Natural product (NP) total synthesis involves experimental discovery and decision-making at every stage: why this route and not another? Why this intermediate and not its close analog? Why this NP, optimized for the producer organism’s survival in its ecological niche, and not a close analog, optimized for therapeutic use? The ...
Ocean crust is formed by magmatism along 65,000 km of divergent plate boundaries known as mid-ocean ridges. Decompression partial melting of mantle peridotite ascending beneath these ridges produces the basaltic magma that forms the crust. The depth at which partial melting begins is controlled by a combination of mantle potential ...
Cellphone bans in schools have become a popular policy in recent years in the United States, yet very little is known about their effects on student outcomes. In this study, we try to fill this gap by examining the causal effects of bans on student test scores, suspensions, and absences ...
Chagas Disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects millions worldwide, yet current therapies suffer from limited efficacy, long treatment duration, and poor tolerability. Two complementary discovery strategies, one mechanism-driven and one phenotypically guided, were explored toward safer, shorter-course treatments. Covalent picolinamides were developed as highly selective inhibitors of ...
Quantum platforms are approaching a scale at which they will enable the realization of a vast number of quantum circuits. Some of these will solve computational problems of interest to industry and commerce; others will address longstanding questions about quantum systems; and still others will vindicate Wigner and Dyson. Yet ...
Join Van Pierszalowskifor an overview of the California Bird Atlas project, one of the most ambitious community-driven research efforts ever undertaken in the state. While 44 states have already completed a statewide breeding bird atlas, California has long been an outlier. That is now changing.The Atlas officially launched in January ...
Where: Pacific GroveCost: Free
Skeptics in a Real PubEnjoy an evening of socializing and feasting with fellow Bay Area science-forward folk in an Irish Pub on the Peninsula with great food. < Menu >Join us! This is a free event brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics. All are welcome.
Where: MillbraeCost: Free
Wonderfest: Ask a Science Envoy: Cosmology & EvolutionStanford physicist Mahlet Shiferaw on Learning Cosmology from Galaxies - The Universe is shaped by an invisible “cosmic web” of dark matter that guides where galaxies form. By comparing observations of galaxies to predictions from models, we can probe the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Cosmologists are now developing new ...
This month, we have two excellent talks lined up: First, Caleb Harada (UC Berkeley) exoplanets and the exotic zoo of neighboring worlds. Then we’ll hear from Maya Beleznay (Stanford) about how astronomers weigh neutron stars!
Advanced imaging technologies are rapidly reshaping how we observe and quantify the world, from satellites to laboratory instruments, across all industries and sciences. In this talk, Ryan Barlow, CEO and Founder of GeoPulse Solutions, will explore the current state of spectral imaging systems, highlighting both their transformative capabilities and the ...
Aaron Meisner is an astrophysicist working at the intersection of image processing, participatory science, and machine learning. At Radcliffe, he will combine these techniques to search for cold worlds in the Sun’s neighborhood of our Milky Way galaxy.Register at weblink
Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of the 21st century. Microplastics are now pervasive throughout marine ecosystems, yet the pathways by which they move from land into coastal food webs remain poorly understood. From 2023-2025, our team conducted a comprehensive regional assessment of microplastics across the river-ocean ...
Io's extensive volcanism was predicted in 1979 as a consequence of Europa and Ganymede's gravitational influence on Io's orbit around Jupiter. Less than a week later, this was confirmed by Voyager 1 observations of volcanic plumes on Io's surface. Decades later, the Galileo spacecraft (named for Io's discoverer) observed magnetic field variations that hinted ...
This talk will share a chapter from my first book project, Cultivating Sustainable Sovereignty: Palestinian Agrarian Lives in Transnational Focus. How have Palestinian agro-ecological and food systems changed due to settler colonialism over time? How do Palestinians’ agricultural practices and relationships - their food sovereignty efforts - serve their struggles ...
We share our experience using LLMs to obtain new results in mathematics and computer science. We begin with an illustrative example from load-balancing in planet-scale cloud systems, outlining the abilities and limitations of LLMs. Next, we describe our experience with AlphaEvolve, an evolutionary language model from Google DeepMind, to establish ...
Where: BerkeleyCost: Free
A window to the Universe from the bottom of the worldWe are pleased to welcome Dr. Clara Verges, staff scientist in the Physics Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. She is an observational cosmologist, focusing on instrument modeling, systematic studies and data analysis for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarisation experiments.Located in one of the most remote environments on Earth, on ...
Everything we can see - stars, planets, galaxies, and even ourselves - makes up only a small fraction of the cosmos. The rest appears to be dominated by mysterious forces we cannot directly observe.In this mind-bending lecture, Stefano Profumo, Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explores ...
Join us for an in-person evening about eBird and community science! Brian Sullivan will speak on the work he and the rest of the team at Cornell are finding what can be learned within the mountain of data that is collected by eBird. Our everyday observations serve the greater understanding ...
The Universe's Barcode: What Colors in Space Tell UsSpeaker: Cole Meyer, University of ArizonaMartian Mystery and Mayhem: Exploring the Rd Plante's Enigmatic Early EvolutionSpeaker: Ruby Fulford, University of ArizonaClick here to watch
Where: Cost: Free
Thursday, 04/16/26
AVs & the City: DRIVE AI Demo DayAVs & the City: The DRIVE AI Demo Day is a drop-in event that transforms UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station into a 175-acre living laboratory for the future of autonomous mobility the day before 10th Anniversary Autonomous Vehicles & the City Symposium at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California ...
Extreme El Niño events amplify floods, droughts, and wildfire risk worldwide, yet models still disagree on how ENSO variability will evolve under anthropogenic warming. Using multi-century CESM1.2 simulations spanning the Last Glacial Maximum to future scenarios, together with individual foraminiferal analyses (including new central Pacific/Line Islands constraints), we show that ...
Where: StanfordCost: Free
Decoding marine physiological mechanisms to build biotechnological resilienceCutting-edge biotechnological innovations and transdisciplinary approaches have opened the door for deep understanding of physiological activities within marine organisms. These tools and approaches facilitate integrated studies of complex endogenous processes, such as immunological responses, metabolic pathway perturbations, and mechanisms that underpin survival and resilience in the face of unprecedented global ...
Recent developments in hydrogen production from renewable energies and fuel cell (FC) technologies have increased interest in their application toward sustainable and emission-free electricity generation. In addition to the fuel-to-electricity conversion advantages of FCs over conventional generation methods, their heat exhaust can also be recovered for combined heat and power ...
Superconducting circuits support quantum degrees of freedom that can be used to encode quantum bits. These superconducting qubits are a leading quantum information technology, but they are plagued by errors when performing multi-qubit conditional operations. One alternative is to make multi-mode circuits where multi-qubit operations are natural. I will introduce ...
For most of human history, survival depended on two things: group loyalty and split-second decisions. Today, those same ancient instincts are plugged into a network of billions of strangers and an endless stream of content. Deception is a universal survival strategy in nature; by understanding how the rapid pace of ...
Despite the increasing availability of climate data, there is a significant gap between the production of scientific information and its practical use within planning and decision-making. Over the past two decades, climate services - decision-support processes and tools - have been developed at this interface to transform climate data into ...
Mikhael found himself out of work last year due to health issues and chose to travel to Mt. Shasta for 6 weeks. While there, he studied everything he came across, from the ground to the sky. Waking to the sounds of chipmunks chittering as they chased each other up the ...
Where: SebastopolCost: Free
After Dark: Altered StatesQuestion your perception with unusual sensory experiences and hear from researchers on psychedelics.Ages 18+
Where: San FranciscoCost: $22.95
Fungus Among Us NightLifeExplore the weird and wonderful world of ‘shrooms during our annual mushroom celebration. Expect fascinating talks, exciting surprises, and a marketplace full of artwork and local orgs to connect with.
Ready for another good, old-fashioned, classic Nerd Nite SF? We’re back at it again at the Rickshaw and ready to rumble! It’s been fun experimenting with format and location for our first few shows of the year, but you just can’t beat a classic Nerd Night show: We’ve got talks ...
With five arms, no clear front or back, and no obvious head, starfish break many of the rules we expect animals to follow. So how did such unusual symmetry evolve - and what happened to the head?In this fascinating lecture, marine biologist Chris Lowe, Professor of Biology at Stanford University ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $27
The Invasive Spartina Project and Rails- LivestreamThe Invasive Spartina Project (ISP) is tasked with removing invasive Spartina species to restoring native habitat in SF Bay and protect our newly restored tidal wetlands. Tall, dense, and fast-growing, hybrid Spartina outcompetes other marsh species, overrunning wetlands and mudflats. Infestation reduces shorebird habitat but also provides cover for secretive marsh birds, including endangered California Ridgway’s Rails (RIRA). From 2005-2025, hybrid Spartina was reduced from 805 to 18 net acres, a reduction ...
Where: Cost: Free
Friday, 04/17/26
Autonomous Vehicles & the City: Policy, Deployment and Ecosystem LeadershipAs autonomous vehicle technology reaches maturation, the most urgent challenges are no longer just technical - they are civic and systemic. The 2026 Autonomous Vehicles and the City Symposium marks our 10th anniversary, and goes “Beyond the Tech” to focus on building a robust automation ecosystem that works for people and ...
Atmospheric N2 is a cheap, abundant resource with great potential for energy storage and chemical synthesis, but it is difficult to convert it into other compounds (“fixing” nitrogen). This seminar will describe some challenges and opportunities of nitrogen fixation, as well as my students’ discoveries of how to break the ...
The state of video compression standards is strong and dynamic, and more compression is coming in their future. To explain why will start by presenting deployment and adoption of the two most recent video compression standards: AV1 and VVC. Will then discusses new deep learning-based video compression technologies that standards ...
Where: Santa ClaraCost: $5 General, Free for members
Saturday, 04/18/26
Butterfly Garden Volunteer Work Day at the EECHelp us with maintaining and improving the habitat and trails at the Environmental Education Center at the Don Edwards SF Bay NWR while enjoying wildlife and scenic views! Activities may include removing invasive plants, picking up litter, or maintaining trails! All gloves and tools will be provided, so just make ...
Where: AlvisoCost: Free
Earth Day 2026With the focus on "Species and Habitats" come learn how important the health of our watersheds are for wildlife and our communities and the small actions we can all take for a healthy Bay Area.Connect with our incredible conservation partners and local environmental organizations at interactive booths, where you can ...
Where: OaklandCost: Free with admission
Mt. Sutro Geology & Paleo TourLearn about fascinating geologic evidence contained in the rocks underneath Mt. Sutro of ancient island arcs, lost marine basins, oceanic trenches and subduction along the Pacific Ocean Ring of Fire and the important role played by radiolarian fossils contained in chert beds. All part of the interesting story of California's ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: $25
PBC Earth Day EcoFest 2026Pacific Beach Coalition's annual Earth Day EcoFest is a free, family-friendly outdoor community event. Starting off the day at 9am across more than 15 site locations for cleanup and habitat restoration events across San Mateo County, the fun continues from 10:30am - 1:30pm with our main festival event at Pacifica ...
Where: PacificaCost: Free
2026 Earth Day Festival & Green Business Expo Join the fun and kick off Earth Month and SF Climate Week with a bang at the Yerba Buena Gardens 2026 Earth Day Festival! The San Francisco Green Business Program is hosting an exciting Green Business Expo in partnership with the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy and Climatebase. This will be ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
SkeptiCAMPTo quote our friends at the Manchester Skeptic Society, “you don’t need to be a published author, famous podcaster or professional communicator to get involved.” Just an interested skeptic.Attend, and/or consider presenting a 20 minute talk yourself.
NASA’s Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.The discovery of this so-called exoplanet is based on more than eight months of data collected by the spacecraft from ...
Where: Santa CruzCost: Free
Junior Rangers at the Refuge: Native Plant ProtectorsLove learning about new habitats? Curious about wildlife? Our Junior Rangers at the Refuge program is perfect for your family! Join us each month as we explore the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge through fun, educational activities.This April, we'll learn about the hidden superpowers that help our California native species ...
Where: AlvisoCost: Free
'Climate Wayfinding'Join us for readings and a conversation about Dr. Wilkinson’s new book, Climate Wayfinding.As climate disruption reshapes landscapes, politics, and daily life, a deeper question lingers beneath the headlines: How do we live - fully, honestly, boldly - within this moment? Where do we turn for steadiness and imagination as ...
Where: San FranciscoCost: Free
Monday, 04/20/26
Speed & Scale’s Reality CheckIn 2021, legendary investor John Doerr outlined his plan to solve climate change in his bestseller Speed & Scale. The plan outlines 10 objectives, each with their own set of key results, to cut emissions to net zero. And in true John Doerr style, the results are to be measurable ...
From Ellie's LinkedIn Bio: "...I am the fisheries biologist for the United Anglers of Casa Grande High School (UACG), a student-founded conservation hatchery dedicated to the conservation of Steelhead Trout in the Petaluma Watershed. I primarily care for the steelhead trout reared in the facility, and instruct participating high school ...
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are driving the need for fundamentally new information processing paradigms that exceed the limits of existing nanoscale technologies in energy, performance, and functionality. Biological systems offer a compelling model, tightly coupling sensing, computation, and memory within distributed architectures that achieve remarkable energy efficiency and adaptability. ...
Gottesman, Kitaev, and Preskill proposed to encode a qubit in a remarkable wavefunction, which satisfy location and momentum constraints simultaneously. Such a state offers superior error correction, but is rather hard to achieve and stabilize. We propose a circuit architecture for a dissipatively error-corrected GKP qubit. The device consists of ...
In most condensed matter systems we think of electrons as delocalized particles that roam about the energy terrain of a material much like waves in the ocean. But what happens when Coulomb repulsion between electrons becomes the dominant energy in a material? In this regime you might expect electrons to ...
The promise of quantum is real, and we are beginning to see where this technology can have the greatest impact. Decades of quantum research and development point to one primary class of practical application for quantum computing next to cryptanalysis: the simulation of quantum systems, especially for chemistry and materials science. As we ...
Across the globe, more than 30 million people make their living collecting, sorting, and recycling what we throw away. Often overlooked, these waste pickers are increasingly recognized as a vital “green workforce,” helping reduce emissions and support more sustainable resource systems.?In this lecture, Kate O’Neill, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy ...
Across the globe, more than 30 million people make their living collecting, sorting, and recycling what we throw away. Often overlooked, these waste pickers are increasingly recognized as a vital “green workforce,” helping reduce emissions and support more sustainable resource systems.In this lecture, Kate O’Neill, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy ...
What is consciousness - and how might we describe it scientifically? Neuroscience can map neural activity with extraordinary detail, yet the relationship between electrical signals and subjective experience remains one of humanity’s most enduring questions.Mathematician and machine learning researcher Nina Miolane approaches this question from an unexpected direction: geometry. In ...
