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Our speaker, Dr. Lynn Rothschild, is an astrobiologist and synthetic biologist at NASA Ames Research Center. She is also an adjunct professor at Brown University and at UC Santa Cruz.

Alongside the Cameo Cinema's screening of the highly acclaimed Jane (99% Fresh at RottenTomatoes), Wonderfest presents UC Davis anthropologist Kelly Harcourt on "Why Study Apes?" Dr. Harcourt studied mountain gorillas (with, among others, Dian Fossey) in central and east Africa. Since 1989, she and her husband have produced numerous scientific and popular publications, including their 2007 book, Gorilla Society.

Dan Werthimer is chief scientist at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. He oversees both SETI@home and the new $100-million Breakthrough Listen project.

• At 7:45pm, Dr. Gregory Tranah presents "I Got Rhythm!" – How circadian rhythms coordinate the brain and body to impact human health and aging. Dr. Tranah is Director of Precision Medicine at Sutter Health.
• At 8:30pm, Dr. Robert Siegel presents "Cows, Cannibals, and Crystals" – How prions, infectious agents unlike any others, cause disease. Dr. Siegel is Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Stanford University.

The Declaration of Independence proclaims our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but not to the pursuit of pleasure. What is the neurological difference between these two positive emotions of happiness and pleasure? Has society's exploitation of pleasure systematically weakened our grasp on happiness? What has caused the twin epidemics of these emotions' negative extremes: addiction (from too much pleasure) and depression (from too little happiness)?

Our speaker, Dr. Robert Lustig, is Professor Emeritus of pediatric endocrinology at UC San Francisco. His new book, The Hacking of the American Mind, explores the scientific, cultural, historic, economic, and social causes of our modern problem with pleasure.

Viruses are infectious agents that exist in the twilight zone between the living and the non-living. Despite their tiny genomes and diminutive nature, viruses hold the power of life and death. They also contain remarkable molecular tools, some of which researchers have learned to harness to understand and control the fundamental powers of biology. Stanford's Bob Siegel will shine light on the basic structure and function of viruses. He'll also explore those features that distinguish viruses from the living organisms they commandeer.

Dr. Robert Siegel, MD PhD, is Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Stanford University. He has won nearly a dozen awards for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Pascal Lee will discuss progress made around the world — from the Arctic to Antarctica, from basement labs to the International Space Station — to achieve the first human voyage to Mars. He will explore the what, why, how, when, and who of our first journey to the Red Planet.

Astronomer Eliot Quataert will describe the remarkable new results coming out of our first steps into the gravitational wave era of cosmic exploration. Dr. Quataert is Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center at UC Berkeley.

• UC Berkeley's Carina Cheng on "Observing the Night Sky" – What kinds of astronomical objects and phenomena can you observe in the night sky, and why is stargazing good for the soul?
• UC Berkeley's Mariel Goddu on "Where Do New Ideas Come From?" – Are the precursors to deviance, innovation, and productive rule-breaking evident in children's cognitive flexibility?
• Stanford's Ryan York on "Evolution Is All Around You" – How does the modern evidence of evolution in action have implications for how we think about evolution and nature itself?
• Stanford's Tyler McFadden on "Plantations, Pinochet, and a Paradigm Shift" — How can we navigate ecology, history, and politics to conserve biodiversity and solve Chile's largest environmental conflict?

• UC Berkeley computer scientist Dylan Hadfield-Menell on "What AI Researchers Can Learn from King Midas" – How do we build artificially intelligent systems that reliably do what we intend?
• Stanford botanist Therese LaRue on "The Plant's Ability to Survive" – How are plants so resilient to changes in their environments?
• UC Berkeley physicist Thomas Mittiga on "Magnetic Micro Mysteries" – How do we use artificial atoms to achieve technological breakthroughs and to understand exotic materials?

• Stanford's Anna Khazenzon on "Media on the Mind" – How do the ~7.5 hours/day(!) that youth spend with media relate to learning, thinking, and socializing within developing brains?
• UC Berkeley's Eric Copenhaver on "Vera's Veritable Dark Matter" – How was dark matter discovered, and how do we hope to identify this mysterious 80%(!) of the material universe?
• UC Berkeley's William Hawley on "The Earthquake Prediction Predicament" – Why is predicting earthquakes such an imposing (and perhaps impossible!) challenge?

Dr. Anthony Wagner is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Stanford Memory Laboratory. He also co-directs the Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging.

Dr. Vernard Lewis is emeritus Cooperative Extension Specialist in UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management. He joined the Cal faculty in 1991, specializing in Urban Entomology, authoring or co-authoring more than 150 publications, and giving hundreds of lectures & presentations. Dr. Lewis was inducted into the Pest Control Hall of Fame in 2016.