Hello again Science fans! I hope you all had enough turkey (or whatever you chose to eat)! When I was in school, we were told that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by Native Americans and European settlers to give thanks for the harvest. While that celebration did happen, that isn’t really the origin of the Thanksgiving holiday. It was about Union progress in the Civil War! Historian Heather Cox Richardson explains.
It is about time to talk about something I mention from time to time, and that is how this newsletter and online calendar work. It is worth a refresher for those of you who might be new to the SciSchmooze.
The Bay Area Science Calendar is a volunteer-run project managed by a very small group of volunteers who are interested in science education and skeptical thinking. We monitor around 100 different websites from organizations around the Bay Area that are associated with science in one way or another and that put on events that are open to the general public. Most are free, some are not. When we find an event that might be of general interest, we add it to our calendar (https://www.bayareascience.org/calendar).
We make updates to the calendar throughout the week as events come to our attention. Most Sundays, we publish the SciSchooze newsletter, which you are (hopefully) reading. It contains some of our thoughts, links to interesting articles and websites that we’ve come across, and a snapshot of events on the calendar in the next two weeks.
I say hopefully because Substack says roughly half of you open the newsletter each week. I’m told that half is a very high percentage for mass mailings, but I would hope it would be higher.
We hope you find what we’re doing useful, and we would love to hear from you (email calendar@bayareascience.org, or click on the “contact” link at the top any calendar page).
Should you decide to attend an event, always click through from the calendar to the actual event page to see if there are any updates. Some events are weather dependent and schedules, locations, and even speakers sometimes change at the last minute. Nothing makes us sadder than to get a note from someone who says “I drove all the way to (insert location here) only to find the event had been canceled.” Often we don’t know about the cancellation, but we do our best to keep our calendar updated when we learn of changes. Also, from time to time, we make mistakes in the time and place information, so it is smart to double check that before you leave the house too. We don’t usually sponsor events ourselves. We just consolidate information and relist it in one place, so you don’t have to.
One more caveat…unless the host website says attendance is restricted, we assume the event is open to the general public and we list it. Stanford University has recently started indicating whether the public is able to attend specific events or not. UC Berkeley does not generally list this. So for seminars at UC Berkely, it is probably a good idea to contact the organizers to make sure you would be welcome. Contact information is on the Berkeley web page for the event.
By the way, if you know of an organization we aren’t tracking, please let us know who they are. And you can submit events yourself, using the “Submit an Event” link at the top of any calendar page. Just fill out the form and submit it. The event won’t show up on the calendar until we review it. Should you need to change something, just contact us and we’ll make the change. Unfortunately, the software we use doesn’t allow you to make changes to an event you submitted once you hit the button, but we’re happy to make the update for you.
COVID-19 is still around. The Omicron variant family is now 2 years old! After an increase in cases in August and September, followed by a slight drop, the case rate is ticking up again. Here’s an update on Omicron and other things COVID-related.
Last weekend, planet Earth most likely exceeded a key warming threshold for the first time. On Friday (11/17), global temperatures exceeded pre-industrial levels by more than 2 degrees celsius. Not good!
You have no doubt heard that we’re in for a strong El Niño event this winter, possibly ranking in the top 5 on record.
It has been over three years since the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned through a huge swatch of the Santa Cruz mountains, including Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Much of the news of recovery in the park is good, with almost all of the old-growth Coastal Redwoods in the park green again. Here’s an article about a presentation given at a symposium held by the Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council recently discussing the park’s recovery.
As a youngster, I was always excited when my family received the new Burpee Seed Company catalog in the mail. I have no idea how we got on that mailing list, but I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the various flowers and vegetables we could grow if we simply placed an order. That calendar included a “plant hardiness zone map” put out by the US Department of Agriculture. So guess what happened? Climate change has also changed the map!
Back on August 27, I wrote about time and my thoughts while standing on the Prime Meridan in Greenich Park, London. Next year is a leap year where we add one day to the calendar to account for differences between our calculated clock and the actual revolutions of the earth around the sun. Occasionally, officials add a leap second to make minor corrections. Are you ready for the leap minute?
Let’s turn to space. There’s been a lot of discussion about putting hotels in space, neighborhoods on the Moon, and even excursions to Mars. There are some bodily indignities to think about before you sign up! Here’s an opinion piece about reproduction in space, and why the space billionaires funding all this expansion might be better served exploring some of these issues.
The Lucy mission is charged with exploring mysterious asteroids, and the first images of Dinkinesh have come back. Surprise! Instead of being one asteroid as astronomers thought, it is actually two, with the smaller one orbiting the larger one.
We have a variety of volcanoes on Earth, but nothing compared to Io, the innermost of Jupiter’s four largest moons. Data from the Juno probe has allowed scientists to draw a map of the hot spot locations for the first time.
NASA isn’t the only space agency with a new, powerful telescope in the James Webb Space Telescope. The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope has just beamed back its first images, and they are spectacular.
Of course, the JWST images are spectacular too. Here’s a Beginners Guide to looking at the Universe, an interactive article using Webb images.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and have a great week in Science, as well as a happy and healthy holiday season!
Bob Siederer
(edited to fix two typographic errors).
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 11/27/2023
Paleoart and Scientific Illustration - 11/27/2023 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Reid Psaltis, Cal State Monterey Bay
Quantum Textures of the Many-Body Wavefunctions in Magic-Angle Graphene - 11/27/2023 02:30 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
Interactions among electrons create novel many-body quantum phases of matter with wavefunctions that reflect electronic correlation effects, broken symmetries, and collective excitations. Many quantum phases have been discovered in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG), including correlated insulating, unconventional superconducting, and magnetic topological phases. The lack of microscopic information of possible broken symmetries has hampered our understanding of these phases. In this talk, I will discuss a series of experiments where we use high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy to study the wavefunctions of the correlated phases in MATBG [1]. The squares of the wavefunctions of gapped phases, including those of the correlated insulators, pseudogap, and superconducting phases, show distinct broken symmetry patterns with a √3 x √3 super-periodicity on the graphene atomic lattice that has a complex spatial dependence on the moiré-scale. We introduce a symmetry-based analysis using a set of complex-valued local order parameters, which show intricate textures that distinguish the various correlated phases. We compare the observed quantum textures of the correlated insulators at fillings v = ±2 electrons per moiré unit cell to those expected for proposed theoretical ground states. In typical MATBG devices, these textures closely match those of the proposed incommensurate Kekulé spiral (IKS) order [2], while in ultra-low-strain samples our data has local symmetries like those of a time-reversal symmetric intervalley coherent (T-IVC) phase [3]. Moreover, MATBG’s superconducting state shows strong signatures of intervalley coherence, distinguishable only from those of the insulator with our phase-sensitive measurements.
Speaker: Kevin Nuckolls, Massachusets Institute of Technology
Control of movement in Hydra - 11/27/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Dr Adrienne Fairhall is a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics and adjunct in the Departments of Physics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Washington in Seattle. She obtained her Honors degree in theoretical physics from the Australian National University and a PhD in statistical physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She joined the UW faculty in 2004 and now co-directs the University of Washington’s Computational Neuroscience Center. Her research group focuses on mathematical modeling of neural systems, collaborating with experimentalists on a wide range of model organisms, from hydra to mosquitoes to primates.
Speaker: Adrienne Fairhall, University of Washington
Room: Auditorium
Swimming Smarter, not Harder: An Exploration of the Relationship between Locomotion and Energetics in Fishes - 11/27/2023 04:00 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Fishes exhibit extraordinary locomotor abilities, a key factor in their evolutionary success. My research integrates detailed movement and energetics analyses of swimming with robotics to explore how fishes undertake large-scale migrations, execute rapid maneuvers, and conserve energy by interacting with structures and selecting abiotic gradients in their environment. During my seminar, I will discuss the consequences of flow and climate change stressors on locomotor performance and the clever solutions fishes employ to enhance swimming efficiency. This exploration leads to the conclusion that fishes are not merely ‘the puppet of the environment’ but rather exhibit sophisticated behavioral and physiological mechanisms to exploit diverse conditions.
Speaker: Valentina Di Santo, Stockholm University
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquium - CANCELED - 11/27/2023 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Lindley Winslow, Massachusets Institute of Technology
Energy Seminar: Fireside Chat with Sally Benson - 11/27/2023 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
Join us to hear Sally Benson, Professor of Energy Science & Engineering, discuss what she learned about policy making during her time as Deputy Director for Energy and Chief Strategist for the Energy Transition in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
Tuesday, 11/28/2023
Proteomics in Sleep Disorders: Insights into Pathobiology - Livestream - 11/28/2023 12:00 PM
Stanford University
Speaker: Katie Cederberg, Stanford University
See weblink for streaming information
Devices, DMs and D**k Pics: Youth Experiences of Cyberflashing and Missing Safety Nets - Livestream - 11/28/2023 12:00 PM
Stanford University
Adolescence is a period of increasing autonomy, identity exploration, and desires for physical and emotional intimacy. It is also when almost all youth have access to both a personal mobile device and social media accounts. One way such digital connectivity intersects with adolescent development is the high use of digital methods of communications, including the sending and receiving of sexual images, videos, or text, known as sexting. Extant research finds that sexting, at least for some, is part of normative sexual development (e.g., sharing with close friends or romantic partners, exploring, questioning), but it can also increase image-based sexual abuse (IBSA: e.g., cyberflashing, sextortion, cyberbullying). This study describes two exploratory studies - of adolescents’ (11-18 years) experiences of sexting and IBSA and of pediatric emergency providers’, as first responders, familiarity and comfort with identify and supporting IBSA in their practice. The talk concludes with recommendations for much-needed structures for supporting adolescents’ safety and wellbeing in a digital age.
Speaker: Stephanie Reich, UC Irvine
In-person attendance limited to Stanford affiliates.
X-ray measurements to understand the science of fire spread by ember transport - Livestream - 11/28/2023 12:30 PM
Stanford University
The severity and frequency of large wildfires have increased significantly in the past two decades, which is largely attributed to poor forest management and climate change but also to growing population and human activities in the wildland-urban interface. The main mechanisms for the spread of wildfires are direct flame impingement, radiation, and firebrand showers. Firebrands are hot airborne particles that are generated from burning vegetation and flammable materials. Firebrands have been identified as a main source of wildfire-spread disasters and were found to be responsible for the loss of more than half of the buildings in fires. Therefore, understanding the fundamental physical processes underlying the ember combustion is therefore increasingly relevant. In particular, accurate experimental measurements are critical to guide our understanding of fuel consumption. However, because of the multiphase nature of biomass combustion, the release of smoke, and the requirement for optical access in traditional diagnostic techniques, acquiring detailed experimental measurements remains challenging.
This presentation provides an overview of recent development of 3D X-ray computed tomography (CT) to experimentally investigate smoldering and combustion of solid fuel particles. By temporally resolving the surface recession of solid fuel material, the local consumption rates are extracted at the micro-meter spatial resolution. By diluting the ambient flow with Krypton, the X-ray measurements enable simultaneous estimations of the 3D gas-phase temperature field. Using these high-resolution measurements, we discuss effects of air dilution, heating rate, and biomass properties on smoldering and combustion processes. These measurements provide unique insights on the pore-scale structural changes occurring during the primary pyrolysis and subsequent char devolatilization, allowing for further investigations of state-of-the-art models of smoldering.
Speaker: Matthias Ihme
Observation of Pines' Demon in Sr2RuO4 with Momentum-Resolved EELS - 11/28/2023 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The characteristic excitation of a metal is its plasmon, which is a quantized sound wave in its valence electron density. In 1965, David Pines predicted that a distinct type of plasmon, which he named a "demon," could exist in multiband metals that contain more than one species of charge carrier. Consisting of electrons in two different bands beating out-of-phase, demons are acoustic excitations, meaning they are “massless,” meaning their energy tends toward zero as the momentum q ® 0. Demons may therefore play a central role in the low-energy physics of multiband metals. However, demons are neutral excitations that do not couple to light, so they have never been observed experimentally, at least in an equilibrium, 3D material.
In this talk I will present the observation of a demon in the multiband metal Sr2RuO4. Formed of electrons in the β and γ bands, the demon is gapless with critical momentum qc = 0.08 reciprocal lattice units and room temperature velocity v = 1.065(120)x105 m/s. This study confirms a 67-year old prediction and suggests that demons may be a widespread feature of multiband metals.
Speaker: Peter Abbamont, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
What does (and doesn't) a fossil-fuel free world look like? - 11/28/2023 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Patrick Chuang
Plan for Planet - 11/28/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
The inaugural Shimizu Distinguished Lecture will be held on November 28th, 4-6pm at Clark Auditorium. We are thrilled to host Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). Bjarke is a visionary leader in architecture, transforming our industry and working toward a better world for current and future generations. He will present his plan for the planet.
Attend in person or online. See weblink to register.
Wonderfest: Fast & Faraway: The High-Redshift Universe - 11/28/2023 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
In astronomy, the redder a galaxy appears, the faster it is fleeing, and the older a tale its light can tell. Such "redshifts" in the spectra of galaxies (symbolized with the letter "z") allow compelling insights. The recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has allowed astronomers to study the properties of high-z galaxies in existence only 250 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 2% of its current age! How are these objects detected in such very "deep" space, and what are the early science results from this JWST research?
Speaker: Thomas Targett, Sonoma State University
Wednesday, 11/29/2023
Exploring the ecological and evolutionary consequences of marine tropicalisation: case studies from the Baja California peninsula - 11/29/2023 11:00 AM
Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute
Speaker: Phil Fenberg - Professor, University of Southampton
Please register to join us on Zoom.
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe Through Human Consciousness and AI - Livestream - 11/29/2023 03:00 PM
Commonwealth Club
The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed―that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same may also be true about cosmology: our view of the universe may be inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so whether they’re studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists might need to first explain consciousness. Searching to answer that question, George Musser turned to neuroscientists and philosophers of the mind.
Neuroscientists have built up ever-better understandings of the structure of the brain. Musser asks whether that could help physicists better understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems. At the same time, physicists are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects we perceive around us. So Musser also has asked whether those discoveries could help explain how neurons produce our conscious experiences.
Join us for a special online-only program in which Musser tackles the potential interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, human consciousness and artificial intelligence, providing a revelatory exploration of how a "theory of everything" may very well depend upon our understanding of the human mind.
Speaker: George Musser, Journalist and Author; George Hammond, Author, Moderator
Energy and Resources Group Colloquium - 11/29/2023 04:00 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Speaker: Trevor Keenan
Toward a practical theory of deep learning: feature learning in deep neural networks and backpropagation-free algorithms that learn features - Stream - 11/29/2023 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Remarkable recent advances in deep neural networks are rapidly changing science and society. Never before had a technology been deployed so widely and so quickly with so little understanding of its fundamentals. I will argue that developing a fundamental mathematical theory of deep learning is necessary for a successful AI transition and, furthermore, that such a theory may well be within reach. I will discuss what a theory might look like and some of its ingredients that we already have available. In particular, I will discuss how deep neural networks of various architectures learn features and how the lessons of deep learning can be incorporated in non-backpropagation-based algorithms that we call Recursive Feature Machines. I will provide a number of experimental results on different types of data, including texts and images, as well as some connections to classical statistical methods, such as Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares.
Speaker: Mikhail Belkin, UC San Diego
See weblink for streaming link, or attend stream presentation on campus
Under Fire and Under Water in the American West - 11/29/2023 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Extreme weather in the wake of climate change, causing wildfires, drought and flooding, threatens to turn the American West into a region hostile to human habitation - a “Great American Desert” as early U.S. explorers once mislabeled it. Bruce Cain suggests that the unique complex of politics, technology and logistics that once won the West must be rethought and reconfigured to win it anew in the face of these accelerating threats.
These challenges are complicated by the region’s history, the deliberate fractiousness of the American political system, and the idiosyncrasies of human behavior. Cain analyzes how, in spite of coastal flooding and spreading wildfires, people continue to move into, and even rebuild in, risky areas, how local communities are slow to take protective measures, and how individual beliefs, past adaptation practices and infrastructure, and complex governing arrangements across jurisdictions combine to flout real progress. Driving this analysis is Cain’s conviction that understanding the habits and politics that lead to procrastination and obstruction is critical to finding solutions and making necessary adaptations to the changing climate.
In his new book Under Fire and Under Water, Cain offers a detailed look at the rising stakes and urgency of the various interconnected issues. Join us in-person to hear Cain lay out the rethinking and reengineering that will allow people to live sustainably in the American West - even under the conditions caused by future global warming.
Speaker: Bruce Cain, Stanford University; George Hammond, author, Moderator
Science Uncorked: Bodega Head's Northbound Geologic Journey - 11/29/2023 06:00 PM
Gourmet au Bay Bodega Bay
Pairing delicious wines with delicious ideas, this series features talks by scientists from UC Davis' Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute and Bodega Marine Laboratory
Speaker: Nicole Myers
Thursday, 11/30/2023
Addressing Deep Ocean Knowledge Gaps for Earth's Present and Future - 11/30/2023 10:00 AM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
The ocean's midwaters below 200 m and above the seafloor, formerly thought to be entirely devoid of life, are now thought to be home to a biomass of animals larger than in the rest of the ocean combined. These organisms, many of which vertically migrate between the twilight or midnight zones and the surface ocean on a daily basis, may provide critical ecosystem services by contributing to climate regulation via the biological carbon pump and in provisioning predatory fishes that are the focus of global fisheries. Burgeoning interests in harvesting this unparalleled biomass and conducting deep-sea mining, as well as predictions for climate-driven declines in midwater fauna, are confronted by glaring knowledge gaps in our understanding of the structure, functioning, and connectivity of these deep ocean ecosystems. Addressing these knowledge gaps is crucial to establishing baselines by which the scientific community can assess the current and future status of deep ocean organisms and ecosystems in a changing climate. Through interdisciplinary work spanning predator ecology, biological oceanography, and social-ecological systems, I aim to generate fundamental knowledge and inform sustainability benefitting both ocean and human health.
Room 350/372
Editor's Note: This event was originally scheduled for November 14, 2023.
Unpacking police violence and misconduct records: Solving information extraction challenges using Large Language Models (LLMs) - Livestream - 11/30/2023 12:00 PM
Berkeley Institute for Data Science
Speaker: Tristan Chambers, CLEAN Data Architect
On the Integration of Hydrogen into Hybrid Energy Systems: Reliability Assessment, Optimal Operation and Planning - 11/30/2023 01:30 PM
Environment & Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
The growing focus on hydrogen as a promising energy carrier has been pivotal in the pursuit of net-zero emissions within integrated energy systems. As part of this endeavor, extensive research has been conducted to delve into the reliability aspects of power-gas integrated energy systems. Additionally, our study looks at optimizing operations by incorporating hydrogen into these systems, addressing critical constraints and uncertainties pertaining to energy flow. Finally, the development of a sophisticated coordinated planning model tailored specifically for power-gas-hydrogen integrated energy systems is discussed. These comprehensive models aim to enhance the efficiency of energy integration and contribute to sustainability and the overarching goal of cost-effectiveness in the evolution of energy infrastructure.
Speaker: Jianhui Wang, Southern Methodist University
Room 101
Editor's Note: This event was originally scheduled for November 16, 2023
Doing a lot with a little: The molecular profile of a single sensory neuron links experience with behavioral plasticity - 11/30/2023 03:30 PM
Weill Hall Berkeley
Thermosensation is a critical sensory modality for all organisms. C. elegans exhibits the remarkable ability to detect temperature changes of as little as 0.01C across a 10C temperature range, and exhibits experience-dependent thermosensory behaviors. Thermosensation in the innocuous temperature range is mediated primarily by the single AFD sensory neuron pair. I will discuss our lab’s work on identifying the signal transduction mechanisms and morphological specializations that confer extraordinary thermosensitivity onto AFD. I will also describe recent work describing how encoding of recent temperature experiences in the molecular profile of this single sensory neuron pair is sufficient to drive neuronal and behavioral plasticity.
Speaker: Piali Sengupta, Brandeis University
The Science Behind Science Fiction: To Boldly Go - 11/30/2023 05:00 PM
The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room Oakland
Join us for an exciting event where we explore the fascinating connection between science and fiction! Dive into the world of sci-fi as we unravel the mysteries behind "To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights." Immerse yourself in a thought-provoking discussion led by renowned expert(s) in the field. Discover how science fiction has influenced scientific advancements and vice versa. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your mind and get a glimpse into the future!
Speaker: Angela Dalton, author
NightLife - 11/30/2023 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 60,000 live animals (including familiar faces like Claude, our alligator with albinism), the night is sure to be wild.
Step inside the iconic Shake House and our four-story Osher 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 World Photography competition.
Bask in the glow of one of the largest living indoor coral reef displays in the world: our 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef habitat.
Take in the interstellar views from the Living Roof, then grab a bite from the Academy Café and head to the West Garden outdoor bar to drink and dine under the stars.
Six Eruptions at Two Volcanoes Over the Past Three Years - Livestream - 11/30/2023 06:00 PM
US Geological Survey Public Lecture Series
How the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitors some of Earth’s most active volcanoes
by Katie Mulliken, Geologist, Research Corporation of the University of Hawai‘i and USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is the oldest volcano observatory in the United States, founded decades before Hawaii became a state!Hawaii’s volcanoes erupt frequently; during the past three years, Kīlauea erupted 5 times and Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years.Learn how HVO monitors volcanoes, evaluates hazards, and keeps communities that live on the flanks informed.
See weblink to attend
Active Galaxies: Monsters of the Deep (Space) - Livestream - 11/30/2023 06:00 PM
Night Sky Network
Join the NASA Night Sky Network along with Dr. Travis Fischer from Space Science Telescope Institute, where we will explore the nature of active galaxies, including their energetic processes and the role they play in shaping the universe we see today.
Active galaxies are some of the most fascinating objects in the universe. They emit copious amounts of energy, often far exceeding the energy output of an entire galaxy of stars. But what makes them so active? Hear about some of the latest research in the field, including the use of telescopes and other observational tools to study these enigmatic objects. Join us on this journey to the heart of the most powerful objects in the cosmos.
After Dark: Light at the Museum - 11/30/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
The fun begins after dark, where our 650+ interactive exhibits come to light. Bask in luminous artworks big and small at our seasonal exhibition Glow. Experience the speed of light in different materials with Senior Physicist Educator Desiré Whitmore. And stop by the Explainer Stations to learn even more about the science behind light bulbs and lasers. And don’t miss the dance party with a local DJ Inkfat!
Faster! Catching up to Electrons on the Move - 11/30/2023 07:00 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Public Lecture Series Menlo Park
Electrons are tiny particles that hold together the atoms in molecules. When sunlight interacts with a molecule, it first transfers its energy to the electrons. Then, as the electrons move, the molecule changes form, reshaping itself or even breaking apart. We do not fully understand how electrons affect the molecules to which they belong because it is very hard to catch them in action. Electrons move incredibly quickly, and they behave according to the peculiar laws of quantum mechanics. But now, we can follow the motion of electrons using SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source, an accelerator that can make pulses of X-rays that are shorter than one millionth of a billionth of a second. In this lecture, I will explain how this one-of-a-kind tool allows us to watch speedy electrons as they move.
Speaker: Taran Driver, Linac Coherent Light Source
Attend in person or online (See weblink to register)
Stellar Paternity Tests: Tracing Stars Back to the Clusters of their Birth - 11/30/2023 07:00 PM
Los Altos Public Library Los Altos
The Milky Way’s hot stars generally form in open clusters within the thin disk. However, there are a small number of early-type stars that are observed at high altitudes above the disk and were likely ejected from their birth clusters within the past few million years. My student Brandon Schweers and I are working to identify from which open clusters these high-latitude B stars originated. We combine data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia Mission with a model of the Milky Way’s gravitational potential to trace the kinematic trajectories of about 100 high latitude B stars and more than 1000 known Galactic open clusters to identify past moments of intersection. I will share our results to date and discuss additional strategies to refine the cluster paternity memberships.
Speaker: Ginny McSwain, Lehigh University
Attend in person or online
Friday, 12/01/2023
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Seminar - 12/01/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Jennifer Bergner, UC Santa Cruz
Public Tours of Bodega Marine Laboratory - 12/01/2023 02:00 PM
UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Bodega Bay
These tours are led by our wonderful crew of ocean-loving docents, and visitors will learn about ongoing marine and coastal science research at Bodega Marine Laboratory and its history on the Sonoma Coast. Plus, you'll get to meet a variety of colorful and diverse ocean creatures.
The front gates will be open to allow visitors in from 1:45 until 3:45pm on Fridays. Please plan to arrive no earlier than 15 minutes prior to your tour start time.
Public tours are only available by reservation on Eventbrite. If your preferred tour time is already full, you can place your name on a waitlist through Eventbrite to claim a spot if one becomes available.
First Friday: Light Up the Night - 12/01/2023 06:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Despite December being the darkest month of the year for the Northern Hemisphere, it is a time to light up the night with a celebration of different cultures. For First Friday: Lights Up the Night, join us at Chabot Space & Science Center for an evening filled with exciting hands-on activities, shows, guest speakers and more! Enjoy music from the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, hear a talk about the science behind the winter solstice, and create your own Mars gingerbread rover. This is fun for the whole family!
Getting Started with Astronomical Spectroscopy - CANCELED - 12/01/2023 08:00 PM
College of San Mateo Bldg 36 San Mateo
Astronomical spectroscopy is the study of the electromagnetic spectrum of stars and other celestial objects through a spectroscope. Spectroscopy is one of the best tools we have for deciphering the chemical and physical properties of the universe, and is the backbone of modern astrophysical research. In fact, about 75% of all data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope is spectra!
In this presentation/workshop, Carl will give us an introduction to astronomical spectroscopy and why we should be interested in it, describe and show the typical equipment and software available to amateur astronomers to perform spectrographic analysis, and show examples of his research, giving you the information you need to get you started in astronomical spectroscopy. He’ll bring his equipment so you can see and understand the set-up, and offer a Q&A session at the end of the lecture.
Speaker: Carl Crum, astrophotographer
Room 109
Editor's Note: This talk was originally scheduled for October 6, 2023. It has now been canceled for a second time.
Saturday, 12/02/2023
Instrument Petting Zoo at the Lawrence Hall of Science - 12/02/2023 11:00 AM
Lawrence Hall of Science Berkeley
Get up close and personal with musical instruments and get inspired by the power of music! UC Berkeley student group The Music Connection will introduce visitors to woodwind, brass, percussion, and string instruments professional musicians use. Learn about how they work, how to hold them, and even try playing the instruments! Then, head over to learn about the math of music and science of sound in our featured exhibit, Making Music: Math + Science Out Loud.
https://lawrencehallofscience.org/events/instrument-petting-zoo/
Sunday, 12/03/2023
Solar Observing - 12/03/2023 01:30 PM
San Jose Astronomical Association San Jose
It’s there for us year round, lighting our days and providing energy for our lives, so maybe it’s time to give it a closer look. Join SJAA for amazing and detailed views of the Sun, and be assured that we’ll be using special telescopes that will keep your eyeballs perfectly safe.
We’ll have white-light telescopes with dense solar filters that reveal sunspots. Further, we’ll show you hydrogen-alpha telescopes that isolate a very specific color of red that reveals prominences (often thought of as solar flares) and intricate texture within the Sun’s chromosphere (its atmosphere).
We can also share with you a little about how the Sun works and how complex magnetic fields drive the number of sunspots and prominences that we’ll see on a given day.
Around 1:45, we'll have a short, informal introductory talk, and at other times, you can enjoy the views and ask questions about the Sun, telescopes, or astronomy in general.
See weblink for additional details.
Register at weblink.
Monday, 12/04/2023
Cheetahs - Conservation and Art - 12/04/2023 09:00 AM
John Muir Laws
Monday, December 4th is International Cheetah Day and a time to celebrate these magnificent animals and their uniqueness. As the fastest land mammal, with the ability to go from 0 to 60mph in 3 seconds, cheetahs are the most unique of the big cats. Their speed, beauty, and grace have won hearts worldwide, and today, we ask you to spread awareness of their plight in the wild. Less than 7500 individuals remain, in only 31 populations around the world. Cheetahs suffer from human-wildlife conflict, genetic instability, habitat and prey loss, climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade. Help us raise funds to save this magnificent animal in the wild, and become an ally for cheetahs.
I will be joined by Jess Sorrentino of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and Marcia Sivek of the BeProvided Conservation Radio PodcastWe will discuss current efforts in Cheetah conservation and what we can do to help the species.
Then we will explore aspects of the cheetah’s anatomy, structure, and patterns to draw these amazing animals in a close-up portrait and a running action pose.
Register at weblink to attend.
Abiotic Factors Affecting Egg Deposition Site Selection & Early Larval Development of Two Local Lotic Amphibians - 12/04/2023 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Beth Sabo, Sonoma State University
The dance of the muon - 12/04/2023 03:30 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Colloquium Series Menlo Park
More than eighty years after the muon was discovered it is still a source of mystery. I ndeed, experiments are underway that use muons as a window to search for new particles or forces. The muon's anomalous magnetic moment is a particular focus of these efforts because of a longstanding tension between experiment and theoretical expectations. This quantity is now known with an exquisite precision of 190 parts per billion, thanks to the g-2 experiment at Fermilab, which is on track to reach its precision goal of 120 part per billion in the next couple of years. The theoretical calculations of the muon’s magnetic moment must account for the virtual effects of all particles and forces within the Standard Model, where effects coming from virtual hadrons, governed by the strong interactions, are by far the largest sources of theory uncertainty. Recent estimates of hadronic corrections have created puzzles on the theory side, which are currently being investigated. I will discuss the ongoing interplay between theory and experiment that is essential to unlocking the discovery potential of this effort.
Speaker: Aida El-Khadra, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
Leveraging the phyllosphere microbiome for plant health - 12/04/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Britt Koskella is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her work explores the importance of the bacteria and viruses making up the microbiome in shaping plant health, ecology, and evolution. She received her BA from the University of Virginia in 2001 and her PhD from Indiana University in 2018, and subsequently held postdoctoral and independent research fellowships in both the US (funded by the NSF) and UK (funded by NERC) at Oxford University and the University of Exeter. Her work combines laboratory experimental evolution with studies of natural diversity to determine how bacteriophage viruses shape bacterial evolution, microbiome diversity, and disease. She works on the phyllosphere (above ground tissues) of both long-lived trees and short-lived, agriculturally relevant systems to better predict microbiome complexity and stability and to understand the role that microbiomes play in plant health and agricultural sustainability.
Speaker: Britt Koskella, UC Berkeley
Room: Auditorium
Energy Innovation in California - 12/04/2023 04:30 PM
Huang Engineering Center Stanford
In order to limit global warming and avoid the most disastrous effects of climate change, we need to (1) drastically reduce emissions and (2) remove large amounts of legacy greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. There are many approaches to CDR (carbon dioxide removal), the process to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it away for decades, centuries and millennia: from planting new forests, capturing and sequestering carbon from waste biomass, spreading crushed rock on agricultural fields to react with CO2 in rainwater, building chemical adsorption-looping processes or enhancing the oceans ability to store carbon dioxide. In this talk we’ll have a look at specific benefits and challenges across CDR technologies. We will explore considerations of durability, verifiability, and scalability and discuss how a balanced portfolio of solutions can maximize climate value.
Speaker: Jonah Steinbuck, California Energy Commission
Exploring the AI Revolution - 12/04/2023 06:00 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
Where did AI come from? Who created it, why, and where can it lead?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing into a world-changer, affecting every industry and being used by hundreds of millions of people - even when they're unaware they're interacting with an artificial intelligence. And we're only at the early stages of AI's growth.
Join us for an in-depth talk with Dr. Fei-Fei Li, whom Wired called "one of a tiny group of scientists―a group perhaps small enough to fit around a kitchen table―who are responsible for AI’s recent remarkable advances.” Dr. Li came to America as an immigrant, enduring a shift from Chinese middle class to American poverty. But a tough upbringing did not stop her from becoming a leading mind in the next big technological development.
Fei-Fei’s adolescent knack for physics endured and positioned her to make a crucial contribution to the breakthrough we now call AI, placing her at the center of a global transformation. Over the last decades, her work has brought her face-to-face with the extraordinary possibilities―and the extraordinary dangers―of the technology she loves. Known as the creator of ImageNet, a key catalyst of modern artificial intelligence, Dr. Li has spent more than two decades at the forefront of the field.
Her work has brought her face-to-face with the extraordinary possibilities―and the extraordinary dangers―of the technology she loves.
Don't miss this opportunity to learn more about a breakthrough science and one of the breakthrough scientists who is making it happen.
Speaker: Fei-Fei Li, Stanford University
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink
The Remarkable Death of A Massive Star - 12/04/2023 07:30 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
The explosion of a massive star can produce ripples through spacetime and drive the creation of the elements needed for life. Their deaths can also give birth to a neutron star or black hole, providing clues into the evolution of galaxies. However, the chaotic nature of massive stars presents a challenge to interpreting their observed properties. Recent technological advancements allow us to now produce state-of-the-art computational simulations of the transient fate of a massive star. These simulations can unlock secrets about the violent nuclear fusion occurring deep within these stars, a region inaccessible to direct observation. In this talk, Dr. Fields will present recent results of hydrodynamic simulations of massive stars in the final moments proceeding and during their catastrophic fates.
Speaker: Carl Fields, Los Alamos National Laboratories
Tuesday, 12/05/2023
Icy insights by bridging models and observations: Antarctic mass loss sensitivity to the thermal state - 12/05/2023 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Scientific Critical Thinking: A Missing Ingredient in Science Education - 12/05/2023 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
The Hotstate Machine - A runtime loadable microcoded algorithmic state machine - Livestream - 12/05/2023 06:00 PM
IEEE Computer Society of Silicon Valley
Wednesday, 12/06/2023
Cybersecurity Futures 2030: New Foundations - Livestream - 12/06/2023 09:00 AM
UC Berkeley
Deploying ROVs to assess deepwater fisheries, corals and MPAs - 12/06/2023 03:30 PM
Estuary & Ocean Science Center Tiburon
Thursday, 12/07/2023
olice Technology Experiments - 12/07/2023 12:00 PM
Social Sciences Building Room 820 Berkeley
Smart Grid Seminar: Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) - Livestream - 12/07/2023 01:30 PM
Stanford Energy
The Navigational Circuitry of the Fly - 12/07/2023 03:30 PM
Weill Hall Berkeley
NightLife: Santa Claude's Workshop - 12/07/2023 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Go with the Glow - 12/07/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Friday, 12/08/2023
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Seminar - 12/08/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Public Tours of Bodega Marine Laboratory - 12/08/2023 02:00 PM
UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Bodega Bay
Saturday, 12/09/2023
Family Nature Adventures: Fantastic Fungi Fun - 12/09/2023 10:30 AM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
AIAA Banquet and Mars Ingenuity Presentation - 12/09/2023 12:00 PM
Oakland Aviation Museum Oakland
Saturday Cinema: The Art + Science of Luminous Animations - 12/09/2023 01:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Down the Rabbit Hole - 12/09/2023 03:00 PM
Masonic Hall Sebastopol
Starry Nights Star Party - 12/09/2023 06:45 PM
Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve Morgan hill
Monday, 12/11/2023
AGU23 Wide. Open. Science. - 12/11/2023 07:00 PM
Moscone Center West San Francisco