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2026 Archive

Multi-Messenger

Multi-Messenger Astronomy – Feb 24

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The most energetic phenomena in the universe tend to reveal themselves through intense, short-lived signals. These violent transient events include novae, supernovae, and mergers of both neutron stars and black holes. Their signals — their natural messages — can span the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and may include gravitational waves as well as bursts of subatomic particles. The burgeoning field of multi-messenger astronomy inspires new technical observing abilities as it challenges our understanding of astrophysics. In so many new ways, however, the glorious cosmos and its contents come into clearer focus.
 
Our Wonderfest speaker is Raffaella Margutti, Associate Professor of both Physics and Astronomy at UC Berkeley. Dr. Margutti received the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Prize, and she advises three recent Wonderfest Science Envoys.

Dr. Raffaella Margutti

WHAT: Multi-Messenger Astronomy
WHO: Dr. Raffaella Margutti, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Physics, UC Berkeley [https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/raffaella-margutti]
WHERE: HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato CA 94945 [https://www.hopmonk.com/novato]
WHEN: Tuesday, February 24 — 7:00pm (1.5 hr)
HOW: This event is free and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have FOR YOU (and, indirectly, for society)? Accordingly, please use the DONATE button (below) to support Wonderfest in its nonprofit mission to share the scientific outlook.
Help share the scientific outlook - donate!
PhysiologyOfConsciousness

Physiology of Consciousness – Jan 27

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One of the great mysteries of science is how the brain creates conscious experience. Even though neuroanatomy and neuron-control are well understood, and modern tools have revealed many neural circuits, the neuroanatomic center of consciousness remains elusive. We aren’t even really sure how to measure consciousness! If we could build a mathematical model of consciousness, would this help us understand how the brain works its magic? How does an anesthesiologist, who routinely eliminates and then restores consciousness, define and measure the wonder of conscious experience?
 
Our Wonderfest speaker is Art Wallace, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesia at UC San Francisco. Dr. Wallace is also Chief of Anesthesia at San Francisco’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Art Wallace

WHAT: The Physiology of Consciousness
WHO: Dr. Art Wallace, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesia, UCSF [https://anesthesia.ucsf.edu/people/arthur-wallace]
WHERE: HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato CA 94945 [https://www.hopmonk.com/novato]
WHEN: Tuesday, January 27 — 7:00pm (1.5 hr)
HOW: This event is free and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have FOR YOU (and, indirectly, for society)? Accordingly, please use the DONATE button (below) to support Wonderfest in its nonprofit mission to share the scientific outlook.
Help share the scientific outlook - donate!
EvolutionOfConsciousness

Evolution of Consciousness – Jan 13

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Philosophers, cognitive scientists, and animal welfare advocates tend to agree that consciousness evolved to support action. Yet, puzzlingly, most accounts take relatively passive sensory experiences and bodily sensations (e.g. pains, visual perceptions, and hunger pangs) to be the basic contents of subjective experience. What if consciousness were not a “point of view,” but rather a “point of do,” where the conscious subject is not an observer but a participant who interacts with an environment that pushes back? Thinking carefully about action experience might help us better understand the biological evolution of consciousness on Earth.
 
Our Wonderfest speaker is Dr. Mariel Goddu, PhD in developmental psychology (UC Berkeley) and PhD candidate in philosophy (Stanford). Mariel was — and remains — a wonderful Wonderfest Science Envoy.

Dr. Mariel Goddu

WHAT: Evolution of Consciousness: The Participatory Perspective
WHO: Dr. Mariel Goddu, PhD (Psychology) and PhD candidate (Philosophy) [https://philosophy.stanford.edu/people/mariel-goddu]
WHERE: HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato CA 94945 [https://www.hopmonk.com/novato]
WHEN: Tuesday, January 13 — 7:00pm (1.5 hr)
HOW: This event is free and unticketed ... and valuable. But what value does it have FOR YOU (and, indirectly, for society)? Accordingly, please use the DONATE button (below) to support Wonderfest in its nonprofit mission to share the scientific outlook.
Help share the scientific outlook - donate!