This photo of a total Lunar Eclipse was captured 11/8/22 at around 3:30am MST, and was captured using two telescopes and two cameras, to maximize detail and color depth. https://cosmicbackground.io/products/by-the-scattered-light-of-earth
It’s That Time of Year Science Fans!
There are two items I’d like to mention to start with. Celebrations from many cultures and taxes!
Every year about this time people think about the biggest and most universal (at least on this Pale Blue Dot of a planet) celebration. There are a lot of different cultures and religions that base their own celebrations on it, but we know that it is really about the farthest the earth gets from the ecliptic. (All right astronomers let me know if that is a grossly wrong statement!) Many of us call it the Winter Solstice. For many it is a time of renewal and welcoming the lengthening of the days and upcoming planting and harvesting of crops. Of course with the reality of climate change that may be up for reinterpretation.
It’s also time for many of us to get serious about taxes. It has been a wild ride this year if you have any of your economic future or present in the stock markets. Just think about how difficult it has been for the many nonprofits that enrich our lives. For many, myself included, nonprofits are what add richness as well as necessity to the lives of many. They need our support but often we fail to realize just who or what they are. It’s easy to remember that food-banks and medical aid groups need our help. But if you go to the museum you may not think so much about this because, generally you have to pay to get in. I would like you to consider (and actually do it) supporting the various educational, art, and science museums wherever you live or visit. I would suggest that you support organizations that fuse science, art, and perception, together in helping us to appreciate the richness of what this place we call home is. Art and science are what I rely on to appreciate and try to understand most of what I experience. I personally support the explOratorium and CuriOdyssey. Whether it is beautiful or informing about science, think about how science informs art and art informs science. I say all of this whether you actually have to pay taxes or not!!! If you have some suggestions for other museums and public education nonprofits let me know and I’ll include them in an upcoming SciSchmooze (subject to space and “relevance”). A lot of museums are featuring light in their solstice exhibits this year. IlluminOdyssey is open now and GLOW opens Thu Nov 17, I can personally assure you that both are worth a visit! Whether it is beautiful or informing about science think about how science informs art and art informs science. I say all of this whether you actually have to pay taxes or not!!! Supporting science and art is just a darned good thing to do! For an extra bit of fun and meaning, I suggest that any donations you make be in multiples of 𝛑!
I hope you voted. It clearly matters when the polls can be so wrong. In the future you must vote, don’t trust others to do it themselves.
So what interests you in the coming week? Here are a few options that I think look interesting…
1- Opening the Infrared Treasure Chest with JWST - Livestream Mon 3:30
2- After Dark: Glow Opening Thu 6:00-10:00 (This gets my vote!)
3- Raptor Fest at Rancho San Vicente Sat 9:30-2:00
In the past few weeks a lot of interesting items have come across my monitors. Here are a few that seemed particularly interesting and relevant, in no particular order…
What is Scientific Skepticism?
The genius and hubris of plastic has been absorbed by every living thing.
Massive mystery holes appear in Siberian tundra
I hope you have a great week learning new and cool things. Let art lead you to science and let science lead you to art, but always remain skeptical!
herb masters
Albert Einstein put it best when he said:
“As beings of light we are local and non-local, time bound and timeless actuality and possibility.”
Actually, Einstein never said that.
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 11/14/2022
Environmental Gradients and Seaweed in Tomales Bay - 11/14/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Angela Korabik, UC Davis
Quantum Computing and Entrepreneurship - Livestream - 11/14/2022 12:30 PM
Stanford University
Quantum computing is a rapidly advancing field that is poised to take on complex problems that elude even the most powerful supercomputers. In this talk, I will discuss the following: • What is quantum computing and how can it be applied? • My journey from Symbolic Systems into quantum technology • Starting a company in quantum, and the ever evolving challenges founders face including product development, fundraising, and building teams • What the next 10 years will look like in quantum, as well as entrepreneurship opportunities in the space • Getting into the quantum computing field for non-quantum physicists • Quantum entrepreneurship for good
Speaker: Rebecca Krauthamer, QuSecure
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 11/14/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Cheng Gong, University of Maryland
See weblink for Zoom information.
Opening the Infrared Treasure Chest with JWST - Livestream - 11/14/2022 03:30 PM
SLAC Colloquium Series
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Dec. 25, 2021, and commissioning was completed in early July 2022. With its 6.5 m golden eye, and cameras and spectrometers covering 0.6 to 28 µm, Webb is already producing magnificent images of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, star-forming regions, and planets. Scientists are hunting for some of the first objects that formed after the Big Bang, the first black holes (primordial or formed in galaxies), and beginning to observe the growth of galaxies, the formation of stars and planetary systems, individual exoplanets through coronography and transit spectroscopy, and all objects in the Solar System from Mars on out. It could observe a 1 square centimeter bumblebee at the Earth-Moon distance, in reflected sunlight and thermal emission. I will show how we built the Webb and what we hope to find. Webb is a joint project of NASA with the European and Canadian space agencies.
Speaker: John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
An Astronomical Perspective on Globular Clusters, Planet Earth, and the Climate Crisis - 11/14/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
Globular clusters are beautiful and ancient structures that have been providing insight into the structure of our galaxy and the evolution of stars for more than 100 years. I will describe the role that binary stars play in their fascinating internal dynamics and examples of how binaries are revealed in clusters using space-based observatories. Spending time focused on things that are impossibly distant and vast gives astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts an unusual perspective on our own small planet. Astronomers for Planet Earth (A4E) was founded in 2019 to harness this perspective to mobilize the global astronomical community to take action on the climate crisis. A4E now comprises more than 1600 astronomy educators, students, amateurs, and researchers from 74 countries. I will describe our goals, some current activities--including plans for an upcoming A4E symposium--and invite you to share your thoughts on how physicists and astronomers can do our part to respond to the climate emergency.
Speaker: Adrienne Cool, San Francisco State University
Overturning the Paradigm: What systems approaches tell us about glycosylation and non-coding RNA - CANCELED - 11/14/2022 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Glycans offer cells a rich coding space, integrating information from the genome, transcriptome and proteome that reflects both cell status and the function of cells within an organism. Their position at the outer edge of cellular space makes them ideal partners for immune cell recognition and targets for pathogens including viruses and bacteria. This talk focuses on decoding structure-function relationships in the glycome related to host-response and cancer and how exploring the control mechanisms of the glycome have led us to re-evaluate the paradigm of how microRNA regulate the proteome and thus the glycome.
Speaker: Lara Mahal, University of Alberta
This event has been canceled
Developing microbiota-directed complementary foods for treating childhood undernutrition - 11/14/2022 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Jeffrey Gordon received his A.B. from Oberlin College and his M.D. from the University of Chicago. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Washington University and was a post-doctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Biochemistry at NIH’s National Cancer Institute. He has spent his entire career at Washington University, first as a member of the Departments of Medicine and Biological Chemistry, then as Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, and now as Founding Director of the University’s interdepartmental Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He has had the privilege and pleasure of having 142 PhD students and post-doctoral fellows train in his lab; they have played key roles in shaping this field, with a number becoming leaders in microbiome science.
Making a head: how regulatory conservation underlies body plan disparity in deuterostomes - 11/14/2022 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Professor Christopher Lowe trained as a biologist in the UK at Sussex University. He moved to The USA for graduate training with Greg Wray at SUNY Stonybrook in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, where he worked on the evolution of body plans and the origin of echinoderms. Following his PhD. he worked as a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley working on the origin of chordates focusing on the evolution of the vertebrate central nervous system, first in Mike Levine's lab, then with John Gerhart and Marc Kirschner from Harvard. His first academic position was as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago in 2005. He moved to Stanford in 2010 and his lab is based at Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey.
His main research interests involve how major groups of animals evolved and is interested in adapting emerging techniques in biotechnology to apply to new species. His appointment at Hopkins Marine Station gives him access to the incredible biodiversity of the marine environment in Monterey Bay.
Narrowing the search for axion dark matter - 11/14/2022 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
The quantum chromodynamics axion and axion-like particles are some of the most sought-after beyond the Standard Model particles at present because of their possible connections with the strong-CP problem, dark matter, and ultraviolet physics such as Grand Unification and String Theory. Laboratory searches are underway around the world to search for these hypothetical particles. However, these searches are notoriously difficult because the axion mass is currently unknown. The axion mass is in principle calculable by solving the axion dynamics in the early Universe, but such calculations are made difficult by nonlinear effects in the equations of motion. I will show how state-of-the-art supercomputing facilities are being leveraged to simulate axion cosmology and inform axion experiments. The early Universe simulations are part of a broader program, which I will overview, to rule out or confirm the existence of the axion in nature in the coming years. This broad program ranges from precision laboratory experiments such as ABRACADABRA to studies of small changes in the cooling rates of stars.
Speaker: Benjamin Safdi, UC Berkeley
Jay Apt, Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business - Livestream - 11/14/2022 04:30 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
Jay Apt is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and in the CMU Department of Engineering and Public Policy. He is the Co-Director (with Granger Morgan) of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center and Director of the RenewElec (renewable electricity) project. He has authored over 80 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has published op-ed pieces in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Professor Apt received an A.B. in physics from Harvard College in 1971 and a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1997 and the Metcalf Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to engineering in 2002.
Tuesday, 11/15/2022
Whole Earth Seminar - Canceled - 11/15/2022 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Earle Wilson, Stanford University
This event has been canceled
Stanford Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium - Rescheduled - 11/15/2022 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Speakers: Jason Hogan, Stanford University
This speaker is now scheduled to present on November 1.
Lessons from scale for large language models and quantitative reasoning - 11/15/2022 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Large language models trained on diverse training data have shown impressive results on many tasks involving natural language -- in many cases matching or exceeding human performance. Some measures of progress exhibit remarkably robust power-law improvement over many orders of magnitude in dataset, model and compute scale, while other capabilities remain difficult to extrapolate. One domain which has traditionally been challenging for such models is multi-step quantitative reasoning for mathematics and science. I will discuss recent progress attempting to understand and extrapolate model capabilities with scale and Minerva, a large language model designed to perform multi-step STEM problem solving.
Speaker: Ethan Dyer, Google Blueshift
This speaker was originally scheduled to present on November 1.
Two Talks: Popping the Science Bubble - Livestream - 11/15/2022 05:30 PM
Berkeley Public Library
IceCube: A Neutrino Window on the Universe - Livestream - 11/15/2022 06:00 PM
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
With funding from the National Science Foundation the IceCube project at the South Pole melted eighty-six holes over 1.5 miles deep in the Antarctic icecap to construct an enormous astronomical observatory. The experiment discovered a flux of neutrinos reaching us from the cosmos, with energies more than a million times those of neutrinos produced at accelerator laboratories. These cosmic neutrinos are astronomical messengers coming from some of the most violent processes in the universe and from the biggest explosions since the Big Bang. We will discuss the IceCube telescope and highlight the recent discoveries that some high-energy neutrinos - and cosmic rays - originate from sources powered by rotating supermassive black holes.
Speaker: Dr. Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin - Madison
See weblink for connection links
ACS San Francisco Bay Chapter 2021 Grant Recipients Present their Cetacean Research - Livestream - 11/15/2022 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
In December 2021, through the generous support of individual donors like you, the American Cetacean Society San Francisco Bay Chapter was thrilled to award cetacean research grants to three emerging marine biologists doing critical research in support of our mission: to protect whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their habitats through public education, research grants, and critical conservation actions. These remarkable San Francisco Bay Area graduate students are conducting research that will contribute valuable information toward efforts to understand and reduce anthropogenic threats to Pacific humpback whales, blue whales, beaked whales, and California gray whales. At this event, you’ll hear firsthand from each grant recipient about their research and their findings to date.
Kelly DeForest, an M.S. student at San Francisco State University, is the recipient of our inaugural Isidore Szczepaniak Cetacean Research Grant. Kelly is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Geographic Information Science and Cartography program at San Francisco State University. Kelly’s research aims to inform how oceanographic variability and climate change impacts migratory patterns of baleen whales in the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC), and how human-whale geographies may be altered by shifts in migration timing. To explore these relationships, they are analyzing 20 years of humpback, blue, and gray whale sightings collected by the Channel Islands Naturalist Corps. With these data, they will use statistical modeling methods to examine inter-annual and long-term trends in the arrival and departure of baleen whales to and from the SBC, as well as fine-scale habitat use in relation to environmental variables. They also plan to explore the capacity of environmental variables to predict migration timing and habitat use. The results of this research will assist in guiding future vessel speed reduction timing in the SBC and inform policy measures to reduce vessel strike risk.
Bekah Lane, a Ph.D. student at San Francisco State University, is the recipient of the 2021 Jonathan Stern Cetacean Research Grant. Currently, as a graduate student in Dr. Ellen Hines’ lab, she studies the risk of ship strikes to humpback whales in San Francisco Bay. Her thesis, “Whales in a Highly Urbanized Estuary: Evaluating Risk of Ship Strike to Humpback Whales in San Francisco Bay,” aims to create a model for ship strike risk to humpback whales to inform management decisions for vessels in the bay.
Allison Payne, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the recipient of our inaugural Christine Fitzsimmons Cetacean Research Grant. Her research involves instrumenting northern elephant seals with acoustic recorders to listen for beaked whales in the North Pacific Ocean.
It will be enlightening and gratifying to hear from these young scientists on risks associated with vessel strikes, entanglements, and bycatch mortality as well as how their research can help to minimize detrimental human impact.
From Informed Collector to Professional Mycological Contributor - Livestream - 11/15/2022 07:00 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco
Dimitar Bojantchev will share his path from amateur to informed collector, and onward to professional contributor to science. He is a leading taxonomist of macrofungi in California and the Western United States with an emphasis on the largest genera of Cortinarius and Russula.
Dimitar has regularly served as a lead identifier at various club events, mushroom fairs, forays, and other mycological forums as well as being an invited speaker at various clubs. He has led classes on diverse subjects like molecular phylogenetics, fungal microscopy, fungi of the genus Cortinarius, appreciation of macro-fungi, and other topics.
Dimitar will share a bit of the history of his work, and his current projectsHe will discuss molecular methods for those who want to reach the next levelAnd we'll will look at some of the species which he has described and others that will be described soon.
See weblink for Zoom information
Wednesday, 11/16/2022
Morning Hike at La Honda Open Space Preserve - 11/16/2022 10:00 AM
La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve La Honda
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for a beautiful hike at Lower La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve where you’ll experience the area’s sweeping views and gorgeous rolling grasslands! The preserve is over 6,100 acres, of which POST has contributed 5,200 acres. You will be guided by a POST Ambassador on the meandering trails of Lower La Honda Creek, featuring a still-active cattle operation and views of the surrounding ridgelines! You will hear all about the human and natural history of this beautiful preserve!
The hike is moderate to strenuous at about 6 miles round trip with about 1100 feet of gradual elevation gain. There are some steep portions of this hike so hiking poles, closed-toed shoes with tread, and plenty of water/snacks for yourself is recommended.
Register at weblink
Cooperation and conflict across levels of biological organization: evidence from colorful birds, coral reefs, and primate pregnancy - 11/16/2022 10:00 AM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Dakota E. McCoy is an integrative biologist who merges approaches from various fields to address major questions in evolutionary biology such as species conflict in symbiosis and dishonest signaling in sexual selection. She received her PhD from Harvard University and is currently a Stanford Science Fellow in the Material Science department.
Seminar Room S360
The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums - Livestream - 11/16/2022 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
An uneducated seamstress with boundless curiosity. A mother octopus with a baffling shell. When the lady and the octopus met, they reshaped marine biology, proving that females of both species were far more capable than they’d been given credit for. Nineteenth-century inventor and explorer Jeanne Villepreux-Power charted her own course in natural history, helping drive a significant shift in the field’s methodology: from observation of dead organisms to experimentation on live ones. She invented the first research aquariums, and used them to solve the ancient mystery of argonauts. People had long debated whether these unusual octopuses make or steal the shells in which they brood their eggs. Jeanne not only discovered the answer, but spent years corresponding with learned societies and repeating her experiments until her findings were accepted. Her remarkable story offers a window into both the history and the future of marine biology.
Speaker: Daana Staaf, Author
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Silicon Valley Talks: Technology and Journalism - 11/16/2022 12:00 PM
Green Library Stanford
When Samuel Morse sent the first official telegram from the Supreme Court Chamber, he demonstrated this new media technology with the message, "What hath God wrought?" Journalists today, nearly 180 years later, might well ask the same question about technology's impact on their profession, and on the news business generally. Please join us for a panel conversation about technology's impact hosted by the Silicon Valley Archives. Panelists Kara Swisher (technilogy journalist) , Rich Jaroslovsky (SmartNews) and Ken Doctor (Lookout Local) will speak with us about the successes and failures in journalism's adoption of new digital and media technologies. The discussion will range across issues such as the fragmentation of audiences, the migration of advertising dollars and new models for news.
Register at weblink to attend.
Envorinmental and Energy Economics Seminar - 11/16/2022 12:10 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Marshall Burke, Stanford University
Light at Night: A Glowing Hazard - Livestream - 11/16/2022 01:00 PM
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, and the Sierra Club Bay Alive Campaign invite you to our symposium on dark sky and bird-friendly building and lighting design. The use of LED lighting technology is causing an unintended, yet pervasive and harmful effect: the over-lighting of our nights. Learn about the biological and physical effects of light at night and strategies that can guard our health and environment while providing safe and practical lighting solutions. Our speakers are global experts in light pollution and bird-safe building and lighting design. Travis Longcore, Ph.D. Associate Adjunct Professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Christine Sheppard, Ph.D. Director of the Glass Collisions Program American Bird Conservancy John Barentine, Ph.D. Executive Officer and Principal Consultan tDark Sky Consulting, LLC Mary Coolidge Bird Safe & Lights Out Campaign Coordinator Portland Audubon
Register at weblink to attend
The role of microbial symbioses in reef coral conservation under climate change - Livestream - 11/16/2022 03:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center
All multicellular life hosts diverse microbial communities that are integral to biological function; these microorganisms drive metabolism, stress resistance, and acclimatization at organismal and ecosystem scales. For modern reef-building corals, their success hinges upon interactions with associated photosynthetic endosymbiotic algae. However, increasing sea surface temperatures cause a breakdown in the coral-algal symbiosis, a process known as coral bleaching, which is one of the greatest threats of anthropogenic climate change to the future persistence of coral reefs. I will discuss how different algal symbiont species drive resistance to bleaching in corals, and how dynamic and flexible symbioses affect resilience at different scales (reef, colony, polyps) and life stages. Also, how the capacity for coral larvae to form persistent symbioses with different algal symbiont species may inform active, scalable intervention strategies to boost coral reef survival, including the effect of elevated temperatures.
Speaker: Shayle Matsuda, John G Shedd Aquarium
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
Using satellites to monitor environmental change with National Geographic e - 11/16/2022 05:00 PM
CANOPY Jackson Square San Francisco
Every ten days, a constellation of satellites works together to take a high-resolution picture of each location on earth. Most of this data is and will be used for defense and intelligence purposes, but we can also use this data for environmental purposes.
In this talk with Caleb Kruse, he will share how we've used AI and satellite data to build Amazon Mining Watch to track the progress of illegal mining activity in Brazil, and Global Plastic Watch to find plastic waste before it ends up in the ocean.
Register at weblink
November LASER Event - 11/16/2022 06:30 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous StanfordKim Anno(California College of the Arts) on "Spectacle of Nature and Iconic Western texts: Oedius Rex and Dante’s Purgatorio"Rearranging iconic Western texts to reconfigure new meaning...Read more Kokichi Sugihara(Meiji University, Japan) on "How to Make Impossible Objects" The “impossible object” initially meant an imaginary 3D structure which occurs in our mind...Read more Virj Kan(Design Scientist) on "Molecular Design Interactions" The emerging field of biodesign, an interdisciplinary practice fusing science, nature, and creativity...Read more Kal Spelletich(Media Artist) on "Galactic Scale Inquiries into the Nature of the Cosmos" Reconstructing scientific tools and experiments with light, stones, sound, metal, video, and machines...Read more
Attend in person or watch online. See weblink for connections.
Policymaker’s Perspective: 13 Tips for Successful Advocacy - 11/16/2022 06:30 PM
The Foster Palo Alto
The guest speaker will be Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian addressing 13 ways that environmentalists can advocate effectively for good policy.
“13 Tips” is a lively, interactive presentation that Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian has presented to leadership groups, nonprofits, and community activists for many years. “Having served as an elected official at various levels of state and local government, I’ve observed what works, and what doesn’t,” Simitian said. “My hope is that anyone who wants to be a more effective advocate - particularly in the governmental arena - will find this a useful opportunity. Making change is difficult, but it can be done if you know how to be a successful advocate. My focus in on practical tips that folks can use the minute they walk in the door.”
Register at weblink to attend, either in person or via Zoom
The Active Social Lives of Big Black Holes - 11/16/2022 07:00 PM
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
It is now clear that most normal galaxies have a big black hole, with between a million and ten billion suns in mass, in their nucleus. However, in addition to being the monstrous cosmic maws of popular characterization, these black holes can interact strongly and subtly with their environment. They can attract gas and cause it to shine more brightly than their galactic hosts. They can use their rotation to create twin jets flowing outwards with speeds close to that of light. They can shatter stars which wander too close. They can also acquire massive black hole partners which become locked in an ecstatic dance before merging and creating a burst of gravitatlonal waves. We have learned, are learning and should soon learn much more about each of these interactions, as I shall try to illustrate.
Speaker: Roger Blandford, Stanford University
See weblink for connection information.
Urable Worlds: Where and How can Life Start in the Universe? - 11/16/2022 07:00 PM
SETI Institute: SETI Talks Mountain View
On which worlds and under what conditions can life begin? The new “urability” framework (places and conditions under which life can originate) is a new addition to Astrobiology, joining the term “habitability” (worlds where life as we know it can survive). Applying urability to exoplanet models will inform a key term in the Drake Equation enabling better estimation of the inventory of worlds where life might arise. The framework is based on a foundation of accumulating evidence by multiple international teams, which increasingly supports an origin of life on land in volcanic hot spring pools. David Deamer and Bruce Damer of UC Santa Cruz and the BIOTA Institute will introduce urability and the hot spring scenario and present a new twist, “the Drake Equation, in reverse,” along with a potentially controversial proposal that “microbes may be hard, not easy.”
This talk will be in person at the SETI Institute (limited space available) and online. Senior researcher Franck Marchis will moderate this talk.
Register at weblink to attend, either in person or online
Science on Tap: The Feeding Habits of Supermassive Black Holes - 11/16/2022 07:00 PM
Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz
Black holes are undoubtedly some of the most mysterious objects in the known universe. This mystery seems to sit poorly with some, often earning them descriptions in the media such as “gargantuan monsters”, “gravitational terrors”, and even “one-way passages to doom”! In this talk, I aim to shed some light (metaphorically, of course, since light can’t escape them) on the most-feared aspect of black holes - what they eat. In particular, I’ll focus on supermassive black holes - objects weighing up to 10^10 times the mass of our sun, or ~10^40 pounds. We’ll discuss how they get so large, what they typically dine upon, and the observational signatures produced by different feeding habits.
Speaker: Sierra Dodd, UC Santa Cruz
The Genetics Behind Eye Degeneration in Cave-dwelling Crustaceans - 11/16/2022 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Speaker: Merideth Protas, Dominican University
Lichen Ecology and Symbiosis - 11/16/2022 07:30 PM
Bay Area Mycological Society Berkeley
Our November speaker will be Dr. Klara Scharnagl, Tucker Curator of Lichenology at the UC Berkeley Herbarium. She's going to talk about symbiosis and ecology of these specialized fungi.
Thursday, 11/17/2022
Machine Learning for Policymakers: Decoding AI Technology Development, Responsibility, and Policy - Livestream - 11/17/2022 10:00 AM
Computer History Museum
Countries around the world are establishing strategies, initiatives, and policies to guide the development and use of machine learning, which is the foundation for modern artificial intelligence (AI). What is essential to understand about machine learning technology and how can it be developed and used responsibly?
CHM and Google AI present an invitation-only, interactive workshop to decode machine learning for government leaders. The two-hour virtual event will offer a rare opportunity to interact with a senior research scientist at Google about machine learning technology and key issues of fairness, security, privacy, and explainability. The workshop will address:
What is machine learning? How does it work? What can machine learning do? Why is machine learning so prevalent today and what is the importance of data, computing power, and novel algorithms? What does it look like in practice to develop artificial intelligence (AI) in a responsible way? How do you combat unfair bias and address concerns about privacy and security? Is machine learning a “black box”? What level of explainability - the ability to explain why a machine learning model arrived at an outcome - is currently feasible? What are some common misconceptions? How do organizations implement machine learning responsibly? How can machine learning be applied for climate change?
Following the interactive briefing by Dr. Héctor Pérez Urbina, the second part of the workshop will explore these issues through a case study of machine learning for climate change. The workshop will leave ample time for questions and open discussion of any topics that may interest participants about AI development, responsibility, and policy.
See weblink for Agenda
Register at weblink to attend
Coastal Walk at Pillar Point Bluff - 11/17/2022 10:00 AM
Pillar Point Bluff Moss Beach
Join Peninsula Open Space Trust for an afternoon walk at Pillar Point Bluff just north of Half Moon Bay! You will be guided by a POST representative who will share details about the area’s interesting natural history, from the coastal scrub habitat to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve that hosts tide pools and breeding grounds for harbor seals.
The walk is moderate at about 2.5 miles round trip with around 350 feet of gradual elevation gain.
In 2004, POST stepped in to fund protection of the bluff, restore it to ecological health, and construct a 1.6-mile section of the California Coastal Trail that now runs across it. Today, all 161 acres of the bluff are fully protected in perpetuity - a process that took four transactions, 11 years of work, and an array of visionaries, landowners and donors, both public and private.
Please note that all minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the entire duration of the hike. While dogs are allowed on this trail, we kindly ask that your pups stay home for this community hike.
Register at weblink
2022 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize Ceremony - Livestream - 11/17/2022 11:00 AM
Gladstone Institutes
Gladstone Institutes will honor the 2022 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize winner, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte.He will be presented with the award and will give a scientific lecture based on his recent work.
Izpisua Belmonte is a celebrated scientist known for his regenerative medicine and aging research, as well as his work leading to improved methods of generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In a translational leap, his group was among the first to demonstrate the potential of using genetic engineering to correct mutations in patient iPSCs for cell therapy. He was selected for this prize because of these innovations and their potential for the improvement of age-related diseases.
See weblink to join on Zoom
Searching for Earth-like exoplanets among stellar noise: advancing EPRV instrument capabilities - 11/17/2022 11:00 AM
Kavli Institute Astrophysics Colloquium Stanford
The study and characterization of nearby terrestrial worlds continues to be a key research area within astronomy. Extremely precise radial velocity (EPRV) measurements are critical for this work providing mass, density, and orbital information that are crucial to characterize rocky worlds. However, the path to reaching the radial velocity precision required to detect Earth-analog systems (1-10cm/s) is less clear. Performance of modern Doppler instruments is no longer dominated by instrument systematics, but instead by the effects of stellar variability, an effect that imprints the signature of surface inhomogeneities and stochastic motions onto stellar spectra at the meter-per-second level. New technologies and techniques are required to address this challenge and to enable future exoplanet discoveries.
iLocater is a new type of EPRV instrument under development for the dual 8.4m diameter Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The instrument uses adaptive optics (AO) to efficiently inject diffraction-limited starlight into single-mode fibers (SMFs) at near-infrared wavelengths. Operating at the diffraction limit offers a multitude of advantages for generating precise Doppler time series measurements: higher spectral resolution (R~150,000-240,000), the elimination of modal noise, two orders of magnitude lower OH emission, a compact instrument volume and improved thermal stability. The design of iLocater has been optimized to exploit these benefits, and deliver the spectral resolutions required for characterizing stellar variability.
I will present an overview of iLocater including its design, status, expected performance and unique science programs.
Speaker: Jonathan Crass, University of Notre Dame
Science at Cal - The Road to Vehicle Electrification - Livestream - 11/17/2022 12:00 PM
UC Berkeley
This August, California announced groundbreaking plans to phase out the production of traditional gas-powered cars by 2035. Reports show that, with the right policies, it is technically and economically feasible. But state and local leaders have just over a decade to transition how Californians drive and fuel their vehicles. At this month’s Midday Science Cafe, we’ll hear from Priyanka Mohanty, Senior Research Analyst in the International Energy Group at Berkeley Lab about the staggering statistics that will result from this effort. For instance, the transition is predicted to save 150,000 premature deaths, avoid $1.3 trillion in environmental and health costs, cut $2.7 trillion in transportation costs, and support a net increase of over 2 million jobs, all by 2035. We’ll then hear from Ted Lamm, Senior Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, who will discuss a new research initiative that will work with local governments across California to develop equitable infrastructure plans that focus on the needs and capacities of the most under-resourced and highest priority communities; for instance, charging stations in communities that are less likely to have access to private and workplace charging opportunities. Join us to learn more about smart policy solutions for California’s ambitious energy and electrification goals!
Speaker: Ted Lam, UC Berkeley
Infrared Oscilloscopes: Sampling 30-THz Waveforms for Next-Generation Spectroscopy - 11/17/2022 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Engineering Colloquium
In electronic devices like field-effect transistors, applied electric fields, up to hundreds of gigahertz in frequency, control electron motion. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the electric fields of ultra-intense laser pulses, i.e. electric fields in the tera- to petahertz (THz to PHz) regime, can similarly control electric currents around gas-phase atoms. In this talk, I will describe recent efforts to extend these early demonstrations of THz- and PHz-speed electronics from gaseous media to solid-state, microelectronic devices. Specifically, I will describe nanoantenna-based devices in which electric currents can be switched on and off by individual oscillations of the electric field of an infrared laser pulse. I will show that these devices can be used to sample >30-THz electric field waveforms in the time domain, and I will overview one of the exciting potential applications of these devices: field-resolved infrared spectroscopy.
Speaker: William Putnam, UC Davis. Weijian Yang, the speaker originally scheduled to speak today, is unavailable.
Two talks: chinese American Chemical Society - 11/17/2022 04:15 PM
History Corner (Bldg 200) Stanford
Please register and join us for the inaugural program of the new Northern California Chapter of the Chinese American Chemical Society (CACS) • CACS overview and awards • Talks from awardees Profs. Zhenan Bao and Peidong Yang • Great networking & light refreshments
Skin-inspired Organic Electronics
Speaker: Zhenan Bao
Artificial Photosynthesis
Peidong Yang
Register at weblink, limited seating
Room 205
From Mono Lake to Mar Chiquita - A Future for Phalaropes and Saline Lakes - Livestream - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes are tiny but charismatic shorebirds that rely on saline lakes like Mono Lake and Owens Lake as their most critical gas stations on their epic migration to South America. Saline lakes are threatened worldwide by water diversion and climate change, and presumably phalaropes are threatened along with them. However, basic questions about phalaropes remain unanswered, including: "how many are there?", "are they declining?", and "where are they?" Ryan Carle will discuss recent efforts both locally and throughout the western hemisphere to close the gaps in our understanding of phalaropes' ecology and conservation status, and conservation actions needed to ensure a future for the phalaropes and people that depend on saline lakes.
Speaker: Ryan Carle, Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge
Panel of Remediaiton and Permaculture Experts: Fungi for Bioremediation - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation Heron Hall Santa Rosa
Bioremediation refers to cost-effective and environment-friendly method for converting the toxic, recalcitrant pollutants into environmentally benign products through the action of various biological treatments. Fungi play a major role in bioremediation owing to their robust morphology and diverse metabolic capacity.
Attend in person or online.
NightLife - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Calling all creatures of the night: explore the nocturnal side of the Academy at NightLife and see what's revealed. With live DJs, outdoor bars, ambiance lighting, and nearly 40,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude the albino alligator), the night is sure to be wild.
Step inside the iconic Shake House and our four-story Rainforest, where you can explore the Amazon’s treetops surrounded by free-flying birds and butterflies. Reservations for these exhibits are no longer required. However, please note that the last entry into the rainforest is 7:30 pm - our animals need their sleep.
Venture into our latest aquarium exhibit Venom to encounter live venomous animals and learn the power of venom to both harm and heal.
Visit the BigPicture exhibit in the Piazza to marvel at the most recent winners of the BigPicture Natural Photography competition.
Bask in the glow of one of the largest living coral reef displays in the world: our 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef tank.
Take in the interstellar views from the Living Roof, then grab a bite from the Academy Cafe and head to the West Garden outdoor bar to drink and dine under the stars. For adults 21+.
After Dark: Glow Opening - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Turn up the radiance this winter! Visible light inspires us across cultures, reveals nature’s beauty, and contains clues about the history of space and time. Tonight, join us for the opening of Glow: Discover the Art of Light, a collection of luminous sculptures big and small that invite you to connect to, reflect on, and interact with light. Hear from Glow artists about their work, and dive into the processes that illuminate their sculptures. Gather under Luke Jerram’s installation Museum of the Moon to enjoy a special performance from pianist Tammy L. Hall and soprano Leberta Lorál. Don’t miss this wondrous seasonal expansion of the Exploratorium’s iconic exhibits on light.
Glow features artworks by Anila Quayyum Agha, Luke Jerram, Jen Lewin, Burt Libe, Craig Newswanger, and Sally Weber.
Moonlit Music With Tammy L. Hall and Leberta Lorál 8:15 p.m. Bechtel Gallery 3
Join pianist Tammy L. Hall and soprano Leberta Lorál beneath the glow of Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon. The moon has inspired musicians and composers across time and genre. Tonight, Hall and Lorál harness this inspiration to present a celebratory performance.
Meet the Artists in Bechtel Gallery 3 Throughout the night, hear from some Glow artists and an Exploratorium exhibit technician about their artworks and processes. Look for them right next to their works as they share, show, and answer your questions.
Phil Ramey 7:15 p.m. Meet at The Enchanted Tree to take a peek into electronic art history. Exploratorium Senior Exhibit Technician Phil Ramey will share how this 1971 work by Burt Libe was restored.
Jen Lewin 7:30 p.m. Meet at The Last Ocean, a 1,200-square-foot landscape of interactive platforms illuminated by visitor activity.
Sally Weber, Craig Newswanger, and Jonathan Crawford 7:45 p.m. Meet at Entangled Attraction and gaze up at an array of 300 spiraling lights. Then learn about RayLights, an artwork that produces ever-changing, mandala-like light patterns that are synchronized to ambient sounds.
Endangered Bumble Bees - Science on the Threats and Recovery - Livestream - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
US Geological Survey Public Lecture Series
Speaker:John Mola, former USGS Research Ecologist, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Learn About:
The basics of bumble bee biology and the history of species decline and conservation. How forests may be important, but often overlooked, places of conservation and restoration for bumble bees.How genetic data can be used to inform species recovery and management plans.What YOU can do to help bumble bees.
See weblink to attend.
Lincoln Family Science Night - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
Lincoln Elementary School Richmond
Family Science Night is back - put on your N95 mask and join us for an evening of chemistry fun at Lincoln Elementary School in Richmond. Bryan Balazs will kick things off with his colorful chemistry show, to be followed by hands-on activities all around the cafeteria. You can help us present the NCW theme activity Dyeing for Color, or one of our old favorites such as Colorful Electrolysis and the Chemistry Rainbow. Plus, Colored Flames and Exploding Pumpkins in the courtyard, and Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream!
On the Cosmic Dimension of Human Stories - 11/17/2022 06:00 PM
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) San Francisco
One of the 10 most radical discoveries in human history is that of cosmogenesis, the narrative of how the expanding universe is evolving into stars, galaxies, life, and human consciousness. It is certain that over time this discovery will have a major impact on humanity, but it is still too early to know the details.The challenge to this discovery is the thorny question of how human subjectivity relates to the evolution of the universe. Is there cosmic meaning in our ongoing efforts-like using memory and art-to record our experiences? Cosmologist and CIIS professor in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Brian Thomas Swimme's newest book, Cosmogenesis, tells the story of how the new cosmology demolished his modern industrial mind, then slowly assembled a new mind, one rooted in the creative energies of our developing universe. Brian's experiences provide a glimpse into one of the ways cosmogenesis might be transforming human consciousness at the species level, a transformation necessary for ushering in a new era of the unfolding story.Join us for a unique conversation with Brian and novelist and CIIS professor in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing Carolyn Cooke as they explore the impact of time-developmental cosmology and its potentiality to impact, and possibly transform human consciousness.
NightSchool: Aquarium Without Walls - Livestream - 11/17/2022 07:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences
Beyond caring for our animals and maintaining exhibits, the Steinhart Aquarium’s skilled team of biologists also somehow find the time to conduct impactful conservation work worldwide. Come hang out with Academy biologists, who will share stories about the diverse field work they do outside of the four walls of the aquarium.
See weblink for YouTube and Facebook links.
Earthquake Science of the Bay Area and How to Prepare- Livestream - 11/17/2022 07:00 PM
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Are you prepared for the next big earthquake? We always hear “the big one’s coming” but what does that really mean? We asked Earthquake Geologist and Science Communicator Bryan Castillo to inform us about earthquake science so we can be prepared and stay calm, cool, and collected in the face of potential disaster.
The Bay Area is a seismically active zone. It includes the San Andreas Fault and 6 other significant fault zones: the Calaveras, Concord-Green Valley, Greenville, Hayward, Rodgers Creek, and San Gregorio Faults. The last major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area was the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Scientists forecast that based on the probability and timing of earthquakes that the “next big one is coming.” But what does that actually mean other than causing anxiety and fear? We reached out to a geologist to help clear up any confusion and prepare us with the knowledge we need to stay grounded during earthquake emergencies.
Join us with Earthquake Geologist and Science Communicator Bryan Castillo for an online event that will dive into the science of earthquakes in the Bay Area and how to prepare for them. This online event will be interactive and provide the audience with many opportunities to ask Bryan questions of all magnitudes. We can’t wait to get to the core of earthquake science and look forward to hosting you for this groundbreaking event.
Friday, 11/18/2022
Berkeley Lab Virtual Public Tour - 11/18/2022 11:00 AM
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
In response to COVID-related social conditions, Berkeley Lab is offering virtual tours of its facilities to the public. These are pre-scheduled, live, interactive, one-hour long presentations by Lab staff and scientists. Participants will learn about the Lab's fascinating history, ground-breaking discoveries, and contributions to COVID-19-related research.
Join a Zoom Webinar to learn about Berkeley Lab's history and take a peek at the Molecular Foundry, the Advanced Light Source, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). While we can spend days showing you various facilities at Berkeley Lab, in order to respect your time we'll only be giving you a taste of the vast research conducted.
Register at weblink to receive connection information
The Enigmatic Behavior of Deadly Pyroclastic Density Currents - 11/18/2022 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker:Eric Breard, University of Oregon
Sourav Kumar, UC Berkeley, the speaker originally scheduled for today, will not be available.
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Frank Drake - Livestream - 11/18/2022 03:00 PM
SETI Institute
The celebration will gather and honor this extraordinary scientist who pioneered the modern search for intelligent life in the universe, and his passion for research, education, and helping others. The program will include remarks and remembrances by members of Frank’s family, close friends, and colleagues. Without Frank’s ingenuity and talents, the field of SETI might not exist, and many of its most impactful scientists would have decided to use their talents elsewhere. He left his mark on astronomy, astrophysics and SETI and, more broadly, on all of humankind.
Register at weblink to attend
Pulling Back the Dusty Curtain on Luminous Infrared Galaxies - 11/18/2022 07:30 PM
Tri-Valley Stargazers Livermore
Luminous Infrared Galaxies are some of the brightest and most active galaxies in the Universe. The enormous amounts of infrared light given off by these systems is driven by huge bouts of star formation and by gas accretion onto supermassive black holes. In the nearby Universe, the process driving the intense physical conditions is often a merger of two massive spiral galaxies, ultimately resulting in a final coalesced system which has exhausted the fuel needed to sustain its activity. Large surveys taken in Radio, X-Ray, UV, visible and infrared light are being used to study these systems and investigate how they relate to the history of star formation and galaxy evolution throughout cosmic time. I will discuss how these luminous galaxies light up and present new observations by JWST revealing never before seen details in their dusty cores.
Speaker: Dr. Jeff Rich, Carnegie Observatories
Attend in person or online. See weblink for instructions for online participation.
Saturday, 11/19/2022
Raptor Fest at Rancho San Vicente - 11/19/2022 09:30 AM
Challenger School - Almaden San Jose
Join POST and Santa Clara County Parks for an educational experience like no other: Raptor Fest! This incredible event will highlight very important species of raptors, who play an integral role in the health of our ecosystems!
This free educational event will feature presentations and a chance to visit local wildlife and conservation nonprofits or groups who work to protect vital species in the Bay Area. The event will be hosted at Rancho San Vicente, a newer addition to Calero County Park that was protected by POST, and is rapidly becoming a destination to view a variety of raptors.
This is a unique opportunity to see and learn about birds of prey and the importance of conservation in our communities. Presentations will include Master Falconer Kenny Elvin of Full Circle Falconry. Kenny Elvin will be providing a 45-minute falconry presentation several times during the event. Kenny will share about the history of falconry as well as the biology and habits of raptors. The presentation may involve a flight demonstration depending on conditions. A representative of Santa Clara County Parks will open the falconry presentation by sharing their efforts to protect raptors throughout the park system.
The event will also include a display of rescued Raptors by Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center (WERC), an informational activity station from the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, and support from Los Gatos Birdwatcher.
Register at weblink. Location shown in our listing is for parking. Shuttles provided to the park from the school. You must register for a specific shuttle time.
Fall Friends & Family Day at Bouverie Preserve - 11/19/2022 10:00 AM
Bouverie Preserve Glen Ellen
Take a walk with your friends and family through Bouverie Preserve and stop to explore with our nature enthusiasts who will be at different locations ready to share some of the wonders of nature with you. Staff and volunteers stationed throughout will share what they know about the creek, wildlife, plants, and more.
Sign-up in groups of 2 -7 people. One ticket per group.
Bring water for each person and dress for a nature walk. Closed-toe shoes, hat and sunglasses are recommended.
Covid-19 vaccination required for all adults. Masking required when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Investigating Space: Supersonic Flight - 11/19/2022 01:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) program aims to re-ignite and re-launch supersonic air travel for the 21st Century. Get all the latest news about how NASA is working to transform air travel in this century.
Chasing Shadows in the Night: How NASA’s Kepler and TESS Missions are Revolutionizing Exoplanet Science - Livestream - 11/19/2022 07:00 PM
East Bay Astronomical Society
The first planet outside our own solar system was discovered almost thirty years ago in an extremely unlikely place, orbiting a pulsar, and the first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star was discovered nearly 26 years ago. In the time since, we’ve detected over 5000 planets and over 75% of these have been detected by transit surveys. The Kepler Mission, launched in 2009, has found the lion’s share of these exoplanets, and demonstrated that each star in the night sky has, on average, at least one planet. Kepler’s success spurred NASA and ESA to select several exoplanet-themed missions to move the field of exoplanet science forward from discovery to characterization: How do these planets form and evolve? What is the structure and composition of the atmospheres and interiors of these planets? Can we detect biomarkers in the atmospheres of these planets and learn the answer to the fundamental question, are we alone? NASA selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in 2014 to conduct a nearly all-sky survey for transiting planets with the goal of identifying at least 50 small planets with measured masses that can be followed up by large telescopic assets, such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. TESS has discovered 266 exoplanets so far, 100 of which are smaller than earth with measured masses. In this talk I will describe how we detect weak transit signatures in noisy but beautiful transit survey data sets and present some of the most compelling discoveries made so far by Kepler and TESS.
Speaker: Don Jenkins, NASA Ames
Watch the talk on YouTube here.
Starry Nights Star Party - 11/19/2022 07:00 PM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
The San Jose Astronomical Association (SJAA) is proud to work with the Open Space Authority (OSA) to co-host a public star party at Rancho Canada del Oro (RCDO). This site is just 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose and features dark skies. It's dark enough to see the band of our Milky Way galaxy in the summer.
Do not bring your own telescope (binoculars are welcomed, but please no tripods). SJAA club members will set up their telescopes to help star party guests get the most knowledge and enjoyment out of the dark Starry Night sky.
In addition to traditional telescopes, the SJAA is excited to incorporate Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA) into the Starry Nights Program. We will be using an automated telescope with a camera-like sensor to show live images on an iPad.
There will be a short introductory talk prior to viewing through telescopes. An SJAA astronomer will provide a brief tour of the current night sky as well as an overview of some of the nighttime objects that will be viewed through telescopes.
See weblink for additional information and to register
Sunday, 11/20/2022
Science Sunday - What is “Managed Recharge?” How to Improve our Groundwater Supply and Quality - Livestream - 11/20/2022 01:30 PM
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
“Managed recharge” is an increasingly popular strategy among water managers to replenish underground aquifers and increase the amount of water stored underground. The stored water may be available for use in dry years when surface water supplies (like rivers and lakes) may be low. If done correctly, it also offers opportunities to improve groundwater quality. For managed recharge to be successful, managers must consider the nature of water sources, available space in aquifers, the composition of soils, and processes that can reduce contamination during infiltration.
Join Andy to understand why California must boost its groundwater resources, and see the results from recent field, laboratory, and modeling studies that show how and where improvements can be achieved. This work is being done as part of a novel program to incentivize resource enhancement through net metering of groundwater pumping.
Speaker: Andrew Fisher, UC Santa Cruz
Monday, 11/21/2022
Insect Endosymbionts Mediate Adaptation to Changing Environments in a Montane Leaf Beetle - Livestream - 11/21/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium
Speaker: Dr. Nathan Rank, Sonoma State University Biology Department.
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 11/21/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Tony Heinz, Stanford University
See weblink for Zoom information.
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - Canceled - 11/21/2022 04:15 PM
UC Berkeley
Speaker: TBA
See weblink for Zoom information. In person attendance TBD.
Addressing HIV/AIDS, PrEP and STI After the Pandemic - 11/21/2022 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
In what we hope is the waning months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll take a look at other long-running issues relating to health care, healthy living, and access to care for the LGBTQ+ community.
Our expert panelists for this discussion are leaders in the efforts to reach LGBTQ+ people, informing them and connecting them to appropriate health care services.
Panel: Dr. Monica Ghandi, UC San Francisco; Craig Rouskey, Renegade.bio; Tristan Schukraft, Mistr.com
Attend in person or online
Tuesday, 11/22/2022
Meteorite hunting in Antarctica to uncover Solar System mysteries - 11/22/2022 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Saturday, 11/26/2022
Drop-in at Palo Alto Baylands - 11/26/2022 09:00 AM
Palo Alto Duck Pond Palo Alto
Science Saturday: Monarch Madness - 11/26/2022 10:00 AM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
Monday, 11/28/2022
Insects of the Night - Livestream - 11/28/2022 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium
UC Berkeley Condensed Matter Physics Seminar - 11/28/2022 02:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Clock for quantum and fundamental physics - 11/28/2022 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Commissioner Darcie Houck, California Public Utilities Commission- Livestream - 11/28/2022 04:30 PM
Stanford Energy Seminar
Stanford Symbolic Systems Forum: Heidi Baumgartner - 11/28/2022 10:00 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford