Life’s Code + Gut Feeling – May 28
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special 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 plant biologist Enrico Calvanese on The Interpreters of Life’s Code — Proteins are molecular machines that enable all cellular life. How proteins are produced infuses our understanding of microbiology. New research proposes a novel understanding of how proteins come to exist, promising to open an entirely new dimension of cellular life.
• Stanford biophysicist Rachel Porter on The Bacterial Space Age — Like human communities, bacterial communities are shaped by the available food, water, and space. Researchers largely understand the importance of food and water for bacteria in the human digestive system. However, only now are we discovering the importance of spatial organization for bacteria within our gut microbiome.
This interactive science presentation, free and unticketed, is produced by Wonderfest in partnership with Marin Science Seminar.
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
What value does this FREE science experience have for you and, indirectly, for society? Accordingly, please consider making a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite box, below.
Finding the Wild – May 23
Naturalist Craig Foster has explored and studied some of Earth’s wildest environments. He has also experienced the demands of professional life in our big cities — experiences that might tend to deaden a capacity to appreciate natural beauty. Foster’s latest book, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World, vividly addresses the challenge of staying open to the wonders of nature. Of the book, Jane Goodall wrote, “[It] will transform how we think about being human … [and] inspire hope.” In this Commonwealth Club conversation, Foster will help us understand how to attend to earthly beauty and deepen our love for all living things.
Craig Foster is one of Earth’s leading nature filmmakers. Foster’s My Octopus Teacher won the 2021 Academy Award for Best Documentary. We can participate in this Commonwealth+Wonderfest event either in person or online.
DEEP RISING – May 19
The ocean floor of our “water planet” is vast — rich in biodiversity and dense in mineral wealth. A single organization, the International Seabed Authority, governs roughly half of this undersea territory, and that governance is scientifically and economically challenging, to say the least. Wonderfest joins Cameo Cinema for a special Science on Screen presentation of the documentary Deep Rising (71% FRESH at Rotten Tomatoes), narrated and co-produced by Jason Momoa. Post-screening Q&A with Stanford marine scientist Dr. Steve Palumbi will highlight the vital need for wise use — and protection — of the seabed as the common heritage of humankind.
Dr. Stephen Palumbi is Professor of Marine Sciences at Stanford University. Steve is also a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment.
Dr. Steve Palumbi
For advance ticket purchase, please click the TICKETS link, below.
Quanta and Fields – May 14
Arguably, quantum field theory (QFT) presents humanity’s deepest insights into the rules of reality, i.e., into the laws of existence. QFT allows us to describe — with remarkable accuracy — the particles and forces that animate the cosmos, including the stuff of mind and body. Note that calling QFT a theory pays the highest scientific compliment: QFT has vast scope, and QFT is supported by an extraordinary amount of evidence.
Wonderfest and the Commonwealth Club present physicist Sean Carroll to discuss key ideas in his latest book, The Biggest Ideas In the Universe: Quanta and Fields. As in his first Biggest Ideas book (Space, Time, and Motion), Dr. Carroll goes beyond analogies to show how physicists really think about nature’s underlying principles.
The Commonwealth Club of California
Use the "Tickets" link (below) to access the Commonwealth Club's event webpage. During online ticket purchase, use discount code WONDERFESTPROMO for a ticket price reduction of $10, making this entire Sean Carroll online experience FREE.
Spider Science – May 7
Do spiders deserve much better press? Modern media tend to portray spiders as eight-legged, multi-eyed terrors. With deeper exposure, and open minds, can we come to see the beauty and benefits of our arachnid aquaintances? UC Berkeley scientist Trinity Walls thinks so. Her life-long journey — from curious child to rigorous researcher — reveals spider science to be an avenue of creative self-expression that offers rich insights into nature and society.
Our speaker, arachnologist Trinity Walls, is a PhD candidate in UC Berkeley’s Laboratory of Animal Communication and Behavior. She is also a Wonderfest Science Envoy!
San Francisco Public Library [https://sfpl.org/events/2024/05/07/presentation-creepy-or-captivating-spider-scientists-perspective]
Via the "Register" link, below, please let the SF Public Library know that you intend to join this Zoom. You will receive this event's Zoom URL upon completion of registration with the Library.
Communication; Growth – Apr 30
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special 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 psychologist Sophia Li on Imperfect Communication — As a communicator, I want to transfer information from my mind into the minds of listeners. Research shows that both listeners and uninvolved observers have overly positive perceptions of any communicator. They believe that the communicator knows more than s/he actually does, and has articulated thoughts better than s/he actually has.
• Stanford physicist Josh Tong on Growth and Form — Living creatures grow and transform their shape, to the awe of many scientists. What does it mean to grow? How do we compare an organism at different stages of its growth? Mathematics can help us find the way to understand this fundamental transformation.
This interactive science presentation, free and unticketed, is produced by Wonderfest in partnership with Marin Science Seminar.
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
What value does this FREE science experience have for you and, indirectly, for society? Accordingly, please consider making a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite box, below.
Verifying AI; Ultracold Atoms – Apr 16
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:
• Stanford computer scientist Teddi Worledge on Verifying AI with Attributed Sources — So-called large language models (LLMs) provide information and make judgments nearly everywhere — from online search engines to classrooms and medical clinics. But LLMs do make errors. Language model systems that attribute their sources can address this accuracy problem, as long as the attributions theselves are reliable!
• UC Berkeley physicist Matt Tao on What Ultracold Atoms Reveal — Atoms cooled to billionths of a degree can teach us much about the world. The wave nature of ultracold atoms allows interference experiments (interferometry) with astounding precision. Such tabletop interferometers even allow the study of gravity, nature’s weakest — but most pervasive — force, at minute scales.
This interactive science presentation, free and unticketed, is produced by Wonderfest in partnership with Marin Science Seminar.
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
What value does this free science experience have for you and, indirectly, for society? Accordingly, please consider making a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite box, below.
Biorhythms; Decarbonization – Apr 2
Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these two Science Envoys will answer questions with insight and enthusiasm:
• Stanford biologist Mila Pamplona-Barbosa on Biological Rhythms: From Ants to You — How can ants possibly organize their behavior? An ant colony can have hundreds to millions of individuals and, even with all that complexity, the colony still manages to get work done. How does this time-dependent self-organization happen? And what does this have to do with the internal timings of the human body?
• UC Berkeley climate policy scientist Ari Ball-Burack on Complexity in Controlling Greenhouse Gases — Social, technological, and economic systems are complex: they exhibit both balancing and reinforcing feedbacks, and they strongly interact. Wise policy can use this very complexity to advance the “decarbonization” of the atmosphere. Complexity-aware decarbonization policy addresses climate change at local, national, and global scales.
This interactive science presentation, free and unticketed, is produced by Wonderfest in partnership with Marin Science Seminar.
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
What value does this free science experience have for you and, indirectly, for society? Accordingly, please consider making a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite box, below.
BlackBerry Psych – Mar 26
How and why do corporations decline? BlackBerry (98% FRESH at Rotten Tomatoes) offers a tragicomic portrait of decline in Earth’s foremost business smartphone maker, 1999-2016. Following this special Science on Screen presentation of BlackBerry, UC Berkeley researcher Dr. Don Moore will illuminate the psychological challenges that face all businesses and, in fact, virtually all human relations.
Psychologist Dr. Donald A. Moore is Professor and Chair in Leadership & Communication at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. His most recent book is Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely.
Dr. Don A. Moore, UC Berkeley
Please pre-purchase tickets for this Science on Screen event via the "TICKETS" link below.
The Sense of Fairness – Feb 20
Do non-human animals possess a sense of fairness? In particular, do non-human individuals react negatively when they get fewer resources than others? New evidence suggests that the sense of fairness is a human-unique adaptation to our cooperative lifestyles, typically developing in children by age 8. Further, a new theory suggests that, maybe surprisingly, fairness is not about resources, but about social respect.
Our speaker, Dr. Jan Engelmann, is Assistant Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley. He runs Cal’s Social Origins Lab, dedicated to the study of human cognition and behavior from an evolutionary perspective.
Dr. Jan Engelmann
This event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Most Famous Equation – Feb 17
Around the world, people recognize that E=mc^2 oozes cosmic insight. But what does this “most famous equation” really say? What are energy and mass? And what makes the speed of light, c, so important? [Hint: mass, moving at speed c, doesn’t turn into energy!] Using little more than common experience and middle-school math, Einstein’s “special relativity” gem can come to life — with surprising insights into the nature of reality.
This event is co-produced by Wonderfest and the East Bay Astronomical Society. Our speaker is long-time physics teacher Tucker Hiatt, founding director of Wonderfest. Tucker has been a Visiting Scholar in the Stanford Chemistry Department, and is a recipient of the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence.
Tucker Hiatt
East Bay Astronomical Society [https://eastbayastro.org]
This event is free, unticketed, ... and valuable. Please assess its value for you, and, in the Eventbrite space below, consider a corresponding donation to nonprofit Wonderfest.
Future Nuclear Power – Feb 13
Currently, nuclear power provides ten percent of world electricity generation. As physicists and engineers strive to make new reactors that are small, clean, and safe, what does the future hold for nuclear power in a warming world? Join this discussion of the current status and future directions for nuclear energy.
Dr. Per Peterson
This science event is free and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Most Famous Equation – Jan 31
Around the world, people recognize that E=mc^2 oozes cosmic insight. But what does this “most famous equation” really say? What are energy and mass? And what makes the speed of light, c, so important? [Hint: mass, moving at speed c, doesn’t turn into energy!] Using little more than common experience and middle-school math, Einstein’s “special relativity” gem can come to life — with surprising insights into the nature of reality.
Around the world, people recognize that E=mc^2 oozes cosmic insight. But what does this "most famous equation" really say? What are energy and mass? And what makes the speed of light, c, so important? [Hint: mass, moving at speed c, doesn't turn into energy!] Using little more than common experience and middle-school math, Einstein's "special relativity" gem can come to life — with surprising insights into the nature of reality.
This event is co-produced by Wonderfest and Marin Science Seminar. Our speaker is long-time physics teacher Tucker Hiatt, founding director of Wonderfest. Tucker has been a Visiting Scholar in the Stanford Chemistry Department, and is a recipient of the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence.
Tucker Hiatt
Marin Science Seminar [https://marinscienceseminar.com]
This event is free, unticketed, ... and valuable. Please assess its value for you, and, in the Eventbrite space below, consider a corresponding donation to nonprofit Wonderfest.
Self Confidence – Jan 23
How confident should we be? Overconfidence leads people to delude themselves with wishful thinking, take too many risks, pursue impossible goals, and waste their time on doomed ventures. Underconfidence dissuades people from taking risks that would pay off, and scares them away from trying things they would enjoy. Psychological studies offer evidence pointing to a middle way between these twin risks.
Our speaker is Dr. Don A. Moore, Professor and Chair in Leadership & Communication at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. His most recent book is Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely.
Dr. Don A. Moore
This science event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Human Hibernation? – Jan 9
Sci-Fi movies often depict hibernation as the secret to long-duration human spaceflight. (Note: Even with ideal starship acceleration and deceleration — AND with the benefit of relativistic effects — the nearest exoplanet is 3.6 years away!) Of course, the boundary between science fiction and science fantasy is hazy. Advances in anesthesia may facilitate hibernation. Physiologically, however, general anesthesia is detrimental in the short term, and worse in the long term. Will long-spaceflight medical advances ever be able to deal with this sobering hibernation fact: roughly half of naturally-hibernating animals never revive!
Our speaker is Dr. Art Wallace, Professor and Vice-Chair of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at UC San Francisco. He is also Chief of Anesthesia at San Francisco's Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. Art Wallace, MD, PhD
This event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Forensic Science – Dec 19
In some ways, forensic science (also known as criminalistics) has changed little since the 1880s when fictional detective Sherlock Holmes first solved a crime with a thumbprint. While modern forensic scientists continue to embrace the tried-and-true methods of the past, modern innovations in ciminalistics have enabled technogical advances that are anything but “Elementary!”
Our speaker, Hillary Daluz, is a fingerprint examiner for the US Army, and a director of the International Association for Identification. She is the author of five books including Fundamentals of Fingerprint Analysis and Courtroom Testimony for Fingerprint Examiners.
Hillary Daluz
This event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Loving Chocolate – Dec 17
“It comes from cocoa, a leafy-green plant; … chocolate is salad!” Why do so many of us love chocolate despite its non-saladesque qualities? Wonderfest joins St. Helena’s Cameo Cinema for the Science On Screen® presentation of Wonka, portraying the wondrous backstory of Earth’s greatest magician, inventor, and chocolate-maker. Q&A with UC Berkeley happiness expert Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas will follow the special screening. Ticket purchase includes a small-size popcorn and chocolate treats from the Master Chocolatier at Yountville’s Kollar Chocolates.
Our interviewee, Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, is Science Director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. She is a leading researcher on the neuroscience and psychology of prosocial skills that bolster human happiness. Disclaimer: Dr. Simon-Thomas may not suggest that eating chocolate is a prosocial skill, or that chocolate is salad, but she does attribute her life-long love of chocolate to Willy Wonka (and, perhaps, to a biological affinity for theobromine).
Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Doors open at noon for the 1:00pm showtime; early arrival and ticket purchase ($25, via the link below) are advised.
Fast & Faraway – Nov 28
In astronomy, the redder a galaxy appears, the faster it is fleeing, and the older a tale its light can tell. Such “redshifts” in the spectra of galaxies (symbolized with the letter “z”) allow compelling cosmic insights. The recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has allowed astronomers to study the properties of high-z galaxies in existence only 250 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 2% of its current age! How are these objects detected in such very “deep” space, and what are the early science results from this JWST research?
Our speaker is Dr. Thomas Targett, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the Sonoma campus of California State University. Dr. Targett’s Wonderfest history includes an eye-opening talk entitled Popular Myths of Astronomy, presented as part of the Mt. Tam Astronomy Program.
Dr. Thomas Targett
This event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.
Jaws of Life – Nov 14
One of the defining features of all mammals is, surprisingly, the set of bones that form the hearing system. Those bones evolved from jaw components in our mammalian ancestors. In the evolutionary process of repurposing them for hearing, mammals came to possess a jaw configuration different from all other jawed vertebrates. Here is the story of how the unique jaws of mammals fundamentally changed the form and function of how we bite.
Our speaker is Dr. Jack Tseng, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, where he directs the Functional Anatomy and Vertebrate Evolution (FAVE) Laboratory. Dr. Tseng’s specialties include the evolution of humanity’s best friend, the dog.
Dr. Jack Tseng
This event is FREE and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have for YOU? Accordingly, please consider a donation to nonprofit Wonderfest via the Eventbrite window, below.