The holidays came to a sudden end with the happenings in Washington. Thank goodness it wasn’t a repeat of 2 years ago. I don’t know about you but I have been craving some good background music and images. Instead of the old Yule Log video you might want to try these for the stormy days ahead. If you’re feeling like you want a little space and some sunshine you might want to head to the not so local Namib watering hole. Here’s one in case you want to have a more expansive vision. A little bit more static but these are still beautiful sights. If you are one of those that simply must disturb the neighborhood or know someone like that, this may be useful!
Have you been getting enough sleep and a good breakfast to start the day with! You might enjoy ‘Eight hours’ sleep and breakfast!’ It does get you started thinking about what we take for fact that might be worth checking out. Why Art Is Vital To The Study Of Science is an interesting article which highlights museums and reminds us about the necessity of art in science, like the explOratorium does. (Does the audio version of the article sound like an artificial voice?) Here’s another take on it… “Does Art Inform Science?”
There’s a new series that has just come on-line and will be on PBS soon. If you watch SEARCHING Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science, let us know what you think of it. It is amazing how many people have made such important contributions to science!
There are always retrospectives… I won’t even try. Here’s one of the best science of 2022 retrospectives I have seen. Nature’s biggest news stories of 2022
Now that the holidays are mostly done and the days are getting longer there are more cool opportunities to hear about and discuss what’s happening in science and our communities. Here are a few to consider for the next week…
- Wonderfest: Going to the Stars - The First Mission to Proxima Centauri Mon @ 7:00
- After Dark: Sharing Places Thu @ 6:00
- Family Nature Walks - Foothills Nature Preserve Sat @ 11:00
There have been so many cool stories that popped up over the last few weeks I can’t keep track of all of them. One of my favorite stories of the last century or so is the Antikythera Mechanism. But wait there’s a lot of other odd things! How about the physics of a splash-free urinal?
Are you a bird person? Have you ever noticed when your flying on an airplane how cold it is outside when you are cruising at altitude? Does this make you wonder how a bird could fly over Mt. Everest? If you haven’t wondered about that, consider The Seamstress Who Solved the Ancient Mystery of the Argonaut and much more. Amidst all of the talk of anthropogenic climate change have you wondered about the Deep Anthropocene? You might want to consider the Brine Pool the Hot Tub of Despair.
Every grain of sand is a jewel. They are free, but it is amazing what you can find at an auction. Please check out Auction Prospectus. Now on view, by Andrew Fraknoi.
It’s a new year! Start learning new things!
herb masters
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." Isaac Asimov
Upcoming Events:
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Monday, 01/09/2023
The Future of mRNA Technology - 01/09/2023 03:00 PM
Wharton San Francisco San Francisco
The Innovation @ Penn program is honored to welcome Katalin Kariko, PhD, who co-discovered (with Penn Medicine colleague Drew Weissman) that nucleoside modifications suppress the immunogenicity of RNA, which has widened the therapeutic potential of mRNA in treating diseases. This led to the development of the two most effective vaccines for COVID-19, the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and holds vast promise for future treatments of many other diseases.
Joining Dr. Kariko for a discussion about the future of mRNA Technology will be one of Penn’s leading faculty innovators working on mRNA manufacturing technology Michael J. Mitchell, PhD, the J. Peter and Geri Skirkanich Professor of Innovation at Penn Engineering. The program will be moderated by Beth Seidenberg MD, Founding Managing Director of Westlake Village Partners.
Register at weblink
Cephalopod Eye Development and the Evolution of Visual System Complexity - 01/09/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Kristen Koenig went to undergrad at UC Berkeley where she majored in History and Molecular and Cell Biology. At Berkeley she studied butterfly wing patterning with Dr. Nipam Patel and after undergrad Kristen worked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where she studied sea urchin speciation with Dr. Harilaos Lessios. She did her PhD at University of Texas at Austin in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Gross, who studies zebrafish eye development and regeneration. In the Gross lab Kristen established the squid, Doryteuthis pealeii, as a model for comparative eye development and evolution. At the end of her PhD, Kristen was awarded the John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellowship at Harvard University. This is a fellowship given to investigators immediately upon receipt of their PhD and enabled her to operate as an independent PI with her own lab. At Harvard Kristen, was awarded the NIH Early Independence Award to support the lab’s work and expanded her research program from cephalopods to a diversity of systems, including sea anemones and avian species. She has since been running her group investigating the evolution and development of visual systems at Harvard and is currently a visiting scientist at the University of Texas.
Editor's Note: This talk will also be given online and in person on January 11 at Hopkins Marine Center. See our event listing for that date.
The Saga of Electric Energy Networks: From Ode to Lament and Back - 01/09/2023 04:30 PM
Huang Engineering Center Stanford
This talk aims to outline salient features of renewable energy integration and coming electrification. Electric energy systems (EES) are an infrastructure that is the focus of a slowly evolving energy landscape. Reliability and resilience encapsulate the key performance criteria, while new technologies such as sensing, storage, and power electronics reshape future prospects. First, we propose to analyze energy systems as multi-layer structures involving flows of material, energy, information, capital, and policy. Next, we outline some aspects of the new wave of sustainable electrification that aims to include transportation, energy-intensive industries, and agriculture. Finally, we propose integrated multi-carrier energy systems with EES as the core enabler, and conclude with two vignettes. The first is about integrating offshore wind into the grid, and the second is about global approaches to dynamic model development, reduction, and identification.
Speaker: Alex Stankovic, SLAC
Wonderfest: Going to the Stars - The First Mission to Proxima Centauri - 01/09/2023 07:00 PM
Castro Valley Library Castro Valley
The stars beckon. Alas, interstellar distances are fantastically challenging. (A lightbeam needs 1/7th of a second to go around the world, but over 4 years to reach our Sun's nearest-neighbor star, Proxima Centauri.) Determined explorers at Breakthrough Starshot are developing miniature robot space probes - to be accelerated by laser light from Earth - whose cameras can reach Proxima Centauri in just 20 years! Among the wonders to be explored are Proxima's three known planets, including Proxima b, which orbits in this red dwarf star's "habitable zone."
Speaker: Pete Worden, Breakthrough Starshot
Tuesday, 01/10/2023
Stanford Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium - 01/10/2023 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Speaker: TBA
Meteorite hunting in Antarctica to uncover Solar System mysteries - 01/10/2023 03:30 PM
Natural Science Annex Santa Cruz
Speaker:Emilie Dunham, UC Los Angeles
Detecting Qualia - 01/10/2023 04:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
The hard problem of consciousness really is hard, and what makes it so hard is accounting for the contents of experience: qualia. This talk will consider several theories of mind, and briefly discuss their shortcomings when explaining qualia. It will be proposed that these theories have been looking in the wrong place. To give one example, when we peer in the brain, no matter how hard we try and with whatever methods we use, we can’t seem to find qualia. Yet when we observe the world, qualia are everywhere: colors, sounds, tastes, smells. Perhaps, then, we need to look outward. In order to overcome the difficulties of previous theories, and make progress in understanding qualia, it will be suggested that the senses should be interpreted as physical detectors. A new theory will be proposed which retains multiple realizability while allowing for a scientifically-based approach towards accounting for qualia in the natural world.
Speaker: Paul Skokowski, University of Oxford
Room 126
Birds Without Borders: How Migratory Birds Connect Counties, Countries, and Continents Across the Pacific - 01/10/2023 07:00 PM
Hopkins Marine Station Pacific Grove
Dr. Nicole Arcilla has been conducting research in bird ecology and conservation for over 20 years. Her talk will explore the world of bird migration along and across the Pacific coast and ocean, including Peregrine Falcons’ annual journeys from the Arctic tundra to South American coastal deserts, Pacific Golden Plovers’ flights from North America to remote islands of the South Pacific, and Snowy Plovers’ migrations along the California Coast, including the Monterey Peninsula.
Dr. Arcilla is President of the International Bird Conservation Partnership and is Affiliate Fellow of University of Nebraska.
Attend in person or register at weblink to receive connection information.
Wonderfest: Never Home Alone: Six-Legged Invaders Under Your Roof - Livestream - 01/10/2023 08:00 PM
Wonderfest
After nearly three years of increased "sheltering at home," you may have noticed more six-legged critters sharing your shelter. Scientists, too, have been taking a closer look at these more numerous (and more brazen?) insect invaders. What surprising findings have the researchers uncovered?
Speaker: Vernard Lewis, UC Berkeley, emeritus
See weblink for connection information and to register
Wednesday, 01/11/2023
Cephalopod Eye Development and the Evolution of Visual System Complexity - 01/11/2023 12:00 PM
Hopkins Marine Station Pacific Grove
Kristen Koenig went to undergrad at UC Berkeley where she majored in History and Molecular and Cell Biology. At Berkeley she studied butterfly wing patterning with Dr. Nipam Patel and after undergrad Kristen worked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where she studied sea urchin speciation with Dr. Harilaos Lessios. She did her PhD at University of Texas at Austin in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Gross, who studies zebrafish eye development and regeneration. In the Gross lab Kristen established the squid, Doryteuthis pealeii, as a model for comparative eye development and evolution. At the end of her PhD, Kristen was awarded the John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellowship at Harvard University. This is a fellowship given to investigators immediately upon receipt of their PhD and enabled her to operate as an independent PI with her own lab. At Harvard Kristen, was awarded the NIH Early Independence Award to support the lab’s work and expanded her research program from cephalopods to a diversity of systems, including sea anemones and avian species. She has since been running her group investigating the evolution and development of visual systems at Harvard and is currently a visiting scientist at the University of Texas.
Editor's Note: This talk will also be given online and in person on January 9 at Stanford University. See our event listing for that date.
Attend in person or register at weblink to attend online.
Biotech for the Future - Intersection of Food and Health Tech - 01/11/2023 05:00 PM
swissnex San Francisco San Francisco
Join us for a Panel Discussion covering topics of Food and Health Care technology. The panel will be followed by networking.Drinks and light snacks will be provided.
The future of food is changing. Understand topics of future food technology, including cell-cultured meat, and the impacts on the global health care industry.
Register at weblink.
Nature’s Best Hope - 01/11/2023 07:00 PM
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society Cupertino
Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us. To create landscapes that enhance local ecosystems rather than degrade them, we must 1 remove the invasives on our property and 2) add the native plant communities that sustain food webs, sequester carbon, maintain diverse native bee communities, and manage our watersheds. If we do this in half of the area now in lawn, we can create Homegrown National Park, a 20 million acre network of viable habitats that will provide vital corridors connecting the few natural areas that remain. This approach to conservation empowers everyone to play a significant role in the future of the natural world.
Speaker: Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware
Register at weblink to attend in person, or attend via Zoom.
Thursday, 01/12/2023
Sea Level and Ice Sheet Stability During Past (and Future) Warming - 01/12/2023 12:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
Past warm periods are testing grounds for major ice sheets’ response to global warming. Stratigraphic evidence from the Bahamas from the most recent warm period, the Last Interglacial at ~125 ka, constrains glacial isostatic adjustment and shows sea level very likely did not exceed ~5m, below current IPCC estimates. This finding, taken with global observations, helps constrain the melt history of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. To constrain sea level during the earlier mid-Pliocene (~3 Ma) and early Pliocene (~5 Ma) warm periods we must also understand mantle convection. The combined results start to paint a coherent picture of ice sheet sensitivity, ice sheet processes and future sea level rise.
Speaker: Jacky Austermann, Columbia University
Room 350/372
A New Measure: The Revolutionary, Quantum Reform of the Modern Metric System - Livestream - 01/12/2023 05:00 PM
Cafe Scientifique Silicon Valley
The International System of Units (the SI), the modern metric system, has recently undergone its most revolutionary change since its origins during the French Revolution. The nature of this revolution is that all of the base units of the SI are now defined by fixing values of natural constants. Our measurement system is now, both philosophically and practically, strongly quantum. This talk will describe why this reform was needed and how it is done.
Speaker: William D. Phillips, NIST
Register at weblink to attend.
The Beauty of Science - How Art Can Help Protect & Conserve Bird Populations - Livestream - 01/12/2023 06:00 PM
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
In this talk, you’ll learn an artist’s perspective on the “beauty of science” - how artists can collaborate with scientists and birders to create compelling imagery that not only helps to inform and educate but also forges emotional connections that can motivate protection and conservation.
Speaker: Tara Kate, illustrator
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Internet for the People - 01/12/2023 06:00 PM
Internet Archive San Francisco
Join Internet Archive's senior policy counsel LILA BAILEY in conversation with author BEN TARNOFF about his book, INTERNET FOR THE PEOPLE.
Why is the internet so broken, and what could ever possibly fix it? The internet is broken, Tarnoff argues, because it is owned by private firms and run for profit. Google annihilates your privacy and Facebook amplifies right-wing propaganda because it is profitable to do so. But the internet wasn't always like this - it had to be remade for the purposes of profit maximization, through a years-long process of privatization that turned a small research network into a powerhouse of global capitalism. Tarnoff tells the story of the privatization that made the modern internet, and which set in motion the crises that consume it today.
Register at weblink to attend
Longevity Business and Science - 01/12/2023 06:00 PM
The Green Room San Francisco
Join scientists and entrepreneurs in learning about and discussing the future of biotechnology & longevity-inspired medicine.
Feast your mind while fueling your body: come enjoy two short talks by Elad and Dan, and engage with investors/scientists/builders over food & refreshments. Elad has succeeded by calling the future, and Dan is creating it.
ELAD GILL is a co-founder of Color Genomics. He is a renowned investor or advisor to companies including Airbnb, Anduril, Coinbase, Figma, Flexport, Gitlab, Notion, Samsara, Square, Stripe and others. Elad authored the High Growth Handbook.
DANIEL GOODMAN is a synthetic and computational biologist, and a postdoctoral scholar in the Roybal and Marson laboratories at UCSF. He currently focused on engineering T cells and multiplexed assays. Daniel is an alumni of the George Church lab at Harvard.
After Dark: Sharing Places - 01/12/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Meaningful places help us write our histories, frame our identities, and feel a sense of belonging. Tonight, explore the relationship between place, self, and community. Consider the ways that objects hold cultural meaning, and the role of art in cultivating shared places. Immerse yourself in beautiful sculptural installations inspired by Islamic geometric motifs, discover a Filipino traysikel fully equipped with a karaoke machine, and more!
NightLive: Move - 01/12/2023 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
Get your move on at an evening all about our devotion to motion. From scientific talks to breakdancing performances and boxing sessions, learn about and experience the magic of how animals and humans maneuver through the world!
Featured programming:
Let’s get ready to Rumble! Join our friends from Rumble Boxing for a mini boxing sesh in the aquarium with an unparalleled coral reef view. The dancers at All Aspect Collective are here to bust a move with two dynamic performances that combine breakdancing choreography with high level energy, freestyle, and moves that will get you in the groove. See how far the human body can bend and coil in a twisted contortionist act from Saffi Watson of Club Fugazi’s Dear San Francisco. What do spotted hyenas and coyotes have in common? They’re both highly adaptable and deeply misunderstood species with long histories of living alongside humans. Mammalogist Christine Wilkinson, PHD will break down what these carnivorous creatures can teach us about human-carnivore interactions. Dig into the connections between movement and personality with Chris Schell, PhD, who will share how researchers are using movement data to gain information on coyote activity patterns, travel paths, and more to identify important behaviors from foraging to migrating.
Racism, Not Race: Answers to Questions Even a Skeptic Might Ask - Livestream - 01/12/2023 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
Racism created race. The socially defined racial groups we currently experience did not result from an objective examination of human biological variation. This talk recounts the study of biological variation and its connection to race concepts within the Western world from its roots in Christian special creationism to modern evolutionary ideas. It will end with a discussion of why anti-racism in science is now more than ever necessary to improve the modern scientific enterprise.
Speaker: Joe Graves, Author
See weblink for connection information
Friday, 01/13/2023
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Seminar - 01/13/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Diogo Louro Lourenco, UC Berkeley
Imaging Mantle Viscosity and Why it Matters for Ice Age Climate - 01/13/2023 12:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
I will present work that aims to constrain Earth’s viscosity based on sea level records and the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. I will show a local inference for the western US followed by laying out a framework that allows imaging global 3D varying viscosity in Earth’s interior. This framework draws on approaches from seismic tomography and I will present first tests with synthetic data that shows the potential for this technique. In the second part of the talk I will explore how GIA feeds back into affecting the Laurentide ice sheet. We include proglacial lakes (lakes that form at the ice sheet margin) in our GIA model and show that they can speed glacial collapse. Since GIA causes proglacial lakes to be bigger during the deglaciation than the glaciation, this process contributes to the sawtooth shape of ice age climate.
Speaker: Jacky Austermann, Columbia University
Room 350/372
Saturday, 01/14/2023
Family Nature Walks - Foothills Nature Preserve - 01/14/2023 11:00 AM
Foothills Nature Preserve Los Altos
Environmental Volunteers’ Family Nature Walks program is designed to help students and their families get to know our local open space areas. Small family groups will be guided by a knowledgeable environmental educator during an exploration of a local open space. These small groups will be introduced to fun nature-based activities, and a chance to learn more about the plants and animals all around us. Join us for some fun, outdoor learning!
Each group will have a maximum limit of 12 participants.
Families/groups are welcome to sign up for as many as they like. The nature walks are intended for children aged 6 to 11, and we ask that each group is accompanied by an adult.
Fort Point Candlelight Tour - 01/14/2023 06:30 PM
Fort Point San Francisco
The Candlelight Tour of Fort Point is a popular guided program that allows visitors to experience the fort in a new light. This evening tour will maze through the shadows of the historic structure by candlelight and visitors will see the glimmering lights of the Golden Gate Bridge towering up above them. Upon arrival, a park ranger will check-in guests and provide visitors with a lantern. A ranger will lead this 90-minute excursion and interpret the history and the life that once existed within the old brick walls of Fort Point.
The Candlelight Tour explores all four level of the fort including the roof (approximately 76 steps). Visitors will be invited to engage in dialogue as they learn about the fascinating and sometimes complex history of the fort, its role in San Francisco history, and its cultural relevance today. Recommended age for this tour is 12 years and up.
Visitors with reservations will begin their tour when the fort is otherwise inaccessible to the public.
Sunday, 01/15/2023
Sycamore Grove Mushroom Madness - 01/15/2023 10:00 AM
Sycamore Grove Park Livermore
We're taking an opportunity to reinvent the Mushroom Madness mushroom event at Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore. Join Debbie Veiss for the annual mushroom hunt at 1:00 pm. Meet at Sycamore Grove/Veterans Park 5035 Arroyo Rd, Livermore, CA 94550. We always find lots of interesting mushrooms at Sycamore Grove. After the hunt, we'll regroup at the picnic area to view and discuss the finds of the day. Please use this map to find us. We are meeting at the ranger office located up the road that goes to the Veterans Hospital. For more information, contact Debbie Viess at 510.430.9353. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Tuesday, 01/17/2023
Whole Earth Seminar - 01/17/2023 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Stanford Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium - 01/17/2023 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
Evolution of mesendoderm patterning in echinoderm embryos - 01/17/2023 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Stress, Resilience, and Healthy Aging - Online - 01/17/2023 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club - Online Event
Popping the Science Bubble - 01/17/2023 05:30 PM
Berkeley Public Library Berkeley
Wednesday, 01/18/2023
Telepresence Robots: Designing for an Inclusive Future - Livestream - 01/18/2023 12:00 PM
CITRIS Research Exchange
Glider Discovery Day - 01/18/2023 03:00 PM
Hiller Aviation Museum San Carlos
SitePassword: A Different Kind of Password Manager - Livestream - 01/18/2023 07:00 PM
SF Bay Association of Computing Machinery
Januray LASER Event - Livestream - 01/18/2023 07:00 PM
LASER Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous
Meet COSMIC: An Alien Hunter Instrument at the VLA - Livestream - 01/18/2023 07:00 PM
SETI Institute
Over A Century of Valley Fever - 01/18/2023 07:30 PM
Bay Area Mycological Society Berkeley
Thursday, 01/19/2023
Concrete Building Retrofits: San Francisco’s Next Steps in Meeting Seismic Resilience Goals - Livestream - 01/19/2023 12:30 PM
SF Planning + Urban Research Assoc. (SPUR)
NightLife - 01/19/2023 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
After Dark: Moon and Stars - 01/19/2023 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Tails of Two Cities: Wildlife Connectivity From the Bay to LA - Livestream - 01/19/2023 07:00 PM
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Friday, 01/20/2023
King Tide Bair Island Interpretive Walk - 01/20/2023 10:00 AM
Bair Island Wildlife Refuge & Trail Redwood City
Space-Time Monitoring of Groundwater Fluctuations with Passive Seismic Interferometry - 01/20/2023 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Saturday, 01/21/2023
Wild In Marin - Third Annual Fungus Festival - 01/21/2023 10:00 AM
Mill Valley Community Center Mill Valley
A Royal Walk with the King Tide Along the Embarcadero - 01/21/2023 10:00 AM
Between Piers 3 and 5 San Francisco
Family Nature Walks - Baylands Nature Preserve - 01/21/2023 10:30 AM
Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve Palo Alto
Fort Point Candlelight Tour - 01/21/2023 06:30 PM
Fort Point San Francisco
An Introduction to Astrophotography - Livestream - 01/21/2023 07:00 PM
East Bay Astronomical Society
Sunday, 01/22/2023
King Tides walk on Berkeley waterfront - 01/22/2023 10:30 AM
Seabreeze Deli Berkeley
A Royal Walk with the King Tide Along the Embarcadero - 01/22/2023 11:00 AM
Between Piers 3 and 5 San Francisco
Wonderfest: Probing the Heart of Matter - Livestream - 01/22/2023 01:00 PM
Bookshop West Portal
Monday, 01/23/2023
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquia - 01/23/2023 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley