivatives and Quantitative Finance Group and joined the Climate and Energy Finance Group in March 2023.
See weblink to register and receive connection information
Scaling Expertise via Language Models: With Applications to Education - 12/05/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Access to expertise shapes how individuals learn, develop, and succeed across society. For example, in education, experienced teachers teach students and train novice educators through effective interactions. However, access to expertise is limited, undermining learning at scale. While language models promise to democratize access, they often mimic surface-level patterns and lack the human touch needed to support learners through challenges. In this talk, I will present novel computational methods and interventions that embed expert-like thinking into language models and empower human novices in real-time interactions. First, I will present Bridge, an adaptation method that extracts expert reasoning from verbalized talk-aloud protocols to adapt language models for complex interactions. Then, I will introduce Tutor CoPilot, a novel Human-AI approach that provides expert-like guidance to tutors in real time. In the first randomized controlled trial of a Human-AI system for live tutoring, Tutor CoPilot significantly improves the quality of interactions for 900 tutors and 1,800 K-12 students from underserved communities.
Speaker: Rose Wang, Stanford University
Living with Lions - Livestream - 12/05/2024 05:00 PM
Audubon Canyon Ranch
Mountain lions are top carnivores playing an important role in our North Bay ecosystems, yet they live a fragile existence, moving through a mosaic of public and private lands. The Living with Lions Project, a partnership between Audubon Canyon Ranch and True Wild, is studying our region’s mountain lions to identify priority habitats and key wildlife corridors and to promote ecosystem and wildlife conservation throughout our region
See them up close on wildlife camera footage taken at SSU’s Galbreath Wildlands Preserve in Mendocino County as you increase your understanding of these majestic hunters and learn how you can help protect their habitat and their very existence.
Speaker: Liz Martins, Audubon Canyon Ranch
After Dark: Figure It Out - 12/05/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Find out how to make better decisions with the help of philosophy, psychology, and physics.
NightLife: Santa Claude's Workshop - 12/05/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Santa Claude is comin’ to town! Shop your heart away at our merry marketplace of gift-worthy treasures.
A Just Transition for Whom? Book launch and Discussion - 12/05/2024 06:00 PM
London Nelson Community Center Santa Cruz
To avert the worst impacts of climate change, a transition away from fossil fuels is necessary. However, what this transition looks like and what would make a transition “just,” remain open questions. What workers are missing from “green” economy discussions? What role do workers play in the fight for a future without fossil fuels? How can workers and communities ensure the transition is “just”? Join the Center for Labor and Community for a conversation with Dr. J. Mijin Cha (author of A Just Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon-Free Future, MIT Press) and Saket Soni (author of The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America, Algonquin Books), moderated by Labor Notes’ Labor-Climate Organizer, Keith Brower-Brown, for a timely discussion of these questions and more.This event will bring together academics, labor organizers, and workers from across the region to think together about how to move beyond a fuel-based economy. A reception with light refreshments and book signing will be held after the discussion.
Attend in person or online. RSVP at weblink
The Cosmic Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts - 12/05/2024 07:00 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center StanfordThe cosmos directly interacts with Earth through various signals in the form of electromagnetic waves (light), elementary particles, and gravitational waves. A couple of decades ago, radio astronomers found extremely bright flashes in their data that only lasted a few thousandths of a second. These pulses, named Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), were found to be coming from outside of our Galaxy and can be so energetic that they radiate a billion times more energy than our Sun does within a millisecond. While more than 20,000 bursts have been detected on Earth since FRBs were first discovered, their origins still remain a mystery. In this talk, I will present a brief history of FRBs, introduce how they have altered our understanding of our Universe, and explore some theories on the cosmic sources that could be powering them. I will also discuss how I build theoretical models and use computational tools to interpret the observed properties, and infer the mysterious nature of FRBs in my own research.
Speaker: Navin Sridhar, Stanford University/KIPAC
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink to attend.
Expecting the Unexpected with AI at Particle Colliders - 12/05/2024 07:00 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Public Lecture Series Menlo Park
In particle physics, we search for new elementary particles that signal extensions of the fundamental interactions of nature. Experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce massive datasets, which physicists scour for evidence of hypothetical particles that have been suggested by theorists. But it is impossible to predict exactly what nature has in store. Can we discover something new without knowing in advance what we are looking for?
Progress in data science gives us new ways to mine the datasets from the LHC. Using artificial intelligence, we can search in a general way for events that are anomalous, signaling behavior outside of our current laws of physics. Coupled with advanced silicon microelectronics, we can apply AI to scan and sort data in real time, at the enormous rates at which the LHC collides protons. These game-changing technologies will work even more powerfully at future particle colliders, where era-defining discoveries might be around every corner.
Speaker: Julia Gonski, SLAC
Register to attend in person, or watch the lecture live on our YouTube page
Friday, 12/06/2024
Deep Learning for Earthquake Monitoring - 12/06/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Weiqiang Zhu, UC Santa Cruz
Manipulating Phase Transitions and Free Volume: From Solid Refrigerants to Microporous Water - 12/06/2024 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Jarad Mason, Harvard University
Cyber Alliance: Grassroots Efforts for a Safer Cyber Future - 12/06/2024 04:00 PM
Night Heron Oakland
Join Cyversity and the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity for this special end-of-year community gathering to reflect on and celebrate the past year as we look toward our shared commitment of creating a safer cyber future for all in 2025 and the years to come.
Enjoy remarks from Jason Clinton, CISO of Anthropic, and Jessica Walton, U.S. Regional Officer of CyberPeace Institute, on the various efforts of cyber volunteers and allies to up-skill the cyber workforce and assist under-resourced organizations with their digital security.
First Friday Nights - 12/06/2024 05:00 PM
CuriOdyssey San Mateo
Swing into the weekend with live music, a food truck, animals, and fun! On the first Friday of every month, from 5 PM until 8 PM, parents and kids celebrate together at CuriOdyssey.
Dance to some of your favorite pop and rock hits, while enjoying animal presentations and science activities. Activities and programs are different each time, so make it a monthly tradition!
First Friday: Shooting Stars - 12/06/2024 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Join us at Chabot for a night of fun at First Friday: SHOOTING STARS! Explore the wonders of the night sky with special guest speakers, dance the night away with live music, and get creative at craft stations where kids of all ages can make their own shooting star-themed art. Don’t forget to snap a stellar selfie in our photo booth! With exciting crafts, interactive activities, and plenty of fun, this will be an out-of-this-world adventure the whole family can enjoy.
The Future of Mars Helicopters - 12/06/2024 08:00 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San Mateo
Ingenuity has shown that flying in the Martian atmosphere is possible and that helicopters can provide critical insight and support to ground-based assets. Though Ingenuity was designed for five flights, to date, 66 flights have been completed with ~119 min of flight time and ~9 miles flown. What would it take for an Ingenuity-class helicopter to help return the first samples from Mars to Earth? The smallest robotic arm ever flown on Mars, more capable rotors, a driving system, and flight software upgrades to start. The Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters are in development to provide backup to the Perseverance rover as part of the Mars Sample Return mission concept. Come hear about the work required to quickly transition a helicopter design from a technology demonstrator to a flying, driving, sample-collecting capable vehicle and the potential future of rotorcraft on Mars.
Speaker: Shannah Withrow-Maser, NASA Ames
Saturday, 12/07/2024
Techfest: Robots and AI in Action - 12/07/2024 10:00 AM
Computer History Museum Mountain View
CHM’s all-day TechFest events offer special family-oriented experiences included in the price of Museum admission. We’ll be bringing you tech-themed demos, performances, hands-on activities, and more. Explore CHM exhibits, shop in the Museum store, enjoy a tasty treat from the Cloud Bistro, and have fun at Techfest!
We're celebrating the world of robots and artificial intelligence. You'll have a chance to battle robots against each other, learn how to detect AI generated images, make your own robot art, visit our new Chatbots Decoded exhibit, and more!
Jazz Under the Stars - 12/07/2024 05:30 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San MateoJazz Under the Stars is a FREE monthly public stargazing event! Occurring on the Saturday nearest the 1st quarter moon (check our Events Page), join us in building 36 on the 4th floor observatory for a night of smooth jazz, bright stars, and a lot of fun! We play our jazz from CSM's own KCSM 91.1. Founded in 1964, KCSM has grown to become one of the top 35 most listened to non-commercial stations in the US. With their help, the Astronomy department at CSM opens its observatory doors and balcony, for a night of science and fun! We operate for public viewing 8” dobsonian telescopes, prefect for viewing the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. We also have a 140mm refractor, with which we view the craters on the moon. Finally, our 11’ schmidt-cassegrain is for our deep sky needs. It can peer deep into globular clusters, and nebulae. Occasionally we even have the chance to image galaxies on our 20" telescope. Our astronomers will also be available for questions and conversation, which you wouldn’t get anywhere else! Feel free to ask us your questions about the cosmos. Don't miss out, join us at our next Jazz Under the Stars!*Weather in the bay area is notoriously hard to predict, and often the sources we use don't get it correct. Before leaving you home, be sure to check this webpage. If we are to cancel it will be posted here at least a few hours before the start of the event.*
City Public Star Party - 12/07/2024 06:00 PM
City Star Parties - Tunnel Tops Park San Francisco
Come join the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers for free public stargazing of the Moon, planets, globular clusters and more!
The event will take place in Tunnel Tops National Park, parking is located adjacent to Picnic Place (210 Lincoln Blvd for GPS) with the telescopes setup in the East Meadow.
Dress warmly as conditions can be windy or cold in the Presidio. Rain, heavy fog or overcast skies cancel the event. Check the SFAA website for a cancellation notice before leaving for the star party.
SFAA members with telescopes are encouraged to attend and share their views of the stars with the general public.
Sunday, 12/08/2024
Mycological Society of San Francisco 52nd Annual Fungus Fair - 12/08/2024 10:00 AM
El Camino High School South San Francisco
Hands-on mushroom activities for all ages; workshops, speakers, displays (hundreds of species), educational area, crafts, mushroom growing kits, recipes and more.
Creative hands-on family friendly activities (all ages)Lectures & workshops by renowned expertsDisplays of 300+ species of locally collected fungiID table - bring your specimens to find out the species!Educational - subjects include medicinal, myco-remediation, cultivation, ecology, dyes, toxicology, psychedelic fungi and moreMicroscopes & spore printsVendors with fun mushroom productsMingle with other mushroom loving people. Come and try a bowl of delicious mushroom soupThe Fair provides information on the uses and abuses of fungi, with displays and exhibits on ecology, toxicology, and cultivation.
Attend for free as a volunteer! Click here to sign up.
Purchase Tickets at weblink
The Mycological Society of San Francisco Fungus Fair includes the latest collection of expertly identified fungi collected in various locations in the Bay Area. These annual collections constitute a 50+/- year record of the early winter fungal diversity in our area. This historical information may become an important contribution to science as climate change affects our local ecosystems.
Sensory Sunday - 12/08/2024 02:00 PM
CuriOdyssey San Mateo
Visitors, caregivers, family members, and aides can join us for an afternoon of:
Exploring the exhibit galleries, zoo, and playgroundGuided science activities and Animal EncountersVaried sensory experiences with keyed mapSensory support kits available for useStorytime with alternative seating optionsDesignated break spaces with fidget toys, dimmed lights, and sitting areas
$7 discounted admission through the generosity of our sponsors! Members and aides will still receive free admission.
Monday, 12/09/2024
Mechanisms of enzyme regulation by dynamic polymerization - 12/09/2024 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Many important regulatory enzymes in intermediate metabolism form large-scale filamentous polymers in cells and tissues. These supermolecular structures are critically important for regulating enzyme activity and maintaining cellular homeostasis, and their discovery has opened a new field focused on the physical organization of metabolic activity in the cellular context. Our lab has been working to understand the structural basis for metabolic filament assembly and the biochemical and physiological consequences of enzyme polymerization. Combining cryoEM and functional studies, we have shown that polymerization generally functions as a mechanism for allosteric control of enzyme activity. Here, I will present ongoing work with enzymes in de novo nucleotide biosynthesis, which illustrate how self-assembly into filaments can be used to tune activity.
Speaker: Justin Kollman, University of Washington
Beyond the cellular powerhouse: Mitochondrial cell biology and genetics - 12/09/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Maulik Patel, Vanderbuilt University
Room: Auditorium
Responsible Governance of AI: Realities, Roadblocks, and Resolutions - 12/09/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
I will begin by defining and advocating for the responsible governance of AI as crucial for maximizing the societal benefits of the technology while minimizing its harms. I will then discuss the key challenges faced by major AI actors and stakeholders in implementing responsible AI in practice, drawing from my work with practitioners and impacted communities. In particular, I will highlight the critical gap in the development of well-justified, valid, reliable, and feasible evaluation metrics, methods, and processes, identifying this as a significant barrier to operationalizing responsible AI, and describe how my work has aimed to address some of these issues using fairness measurement, AI red-teaming, and AI field-testing as case studies. Finally, I will outline an agenda for impact-driven research in this field, considering the broader socio-economic context and regulatory landscape.
Speaker: Hoda Heidari, Carnegie Mellon University
Tuesday, 12/10/2024
Simplifying Complex Molecule Synthesis and Functionalization - 12/10/2024 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
An Update on Alzheimer’s: Assessment, Treatment and Prevention - Livestream - 12/10/2024 12:00 PM
UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley Physical Chemistry Seminar - CANCELED? - 12/10/2024 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
'Power Metal' The race for the resources that will shape the future - 12/10/2024 06:00 PM
Ecology Center Berkeley
Heroes Never Die: The Blizzard Saga - 12/10/2024 07:00 PM
Computer History Museum Mountain View
Wonderfest: Overcoming Limits of Human Vision - 12/10/2024 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
Wednesday, 12/11/2024
Earth Out of Balance - 12/11/2024 09:30 AM
swissnex San Francisco San Francisco
Sensor data fusion approaches to understanding nitrate at higher resolution in coastal ocean areas - Livestream - 12/11/2024 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Research Institute
Thursday, 12/12/2024
UC Berkeley Integrative Biology Seminar - 12/12/2024 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
After Dark: Glow with the Flow - 12/12/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Artificial Intelligence, Hope and the Human Spirit - 12/12/2024 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
The Problem with Scientism and the Nature of the Skeptic Community - Livestream - 12/12/2024 06:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Colombia: South America’s Birding Mecca - Livestream - 12/12/2024 07:00 PM
Marin Audubon Society
Breathless: Catie and the Robot - 12/12/2024 07:30 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Friday, 12/13/2024
Brainstem Dynamics Regulating REM Sleep - 12/13/2024 12:00 PM
ChEM-H/Neuroscience Building, James Lin and Nisa Leung Seminar Room (E153) Stanford
Geminids Meteor Shower - 12/13/2024 11:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Saturday, 12/14/2024
Land x Good Fire: Prescribed Burn Planning - 12/14/2024 09:00 AM
Audubon Canyon Ranch Marshall
King Tide Day in San Rafael - 12/14/2024 09:00 AM
Grand Marina Building San Rafael
King Tides Walk - 12/14/2024 09:30 AM
Environmental Volunteers EcoCenter Palo Alto
Family Nature Adventures: Snooze and Snuggle-Hibernating Animals! - 12/14/2024 10:30 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Breathless: Catie and the Robot - 12/14/2024 01:30 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The origin of the Universe & evolution of large scale structure and how it affects your observing - 12/14/2024 07:30 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
Sunday, 12/15/2024
Winter Bird Walk - 12/15/2024 09:00 AM
UC Botanical Garden Berkeley
King Tides: A Royal Tide Watch Along the Embarcadero - 12/15/2024 10:00 AM
Between Pier 3 and 5 San Francisco
Monday, 12/16/2024
Exploring the cell death phenotypic landscape - 12/16/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
December LASER Event - 12/16/2024 07:00 PM
Alway Building, Rm M112 Stanford