Eye Movements; Tiny Galaxies – Apr 15
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with enhanced communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:
• UC Berkeley neuroscientist Stephanie Reeves on The Horizontal Saccade Bias — Humans make eye movements to explore the visual environment. One type of involuntary eye movement, termed a saccade, occurs 2-3 times per second and is one of the fastest movements that the human body can make. New research challenges previous assumptions about how and why saccades arise.
• Stanford astrophysicist Viraj Manwadkar on Tiny Galaxies and Big Cosmic Mysteries — The very smallest galaxies shed light on fundamental questions in physics and astronomy: They play an intriguing role in the formation of cosmic ecosystems, and they even inform our attempt to understand dark matter, the utterly mysterious stuff that constitutes 80% of the material universe.
This interactive science presentation, free and unticketed, is produced by Wonderfest in partnership with Marin Science Seminar.
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
Muscle & Strength – Apr 2
Muscle plays a central role in life and health. At this Commonwealth Club event, Michael Joseph Gross, author of the new book Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives, shares his call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable, and effective partner of the soul.” Learn how Gross looks at strength, weight training, and fitness — about how all of us, from elite powerlifters to people who have never played sports at all, can learn to lift weights in ways that yield an important prize: the ability to act upon the world in the ways that we wish.
Author Michael Joseph Gross will speak with podcaster Guy Raz, creator of “How I Built This.” Two types of tickets are available: in-person and online-only. Pre-register with the Commonwealth Club via the “Tickets” link, below. Use promo code WONDERNAUTS for a $7 ticket discount.
Michael Joseph Gross
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California [https://www.commonwealthclub.org]
Other Humans – Apr 1
We are members of the genus Homo, distinguished from other primates as bipedal great apes. So far, we have found fossil evidence for several other members of our genus, i.e., several other humans. How does a fossil gain entry into this exclusive club? How many members are there? What do we currently know about these possible relatives — and why aren’t they alive, today, walking upright among us?
Our speaker is biological anthropologist Julie Hui, Adjunct Professor at the College of Marin. Julie was — and is — a Wonderfest Science Envoy who takes science outreach seriously.
Julie Hui
Wonder of Mushrooms – Mar 30
Over 20,000(!) species of mushroom-forming fungi support the health and diversity of multiple ecosystems. Technically, what are mushrooms? How do they live, and what are some of the myriad ways they disperse, reproduce, and (even) communicate? Perhaps most important, how can we use mushrooms to help feed humanity and heal the biosphere?
Our speaker is Dr. Dennis Desjardin, Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University, and Director Emeritus of SFSU’s Thiers Herbarium. As the author of California Mushrooms and Chief Mycologist for Sempera Organics, Inc., Dr. Desjardin is known as the “Mushroom Guru of the West Coast.” This event is co-presented by Wonderfest and the San Francisco Public Library.
Dr. Dennis Desjardin
San Francisco Public Library [https://sfpl.org/events/2025/03/30/presentation-wonder-mushrooms]