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Scientists have recently developed an entirely new way to “see” the universe: using gravitational waves predicted by Einstein nearly a century ago. These waves can teach us about some of the most exotic objects known, including black holes and neutron stars. Remarkably, they have also helped solve a longstanding puzzle about where in the universe some of the elements we know and love here on Earth are produced, including gold, platinum, uranium, and even californium!

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.

Eliot Quataert

Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these four Science Envoys will answer your questions with insight and enthusiasm:

• 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?

Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these three Science Envoys will answer your questions with insight and enthusiasm:

• 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?

Wonderfest Science Envoys are early-career researchers with special communication skills and aspirations. Following short talks on provocative modern science topics, these three Science Envoys will answer your questions with insight and enthusiasm:

• 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?

Our memory bridges past and present. When coupled with experience, memory also helps us plan for the future. Modern psychology, neuroscience, and AI allow us to understand the mechanisms of memory AND the fallibility of memory. Stanford's Anthony Wagner will show how quantifying “neural time travel” reveals the correspondence between brain states and states of mind.

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. Anthony Wagner

Experts estimate that some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects crawl, burrow, swim, and fly on Earth. Roughly 80% of all the world's species are members of the class Insecta! Our speaker, entomologist Vernard Lewis, will present the latest research on the biology, detection, and control of three particularly villainous house guests: ants, termites, and bedbugs.

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.

Dr. Vernard Lewis

Our speaker, NASA's Steve Bryson, is a mathematical physicist at Ames Research Center in Mountain View. His work as part of the Kepler Mission Team contributed to the discovery of MANY new worlds orbiting other stars. Dr. Bryson lives in Marin, and he occasionally teaches adult-education classes at the California Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Steve Bryson