You have good taste in friends! In the “person” of Wonderfest, you have befriended a very enterprising Beacon of Science. In our first year as an independent nonprofit, Wonderfest has:
invented — and begun commercial development of — a new and fundamental science education tool, the Massometer
created the Radical Physics (RP) online physics course with twenty inaugural episodes
funded ten new RP episodes through Kickstarter’s “What Is Energy?” campaign.
Wonderfest is going strong. But with your help, there’s so much more that we can do! Please help Wonderfest continue its outstanding work for science education and popularization by attending End of Daze, our low-cost gala fun(d)raiser this Saturday evening in San Francisco.
Planetary scientist Chris McKay will be there (in person). And so will doomed friends Kiera & Steve (on the silver screen) in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. There’ll be free popcorn and a no-host bar for drinks and candy.
Tickets for End of Daze are still available. It’s not too late to have a blast(!) with your best science friend: Wonderfest!
Wondrous regards,
– Tucker Hiatt, Executive Director
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* compared with Wonderfest’s pre-“Beacon” days, when it was the Bay Area Festival of Science
Burton Richter, Ph.D., Nobel Prize-winning Physicist; Director Emeritus, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Norbert Holtkamp, Ph.D., SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
For five decades, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has pioneered groundbreaking discoveries from astrophysics to energy science. The home of cutting-edge facilities and technologies, scientists uncover mysteries on the smallest and largest scales – from the workings of the atom to the enigmas of the cosmos. Research conducted at SLAC has led to Nobel Prizes for discovering two fundamental particles, proving protons are made of quarks and showing how DNA directs protein manufacturing in cells. Richter explains how SLAC helped define the science of the past, and Holtkamp shares his vision of how SLAC will enable the science of the future.
Join Richter as he explains how SLAC helped define the science of today, and Holtkamp as he shares his vision of how SLAC will enable the science of the future.
Location: Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program Cost: $15 standard, $10 members, $5 students (with valid ID)
Reserve Ticket NOW:
Use the code SLAC50 to receive our member rate of $10. Two tickets are allowed per transaction and the code is entered at checkout.
Wonderfest is a nonprofit organization. Our goals are lofty, our budget is streamlined, and our services are free.
Yet Wonderfest has held only a single fundraiser in its 15-year history! For late September of 2001, we planned a small science-rich dinner to open the hearts and wallets of a select group of supporters. Unfortunately, the events of September 11, 2001, undermined our fondest hopes.
People were fearful back then; and fear does not inspire munificence. That first Wonderfest fundraiser actually cost more money to produce than it earned in donations!
Now, as 2012 draws to a close, Wonderfest presents TWO new fundraisers, each quite distinct from the other. We dearly hope that at least one of these pleasing efforts will take hold of you!
Consider Wonderfest’s fundraiser take-2: the “What is Energy?” Kickstarter campaign. As the online introduction proclaims, “Energy may be the single most important idea in science.” Ten expert online videos will explain the science of this mysterious essence “from quantum to cosmos, from evolution to economics.”
We need $12,000 to produce the “What Is Energy?” video series, and we have already reached (nearly) $10,000 in pledges. But the last two thousand dollars are elusive; and, ironically, they are the most important dollars! That’s because Kickstarter dissolves all obligations between donors and donees whenever funding goals are not FULLY met. If our “What Is Energy?” campaign does not earn $12,000 in pledges by Monday, Nov. 12, then all pledges vaporize!
Please visit our Kickstarter page, and pledge a few dollars. We have fine rewards at every pledge level — from Wonderfest all-cotton shirts to a cosmic dinner in North Beach with legendary astrophysicist Alex Filippenko.
Bear in mind that these next $2,000 in pledges will secure the earlier $10,000. So, in effect, every dollar pledged now brings FIVE MORE DOLLARS along with it. This is a kind of “matching grant” like no other! Please do take a look at the inspiring video that will fund our rich and multifaceted answer to “What Is Energy?”
Wonderfest’s fundraiser “take-3” happens on December 1st, just one month before the end of the mythic year of our global demise: 2012. We are told that obscure Christian and Mayan chronologies foretell the “End of Days” in 2012. Consequently, Wonderfest presents End of Daze: Does Hollywood Get Doomsday Right?
The evening will begin with the astronomical insight and wit of planetary scientist Dr. Chris McKay. Then we will watch Steve Carell and Keira Knightley in 2012’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Doomsday has never inspired such a delightful story, or such a fun evening.
The venue for the “End of Daze” fundraiser is a luxurious, little-known, 49-seat theater in downtown San Francisco. This absolute limit on seating means that tickets must be purchased in advance. Please follow the link here, get one of those 49 tickets before they’re gone, and prepare yourself for a memorable evening of science, humor, romance, and — with regard to doomsday — daze abatement.
If doomsday is coming in 2012, it had better hurry! On December 1st, with just one month to meet the legendary “End of Days” before 2013, Wonderfest invites you to a more rational examination of doomsday. End of Daze: Does Hollywood Get Doomsday Right? presents uber-droll planetary scientist Chris McKay introducing a special screening of 2012’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Get the explosive truth — as best we know it — about how days might reallyend if a monster asteroid comes to town. Don’t miss the rapture of this fundraising event for Wonderfest and Variety Children’s Charity. It’ll be a blast!
Speaker: Dr Chris McKay
TITLE: End of Daze: Does Hollywood Get Doomsday Right? SPEAKER: Dr. Chris McKay, Planetary Scientist (30 minutes) MOVIE:Seeking a Friend for the End of the World with Steve Carell & Keira Knightley (100 minutes) TIME: Doors open at 6:30PM; Event begins at 7:30PM, Saturday, December 1, 2012 PLACE:The Variety Preview Room Theater, The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor, 582 Market Street at 2nd & Montgomery, San Francisco, CA 94104 ACCOMMODATIONS: Reception lounge and plush theater seating for 49 (maximum) SERVING: Cash bar and candy for sale; FREE popcorn BENEFITTING: Wonderfest & Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California ADMISSION: $25 per person *or* $40 for you … and a friend!