Hello Fans of Science, Reason, and Critical Thinking,
Well a lot of soul searching has been going on around the country, if not the planet, since Tue night or Wed morning. I would only like to say that the most reliable source of information for making many decisions these days is SCIENCE and REASON. I hope that we can all rally to support it whenever the opportunity or necessity arises. If or when you reach out to any leaders in the community, local, national, or international, I hope that you will look to science, reason, and critical thinking. to inform all concerned. There is much work to be done and our support is essential. That includes gathering reliable information to inform ourselves in what we do and support.
I think how our lives, culture, and history have been influenced by science is incredibly important. Looking back in time, Archimedes discovered many principles that we still apply today. Many people actually think science isn’t worth the slide rules it is done with! Until relatively recently they were the “calculator” not of choice but necessity. They are pretty much a relic now but the Manhattan Project relied on them! Keep in mind they have been used since the 1600’s! Our modern technologies and sciences are all born of slide rules! Now we may be faced with our government denying some of the most important developments in human history, public health being one of the high profile ones that are on the agenda of some new members of our government. I can’t think of a medical treatment or prophylaxis that isn’t based in science. It was science that allowed the conversion of willow bark to aspirin! The proverb, “May you live in interesting times”, seems to be relevant these days as it alway has. But how long has that actually been?
Recently, I visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum It is an incredibly emotional place to visit. It brought feelings of rage and reflection. The horror that humans have treated other humans with throughout history have often used science to make them more effective. If only the lessons learned afterwards could have been remembered before they were done be it one “race” of people against another or one government against another. I know of no better tool than science to sort things out and make it a better place for all of us. We must support and defend it.
OK. On with the Science Schmooze.
As is usually the case, there’s a lot more science stuff going on in the SF Bay Area than can be absorbed by any reasonable person in the next two weeks. Here are a few that are catching my attention, but of course you will find many others as well…
-”Systematic Errors: Stories about failed experiments” (audio worth a listen!)
-Observing with the James Webb Space Telescope: Glimpsing the First Stars Livestream Wed 7:30 PM (the living room of your choice!)
-Megastorms, California, and You Thu 07:30 PM Berkeley
-Raptor Fest at Rancho San Vicente! Sat 9:30 AM San Jose
(As always, please check the weblink for full descriptions and check the presenter’s website for updates.)
It’s been a few months since I have shared links with you folks. So there should be something for everybody here…
-What we lose by being overly scientific about healthcare
-Maps That Show How The World Really Is
-Why Friday the 13th Spelled Doom for the Knights Templar
-Revisiting the Past: This Is What Hygiene Was Like in Colonial America
-"The Joy of Science" (video)
-The Science of Weird Shit | Chris French (video) (here it is with full intro}
-2 strategies to turn yuck to yum and convince people to eat unusual foods
-What should journalists do when the facts don’t matter?
It’s been awhile since I have hit the keyboard! A special shoutout to Bob and David for keeping this going. As I have said in the past Bob is the backbone, and probably heart and lungs of the Science Schmooze. If you ever feel so inclined drop a note and tell him how much you appreciate his work.
Keep the Science and have faith in it. herb masters
“A person by study must try to disengage the subject from useless matter, and to seize on points capable of improvement. ... When subjects are viewed through the mists of prejudice, useful truths may escape.”— — Joseph MacSweeny
Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 11/11/2024
The Role of Remote Sensing for Quantifying and Reducing Methane Emissions - 11/11/2024 12:30 PM
Green Earth Sciences Building Stanford
In the face of escalating climate change, reducing atmospheric methane concentrations has emerged as a near-term mitigation strategy. Atmospheric observations of methane from airborne and satellite remote sensing platforms may be a pivotal resource for mitigation as it offers scalability, precision, and improved understanding of the sources and sinks of methane. In the oil & gas sector, numerous field campaigns over the last decade, including numerous Carbon Mapper airborne surveys, have shown that many basins in the U.S. and globally exhibit strong "super-emitter" behavior, meaning that a small fraction of infrastructure is responsible for disproportionate emissions.
Speaker: DAniel Cusworth, Carbon Mapper
Unleash the Power of Interfacial Chemistry for Pollutant Detection and Remediation - 11/11/2024 12:30 PM
Shriram Center Stanford
One of the grand challenges for Environmental Engineers in the 21st century is designing a future without pollution and waste. In this talk, I will discuss my group’s efforts in interfacial chemistry to develop reactive adsorbents and sensors for environmental remediation and pollutant monitoring. First, I will discuss the critical role of pyrogenic carbonaceous matter (PCM; e.g., biochar and activated carbon) in promoting a broad range of chemical and microbial synergies, from affecting redox-active elements' global biogeochemical processes to influencing environmental remediation and water treatment.
Speaker: Wenqing Xu, Villanova University
Quantitative flux analysis of energy metabolism in mice - 11/11/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Sheng Hui, Harvard University
Room: Auditorium
Tuesday, 11/12/2024
Making Green Ammonia from Waste Nitrate via Electrocatalysis - 11/12/2024 12:00 PM
Green Earth Sciences Building Stanford
As the global demand for ammonia continues to grow, driven by its critical role in agriculture, chemical manufacturing, and potential as a clean energy carrier, sustainable production methods are urgently needed. Ammonia production today contributes significantly to CO? emissions, mainly due to the energy-intensive, fossil-fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process. In this seminar, Feng-Yang will explore an emerging approach to green ammonia synthesis using electrocatalysis to convert waste nitrate "a common contaminant in wastewater? into valuable ammonia. This method offers the dual benefit of recycling nitrate from wastewater while reducing the carbon emission from traditional ammonia production. Join our discussion to explore advancements in catalyst design and reactor engineering that make this sustainable solution increasingly viable.
Speaker: Feng-Yang Chen, Stanford University
The Renaissance of Astrophysics - Livestream - 11/12/2024 02:00 PM
UC Berkeley Retirement Center
Raffaella Margutti, Associate Professor, Astronomy Department and Physics Department, will review how new observational capabilities to study the night sky have led to recent discoveries and new ways to think about the universe around us. This program is part of a three-part series on “Berkeley in Space ” organized by Donald Mastronarde.
Register at weblink
Direct observation of non-classical crystallization pathways in binary colloidal systems- CANCELED - 11/12/2024 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
In this talk, I will present groundbreaking insights into the non-classical nucleation and growth pathways of crystals explored through an innovative colloidal model system composed of optically transparent, oppositely charged particles. This approach has allowed us to probe these complex mechanisms with an unprecedented level of detail, illuminating alternative nucleation routes such as two step nucleation and cluster aggregation. It has also led to the discovery of a new type of crystal structure previously unobserved in colloidal systems, without any known counterpart in nature.
Speaker: Stefano Sacanna, New York University
Editor's Note: This lecture was originally scheduled for November 5, 2024, and has now been canceled.
Spotlight on Human and Planetary Health: Transforming Food Systems for a Sustainable Future - 11/12/2024 04:30 PM
Braun (Geology) Corner (Bldg 320), Rm 105 Stanford
Agriculture is one of the leading drivers of climate change. Meat production in particular is a major contributor, responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to climate impacts, meat production requires vast amounts of water, and contributes to deforestation as land is cleared for cattle grazing. Over 75% of agricultural land is dedicated solely to raising and feeding livestock, which amounts for about a quarter of the entire planet’s land surface. Additionally, diets that rely heavily on meat can result in myriad health issues??"from increased risk of heart disease and cancer risk to obesity and diabetes.
In an attempt to combat climate change and the collapse of ecosystems, Pat Brown founded Impossible Foods ??" a company that spearheaded the production of plant-based meat. Plant-based meat products have 50% lower environmental impacts compared to animal protein, and bring added health benefits too. Please join us as Chris Field interviews Pat Brown about his journey and vision for a more sustainable future.
Speaker: Pat Brown, Impossible Foods, with Chris Field, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
AI and Personalized Medicine: Revolution or Evolution? - 11/12/2024 06:00 PM
A & O Shearman San Francisco
Join us for an insightful evening exploring the potential of AI in revolutionizing the health tech sector, with a focus on personalized medicine. This in-person panel discussion will bring together thought leaders from industry, academia, and investment to discuss the transformative role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
The event aims to provide diverse perspectives on how AI is advancing personalized treatment plans, predictive medicine, and the future of health tech, offering an invaluable opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing.
Panelists: Dr. Brice Gaudilliere MD, PHD, Stanford University ??" Research in AI for personalized medicineDan Drozd, CMO, Picnic Health ??" Industry applications of AI in healthcareXinkun Nie, PhD, Founder & CEO, Lighten - Transforming clinical data into actionable insights.Arnaud Auger, Director, Cathay Innovation ??" Venture capital perspective
Moderator: Nicole Daley, Partner, Allen & Overy Shearman - Guides the discussion, bringing legal and strategic expertise to AI’s role in healthcare transformation.
Wonderfest: Inverse Darwinism: Complementary Natural Selection - 11/12/2024 07:00 PM
Hopmonk Tavern Novato
Darwin’s theory of natural selection sheds light on nearly every aspect of evolutionary biology. However, it does not address the source of varying structures and functions that are subsequently culled or preserved by natural selection. Advances in cellular and molecular biology are now bringing these generative processes to light. Such technical advances hint at processes that are complementary to natural selection (but on which natural selection depends) that can be called Inverse Darwinism ??" and that are changing our understanding of evolution.
Speaker: Dr. Terrence Deacon, UC Berkeley
Into the Clear Blue Sky: the Path to Restoring our Atmosphere - 11/12/2024 07:00 PM
Hopkins Marine Station Pacific Grove
Rob will tell us about restoring the atmosphere for methane, examining sources from natural systems such as the Amazon and anthropogenic sources, including oil fields, pipelines and homes.
Rob Jackson is the Chair of the Global Carbon Project, a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy, and a professor of earth science at Stanford University.
Attend in person or online (register to receive connection information).
Wednesday, 11/13/2024
[C]Worthy: Navigating to Solutions for Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal - 11/13/2024 11:30 AM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
There is scientific consensus that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be necessary to meet the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping the rise in global temperature to within 2°C. Among the most promising and scalable approaches to CDR are ocean-based pathways. These methods capitalize on natural physical and biogeochemical processes but the ocean is vast, dynamic, and ecologically complex, presenting significant challenges to quantifying the amount of carbon removed through CDR interventions. Indeed, a key bottleneck to scaling ocean-based CDR is the absence of robust Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems a gap in capacity that limits investment and hampers growth of an ocean-based carbon removal industry.
Speakers: Matthew Long and Alicia Karspeck, [C]Worthy
Attend in person or online (See weblink)
Hartley Conference Room
Understanding Earth's Paleoenvironmental Evolution (on long timescales) - 11/13/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Erik Sperling, Stanford University
The Petro-state Masquerade: Oil, Sovereignty, and Power in Trinidad and Tobago - 11/13/2024 03:30 PM
McCone Hall Berkeley
"The Petro-State Masquerade" considers how postcolonial political futures in the Caribbean nation-state of Trinidad and Tobago came to be staked to the market futures of oil, natural gas, and their petrochemical derivatives. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research, Jobson theorizes how the tenuous relationship between oil and political power "enshrined in the hyphenated form of the petro-state - is represented by postcolonial state officials as a Carnivalesque "masquerade of permanence" through the perpetual expansion of fossil fuel ventures. At the same time, low oil and gas prices, diminishing reserves, and renewable energy innovations threaten the viability of the Trinbagonian energy sector. Since 1998, multinational oil and gas investments in Trinidad have increasingly concentrated in the deepwater sector.
Speaker: Ryan Jobson, University of Chicago
A Collectivist Vision for AI - 11/13/2024 04:00 PM
Soda Hall Berkeley
Artificial intelligence (AI) has focused on a paradigm in which intelligence inheres in a single, autonomous agent. Social and economic issues are entirely secondary in this paradigm. When AI systems are deployed in social contexts, however, the overall design of such systems is often naïve "a centralized entity provides services to passive agents and reaps the rewards. Such a paradigm need not be the dominant paradigm for information technology. In a broader framing, agents are active, they are cooperative, and they wish to obtain value from their participation in learning-based systems. Agents may supply data and other resources to the system only if it is in their interest to do so, and they may be honest and cooperative only if it is in their interest to do so. Critically, intelligence inheres as much in the overall system as it does in individual agents, be they humans or computers. This is a perspective that is familiar in economics, although without the focus on learning algorithms. A key theme in my work is that of bringing (micro)economic concepts into contact with foundational issues in the computing and data sciences. I’ll emphasize some of the design and analysis challenges that arise at this tripartite interface.
Speaker: Michael Jordan, Inria, Paris
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
Energy of Computing: Unsustainable Trends and Potential Solutions - 11/13/2024 04:30 PM
Shriram Center Stanford
The current era of computing is driven by mostly general-purpose computing architectures with some specialization. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence/machine learning (ML) applications in manufacturing, natural language processing, scientific applications with increasing requirements such as weather prediction and protein folding, and even in Level 3 & 4 driverless cars, our reliance on computing for enabling these applications is also rapidly increasing. In this presentation, based on examining several trends in computing including energy, complexity of applications, algorithms, and manufacturing, we observe that the current trends are unsustainable. We will try to address the following questions: What can be done to address this increasing appetite for computing which needs increasing amounts of resources to operate?
Speaker: Sadasivan Shankar, SLAC National Laboratory
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
The Science of Modern Machine Learning: New Opportunities for Theory - 11/13/2024 04:30 PM
Calvin Laboratory Berkeley
Deep learning, the technology underlying the recent progress in AI, has revealed some major surprises from the perspective of theory. These methods seem to achieve their outstanding performance through different mechanisms from those of classical learning theory, mathematical statistics, and optimization theory.
Speaker: Peter Bartlett, UC Berkeley and Google DeepMind
Observing with the James Webb Space Telescope: Glimpsing the First Stars - Livestream - 11/13/2024 07:00 PM
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series
The Webb Telescope was designed to look back in time, to study the first generation of stars, and reveal our cosmic origins. In what is only its second year of operation, JWST has already brought us tantalizingly close to our dream of seeing those first stars. Dr. Coe will tell us about observations of “Earendel,” the most distant star known, seen as it was 13 billion years ago. And we will marvel at the beauty of even more distant star clusters, including the Arc of Cosmic Gems.
Speaker: Dan Coe is an ESA/AURA Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Watch the lecture on YouTube here.
What We Were Missing: How Studying the Whole Skeleton Changes our Understanding of Carnivore Evolution and Ecology - 11/13/2024 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
In paleontology, the skull, arms, and legs can provide valuable insights into the diversity of diets and movements in extinct animals. As animals evolve, all parts of their skeleton evolve simultaneously as a coordinated whole, however, the research paleontologists conduct often examines these parts of the skeleton independently. Emily Bogner’s research unveils the intricate interplay of the integrated evolution between the skull, arms, and legs. This broadens our understanding of how animals evolved to be best suited for their environments.
Speaker: Emily Bogner, UC Berkeley
Thursday, 11/14/2024
Geodynamical Investigations via Hotspot Paleomagnetism? Insights from the Walvis Ridge - 11/14/2024 12:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
Speaker: Sonia Tikoo, Stanford University
Attend in person or via Zoom
Belowground regulation of aboveground dynamics: How soil microbes shape species coexistence in plant communities - 11/14/2024 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Soils are teeming with microbial life, which exerts substantial control over plant ecology and evolution. Global environmental change threatens to disrupt these key plant??"microbial interactions, underscoring the importance of understanding the role that microbes play in shaping plant communities. Here, I will share my integrative approach to this problem, which draws on ecological theory, controlled experiments, natural history observations, and microbiome profiling. I will begin with results from my past work synthesizing insights from the fields of plant soil feedback and species coexistence theory, which shone a light on the potential for microbes to impact plant coexistence dynamics by generating competitive imbalances among plants.
Speaker: Gaurav Kandlikar, Louisiana State University
Future Energy Ventures - 11/14/2024 01:30 PM
Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
Giancarlo Savini is an Investment Principal at Future Energy Ventures with 15 years experience in ventures investments and commercial partnerships in the energy transition space. He worked in Shell Ventures, Honeywell Ventures where he was involved in 21+ transactions in Energy SaaS software platforms, Biofuels, Hydrogen and Energy Storage. Giancarlo worked and lived in the USA, The Netherlands, Norway and Qatar.
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink
Researchers from the Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative will share insights from a formative study of technology-enabled instructional strategies designed to support students’ self-directed learning in online/hybrid STEM courses. The strategies, which include prompts to support planning and goal setting, informational videos with reflection questions, and structured opportunities to engage with peers, have been implemented by instructors at four broad-access colleges and universities across the U.S.
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Astronomy and Physics Education - 11/14/2024 03:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Linda Strubbe, Educational Consulting
Science on Tap: Bears - 11/14/2024 05:30 PM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
Join us for an incredible evening of discussion about one of our most incredible local animals: Bears! Ursinologists Meghan Walla-Murphy and Dr. Brock Wooldridge will discuss life histories, stories, and conservation of these mega mammals both locally and around California. With a happy half-hour sponsored by Other Brother Brewery, it’s sure to be an incredible evening. Bonus, you can also sign up to do a tracking workshop with Meghan the week before to get you prepped for an amazing talk!
After Dark: Gathering - 11/14/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Lean into fall with a special After Dark celebrating different ways we get together this time of year.
Age 18+
NightLife - 11/14/2024 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.
Ages 21+
Christmas Bird Count - Livestream - 11/14/2024 07:00 PM
Marin Audubon Society
Speaker: Josiah Clark
Register at weblink to attend
Mis- and dis-information during the 2024 election - Livestream - 11/14/2024 07:30 PM
Bay Area Skeptics
The 2024 election was notable for its continuation of high amounts of dis-information that were spread through a variety of means. There were efforts by foreign agents to influence our elections and throw sand in the gears of our electoral machine. Perhaps predictably, the use of AI in election interference has increased with the availability of sophisticated large language models.
Speaker: Darren Linvill, Clemson University
Megastorms, California, and You - 11/14/2024 07:30 PM
Bay Area Mycological Society Berkeley
R. W. Kerrigan is a California native, with family roots here going back to 1850. He had public safety responsibilities in several California State Parks for 8 years, followed by a B.A. and M.A. (in Biology) from SFSU and a Ph.D. in fungal genetics from U.C. Santa Barbara, then a postdoc at U. Toronto, part of a span of 45 years as a researcher and educator in the life sciences. If you buy brown button or portabella mushrooms in the grocery store, there’s a very good chance they were developed by his research team over many years at a commercial spawn lab in Pennsylvania. His 2016 book from the New York Botanical Garden, Agaricus of North America, weighs 7 pounds and works well as a doorstop in normal weather. He’s responsible for a small pile of patents and research papers.
Friday, 11/15/2024
Circadian clocks, glia, and Alzheimer's Disease - 11/15/2024 12:00 PM
ChEM-H/Neuroscience Building, Gunn Rotunda (E241) Stanford
Speaker: Erik Musiek, Washington University School of Medicine
Attend in person or click here for Zoom
The mechanics of (laboratory) earthquakes and aseismic slip due to fluid injection - 11/15/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Speaker: Sara Cebry, Cornell University
Nanomachines for neuroscience and beyond - 11/15/2024 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
One of the challenges in biomedical sciences is the development of next-generation tools that can accurately image, identify, and execute desired missions in a selectively programmed manner. In this lecture, I will discuss magnetic nanoparticles as core platform materials and tools for a variety of functionalities such as sensing, targeting and signaling of cells and live animals in a selective and efficient way. These tools serve not only as a contrast agent for highly accurate MR imaging but also a modulator for neurons via magneto-mechanical genetics (MMG) for the behavior control of live animals. MMG serves as one of the most advanced technologies in controlling neurons for brain stimulations via remote and wireless fashion.
Speaker: Jinwoo Cheon, Yonsei University
Sonoma State Public Astronomy Viewing Nights - 11/15/2024 06:30 PM
Sonoma State University Public Astronomy Rohnert Park
Check weblink before attending to see if the event is happening, or canceled due to weather.
Saturday, 11/16/2024
Raptor Fest at Rancho San Vicente! - 11/16/2024 09:30 AM
Rancho San Vicente Open Space Preserve San Jose
Join POST and Santa Clara County Parks for an educational experience like no other: Raptor Fest! This incredible event will highlight very important species of raptors who play an integral role in the health of our ecosystems!
This free educational event will feature presentations and a chance to visit local wildlife and conservation nonprofits or groups who work to protect vital species in the Bay Area. The event will be hosted at Rancho San Vicente, a newer addition to Calero County Park that was protected by POST and is rapidly becoming a destination to view a variety of raptors.
This is a unique opportunity to see and learn about birds of prey and the importance of conservation in our communities. Presentations will include Master Falconer Kenny Elvin of Full Circle Falconry. Kenny Elvin will be providing a 45-minute falconry presentation several times during the event. Kenny will share about the history of falconry as well as the biology and habits of raptors. The presentation may involve a flight demonstration, depending on conditions. A representative of Santa Clara County Parks will open the falconry presentation by sharing their efforts to protect raptors throughout the park system.
The event will also include tables from our partners at Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, Peninsula Human Society & SPCA, and San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.
Register at weblink for shuttles
Nature's Best Hope - 20th Anniversary Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour - 11/16/2024 10:00 AM
Oakland Museum of California Oakland
Meet the Speakers over lunch! Amber Hasselbring: Green Hairstreak Corridor, San Francisco Joey and Robin Grossinger: Pollinator Pathway, Berkeley Stefanie Pruegel: Home Gardens Melody Gil and Steve Harrington: School Gardens Glen Schneider: Skyline Gardens Restoration Project
Carolyn Dorsh and TBA: City of San Carlos and the Master Gardeners Native Pollinator Partnership
See also the shorter Santa Clara event on November 17.
EV Expo - 11/16/2024 10:00 AM
Sunnyvale Civic Center Sunnyvale
Cruise on by the City of Sunnyvale’s first Electric Vehicle (EV) Expo! Learn all the exciting benefits of driving an EVat this FREE event! Join us for a morning talk on the latest financial assistance programs available for EV purchases.Hear from proud EV owners showcasing their vehicles and sharing their real-life stories. Want personalized guidance on your next EV purchase? Sign up for a complimentary consultation at the event and get expert advice tailored to you!
Explore more electrification possibilities.Step into Silicon Valley Clean Energy's (SVCE's) Dream Home. The Dream Home features the various all-electric equipment options available now for you to install in your own home. The Dream Home also showcasesits bidirectional EV charging capabilities by using SVCE's Ford F-150 Lightning to power the home.
Register at website
Salamander Search at Sanborn - 11/16/2024 10:30 AM
Sanborn Science and Nature Center Saratoga
Sanborn is famous for its amphibians; you just need to do some extra searching to find them! Join us for a fun day of looking under rocks, logs, and other unique hiding spots that Sanborn’s Salamanders call home!
Register at weblink
Ages 4 - 12
I Flew Around the World - 11/16/2024 10:30 AM
Hiller Aviation Museum San Carlos
Zara Rutherford is the world’s youngest female pilot to fly a solo trip around the world in a small plane and she will debut her children’s book, I Flew Around the World: The True Story of a Young Female Pilot’s Record Breaking Flight.
Young readers, aged 7-9, can join the inspiring, real-life journey of Zara who, at just 19 years old, broke records by embarking on a daring adventure! This captivating book chronicles her journey through 52 countries and five continents, from the icy landscapes of Greenland to the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
This exciting book offers:
An incredible narrative of Zara’s solo flight around the world, setting a new benchmark for young aviators to follow their dreams.Encouragement for girls not to limit themselves in STEM subjects and be as persevering as Zara.
With striking illustrations and engaging storytelling, Zara shares her encounters with diverse cultures, wildlife, and the natural wonders of our planet.
Sunday, 11/17/2024
Tule Boat and Doll-making with Ohlone Cultural Leaders - 11/17/2024 11:30 AM
Lawrence Hall of Science Berkeley
Celebrate National Native American Heritage Month in the Outdoor Nature Lab with 'ottoy Initiative leaders Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino. On both Sundays, they will demonstrate how to create traditional dolls and boats and provide materials so participants can make their own to take home.
Event is included with admission to the science center (Adults & children ages 3+: $20). Admission is free for UC Berkeley students & staff, Members, children 2 and under, Museums for All, and active-duty military.
Nature's Best Hope - 20th Anniversary Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour - 11/17/2024 01:00 PM
Santa Clara University Santa Clara
Agenda for Sunday
1:00 Welcome from Glenn Phillips, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Bird Alliance, and Kathy Kramer, Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Founder and Coordinator
1:20 "Nature’s Best Hope" Doug Tallamy
2:30 Closing
See also the longer Oakland event on November 16.
Monday, 11/18/2024
Quantum mechanics of 2D electron crystals - 11/18/2024 02:30 AM
Physics North Berkeley
The low-carrier density state of a 2D semiconductor is described in terms of the homogeneous two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), the ground state properties of which are determined by the electron density. Below a critical density, the electronic system freezes into a triangular lattice electron solid, or Wigner crystal. For experimentally relevant carrier concentrations the electron solid is highly quantum-mechanical, the significant overlap between localized electronic orbitals leading to frequent electron tunneling between Wigner crystal lattice sites. I will describe some new theoretical results exploring the consequences of these quantum effects in monolayer and bilayer 2DEGs
Speaker: Ilya Esterlis, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Exploring the Function and Dynamic Regulation of the Nuclear Lamina - 11/18/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
Speaker: Abby Buchwalter Cool, UC San Francisco
The Impact of Generative AI on Firm Values - 11/18/2024 12:00 PM
Gates Computer Science Building Stanford
How do recent advances in Generative AI affect firm value? We construct the first measure of firms’ workforce exposures to Generative AI and show that an “Artificial-Minus-Human” (AMH) portfolio that is long high-exposure firms and short low-exposure firms earned daily returns of 0.44% in the two weeks following the release of ChatGPT. The labor-exposure effect is more pronounced for firms with greater data assets and is distinct from the effect of firms’ product exposures to Generative AI. Highly-exposed workforces can be either substituted for or complemented by Generative AI technologies.
Speaker: Andrea Eisfeldt
Register at weblink to attend in person or online
Stanford Symbolic Systems Forum - 11/18/2024 12:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460) Stanford
Speaker: Viona Atefi, Stanford University
See weblink for entry instructions
Community Social with Dessert after the talk
Illuminating the Biochemical Activity Architecture of the Cell - 11/18/2024 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
The complexity and specificity of cellular processes require spatial microcompartmentation and dynamic modulation of the underlying biochemical activities, such as dynamic phosphorylation and dephosphorylation catalyzed by specific protein kinases and phosphatases, respectively. We hypothesize that cellular biochemical activities are spatially organized into an “activity architecture” and reorganization and restructuring of this activity architecture lead to disease. In this talk, I will present the development and application of a series of fluorescent biosensors that we have developed to monitor biochemical events in living cells.
Speaker: Jin Zhang, UC San Diego
Nature versus Nurture: Unraveling genetic and environmental contributions to cell fitness - 11/18/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340) Stanford
Speaker: Jason Cantor, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Room: Auditorium
Getting Lost in Machine Learning Safety Vibes - 11/18/2024 04:00 PM
Sutardja Dai Hall Berkeley
Machine learning (ML) applications are increasingly reliant on black-box pretrained models. To ensure safe use of these models, techniques such as unlearning, guardrails, and watermarking have been proposed to curb model behavior and audit usage. Unfortunately, while these post-hoc approaches give positive safety ‘vibes’ when evaluated in isolation, our work shows that existing techniques are quite brittle when deployed as part of larger systems. In a series of recent works, we show that: (a) small amounts of auxiliary data can be used to ‘jog’ the memory of unlearned models; (b) current unlearning benchmarks obscure deficiencies in both finetuning and guardrail-based approaches; and (c) simple, scalable attacks erode existing LLM watermarking systems and reveal fundamental trade-offs in watermark design.
Speaker: Virginia Smith, Carnegie Mellon University
Attend in person or on-line, link at website
Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Technology Development - 11/18/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists Do Rohnert Park
US Astronomers have recently listed habitable exoplanet imaging ??" imaging and spectroscopy of a planet around another star that can harbor life on it's surface ??" as a top priority in the coming decades. However, our current telescopes and state-of-the-art technologies are insufficient to enable this high priority science goal. Dr. Gerard will discuss adaptive optics and coronagraphic technologies he has been developing to bridge this gap and help enable habitable exoplanet imaging in the coming decades.
Speaker Benjamin Gerard, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
UC Berkeley Physics Colloquium - 11/18/2024 04:15 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Speaker: Mayly Sanchez, Florida State University
Time for a Tech Reformation? - 11/18/2024 05:30 PM
Commonwealth Club San Francisco
As technology has overtaken religion as a primary influence on 21st-century life and community, have tech titans and their innovations become our new false idols?
Greg Epstein, Harvard and MIT’s influential humanist chaplain, joins us in San Francisco??"the epicenter of the technological revolution??" to delve into what it means to go beyond worship to critically engage with tech and its role in our lives. In his new book Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World's Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation, Epstein examines how the tech grip took hold and celebrates historical apostates, tech ethicists, skeptics, and whistleblowers who embody the tech reformation he declares is urgently needed.
Speaker: Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Kevin Nguyen, San Francisco Standard, Moderator
Attend in person or online
Discounts for members
Tuesday, 11/19/2024
A window into lipid peroxyl radicals, peroxidation and electrophilic stress in cells - 11/19/2024 11:00 AM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
Scale-dependent Elastic Constants in Mutilated Sheets and Shells - 11/19/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching Center Stanford
The Yuan T. Lee Endowed Lectureship in Chemistry - 11/19/2024 04:00 PM
Latimer Hall Berkeley
On Avoided Emissions - Rescheduled - 11/19/2024 04:00 PM
Spilker Hall Stanford
Quantum AI Lectures - 11/19/2024 06:00 PM
Yes SF Headquarters San Francisco
Right in your backyard: The plight of the North Pacific right whale - Livestream - 11/19/2024 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
Truffle Lust & Puppy Love - 11/19/2024 07:30 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco San Francisco
Wednesday, 11/20/2024
Fall Bird Walk - SOLD OUT - 11/20/2024 09:00 AM
UC Botanical Garden Berkeley
Whole Earth Seminar - 11/20/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
Redesigning plants with synthetic biology: from carbon fixation to natural products - 11/20/2024 12:10 PM
Barker Hall, Rm 101 Berkeley
Asymmetric Information Sharing in Oligopoly: A Natural Experiment in Retail Gasoline - 11/20/2024 12:10 PM
Giannini Hall Berkeley
Decoding, Modeling, and Reprogramming Cells at Scale in the Era of Digital Biology - 11/20/2024 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley
On Avoided Emissions - Rescheduled - 11/20/2024 04:00 PM
Spilker Hall Stanford
AI and Climate Change Mitigation - 11/20/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy Seminar Stanford
Flycatchers of North America - Livestream - 11/20/2024 07:00 PM
Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance
Finding and Fighting Cells That Can Kill Us: One Patient's Story - 11/20/2024 07:30 PM
Marin Science Seminar San Rafael
Thursday, 11/21/2024
Lunch Break Science - Livestream - 11/21/2024 11:00 AM
The Leakey Foundation
Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium - Stephen Caines - 11/21/2024 12:00 PM
Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium San Jose
Environemtal Geophysics: Sensor-Informed Water Budgets, Accounting for the Well-Being of People and Ecosystems - 11/21/2024 12:00 PM
Mitchell Earth Sciences Building (04-560) Stanford
UC Berkeley Integrative Biology Seminar - 11/21/2024 12:30 PM
Valley Life Sciences Building Berkeley
Future Energy Ventures - 11/21/2024 01:30 PM
Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) Stanford
Kinetic Tomography - 11/21/2024 03:30 PM
Physics North Berkeley
Lessons from Nature: Bioinspired Mechanically Durable and Self-healing Superliquiphilic/phobic Surfaces - 11/21/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State Dept. of Engineering Science Rohnert Park
On Avoided Emissions - Livestream - 11/21/2024 04:00 PM
Stanford University
Free Screening and Opening: Monterey's Fishing Village - 11/21/2024 05:30 PM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History Pacific Grove
After Dark: Glow Opening - 11/21/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
NightLife: Fat & Happy - 11/21/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of Sciences San Francisco
'Mushrooms of Cascadia, a Comprehensive Guide' - 11/21/2024 06:30 PM
Sebastopol Grange Sebastopol
The Galàpagos - 11/21/2024 07:00 PM
Google SF Community Space San Francisco
Friday, 11/22/2024
Seed Spoon Science Fair - 11/22/2024 10:00 AM
Seymour Marine Discovery Center Santa Cruz
Probing Planetary Surfaces and Surface-Magnetosphere Interactions with Ion Scattering - 11/22/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences Building Santa Cruz
The Future of California’s Forests - A Conversation with State Forestry Leadership - 11/22/2024 04:30 PM
Clark Kerr Campus Berkeley
Saturday, 11/23/2024
Crawlies Aren't Creepy - 11/23/2024 11:00 AM
Youth Science Institute Los Gatos
Glow Fest - 11/23/2024 11:00 AM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Thanksgiving Under the Microscope - 11/23/2024 11:30 AM
Lawrence Hall of Science Berkeley
AAIA Banquet 2024: History and Travels of Voyager I and II - 11/23/2024 12:00 PM
Chabot Space and Science Center Oakland
Sunday, 11/24/2024
Glow Fest - 11/24/2024 11:00 AM
ExplOratorium San Francisco
Tule Boat and Doll-making with Ohlone Cultural Leaders - 11/24/2024 11:30 AM
Lawrence Hall of Science Berkeley
Monday, 11/25/2024
Sonoma State University Biology Colloquium - 11/25/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology Colloquium Rohnert Park
UC Berkeley Structural and Quantitative Biology Seminar - 11/25/2024 04:00 PM
Stanley Hall Berkeley