Hola, fans de la ciencia,
“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Hurricanes and tornadoes and floods, oh my! ¿Tornadoes in California? Yes. Nine tornadoes were documented in California during 2023 with Los Angeles County getting three of those. A friend’s house in SoCal had part of her roof torn off during a storm in early January leaving a 5 meter strip of metal flashing grotesquely twisted. Several of her close neighbors had metal panels ripped off their carports at the same time. ¿Was that a tornado? There’s not enough evidence to know but if so, it only qualified for an EF0 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Last year was the warmest year on record.
However, if you are heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry you would naturally want to downplay or even dispute global warming. Don’t miss this week’s SkepTalk detailing climate change denial campaigns aimed at students and teachers. Set it on your mobile phone as an online event with Q&A: “A Child’s Garden of Climate Change Denial” 7:30 PM Pacific Thursday.
I was astounded when my Google News feed foisted on me an article by the Discovery Institute, an organization that not only downplays global warming, they also deny Darwinian evolution and promote plans to take back control of higher education from “progressive indoctrination.” One of their current articles criticizes the decision that Montana must consider climate change before approving fossil fuel projects. The decision was the result of minors suing for a healthy future. The Discovery Institute objects to the decision since a) it won’t affect global climate change; b) it will hurt Montana’s economy; c) minors shouldn’t be allowed to manipulate the courts. Ouch!
Sucking CO2 from the air is a way to slow down and even reverse global warming but current attempts are woefully inadequate to have an effect. For example, the Heirloom company of Brisbane estimates that with enough investment they could remove a billion tons of CO2 by 2035, or an average of 100 million tons of CO2 per year. At present, humans are releasing about 400 times that much CO2 every year and currently our atmosphere holds about 10,000 times that much CO2. Understandably, researchers continue to look for faster (and cheaper) methods for sucking CO2 from the air. Researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology Zürich have come up with a novel CO2 capture method using light to switch a CO2-containing liquid from acid to base and back again.
Last week, Bob’s SciSchmooze featured NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter and the end of its flying days after 72 flights totalling over 2 hours. Since Mars atmospheric density is only 1% of Earth’s, i wondered how high Ingenuity’s flights compared to flying above Earth. EXTRAORDINARY. Ingenuity was flying around Mars as though it were flying 35 kilometers above Earth! ¿How does this compare to current aircraft (and weather balloons)?
— Helicopter cruising altitude 3 km
— Quadcopter drone record 3.4 km (unofficial)
— Jet airliner cruising 10 to 12.8 km
— Helicopter record 12.9 km
— Sustained jet flight record 25.9 km (SR-71 Blackbird)
— Unmanned winged aircraft record 29.5 km Helios HP01 (75m wingspan!)
— Weather balloons 32 km
— Ingenuity 35 km equivalent
That’s an incredible engineering feat. Kudos to the folks at NASA.
RAFFLE
It’s only fitting that a model of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is the prize this time. Tip-to-tip the rotors are about 20 cm (8 inches) long. 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, Michael S won the JWST pin from France with his guess of 507.
MY PICKS of the WEEK
The Hunt for the First Galaxies 7:30PM Monday, Cal Academy of Sciences, SF, $
From UC Berkeley to Astronaut 4PM Tuesday, UC Berkeley
Odd Salon: Colossal 7:30PM Tuesday, San Francisco, $ (They’re back!)
A Child’s Garden of Climate Change Denial Livestream 7:30PM Thursday
In Town Star Party 7:15PM Friday, San José
Psychedelics in Medicine: Uses & Potential Harms Livestream 10:30AM Saturday
The Secrets Behind a Skeptical Podcast 1PM Saturday, Berkeley
PHYSICS
¿Remember String Theory? It posits that elementary particles are incredibly tiny vibrating strings, and reality must have at least 6 more dimensions than the three dimensions of space of one of time. A problem with string theory is that there has been no empirical test to validate it; until now. If a new hypothesis is correct, one of the 6 ‘hidden’ dimensions is actually measurably large and gravitons are leaking into that dimension giving rise to “dark matter” and to “dark energy.” Also, it posits that the mass of “dark matter” is not due to particles. This Quanta Magazine article on this hypothesis is an easy read, but mind-bending.
More down to earth, MIT researchers found the evaporation rate of water is enhanced by wavelengths of light peaking at 540 nanometers, i.e. green light. ¿Huh? We were taught that evaporation rates depend on heat, not the color of light. The authors call this the “photomolecular effect” and suggest a mechanism for this phenomenon.
Ethan Siegal is an Astrophysicist, winner of multiple awards, and a prolific science blogger. I especially enjoyed his post “Singularities don’t exist, claims black hole pioneer Roy Kerr” although i admit some of Siegal’s presentation went over my head. Physicist Roger Penrose ‘proved’ that the laws of space and time break down at the center of black holes, creating a singularity: a point where density becomes infinite. Roy Kerr, a New Zealand mathematician disputes that. It’s a good nerdy read.
FUN NERDY VIDEOS
Using Saturn as a music composer - University of Toronto - 2 mins
Pseudoscientific quackery of homeopaths - The Right Chemistry - Joe Schwarcz - 5 mins
Sudoku and the Phistomefel Ring - Numberphile - Simon Anthony - 6 mins
JWST investigates “failed supernova” - Dr. Becky - Becky Smethurst - 10 mins
World’s largest rainfall simulator - Veritaseum - Derek Muller - 15 mins
¿What would intelligent aliens look like? - Arvin Ash - 18 mins
¿What's inside this crater in Madagascar? - Vox - 24 mins
Enjoy your week and remember to nurture your empathy sphere
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“The bottom line is this. To care about climate change, you only need to be one thing, and that’s a person living on planet Earth who wants a better future. Chances are, you’re already that person—and so is everyone else you know.”
— Katharine Hayhoe (1972 - ) Canadian atmospheric scientist
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 02/05/2024
Montane Grasshopper Fitness Constraints in Changing Environments - 02/05/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Dr. Monica M. Sheffer, UC Berkeley
Electron solids in two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures - 02/05/2024 02:30 PM
Birge Hall Berkeley
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors and heterostructures offer an exciting platform for the study of tunable correlated electronic phenomena. The interaction between electrons in 2D semiconductors can be adjusted by manipulating the electron density and confinement potential, leading to the formation of various electron solid phases. When electrons are confined within a moire superlattice, a periodic array of few-electron Wigner molecules can be created. When electrons are confined within domain walls, we can observe the evolution of a 1D Wigner crystal into a weakly interacting Luttinger liquid, with the emergence of a dimerized crystal in the intermediate region. In a plain 2D semiconductor without confinement, a disordered Wigner solid is observed at low density. As the electron density increases, the Wigner solid undergoes a melting transition into a mixed phase, characterized by the coexistence of electron solid and fluid regions. This behavior can be understood within the microemulsion model.
Speaker: Feng Wang, UC Berkeley
Controlled Nuclear Fusion: Scientific Achievement or Power to the Grid? - 02/05/2024 03:30 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Colloquium Series Menlo Park
On Dec 13, 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Accelerator Laboratory achieved Ignition. 2.05MJoule produced by 192 lasers were converted into 3.15Mjoule of fusion power. The first time on earth, controlled nuclear fusion produced a net positive power reaction. This is a major scientific milestone that took decades to plan, build and deliver. A boost in private and public funding already preceded this event, but this major success boosted the enthusiasm even further. As of today, about 40 privately funded start-ups around the world are in place and race to deliver nuclear fusion anywhere from a few years from now to within the next two decades or so. In parallel the largest science experiment, the tokamak based Fusion reactor is under construction by an international collaboration in the south of France (ITER) and presently faces a series of technical set-back. Between the sprawling enthusiasm in the private sector and ITER’s and NIF’s status today, a lot of scientific and technical questions still have to be resolved, some specific to laser driven inertial confinement fusion, others specific to magnetic confinement fusion, but also many in common. The challenge to deliver a First Fusion Power Plant (FPP) within a decade is now out there. Like the word “Power Plant” indicates, it is supposed to deliver net electrical power to the grid. Apart from controlling the fusion process itself, this provides an additional layer of engineering challenges that have to be solved in parallel in order to meet the decadal timeline. Some of the major impediments that have to be overcome towards net power production will be discussed.
Speaker: Norbert Holtkamp, Stanford University
Attend in person or online via Zoom.
Catching transcription factors for proteasomal degradation: a dance with chromatin - 02/05/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Xin Gu, Harvard University
The Search for Wavy Dark Matter: Axions ABRACADABRA to DMRadio - 02/05/2024 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
The particle nature of dark matter remains one of the great open questions in physics. There is a broad category of candidates whose mass is so light that they behave more as waves than as particles. The most well-known is the axion, which has had a renaissance as a dark matter candidate as theoretical studies have improved our understanding of axion cosmology and advances in quantum sensing and cryogenics have opened new opportunities for detection. In this talk, I will present an overview of the field of wavy dark matter and with a focus on my work to realize a definitive search for GUT-scale axions with the DMRadio program and the ABRACADABRA demonstrator.
Speaker: Lindley Winslow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Multimodal Machine Learning and Climate Change Adaptation - 02/05/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
Climate change is escalating the frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide, necessitating urgent societal adaptation. In this talk, I present a multimodal machine learning (ML) framework designed to predict natural disasters. Traditionally, weather forecasting has depended on dynamical equations for over a century. However, recent advancements in artificial intelligence are revolutionizing this domain. The innovative multimodal ML framework leverages processing techniques from computer vision, natural language processing, time series signal processing techniques to integrate various data types, such as satellite imagery, textual information, and tabular data, to generate both short-term and long-term forecasts. Our first case study demonstrates that, for 24-hour hurricane forecasting, our ML models achieve results that are competitive with those produced by established national weather forecasting agencies. In our second case study, we explore the potential to create global models with a multi-year scope for assessing flood risks. Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the way our interaction with weather, and these ML-driven risk assessments will have profound impacts on urban planning, infrastructure investment, renewable energy planning, and insurance policy.
Speaker: Cynthia Zeng, Massachusets Institute of Technology
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
The Hunt for the First Galaxies - 02/05/2024 07:30 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Seeking the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang is the primary rationale for building the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These first galaxies have eluded the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) because the expansion of the Universe has stretched their light to wavelengths undetectable by HST. With its increased sensitivity in infrared light, JWST has discovered hundreds of galaxies more distant than HST could possibly detect, and the first galaxies are forming stars earlier and more rapidly than expected.
Speaker: Dr. Marcia Rieke, University of Arizona
Tuesday, 02/06/2024
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Reaction-Diffusion and Mechanical Models in Vertebrate Skin Patterning - Rescheduled - 02/06/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
I will discuss how vertebrate skin colours and skin appendages (scales, feathers, hairs, ...) are patterned through Turing and mechanical instabilities. First, I will show that Reaction-diffusion (RD) models are particularly effective for understanding skin colour patterning at the macroscopic scale, without the need to parametrise the profusion of variables at the microscopic scales. I suggest that the efficiency of RD is due to its intrinsic ability to exploit continuous colour states and the relations among growth, skin-scale geometries, and the (Turing) pattern intrinsic length scale. Second, I will show that a three-dimensional mechanical model, integrating growth and material properties of embryonic skin layers, captures most of the dynamics and steady-state pattern of head scales in crocodiles.
Speaker: Michel Milinkovitch, Stanford University
Editor's Note: This event was originally scheduled for January 30, 2024
Extreme Electrodynamics of Neutron Stars and Black Holes - 02/06/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The development of classical electromagnetism and quantum electrodynamics are highpoints of nineteenth and twentieth century physics, respectively. Recent, remarkable discoveries, involving neutron stars and black holes, are taking electrodynamics into unfamiliar and “extreme” territory, requiring new theoretical approaches. Examples include 100 GT (10^15 Gauss) magnetic fields surrounding neutron stars (and possibly a hundred times greater within neutron stars), the production of radio waves with effective temperatures of 10^40 K, gravitational wave sources with powers as high as 10^49 W, the emission of neutrinos and gamma rays with energies in the PeV range and the acceleration of cosmic rays with energies up to million times greater than this, perhaps involving EMFs as large as 10^23 V, generated by spinning, black holes. The rapidly developing observational situation will be summarized, along with some of the competing ideas and approaches under active investigation.
Speaker: Roger Blandford, Stanford University
From UC Berkeley to NASA: My Path to Astronaut - 02/06/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Warren “Woody” Hoburg was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. He reported for duty in August 2017 and having completed the initial astronaut candidate training became eligible for a mission assignment. The Pennsylvania native earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He was leading a research group at MIT at the time of his selection. He is an instrument-rated commercial pilot in single-engine and multi-engine airplanes.
Hoburg launched to the International Space Station as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 2, 2023. After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida on Sept. 4, 2023, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 completed the agency’s sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. Woody Hoburg has logged 186 days in space over his increment (Expedition 69) for a total of 186 days in space on his first flight. Hoburg conducted two EVAs totaling 11 hours, 38 minutes.
Register to attend in person or online.
Indigenous Sovereign Futures - 02/06/2024 07:00 PM
The Interval at Long Now San Francisco
Alternative visions for social change rooted in the frameworks of capitalism and colonialism only reproduce contemporary structures of power. How can indigenous perspectives and knowledge inform the structural transformation necessary to improve the health of the natural world and of human communities?
Dr. Cordero will discuss how indigenous epistemologies challenge the ideas and practices related to capitalism and colonialism and how the enhancement of indigeneity and sovereignty are critical to the maintenance of indigenous epistemologies. Insights drawn from the discourses on decolonization, settler colonialism, and epistemicide will be revealed throughout the presentation. Last, Dr. Cordero will share how indigenous perspectives and knowledge inspire work of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone.
Speaker: Jonathan Cordero, University of Southern California
Odd Salon: Colossal - 02/06/2024 07:30 PM
Public Works San FranciscoStories of immense accomplishments and stupendous feat, the outsized and the enormous, massive monoliths and the superbly superlative
Speakers:
Juliana Brodsky ~ Boats, Trains and Automobiles: 1908 New York-Paris Race
Steen Comer ~ John Locke Likes This: How the Republic of Letters Revolutionized Knowledge
Michael Escobar ~ The Jazz Cathedral: Sam Rodia and the Watts Towers
Avani Gadani ~ Cyclopes and Dragons and Whales: the Origins of Ancient Monsters
Eva Galperin ~ I Like Big Buddhas and I Cannot Lie
Elizabeth Joyce ~ Drifting Apart: How Alfred Wegener’s Theory of Pangaea Upended Geology
Ages 21+
Wednesday, 02/07/2024
How tire rubble pollution can impact human health - Livestream - 02/07/2024 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Microplastics (MPs) are small plastic particles of less than 5 millimeters in length that are generated from primary sources (manufactured at this size) or secondary sources (when large synthetic polymer products degrade into smaller pieces or are intentionally fragmented through mechanical or chemical recycling processes). Release of MPs into the environment is a concern for health as humans can be exposed to these particles through various routes including inhalation, ingestion, or dermal exposure. The risk of toxicity due to MP exposure can be attributed to the physical characteristics of the inhaled particles that are inhaled, the ability for of these small particles to release potentially hazardous polymer- associated chemicals (PACs), and the toxicological responses within the lungs. In this study, we utilized non-targeted analysis to examine the release of PACs from tire rubble. We also studied the effects of MPs leachate in human lung cells via cell proliferation, viability, ROS, and inflammatory gene expression.
Speaker: Dr. Imari Walker-Franklin, RTI International
See weblink for Zoom information
Bioanalytical Systems for Translational Research: From Microscale Cell Culture Platforms to Biofluid Self-Sampling Tools - 02/07/2024 12:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Small molecule and protein signals provide a rich vocabulary for cellular communication. This talk will highlight new enabling methods to study chemical mechanisms underlying disease - spanning methods for in vitro cell culture and human subjects research, where participants collect and stabilize their own blood using our recently developed homeRNA platform. To better understand signaling processes in both normal and disease states, we have developed new open microfluidic platforms that accommodate the culture of multiple cell types in microfabricated compartments while allowing soluble factor signaling between cell types. Our devices are open, pipette accessible, interface with high resolution microscopy, and can be manufactured at scale by injection molding, increasing translation to collaborators in biological and clinical labs without chemistry and engineering expertise. We have also used open microfluidic principles to develop novel strategies to 3D print hydrogels for biological and materials science applications. Finally, this talk will highlight the development of homeRNA, a kit that enables at-home blood collection and RNA stabilization for longitudinal human subjects studies, including ongoing studies investigating the immune response to wildfire smoke exposure, infectious disease, and during treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Speaker: Ashleigh Theberge, University of Washington
Agriculture, Trade, and the Spatial Efficiency of Global Water Use - 02/07/2024 12:10 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Over 90% of global water use occurs in agricultural production, which is subject to two pervasive distortions: (i) incomplete property rights for farmers accessing water and (ii) subsidies, taxes, and tariffs affecting agricultural output. This paper combines a rich collection of global geospatial data with a dynamic spatial equilibrium model to quantify the impact of agricultural and trade policies on regional water scarcity and welfare. In the data, we show that water-intensive crops concentrate highly in water-abundant locations, implying a strong role for comparative advantage in governing global water use, though a small number of regions with very water-intensive production are losing water rapidly over time. In the model, we capture production, consumption, and trade in agriculture across many countries and crops, as well as the dynamic evolution of local water stocks as farmers extract from the common pool resource. We calibrate the model to match observed global patterns of agricultural production and hydrologic trends and use it to conduct counterfactual simulations of alternative policy regimes. We find that eliminating international trade in agriculture would dramatically increase water depletion across most of the world, and especially so in drier food-importing regions, resulting in large reductions in welfare over time. In contrast, other observed and hypothetical agricultural policy liberalizations have mixed effects on depletion that vary greatly across locations, suggesting nuance in implications for policy.
Speaker: Tamma Carleton, UC Santa Barbara
Energy Transition in Indian Country: some thoughts from ongoing research - 02/07/2024 03:30 PM
McCone Hall Berkeley
Energy transition is a much discussed topic. We talk about it at the global scale when we see national representatives meeting in some faraway place to discuss reducing total carbon emissions at some indeterminate time in the future (we all are more or less familiar with that story). But energy transition also plays out at the “local” scale, or among and between communities who are locked into a regional network of energy production. Based on my previous research on the Navajo coal economy, and building on new findings on oil and gas production in Southern Ute, I will discuss a central point about tribes and energy production: the factors contributing to tribal participation or resistance to the constellation of rhetoric and activities called ‘energy transition’ is largely informed by longer standing colonial inequalities and experiences.
Speaker: Andrew Curley, University of Arizona
Embryos to ecosystems: Integrating studies at multiple levels of biological organization in aquatic toxicology - Livestream - 02/07/2024 03:40 PM
Estuary and Ocean Science Center
Anthropogenic stressors, particularly pollutants, typically target animals at the molecular, tissue, and organ-system levels, with consequences assessed at population, community, and ecosystem scales. This seminar discusses three research projects spanning multiple levels of biological organization to inform environmental projections and conservation efforts. The first project investigates the ecological impact of a proposed mechanism of stressor avoidance in buoyant pelagic fish embryos, such as mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), wherein embryos dynamically modify buoyancy to reduce exposure to surface water stressors.
The second project explores the impact of sound pollution on the stress response of the Gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) during an EDM festival on a barrier island with a delicate ecosystem and pivotal aquaculture facility, with the aim of preventing the festival’s return.
Lastly, the third project utilizes multi-stressor lab-based experiments to investigate the physiology and stress response of the endangered delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), aiming to inform rearing and supplementation efforts.
Speaker: Christina Pasparakis, Assistant Professor in Dept. of Environmental Toxicology , Bodega Marine Laboratory/ UC Davis
See weblink for Zoom information
Teens, Screens, and Social Media - 02/07/2024 04:30 PM
Arrillaga Alumni Center Stanford
Please join the Stanford Cyber Policy Center (CPC) for a conversation on "Teens, Screens, and Social Media" with renowned psychologist and author Dr. Lisa Damour. Dr. Damour is the author of three New York Times best sellers: Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, which have been translated into twenty-three languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Damour is also a regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News.
She will be in conversation with Professor Nate Persily, Co-Director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center and James B. McClatchy Professor of Law.
Astronomy on Tap San Antonio: Two Talks - Livestream - 02/07/2024 05:00 PM
Astronomy on Tap
We are excited to hear from the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Dr. Lindsay Fuller: “Total Eclipse of the Heart of Texas” and from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Dana Koeppe:”Cosmic Giants”!
Streaming on YouTube and Facebook. See weblink
Microplastic? Macro Problems - Livestream - 02/07/2024 06:00 PM
City of Sunnyvale
Explore how plastic waste contributes to our changing climate. Dr. Imari Walker-Franklin will teach you how plastic impacts our health and the environment. Learn solutions to our growing microplastics pollution.
Speaker: Imari Walker-Franklin, Research Triangle International
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
Exploring the Gravitational Wave Universe: New Discoveries and Plans - 02/07/2024 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series Los Altos Hills
Measuring gravitational waves is a revolutionary new way to do astronomy. They were predicted by Einstein but we did not have the technology to find them in his lifetime. In 2015, LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) first detected one of these waves - a tiny ripple in space itself, generated by the collision of two black holes. Since then, LIGO and its international partners have measured nearly 100 signals. What can we learn from these bursts of energy from the mergers of black holes or the collision of two neutron stars? How is it possible to measure a wave which stretches our detector 1000 times less than the diameter of a proton? And what's coming next in our search for these tell-tale ripples in space?
Speaker: Dr. Brian Lantz is a Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University. He started working on LIGO in 1991 as an undergraduate in Nobel Laureate Rai Weiss's lab at MIT and continued there for his PhD, building high-power interferometers that were prototypes for LIGO. Dr. Lantz is the scientific leader for the Advanced LIGO seismic isolation system, and he is designing new mirror suspensions to upgrade Advanced LIGO. He loves to work on these amazing machines.
Getting a Grip on Geysers - 02/07/2024 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Speaker: Mara Reed, UC Berkeley
Thursday, 02/08/2024
Energy Systems Decarbonization - Perspectives on Electric Vehicles and Grid Integration - 02/08/2024 01:30 PM
Environment & Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
The imperative for strong and rapid emissions reductions to mitigate global warming and enhance air quality necessitates a transition to net-zero emissions. This shift requires significant changes throughout the entire energy supply-demand ecosystems, tailored to various sectors. Transportation stands as the least-diversified energy sector and the largest source of U.S. GHG emissions. As the primary catalyst for vehicle decarbonization when paired with clean electricity, electric vehicles (EVs) will play a pivotal role in the future. EVs are poised to drive substantial growth in electricity demand and presents a unique opportunity to provide demand-side flexibility that is crucial for future renewable- dominated electricity systems. Smart integration of EVs can strengthen the grid, reducing costs and enhancing resilience. At NREL, laying the scientific groundwork to actualize this vision: our research is finding ways for EVs to support grid planning and operations across several timescales and to fully exploit the synergies between EVs and renewables.
Speaker: Matteo Muratori, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Room 292A
A Sharper Look at the M87 Black Hole with PRIMO - 02/08/2024 03:40 PM
Physics North Berkeley
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a very long baseline interferometer incorporating several radio telescopes spread all over the world. The sparse interferometric coverage of the Event Horizon Telescope makes reconstruction of black-hole images challenging. Principal component interferometric modeling (PRIMO) is a new algorithm for image reconstruction that builds a principal components basis from high-fidelity general relativistic, magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of low-luminosity accretion flows. This allows us to reconstruct images at are both consistent with the interferometric data and that live in the space spanned by the simulations. The algorithm follows Monte Carlo Markov Chains to fit a linear combination of principal components to EHT interferometric observations. PRIMO can effeciently and accurately reconstruct simulated EHT data sets for several simulated images, even when the simulations are significantly different from those in the training set. I will discuss the algorithm itself, its application to synthetic data, and show a new image of M87 published in April, 2023.
Speaker: Lia Medeiros, Princeton University
After Dark: See for Yourself - 02/08/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The Exploratorium is your playground after dark! Grab a cocktail and try to out-quiet yourself on a noisy gravel path. Mess around and find out at the Music Bench. And then join a dance party hosted by DJ Inkfat. Don’t miss this adult-only (18+) night to experience our galleries.
NightLife 15! - 02/08/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
NightLife’s growin’ up, so let’s turn up. Come out and celebrate 15 years of creatures, cocktails, and culture.
Defects in Aircraft Design & Materials: Engineering Lessons Learned - 02/08/2024 06:30 PM
Hacker Dojo Mountain View
Why have preventable mishaps in aircraft occurred (which are not the fault of pilots), resulting in loss of life and property? How are aircraft put into service with potentially fatal control and stability issues? Many of these incidents are directly attributed to human error and negligence in aircraft design as well as processing of materials (manufacturing issues). How can engineers prevent or at least minimize such unpleasant events, thus improving aircraft safety? What lessons can we learn from historical mishaps, so that they might be avoided in the future?
Answers to these questions will be addressed, in the course of exploring a series of famous case studies, involving both civil and military aircraft. We will see in these cases how engineers recovered from hidden defects (discovered downstream via aircraft mishaps), and developed workable solutions.
Speaker: Larry Rinek, Frost & Sullivan
Advance registration required (at weblink)
A child’s garden of climate change denial - Livestream - 02/08/2024 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Climate change denial propaganda campaigns aimed at American teachers and students are not new, but in 2023, no fewer than four - from the Heartland Institute, the CO2 Coalition, EverBright Media, and PragerU Kids - were in the headlines. Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education read all of the climate change denial propaganda, for his sins, and discussed the campaigns with journalists across the country and around the world. In his talk, he will assess these campaigns and their likely effects in the context of the advances of climate change education in the United States over the last decade.
Friday, 02/09/2024
Self-Guided Volunteer Opportunity: February 2024 King Tides in Alviso - 02/09/2024 11:00 AM
Don Edwards Refuge Environmental Education Center Alviso
Observe & record this February's King Tide event by taking and submitting your photos!
Interested in a volunteer opportunity you can do for school, work, or just for fun!? Looking for an opportunity you can do on your own or with your own household? This is also an excellent opportunity for middle and high school students and scout groups! Sign up today and check out the California Coastal Commission's King Tides Project to learn about this year's King Tide events and how you can participate! The CCC uses the Survey123 app to track community science king tide photos. We are inviting you to participate with them and to send us your photos!
We have a few spots at and around Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge where you can witness the year's highest tides!
Register at weblink
Publishing Applied Technology Research at Cell Press - 02/09/2024 02:00 PM
Etcheverry Hall Berkeley
Dr. Marshall Brennan, Editor in Chief of the newly launched journal Device, will discuss the vision of the journal, publishing opportunities and best practices at Cell Press, and advice for writing papers and navigating peer review at large. He will discuss trends in new research and how this impacts continuing developments in technology, with an emphasis toward highlighting potential cross-disciplinary opportunities.
Device - a physical science journal from Cell Press - is founded on the belief that the most innovative and disruptive technologies are developed when researchers from all of the disciplines involved in their development - from physicists and computer scientists, chemists and biologists, to materials scientists and engineers - are working together and sharing knowledge.
Device aims to be the breakthrough journal to support device- and application-oriented research from all disciplines, including applied physics, applied materials, nanotechnology, robotics, energy research, chemistry, biotechnology and biomedical sciences, photonics, electronics, engineering, and the Internet of Things, under a single title that focuses on the integration of these diverse disciplines in the creation of the cutting-edge technology of tomorrow.
Room 3108
In Town Star Party - 02/09/2024 07:15 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
Events are held at the parking lot of our headquarters, Houge Park San Jose. The event duration is 2 hours. SJAA volunteers will share night sky views from their telescopes.Please refrain from bringing your own telescopes (Binoculars are welcome).
Register at weblink
Saturday, 02/10/2024
Family Nature Adventures: Let’s Chat About Scat - 02/10/2024 10:30 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Learn how to identify the animals of the redwood forest by their footprints, eating habits, and feces in a hands-on workshop and nature walk.
Toxic Beauty: The Effects of Phthalates and Bisphenols on Human Stem Cells and Embryo Development - Livestream - 02/10/2024 10:30 AM
California Section American Chemical Society
Dr. Schuh’s research focuses on reproductive and developmental biology and toxicology. Her talk delves into the prevalent challenges of the current plastics and environmental toxin crisis, and their effects on human health, fertility, and congenital defects. Ubiquitous chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, present in a wide variety of plastics, cosmetics, personal care, and household products, disrupt hormones and pathways and act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the body. Despite efforts over the last several years to replace BPA with alternatives labeled “BPA-Free,” Dr. Schuh’s work has revealed that these substitutes actually carry similar, and in some cases much worse, toxic risks. She and her all - woman undergraduate research team were recently featured in a docuseries on HBO Max entitled “Not So Pretty,” which highlights their research on the toxic and teratogenic effects of bisphenols and phthalates on embryo development. Schuh, a self-proclaimed “Science Queen” and her team of “STEM Chicks,” also did testing of chemicals in various beauty products featured by the series. The Schuh lab has since filmed for another upcoming documentary and has published several impactful manuscripts, with this work getting national and global attention. All of Dr. Schuh’s recent findings emphasize the potential implications for human health and fertility, especially for women, urging consumer awareness, policy reform, sustainable alternatives, and putting ‘people over profit.’
Speaker: Sonya Schuh, St. Mary's College
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Uses and Potential Harms of Psychedelics in Medicine - Livestream - 02/10/2024 10:30 AM
Bay Area Skeptics
What is the exciting new research about psychedelics as treatment for depression, addiction, pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder? What are the barriers (cost, legality, access) and harms?
Speaker: Peter Grinspoon, Massachusetts Genral Hospital
The Secrets behind a Skeptical Podcast - 02/10/2024 01:00 PM
Berkeley Public Library Berkeley
Richard Saunders, host of The Skeptic Zone podcast for 17 years, takes you behind-the-scenes on how a typical podcast is created each week. From conducting interviews and gathering information to the actual recording and editing. This is a chance for you to be part of a live recording of this well-known podcast.
Speaker: Richard Saunders, Chief Investigator for the Australian Skeptics
Monday, 02/12/2024
Symbolic Systems Forum - 02/12/2024 12:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
Speaker: Hyowon Gweon, Stanford University
See weblink for instructions to gain entry to the building.
Room 126
Physics Condensed Matter Seminar - 02/12/2024 02:30 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Justin Wilson, Louisiana State University
Coordination of hippocampal codes for physical and visual space in food-caching birds - 02/12/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Hannah Payne, Columbia University
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquium - 02/12/2024 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Tracy Slatyer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advancing Energy Equity in California - 02/12/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
The Greenlining Institute works towards a future where communities of color can build wealth, live in healthy places filled with economic opportunity, and are ready to meet the challenges posed by climate change. Building lasting climate resilience in communities of color can only be achieved by focusing on the intersection of climate action, racial justice, and economic equity. The Energy Equity team works to center equity in the burgeoning clean energy economy and to advance a just transition where the needs of communities are prioritized every step of the way. With the current momentum in the climate and energy policy space, it is vital that policies and programs are shaped to create the best racial equity outcomes. Equitable energy policies help reduce the impacts of climate change, end reliance on fossil fuels, and offer economic opportunities and wealth generation to formerly redlined neighborhoods. In this seminar, Jordyn Bishop (Senior Legal Counsel of Energy Equity) and Isabella Carreño (Climate Equity Fellow) will provide an overview of The Greenlining Institute's work and their current efforts to equitably advance an affordable, reliable, and climate-resilient clean energy future in California.
Speakers: Jordyn Bishop and Isabella Carreño, The Greenlining Institute
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
'Super-Staffing' Health Care with Hippocratic Ai: First Live Demo of Digital Nurse Assistant - 02/12/2024 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Health care is facing a massive staffing crisis. There are not enough health-care professionals to meet current and expected increases in demand. The rapid advancement of generative AI provides the opportunity to not only close the health-care staffing gap, but go beyond to enable access to infinitely scalable, high-quality care that has never existed before.
Hippocratic AI aims to achieve this level of "super-staffing" with its first safety-focused Large Language Model (LLM) for health care, with the goal of significantly improving health-care equity, access and outcomes. The company's co-founder and CEO, Munjal Shah, will provide a live demonstration of Hippocratic AI's model to the audience, with him acting as a patient conversing with a "digital nurse assistant" in a typical use case assignment.
Ultimately, generative AI could transition us to a world of health-care abundance for the first time in history. By providing a wide range of digital health-care assistants to raise the standard of care and improve health outcomes, we will have the power to significantly increase patient interaction well beyond what is possible with human staff alone.
Speakers: Stephen Klasko, Former CEO Jefferson University and Jefferson health; Munjal Shah, Hippocratic AI; Robert Lee Kilpatrick, Commonwealth Club, moderator
Attend in person or online
The Fast Radio Sky - 02/12/2024 07:00 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
In 2007, astronomers discovered a new mysterious cosmic phenomenon: Fast Radio Bursts. These events consist of short, intense blasts of radio waves arriving from far outside our Milky Way galaxy. Their origin is unknown, however Fast Radio Bursts appear ubiquitous in our Universe, with roughly 1000 arriving every day over the full sky. I will describe the Fast Radio Burst mystery and what is presently known about it, and present a revolutionary new radio telescope recently built in Canada that is enabling astronomers to make major progress in our understanding of the FRB puzzle.
Speaker: Victoria Kaspi, McGill University
Tuesday, 02/13/2024
The Search for Life Beyond Earth: How it’s Done, Where it Stands and Why it Matters - Livestream - 02/13/2024 09:00 AM
SETI Institute
February LASER Event - Livestream - 02/13/2024 12:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous
Fast Radio Bursts - 02/13/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
National Security in an Uncertain World - 02/13/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Wonderfest: Future Directions for Nuclear Power - 02/13/2024 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
Wednesday, 02/14/2024
Where is my head? The evolution of body plan in echinoderms - Livestream - 02/14/2024 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Funnel of Love: The Secret Sex Lives of Harbor Porpoises - Livestream - 02/14/2024 12:00 PM
Marine Mammal Center
Changing whale migration in a changing planet - Livestream - 02/14/2024 03:40 PM
Estuary and Ocean Science Center
Thursday, 02/15/2024
UC Berkeley Astronomy Colloquium - 02/15/2024 03:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Matrix on Point: Surveillance and Privacy in a Biometric World - 02/15/2024 04:00 PM
Social Sciences Building Room 820 Berkeley
Engineering Challenges in Quantum Computing - 02/15/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Dept. of Engineering Science Rohnert Park
Photovoltaic Microinverters and Energy Storage Systems - 02/15/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Dept. of Engineering Science Rohnert Park
Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Design and Knowledge Discovery in Nanophotonics - 02/15/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Dept. of Engineering Science Rohnert Park
Connectivity Standards Alliance & Matter Introduction - Livestream - 02/15/2024 05:00 PM
IEEE Consumer Technology
NightLife: Lunar Underground - 02/15/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Sexplorations - 02/15/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
How Birds are Responding to Climate Change - Livestream - 02/15/2024 07:00 PM
Golden Gate Bird Alliance
Friday, 02/16/2024
Bird Walk at Pond SF2 - 02/16/2024 10:00 AM
Don Edwards Refuge Ravenswood Unit Menlo Park
Dynamic interplay of circadian rhythms and sleep: Implications for healthy aging - 02/16/2024 12:00 PM
ChEM-H/Neuroscience Building, James Lin and Nisa Leung Seminar Room (E153) Stanford
Saturday, 02/17/2024
Plant Identification at Sanborn - 02/17/2024 10:30 AM
Sanborn Science and Nature Center Saratoga
Hexagon: Spies in the Sky - Reconnaissance Technology during the Cold War - 02/17/2024 11:00 AM
Hiller Aviation Museum San Carlos
Space, the Final Frontier - 02/17/2024 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Monday, 02/19/2024
The Influence of Diet on Age-Related Neurodegeneration, from Flies to Humans - 02/19/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park