Greetings Science Reasoning Readers,
These are amazing times to be alive. Humans have done fairly well for the last 300,000, or so, years. It seems that as we have become more numerous we have had to increase our resourcefulness and understanding of how things work. Many amazing things have been invented and discovered. Now after a few hundred years of industrial revolution the realities and consequences are becoming much more apparent. I am often struck by beliefs that, either current or past, actually were believed. It was 400 years or so ago that Galileo was discovering the ears of Saturn. A little later Leo Allatius was the keeper of the Vatican library. He had an amazing theory about the Rings of Saturn! There were a few other theories as well! Nowadays there are so many theories, assumptions, distortions and downright lies you need to be a constantly improving critical thinker. I suggest that you consider Poe’s Law and keep it in mind when you read something that seems unbelievable.
So consider what we are doing with science and technology these days. The need for precise engineering and design has made a common item incredibly specialized. Why batteries come in so many sizes and shapes. Batteries were enough of an environmental and industrial challenge a few years ago but the need for battery recycling is getting much more intense… The end of a battery’s life matters as much as its beginning. (A deep dive in to battery recycling) Maybe it’s time to retire the term “clean energy”? Here’s an interesting article… Rethinking old ideas about what we eat, where we live and work, and how we power our communities. (With links to many more1!)
We’re heading in to the time of year when you can’t possibly see all of the presentations that excite you, there’s just too many! Here are a few that I think look pretty interesting though!…
Twilight Marsh Walk Fremont Mon 6:45
After Dark: Under the Microscope San Francisco Thu 6:00
Berkeley Bay Festival Berkeley Point Sat 11-4
It’s happening! The James Lick Observatory Summer Series 2024 tickets went on sale to the GENERAL PUBLIC on April 17, 2024 at noon PDT. TICKETS SELL OUT FAST! If you are hoping to purchase tickets during the general salewe HIGHLY recommend you don’t delay. For more information on Lick’s Summer Series 2024, you can visit https://lickobservatory.eventbrite.com/ If you have any questions please email us at tickets@ucolick.org
Here are some more interesting items I have come across recently…
Sometimes we embrace it, sometimes we hate it—and everything depends on who is making it.
A geologist excavates the Himalayas with a microscope
Have you ever heard of Alice Augusta Ball? She is yet another Black Scientist who is only recently being acknowledged after someone else took credit for her work.
After all of the moon vs sun discussions you might be wondering where to go next…
Opinion: Can a ‘Net-Zero’ World Lead to True Sustainability?
Who was The Loneliest Genius?
You may remember the film Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames (1977). Here’s a modern take on it… Universe Size Comparison | Cosmic Eye
So much science to learn and celebrate, so little time!
herb masters
“I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell thanordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
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Upcoming Events:
Click to see the next two weeks of events in your browser.
Monday, 04/22/2024
Earth Day at the Refuge - 04/22/2024 10:00 AM
Don Edwards Refuge Headquarters & Visitors CenterFremont
This year, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and partners are celebrating Earth Day and 50 years of Endangered Species Act in a big way - and it will be fun for the whole family! The event will be an open house, with time to explore, learn more about our endangered species, join a guided walk or ranger program, participate in some arts & crafts, and much more as we celebrate our Earth!
Register at weblink
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Suing Big Oil - 04/22/2024 11:00 AM
Commonwealth ClubSan Francisco
On behalf of the people of the State of California, Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, along with the lobbying organization American Petroleum Institute, for willfully misleading the public about climate change. How big a deal could this be?
Join Climate One Host Greg Dalton in a live conversation with Bonta about holding polluters accountable in the courts.
Attend in person or online.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: The Research program in General and Specifics Related to Deep-Sea Science - 04/22/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology ColloquiumRohnert Park
Speaker:Dr. Andrew DeVogelaere, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Symbolic Systems Forum - 04/22/2024 12:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460)Stanford
Speaker: Marisa Casillas, Wasow Vsiting Scholar
See weblink for instructions to gain entry to the building.
Incorporating In-lieu groundwater recharge of recycled water into seasonal storage and habitat enhancement projects - 04/22/2024 12:30 PM
Shriram CenterStanford
As we address variable hydrology in the West, and especially in California, the need for water storage to address drought conditions is pressing. Climate change impacts on weather (precipitation and temperature, and storm patterns) and snowpack (which is a huge reservoir throughout California) further exacerbate the need for storage, both above ground and below ground. Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water, including flood flows and highly treated recycled water, provides promising methods for utilizing the groundwater basins underlying California for increased storage.
Speaker: Dave Ricardson, Woodlard & Curran
Development Engineering: My Journey and Lessons - 04/22/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists DoRohnert Park
Ashok Gadgil will present the trajectory he chose as a physicist, including his work in technology design and climate change.
Speaker: Ashok Gadgil, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
SUB-ATOMIC MOTIONS: From capturing electrons to probing human health - 04/22/2024 04:00 PM
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Colloquium SeriesMenlo Park
Born at the dawn of the new millennium, attosecond “photography” has opened the door for capturing sub-atomic motions as they evolve in time. Control of the oscillating electric field of light has permitted the attosecond control of electrons with unprecedented precision in space and time. Fundamental quantum phenomena, such as electron tunnelling and dipole oscillations in atoms or light-electron energy exchange in solids as well as fundamental classical phenomena, such as the field oscillations of visible light, became accessible to human observation in slow-motion replay.
Speaker: Ferenc Krausz, Ludwig-Masimilians-Universität, Garching, Germany
Attend in person or via Zoom. Register at weblink to attend in person. This lecture will also be given at UC Berkeley on Friday, 4/19. See our listing for details.
Precision optics for molecular fingerprinting and AI computing - 04/22/2024 04:00 PM
Soda HallBerkeley
The advance of coherent control in optical fields has enabled unprecedented precision and sensitivity in optical measurements. In the past two decades, laser frequency combs revolutionized the field of optical metrology. A comb-enabled technique, dual-comb interferometry is emerging as a broadband, high-resolution, rapid spectroscopic solution.
Speaker: Zaijun Chen, University of Southern California
New Frontiers in Open Quantum Systems: Quantum Trajectories, Quantum Dynamics, and Quantum Sensors - 04/22/2024 04:15 PM
Physics NorthBerkeley
Josephson junction-based quantum circuits have enabled broad exploration into open quantum systems in the microwave frequency domain. The combination of coherent quantum bits, robust single qubit control, entangling gates, and quantum noise-limited parametric amplifiers has yielded an unprecedented view into the physics of quantum measurement and dissipation. I will discuss our recent experimental work on topics that touch on fundamental questions in quantum physics and its applications to other areas of physics. Key topics include non-Markovian and non-Hermitian dynamics in dissipative qubit systems as well as novel applications of quantum entanglement to quantum sensing.
Speaker: Kater Murch, Washington University, St. Louis
The Move To Zero - How To Get To True Carbon Neutrality - Rescheduled - 04/22/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy SeminarStanford
Speaker: Satyan Chandra, Tesla
This event has been rescheduled for May 13, 2024. See our listing for the substitute lecture by Ben Parker.
Bringing RVing into the Electric Age - 04/22/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy SeminarStanford
Ben will tell the story of how his time working as a battery engineer at Tesla led him to co-found Lightship, America's first all-electric RV manufacturer. Lightship is a venture-backed startup based in Colorado and the SF Bay Area. Lightship's first and flagship vehicle, dubbed L1, enters production in early 2025 and will provide a more efficient and sustainable way to travel and camp while on the road; while at home, the L1 can act as a very capable home solar system providing energy security and savings. Lightship demonstrates how sustainability, rigorous engineering, and beautiful modern design can go hand in hand. Ben looks forward to an engaging discussion with the Stanford community!
Speaker: Ben Parker, Lightship
Two Talks: Music mining and Human-computer interaction - 04/22/2024 06:00 PM
SEMI Global HeadquartersMilpitas
Ethnocentric Bias and Refugee Perception - An Eye-Tracking Study using Human-Computer Interaction
The talk investigates the challenges faced by refugee populations globally, emphasizing ethnocentric biases. Focusing on Syrian refugees and contrasting media coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, the talk describes how to leverage empirical research in human-computer interaction (HCI).
Speaker: Nada Attar, San Jose State University
Discovering the Nuances of Music with Machine Learning
The talk presents insights into understanding music using machine learning to analyze and categorize various aspects of music. The talk will explore how music is digitally represented using features analogous to building a fingerprint for each song. The presentation then explores various dimensionality reduction techniques for music feature analysis.
Speakers: Samhita Konduri, Palo Alto High School; Kriti Pendyala, University Preparatory Academy
Attend in person or watch online on Zoom or Youtube (see weblink).
Twilight Marsh Walk - 04/22/2024 06:45 PM
Don Edwards Refuge Headquarters & Visitors CenterFremont
Experience the salt marsh at twilight on an easy stroll along refuge trails (about .6 miles). At the setting of the sun we will observe the beginning of nature’s night shift. Come discover the sights, sounds, and smells of the refuge as night descends. Not suitable for young children. Tickets are very limited.
Tuesday, 04/23/2024
SF Climate Week at Climate One: Wade Crowfoot, Lt. Gov Liane Randolph, and Mari Rose Taruc, the Action Lounge, and More - 04/23/2024 01:30 PM
Commonwealth ClubSan Francisco
30x30 and Other Climate Priorities with California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot 2:00 - 2:30 p.m
In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 337, formalizing California’s commitment to preserving 30 percent of the state’s land and waters by 2030. What hurdles must now be overcome to implement this ambitious goal? And how might this initiative make the state and its people more resilient to the growing impacts of climate change?
Join Climate One Host Greg Dalton in a live conversation with Wade Crowfoot about leading efforts to conserve California's environment and natural resources.
Is California on Track for an Affordable and Just Energy Transition? 2:45 - 3:15 p.m.
Join us in a live conversation with California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph and California Environmental Justice Alliance’s Energy Justice Director Mari Rose Taruc about the role regulators and community advocates should play in ensuring our clean energy transition remains equitable and on track.
Additional speakers TBA
Attend in person or online
Using Turbulent Magnetic Diffusion in Earth’s Core to Constrain Average Bulk Core Velocity - 04/23/2024 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences BuildingSanta Cruz
Speaker: Daria Holdenried-Chernoff, UC Santa Cruz
The surprising effectiveness of topology in the science of quantum materials - 04/23/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching CenterStanford
It is a remarkable fact that in recent years topological concepts have played an increasingly prominent role in quantum condensed matter physics. I will review several examples that underscore this trend, including the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect in zero magnetic field in moire’ structures and Dirac and Weyl semimetals in solids. I will also sketch recent ideas based on many-body quantum entanglement that have revealed hidden connections between different topological phenomena, and, time permitting, how this has enabled the creation of non-Abelian topological phases on quantum devices.
Speaker: Ashvin Vishwanath, Stanford University
Biodiversity in Our Urban Spaces - 04/23/2024 05:00 PM
Manny'sSan Francisco
Join Manny's and the Cal Academy of Sciences for an exciting conversation on green spaces, biodiversity, and climate in our cities!
Do you ever find yourself reading or talking about the worldwide climate crisis - coral reef devastation, melting glaciers, catastrophic weather - and wondering “But what can I do?” For those of us who live in urban environments, climate change may sometimes feel like a concept far removed from our daily lives. And yet, the biodiversity and nature right under our noses - and integrated into our cities - are an essential piece of a healthy planet, and a critical baseline for understanding the global climate crisis.
Join some of the Bay Area’s leading scientists, researchers, and educators for an engaging discussion about urban biodiversity that highlights just how interconnected humans, plants, and animals are even in (especially in) urban spaces. Plus, learn how to channel your love of nature into action by participating in City Nature Challenge, an annual international bioblitz that mobilizes people to document urban biodiversity, April 26-29.
All About That Space: Science Updates with Dr. Nicolle Zellner - Livestream - 04/23/2024 06:00 PM
Night Sky Network
It’s an exciting time to be a space scientist! From observations of deep space via Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), to asteroid sample return from OSIRIS-REx, to planned investigations by Dragonfly (Titan) and Europa Clipper (Europa), space science offers something for everyone, now and in the future.
Speaker: Nicole Zellner, Albion College, MI
Click here to watch the lecture
Elephant seal tales: 40+ years of monitoring at Point Reyes - Livestream - 04/23/2024 07:00 PM
American Cetacean Society
Please join us for a joyful evening to hear from local elephant seal expert, Dr. Sarah Allen. Dr. Allen’s keen observations of these animals from the frontlines of Pt. Reyes have been instrumental in our knowledge of their behavior and habitat needs. Once on the brink of extinction, these animals now number an estimated 200,000 animals that delight scientists and visitors along our Pacific coast’s five National Marine Sanctuaries during their breeding season.
Speaker: Dr. Sarah Allen, National Park Service, retired
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Wednesday, 04/24/2024
Strategies, Challenges, and Implications of Mapping Ocean Interior Biogeochemical Observations Over Time - Livestream - 04/24/2024 11:00 AM
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Over the last two decades, the number of available observations of ocean chemical and biological parameters has greatly increased due in large part to deployments of autonomous sensors. This shift has motivated efforts to map ocean interior biogeochemistry, often relying on machine learning approaches that are becoming more widespread and powerful computational resources that are becoming more accessible. I’ll discuss a recent effort to leverage the global biogeochemical Argo array and other observational resources to map ocean interior oxygen, along with ongoing work to expand that project by mapping additional biogeochemical parameters, significantly increasing the spatiotemporal resolution of the maps, and advancing the evaluation of mapping uncertainty through rigorous model simulation experiments.
Speaker: Jon Sharp, University of Washington
Register at weblink to receive Zoom information
Leading or Taking The Back Seat? Climate Risk & The Role of Insurance - 04/24/2024 02:30 PM
SF Planning + Urban Research Assoc. (SPUR)San Francisco
If there’s one industry that should be responding to climate risk, it’s property insurers. These are the companies holding the bag for climate impacts, right? And yet, we see in the headlines - and maybe experience for ourselves - the crisis in insurance, with brand-name carriers exiting key markets. How is this possible, when there is so much at stake? What more could insurers be doing? What is the role of technology? This session will address these questions and more, in an interactive, provocative discussion format led by InsurTech founders building climate solutions. Whether you are a property owner, an investor, or simply puzzled by insurers’ response to climate risk, join SPUR, and expert panelists discuss how to shape the insurance industry for a resilient response to climate risk.
Moderator: Sarah Atkinson / Hazard Resilience Senior Policy Manager Alisa Valderrama / Co-founder and CEO, Future Proof Kate Stilwell / Co-founder, Firebreak Risk Kathleen Schaefer / Ph.D Candidate, University of California, Davis
Register at weblink
Worlding and weirding with beaver: A more-than-human political ecology of ecosystem engineering - 04/24/2024 03:30 PM
McCone HallBerkeley
Scientists and policy makers promote nature-based solutions to the interconnected challenges associated with the Anthropocene. Often these involve the strategic use of ecosystem engineers: animals, plants, and microbes with disproportionate ecological agency capable of regional or even planetary scale niche construction. This environmental mode of biopolitics is promoted as biomimicry: restoring, rewilding, or rewetting diverse ecological systems. This paper examines the multispecies relations promised by this model through a focus on beaver in Britain over the last 12000 years. It begins with beaver making Britain hospitable for early settlers and agriculturalists as they returned after the last ice age. It traces the subsequent demise of beaver due to hunting and land use change, and then follows the recent return of beaver as tools for natural flood management and nature recovery. It attends to situations in which these multispecies world making projects go awry in the weird ecologies of the Anthropocene. This story of beavers helps situate enthusiasms for proactive ecosystem engineering in deeper time. It highlights the beguiling potential of nature-based solutions while cautioning against tendencies towards anthropocentrism, an apolitical mononaturalism, and an ecomodernist hubris. The paper combines concepts from archaeology, ecology, anthropology, and geography into a framework for theorising multispecies acts of worlding and weirding.
Speaker: Jamie Lorimer, University of Oxford
The Macroeconomics of Climate Change - 04/24/2024 04:30 PM
Green LibraryStanford
Bo Liwill discuss fiscal and financial policy priorities to meet Paris Agreement goals; key policy recommendations ranging from carbon taxation to scaling up climate finance; and challenges and opportunities for international cooperation on climate action.
To attend in person, please registerhere. To attend online, please registerhere.
Speaker: Bo Il, International Monetary Fund
Silicon Valley Dejargonizers, a toastmasters club meeting - Livestream - 04/24/2024 06:00 PM
Silicon Valley Dejargonizers
How would you explain wifi to kids?How would you explain your genealogy all the way from early humans?How does raising interest rates control inflation?Would you like to get the skills to explain such complex topics in simple terms?At Silicon Valley Dejargonizers, a toastmasters club at District 101, we practice the skills to simplify complexity, one word at a time, through stories, analogies and examples.We have a demo speech that exemplifies the purpose.
RAG using Milvus, HuggingFace, LangChain, Ragas, with or without OpenAI - 04/24/2024 06:45 PM
Hacker DojoMountain View
You’ve heard good data matters in Machine Learning, but does it matter for Generative AI applications? Corporate data often differs significantly from the general Internet data used to train most foundation models. Join me for a Python demo tutorial on building a customizable RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) stack using OSS Milvus vector database, LangChain, Ragas, HuggingFace, and optional Zilliz cloud and OpenAI.Learn best practices and advanced techniques to optimize GenAI workflows with your own data.
What you’ll learn: * Using Python, learn how to build a customizable open source RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) chatbot with Milvus vector database, LangChain, Ragas, and HuggingFace models, and optional Zilliz cloud and OpenAI. * Best practices around embedding text data ("embedding" in AI is like "featurization" in ML). * Best practices around vector indexing and search. * Best practices around RAG evaluation with Ragas.
See weblink for additional details
Speaker: Christy Bergman, Ziliz
Peninsula Gem & Geology Society: Painite - Livestream - 04/24/2024 07:00 PM
Peninsula Gem and Geology Society
George Rossman of Cal-Tech is back again to introduce us to the mineral "Painite." NO, this is NOT an April Fool's joke. Look it up: Mindat.org.
Guests may request the link at least a day in advance using the club Contact Form.
Science on Tap: Drugging the Human Circadian Clock! - 04/24/2024 08:00 PM
Museum of Art and HistorySanta Cruz
The human body aligns to Earth’s 24-hour cycle using ‘about a day’ rhythms, called circadian rhythms. These internally generated rhythms synchronize our physiology and behavior to the day-night cycle. They control a large part of our biology, from when we sleep at night to how quickly we heal from injury. Disruption of our circadian clock, as occurs during jetlag, can interfere with a good night of sleep, and chronic disruption, such as shift work, can lead to detrimental health effects like diabetes, obesity, mood disorders, and even cancer. At the molecular level, circadian rhythms are generated by an intricate interaction between biomolecules like DNA and pr tein. These interactions give rise to daily gene oscillations that maintain biological timekeeping. My lab uses the power of chemistry and physics to explore these DNA-protein interactions and understand the mechanism of circadian rhythms. My research focuses on the question can we drug our circadian rhythm to improve human health and well-being and enhance sleep quality? In this talk, I will highlight how I use structural biology techniques to study the ‘clock’ proteins at the atomic level and to target them with drug-like small molecules to manipulate rhythms to cure sleep-related disorders.
Thursday, 04/25/2024
Berkeley Institute for Data Science Seminar - 04/25/2024 12:00 PM
Sutardja Dai HallBerkeley
Speaker: Cody Markelz, UC Berkeley
Attend in person or online (see weblink)
SF Climate Week at Climate One: Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Senator Nancy Skinner, Senator Scott Wiener, and More - 04/25/2024 12:30 PM
Commonwealth ClubSan Francisco
Growing the Economy and Reducing Carbon Emissions, with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Jennifer Barrera1:30 - 2:15 p.m.
With electricity prices surging and a terrible state budget looming, political pressure is mounting on California’s climate policies. Yet the state is still facing enormous current and future costs from severe wildfires, epic floods and other impacts worsened by burning fossil fuels. How can the state balance its economic and climate goals?
Big Business in the Golden State: The Global Impact of California’s New Corporate Disclosure Laws, with Alicia Seiger2:30 - 3 p.m.
Starting in 2027, companies operating in California with total annual revenues over $1 billion will be required to disclose their scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions. That means they’ll be on the hook to report not only their direct emissions from company operations, but also their indirect emissions (e.g., purchased electricity), and emissions from up and down the supply chain. California has the fifth largest economy in the world. So, needless to say, it’s a big deal with potential global impacts!
Join us for a live conversation with Alicia Sieger about how California’s new corporate climate disclosure laws - and the attack on ESG policies - will change how companies do business.
Staying the Course on Climate with a Brutal State Budget, with Senator Nancy Skinner and Senator Scott Wiener3 - 3:45 p.m.
How can climate policy consistency be sustained beyond economic cycles? Senator Nancy Skinner and Senator Scott Wiener join Climate One Host Greg Dalton live in conversation to discuss how they plan to make lasting climate progress in California, even in the face of brutal state budget cuts.
Attend in person or online. Register at weblink
The Status and Challenges of Electric Vehicles - 04/25/2024 01:30 PM
Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2)Stanford
The deployment of electric vehicles has not yet met the goals of government policy. This is due to several reasons, among which are the perceived disadvantage of limited range, the lack of widely available charging infrastructure, and cost. In this talk we will explore the benefits of EVs, their perceived disadvantages, their economics including the geographic diversity of electricity costs, the current level of EV sales and its trends among different manufacturers, and some of the reasons for the lack of charging infrastructure. We will look at a few of the technology advancements in the design of EVs, the status of battery chemistries, and the need for standardization of the charging interface. We will conclude with a brief summary of the National Research Council’s 2015 report “Overcoming Barriers to deployment of Plug-In Electric Vehicles” and what progress has been made since that review.
Speaker: John Kassakian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emeritus
Attend in person or online
Exploring a Hot, Young World - Livestream - 04/25/2024 02:30 PM
SETI Institute
The Closest and Youngest Earth-sized Planet Discovered In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have identified an Earth-sized planet closer and younger than any previously known. Positioned remarkably close to both our planet (73 light-years away) and a Sun-like star, this newly found world offers a unique opportunity for scientists to study the evolution of planets. Catalogued as HD 63433 d, this hot exoplanet orbits its star in 4.2 days, making it one of the closest orbiting Earth-sized worlds. With its young age and proximity, HD 63433 d promises invaluable insights into planetary formation and evolution, unlocking mysteries about the processes shaping worlds beyond our own. A paper detailing the planet and its discovery was recently published in The Astronomical Journal. Senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis speaks with lead authors Melinda Soares-Furtado and Benjamin Capistrant about this amazing discovery and the implications for planetary formation studies.
WATCH LIVE ON FACEBOOKWATCH LIVE ON YOUTUBE
UC Berkeley Astronomy Colloquium - 04/25/2024 03:30 PM
Physics NorthBerkeley
Speaker: Mansi Kasliwal, Caltech
Holey Batteries Batman, Can Chemists Really Help Solve Our Energy Problems? - Livestream - 04/25/2024 04:00 PM
California Section American Chemical Society
This talk explores how materials chemistry can help address challenges in improving our energy security and efficiency. Using chemically synthesized nanoporous materials as our building blocks, we will see how these ‘holey’ materials can help solve problems ranging from grid-level energy storage for renewable energy to fast-charging batteries for vehicle electrification to building efficiency.
We begin with an introduction to battery technology and then consider how nanoporous materials can improve battery performance. We first focus on a family of fast-charging materials known as pseudocapacitors. When conventional electrode materials are synthesized in nanoporous form, they can be used to produce batteries that charge much faster than those made with conventional bulk materials. This arises because of a very desirable combination of electrical connectivity throughout each porous grain, liquid electrolyte access to the interior of the material, and short solid-state ion diffusion lengths within the walls of the nanoporous network. In some materials, the nanoscale wall dimensions can also suppress intercalation-induced phase transitions, further improving kinetics. Nanoscale porosity can also help increase stability in other types of battery electrodes, particularly those that have large volume changes upon cycling.
Speaker: Sarah Tolbert, UC Los Angeles
Register at weblink to receive connection information
Earth to NightLife - 04/25/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of SciencesSan Francisco
Deep Look is the PBS wildlife and nature series that explores big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small in ultra-high definition. Filmmakers and scientists behind these creature features will be featured guests of this year's Earth Day celebrations at Cal Academy's NightLife, where culture, co*cktails, and science mingle in the museum at night. Featuring special programming from Earth Sessions, KQED, and SF Film.
After Dark: Under the Microscope - 04/25/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratoriumSan Francisco
From amoeba to plankton, discover the microscopic creatures around us at the Exploratorium After Dark. Take a close look at living things of all sizes using scientific tools, observe the ecosystems they inhabit, and learn about their different stages of development.
Ages 18+
Dialed In: The Prehistory of Social Media - 04/25/2024 07:00 PM
Computer History MuseumMountain View
Long before online forums and communities like Reddit and Discord, and even before the World Wide Web, bulletin board systems (BBSs) reigned supreme. During their heyday in the 1980s and '90s, millions of people dialed their modems into more than 100,000 BBSs, and their impact can still be felt in today's digital world.
Join us to hear Kevin Driscoll, author of the award-winning book The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media, and technology and society expert danah boyd discuss the innovative world of BBSs and how they shaped the ongoing evolution of social media and the internet.
What You'll Experience
Hear untold stories of regional and general-interest BBSs, and those for groups like HIV/AIDS activists and ham radio users.Learn how BBS operators and users developed early forms of community moderation, governance, and commercialization.Reflect on the evolution of social media and consider lessons for a more inclusive future.
Speakers: Danah Boyd, Microsoft; Kevin Driscoll, University of Virginia; Marc Weber, Computer History Museum, moderator
Friday, 04/26/2024
UC Berkeley AI Policy Research Symposium 2024 - 04/26/2024 10:30 AM
Sutardja Dai HallBerkeley
The event will feature keynote presentations from distinguished UC Berkeley faculty members Ken Goldberg and Niloufar Salehi on topics including human-robot complementarity and human-centered AI, as well as presentations from the Spring 2023 - Fall 2024 AI Policy Hub fellows.
Learn about cutting-edge research and advocacy efforts on topics including: cryptography for AI auditing, resistance to text-to-image generators in creator communities, safety “meta-principles” for generative AI, computer vision for humanitarian assistance and disaster response, deception in AI systems, and collective action for algorithmic accountability.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to hear from many leading AI policy researchers at UC Berkeley all in one place!
Registration required at weblink
Fault damage zone evolution across distributed fault systems - 04/26/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences BuildingSanta Cruz
Speakers: Zachary Smith, UC Santa Cruz
The Final Flight of the Space Shuttle - 04/26/2024 01:00 PM
Sutardja Dai HallBerkeley
Speaker: Rex Walheim, Chief Safety Officer, Axiom Space, and former NASA Astronaut
Printing Functional Polymers for Sustainable Earth and Habitable Mars - 04/26/2024 02:00 PM
Etcheverry HallBerkeley
Printing technologies have the potential to revolutionize manufacturing of electronic and energy materials by drastically reducing the energy cost and environmental footprint while increasing throughput and agility. For instance, printing organic solar cells can potentially reduce energy payback time from 2-3 years to as short as 1 day! At the same time, additive manufacturing of such functional materials brings a new set of challenges demanding exquisite control over hierarchical structures down to the molecular-scale.
We address this challenge by understanding the evaporative assembly pathway and flow-driven assembly central to all printing processes. We discover a surprising chiral liquid crystal mediated assembly of achiral semiconducting polymers in an evaporating meniscus. We uncover the molecular assembly mechanism and further show that the chiral helical structures can be largely modulated by controlling printing regimes.
Such new topological states of semiconducting polymers can empower unprecedented control over charge, spin, and exciton transport, reminiscent of how Nature efficiently transfers electrons and transduces energy using chiral helical structures. The ability to control non-equilibrium assembly during printing sets the stage for dynamically modulating assembled structures on the fly.
We demonstrate this concept by programming nanoscale morphology and structure color of bottlebrush block copolymers during 3D printing. This approach holds the potential to reduce the use of environmentally toxic pigments by printing structure color. Complementing the above hypothesis-driven approach, we are pursuing data-science driven approach to drastically accelerate discovery and manufacturing of functional polymers. By linking automated synthesis, testing, and machine learning in a close-loop, we are able to optimize function highly efficiently while discovering new physical insights for transferring closed-loop optimization into hypothesis driven discovery.
Speaker: Ying Diao, UIUC Chemical Engineering
Room 3108
Saturday, 04/27/2024
Techfest: Back to the '80s - 04/27/2024 10:00 AM
Computer History MuseumMountain View
CHM’s all-day TechFest events offer special family-oriented experiences included in the price of Museum admission. We’ll be bringing you tech-themed demos, performances, hands-on activities, and more. Explore CHM exhibits, shop in the Museum store, enjoy a tasty treat from the Cloud Bistro, and have fun at Techfest!
Climate Change at Chrissy Field - 04/27/2024 10:00 AM
Meet by restrooms @ Crissy Field East BeachSF
Join the Climate Change at Crissy Field tour to explore the breathtaking, 180-degree views of San Francisco Bay from Crissy Field and to discuss the threat of climate change and sea level rise to Crissy Field’s beauty. You will see the recent restoration that converted the US Army airfield to a bird-friendly marsh that can reduce the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Learn about local heroes who fought for protection of SF Bay and the history of how rapid population increase changed the local habitats of birds, trees, and fish. See what SF is doing to become a sustainable city. Join a spirited discussion of how you can lower your own carbon footprint and participate in climate decisions impacting your home community.
Community Science Saturday - 04/27/2024 10:00 AM
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural HistoryPacific Grove
Learn about how you can be involved in community science in your neighborhood and help us celebrate young scientists at our 2nd annual Student Research Symposium.
Looking for Leaves at Sanborn - 04/27/2024 10:30 AM
Sanborn Science and Nature CenterSaratoga
You can learn so much from a plant by looking at its leaves. Learn to ID some native species and how the native americans would utilize them in their daily life. It will be a great day for a hike through the beautiful park!
Ages 4 - 12
A registered adult must accompany their child(ren)
Berkeley Bay Festival - 04/27/2024 11:00 AM
Berkeley PointBerkeley
Celebrate the San Francisco Bay at the Berkeley Marina. Connect with the Bay and our local communitythrough live music, performers, food, hands-on educational activities, and free boat rides.
This free, family-focused event celebrates the Bay, its local wildlife, and the people and agencies dedicated to its protection. Over 30 environmental and wildlife conservation organizations from around the Bay will share their exhibits with the public.
Makerspace Science Talk with Monique Smith Lee - 04/27/2024 11:30 AM
Seymour Marine Discovery CenterSanta Cruz
Join us to learn more about northern elephant seals with researcher Monique Smith Lee. She will discuss their recovery from near extinction, their unique characteristics, and challenges due to climate change. Elephant seals are keystone species that maintain a natural balance in their ecosystem. Due to the loss of genetic diversity, they may be more vulnerable to climate impacts. Discover how our everyday choices impact their survival strategies in a rapidly changing environment.
Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE): Enabling the Next Generation of Large Space Observatories - 04/27/2024 07:30 PM
East Bay Astronomical SocietyOakland
The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all extremely faint, which presents an ongoing challenge for current missions and is the opportunity space for next generation telescopes: larger telescopes are the primary (if not only) way to address this issue. With mission costs depending strongly on aperture diameter, scaling current space telescope technologies to aperture sizes exceeding 10 meters does not appear economically viable. Without a breakthrough in scalable technologies for larger telescopes, future advances in astrophysics will slow down or even stall.
The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) project is a joint effort between NASA and Technion - Israel Institute of Technology to overcome the current scaling limitations for space optics via a novel approach based on fluidic shaping in microgravity. This technique has already been successfully demonstrated in a laboratory neutral buoyancy environment, in parabolic microgravity flights, and aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It is theoretically scale-invariant and has produced optical components with superb, sub-nanometer (RMS) surface quality. This talk will present the results to date and outline the work in progress, including FLUTE mission concepts currently under development.
Speaker: Edward Balaban, NASA Ames
Attend in person or online via YouTube. See link at the weblink
Editor's Note: As of the time of listing, the date given for this event is March 23 which was the date of the last lecture. We're listing this as April 27 as that would be the next scheduled meeting of the Eastbay Astronomical Association. We'll update our listing when it is changed.
Sunday, 04/28/2024
Almaden Quicksilver BioBlitz - 04/28/2024 09:00 AM
Almaden Quicksilver ParkSan Jose
A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get an overall count of the plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms that live in a place.
Located in the heart of San Jose, the park we will be at is a safe haven for many species of plants and animals right along Coyote Creek. Join Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, BioBlitz Club Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, and Peninsula Open Space Trust in cataloging and documenting all of the wildlife that reside there. We will have experts in various fields to help guide participants through all the cool plants and wildlife.
The best part? All you need to participate is a smart phone with the iNaturalist app!
So bring your family and prepare for an in-depth tour of this great park.
Monday, 04/29/2024
Molecular Evidence of Anteroposterior Patterning in Adult Echinoderms or, Are Sea Stars All Head With No Body? - 04/29/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State University - Biology ColloquiumRohnert Park
Speaker:Dr. Chris Lowe, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Symbolic Systems Forum - 04/29/2024 12:30 PM
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg 460)Stanford
Speaker: Tobias Gerstenberg, Stanford University
See weblink for instructions to gain entry to the building.
Room 126
Foxes in Your Neighborhood - 04/29/2024 01:00 PM
Don Edwards Refuge Headquarters & Visitors CenterFremont
This program is led by internationally known Bill Leikam - aka the Fox Guy, president and co-founder of the Urban Wildlife Research Project. Here is what Bill says about his program: "Do you sometimes see paw prints in mud or scat (poop) on the trails and assume that a dog left it? It could be from something else, but if a fox left it, that scat is sending a message. Come along with me and I will show you how to distinguish and identify the markings of a gray fox and often the meaning behind it all. I’ll tell you true stories about foxes that I’ve encountered in my study on their behavior. Gain some insights into the fox’s nature. They are far more than what popular culture tells us. By the time we are through, you will have a set of “tools” you can use to identify the presence of foxes and the meaning behind their nature. Bring a hat and good walking shoes."
Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
SLAC Colloquium - 04/29/2024 03:30 PM
TBA
Speaker: Billy Loo Jr, Professor of Radiation Oncology
What Physicists Do Seminar - CANCELED - 04/29/2024 04:00 PM
Sonoma State University - What Physicists DoRohnert Park
Speaker: TBA
Plant-fungal mutualism in a changing world - 04/29/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340)Stanford
Kabir Peay completed a master’s degree at the Yale School of Forestry and Environment Science (F&ES) in 2003 and obtained my PhD in 2008 from UC Berkeley’s Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM) in Matteo Garbelotto's lab. Kabir did his postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley in the Dept. of Plant & Microbial Biology with Tom Bruns, and at Stanford in the Dept. of Biology with Tadashi f*ckami. He was an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota from 2011-2012 before coming to Stanford in 2012 to join the Dept. of Biology in his current position.
Room: Auditorium
The Inflation Reduction Act: Place-based Policy, Tax Incentives, and Geopolitics - 04/29/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy SeminarStanford
The Inflation Reduction Act created a diverse set of funding, financing, and tax incentives to promote investment in clean energy and manufacturing that the Biden-Harris administration is now implementing. That work follows a four-year period of intense legislative activity in the 116th and 117th Congresses as well as the much longer history of U.S. clean energy and climate policy.
Speaker: Luke Bassett, US Department of the Treasury
Tuesday, 04/30/2024
Whole Earth Seminar - 04/30/2024 03:30 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences BuildingSanta Cruz
Emergent Phenomena in Crystalline Multilayer Graphene - 04/30/2024 03:30 PM
Hewlett Teaching CenterStanford
The Science of Teaching - Livestream - 04/30/2024 05:00 PM
UC Berkeley
Tech in Culture: How Technology is Disrupting the Culture Industry - 04/30/2024 05:30 PM
Silicon Valley Bank Experience CenterSan Francisco
Wonderfest: Ask a Science Envoy: Communication; Growth - 04/30/2024 07:00 PM
Hopmonk TavernNovato
Wednesday, 05/01/2024
Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World - 05/01/2024 05:00 PM
Levinthal Hall (Humanities Center) Bldg 02-100Stanford
'The Gift' - 05/01/2024 06:00 PM
Memorial ChurchStanford
Teaching Casualty Care in Ukraine During the Russian Invasion - Fourth Time's the Charm - 05/01/2024 06:00 PM
Lafayette Library and Learning CenterLafayette
The Myths and Misconceptions About Breasts - 05/01/2024 06:00 PM
Commonwealth ClubSan Francisco
The Human Cost of Climate Change - 05/01/2024 07:00 PM
Los Altos Public LibraryLos Altos
Thursday, 05/02/2024
EV portable charging - 05/02/2024 01:30 PM
Environment & Energy Building (Y2E2)Stanford
The Science of Weird sh*t - Livestream - 05/02/2024 04:00 PM
Skeptical Inquirer
What She Said - Women in AI - 05/02/2024 05:00 PM
W Hotel San FranciscoSan Francisco
NightLife Intersections: Music - 05/02/2024 06:00 PM
California Academy of SciencesSan Francisco
Family Science Night at Willard Middle School - 05/02/2024 06:00 PM
Willard Middle SchoolBerkeley
After Dark: See for Yourself - 05/02/2024 06:00 PM
ExplOratoriumSan Francisco
Robotic Food Manipulation in the Wild - 05/02/2024 06:00 PM
986 Mission StSan Francisco
Tech Talk: Psyche - 05/02/2024 06:30 PM
Hacker DojoMountain View
Life On Other Planets - 05/02/2024 07:30 PM
Bankhead TheaterLivermore
Friday, 05/03/2024
Bair Island Walking Tour - 05/03/2024 10:00 AM
Bair Island Wildlife Refuge & TrailRedwood City
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Seminar - 05/03/2024 12:00 PM
Earth and Marine Sciences BuildingSanta Cruz
An Evening with Michael Pollan - 05/03/2024 05:30 PM
Zellerbach Hall, UC BerkeleyBerkeley
Saturday, 05/04/2024
Bringing Back the Natives In-Person Garden Tour - Bayside Gardens - 05/04/2024 10:00 AM
Bringing Back the Natives
Birding at Vasona - 05/04/2024 10:30 AM
Youth Science InstituteLos Gatos
Got Fakes? Paper microfluidics and the hunt for bad quality medicines - Livestream - 05/04/2024 10:30 AM
California Section American Chemical Society
Rainbow Challenge at Vasona - 05/04/2024 11:00 AM
Youth Science InstituteLos Gatos
Nike Missile Site Veteran Open House - 05/04/2024 12:00 PM
Nike Missle SiteMill Valley
Peaceful Death: Another Option? - Livestream - 05/04/2024 03:00 PM
Bay Area Humanists
Starry Nights Star Party - 05/04/2024 09:15 PM
Tilton Ranch ReserveMorgan Hill
Sunday, 05/05/2024
Bringing Back the Natives In-Person Garden Tour - Inland Gardens - 05/05/2024 10:00 AM
Bringing Back the Natives
Solar Observing - 05/05/2024 02:00 PM
San Jose Astronomical AssociationSan Jose
Monday, 05/06/2024
SynBioBeta 2024: The Global Synthetic Biology Conference - Pre-Conference - 05/06/2024 07:00 PM
San Jose McEnery Convention CenterSan Jose
Live From the Field: Speakers from Field Stations Worldwide - Livestream - 05/06/2024 12:00 PM
Sonoma State Biology Colloquium
The Realities of Climate and Energy - 05/06/2024 03:30 PM
TBA
Archaic variation in human populations - 05/06/2024 04:00 PM
James H. Clark Center (Bldg 340)Stanford
Reducing GHG for Buildings and Industry Essential to Meeting 2030 and 2050 Targets - 05/06/2024 04:30 PM
Stanford University Energy SeminarStanford
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