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After nearly three years of increased “sheltering at home,” you may have noticed more six-legged critters sharing your shelter. Scientists, too, have been taking a closer look at these more numerous (and more brazen?) insect invaders. What surprising findings have the researchers uncovered?

Our speaker is Dr. Vernard Lewis, Cooperative Extension Specialist (emeritus) at UC Berkeley. Dr. Lewis is a global authority on termites, and his research has explored other home-invading creepy-crawlers: ants, bedbugs, and cockroaches.

Dr. Vernard Lewis

The stars beckon. Alas, interstellar distances are fantastically challenging. (A lightbeam needs 1/7th of a second to go around the world, but over 4 years to reach our Sun’s nearest-neighbor star, Proxima Centauri.) Determined explorers at Breakthrough Starshot are developing miniature robot space probes — to be accelerated by laser light from Earth — whose cameras can reach Proxima Centauri in just 20 years! Among the wonders to be explored are Proxima’s three known planets, including Proxima b, which orbits in this red dwarf star’s “habitable zone.”

Our speaker, Dr. S. Pete Worden, is Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives (of which Breakthrough StarShot is one program). Formerly, Dr. Worden was Director of NASA Ames Research Center.

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Dr. Pete Worden

How long will the people in a particular population live? How do we know if a cancer treatment works, or whether parents pass their socioeconomic status to their children? How often do formerly incarcerated people return to prison, and how long (on average) will current marriages last? All these questions seem straightforward. However, answering each of them can go awry in a similar way. A single mathematical relationship, length-biased sampling, allows analysis of a diverse set of phenomena, and it presents new, easy-to-understand insights into human populations.

Our speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, is Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Sociology and at the Minnesota Population Center.

Dr. Elizabeth Wrigley-Field

Wonderfest joins St. Helena’s Cameo Cinema to present a heavenly double feature: first, the remarkable true story of NASA’s Opportunity rover (which ventured to Mars for a 90-day mission, but survived — and explored — for 15 years!), followed by Q&A with legendary astrophysicist Dr. Alex Filippenko (discussing both the exploration of Mars AND the promise of NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, JWST). This special two-for-one event is a national Science On Screen presentation.

Dr. Alex Filippenko is the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physicsal Sciences and Professor of Astronomy at UC Berkeley. Alex has earned Wonderfest’s Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization, and he is an esteemed member of Wonderfest’s Board of Directors.

Dr. Alex Filippenko

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a pioneering tool of cosmic discovery. Beyond its beautiful initial images, JWST promises to show us an “invisible universe” of infrared light, particularly allowing astronomers to learn about cosmic evolution — the birth and eventual death of stars, galaxies, and the cosmos itself.

Our JWST explorer is Andrew Fraknoi, emeritus chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College and first recipient of Wonderfest’s Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization.

This event is produced by the Commonwealth Club in collaboration with Wonderfest. We can enjoy it in either of two ways: in person or online. Access to the two different ticket types is described in the HOW space, below. Each type is deeply discounted for Wondernauts who use discount code Wonderfest2022.

Andrew Fraknoi

If your native language (Irish, Igbo, Ilocano, . . .) is threatened by competition from another language (likely English!), and if preserving that language is important, what options do you have? Which approach to language preservation is most likely to be effective? Or… How much time do you have before the language is effectively dead? Surprisingly, tools from mathematical ecology, physics, and other seemingly remote fields have been adapted to answer questions about the evolution, competition, and even origin of human languages.

Our speaker, Dr. Ben Ford, is Professor of Mathematics at Sonoma State University. His research background lies in combinatorics and group theory, and he works to further equity in math education.

Dr. Ben Ford

Research indicates that all animals sleep. For humans, sleep is essential for physical and mental health — as necessary as food, water, and oxygen. Yet many of us get insufficient and/or low-quality sleep. UCSF’s Dr. Aric Prather has just written The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest. During this online presentation, Dr. Prather will share many of his book’s insights with the Commonwealth Club and Wonderfest.

Dr. Aric Prather is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. He directs UCSF’s Behavioral Sleep Medicine Research Program.

This online event is produced by the Commonwealth Club in collaboration with Wonderfest. (The originally-planned, simultaneous, in-person event has been cancelled.) Access to the online presentation is described in the HOW space, below. Use discount code WonderfestPromo for a completely cost-free experience.

Dr. Arik Prather

Sometimes, bigger is better. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will collect 9 times more light than the largest currently existing telescope and, with adaptive optics, make images 9 times sharper. Overall, that’s 81 times better! The TMT International Observatory (with members from the US, Japan, China, India, & Canada), together with its partner in the southern hemisphere, the Giant Magellan Telescope, will give humanity a powerful new system to probe the full sweep of the cosmos — from the nearest stars and their planets, to black holes in our Galaxy, and on out to the edge of the visible universe where we see the very first stars and galaxies beginning to form.

Our speaker is astrophysicist Dr. Robert Kirshner, Executive Director of the TMT International Observatory and Clowes Professor of Science, emeritus, at Harvard University. Formerly, Dr. Kirshner was head of the science program at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Dr. Robert Kirshner

Beyond hunger — and beyond the body’s straightforward energy demand — food cues can strongly influence the urge to eat. These sights, sounds, and smells of food can trigger cravings that promote over-eating. What are the neurobiological mechanisms of cue-triggered food craving? How are we susceptible to diet-induced obesity via consumption of sugary and/or fatty “junk foods”?

Our speaker, Dr. Carrie Ferrario, is Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Dr. Carrie Ferrario

President Biden recently stated that the Pandemic is over. The resumption of travel and in-person activities seems to corroborate this view. Meanwhile, the current COVID death rate in the US puts us on track for nearly 150,000 excess deaths (per year) and a marked lowering of overall life expectancy. This presentation, with a healthy amount of audience Q&A, will explore the relationship between science and narrative in confronting SARS-Cov2.

Our speaker, Dr. Robert Siegel, is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University. He is also a member of Wonderfest’s formal Board of Advisors.

Dr. Robert Siegel

Could frightening claims of world-wide climate change be mistaken? Do we really know that climate change is happening, and that humanity is the cause? In optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, how bad could it get? … even in the Bay Area?! Finally, have we passed a global climate-change “tipping point,” or do possible adjustments to economics and policy — stemming from a popular climate clarity — give us hope?

Our speaker is Dr. Carl Mears, Senior Scientist at Remote Sensing Systems. He was a lead author for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, and he has contributed to the IPCC, the Nobel Prize-winning International Panel on Climate Change.

Dr. Carl Mears

Physicists do their best to discover the deepest rules of reality. Renowned physicist and author Sean Carroll — formerly at Caltech, now at Johns Hopkins — has just published the first of three books on The Biggest Ideas in the Universe for the physicist in each of us. In this presentation, jointly produced by the Commonwealth Club and Wonderfest, Prof. Carroll will focus on how the most basic concepts in nature (space, time, and motion) allow us to build a coherent sense of physical reality — and how they can lead us to newfound wonder.

Dr. Sean Carroll is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. His popular books include Something Deeply Hidden and From Eternity to Here, and his podcast is entitled Mindscape. Here, Dr. Carroll’s 45-minute presentation will be followed by 15 minutes of audience Q&A via YouTube chat.

Dr. Sean Carroll

Potatoes are often invisible on one’s plate, but this is a food you can rely on to soothe your soul and your stomach. Due to the humble spud’s capacity to keep people alive in so many diverse environments, several cultures lay claim to originating it. The potato actually first emerged 10,000 years ago in highland South America. While introducing the science of the potato and its complexities of diversification, we will learn how it is farmed in its home and how pople are helping it adapt to the changing climate.

Our speaker, Dr. Christine Hastorf, is Professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. She also directs Cal’s Archaeological Research Facility and McCown Archaeobotany Laboratory.

Dr. Christine A. Hastorf

Once upon a time, the Milky Way was heavenly milk squirted from the breast of Greek goddess Hera. Today, it is a vast galaxy, an “island universe,” of almost unimaginable proportions. (A light beam will circle Earth 7 times in a second; but to span the planets, stars, black holes, and dark matter of the Milky Way, light needs more than 100,000 years!) Astronomer and folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier explores this vastness in her new book, The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy. According to Caltech physicist and author Sean Carroll (next month’s Commonwealth/Wonderfest speaker): “It’s about time we heard the story of the Milky Way in its own words. The good news is that our galaxy is not only ancient and magestic; it’s also whimisical, amusing, and downright chatty. Moiya McTier’s book is an entertaining introduction to some of the most profound features of our astrophysical neighborhood.”  

Dr. Moiya McTier is “folklorist to the stars and astrophysicist to the folks.” She earned bachelors degrees in astrophysics and folklore/mythology from Harvard University, and an astronomy PhD from Columbia University. Dr. McTier will be interviewed by Gerald Harris, Commonwealth Club governor.

Dr. Moiya McTier

Without reading tea leaves (or consulting a crystal ball), the methods of science help us to gain deep understanding about the workings of the universe. This two-part presentation by four astronomers from the University of Chicago will discuss a broad spectrum of cosmic concerns. The first presentation is entitled Reading the Tea Leaves of Eternity: Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and the Beginning of Time. The second is New Messengers (Gravitational Waves and Neutrinos) and What They Can Tell Us.

Our speakers all hail from the University of Chicago: Dr. Joshua Frieman (Chair of Astronomy & Astrophysics), Dr. Dan Hooper (Associate Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics), Dr. Gordan Krnjaic (Assitant Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics), and Dr. Angela Olinto (Dean, Physical Sciences Division).

When I shake my first at the universe, however benignly, I make gravitational waves — vibrations of spacetime that travel throughout the universe at the speed of light. My personal gravitational waves are far too feeble to detect. However, the spacetime waves of cataclysmic astronomical events (exploding stars, the merger of black holes, and the big bang itself) are relatively mighty. Modern gravitational wave detectors are giving us a new awareness — a new sense — of the cosmos.

Our speaker, Dr. Rana Adhikari, is Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He leads Caltech’s Adhikari Research Group in exploring “experimental gravitational physics,” particulary involving the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, LIGO.

Dr. Rana Adhikari

As humans, our appreciation of the natural world is tied to our senses — the sights, sounds, and smells we experience. Recent scientific research, however, has shown just how limited our viewpoint is. Most creatures on Earth perceive — and produce — vibrational signals that are imperceptible to humans. With the help of technology, researchers have finally started to open up this hidden world, unlocking key insights into animal biodiversity and animal evolution in general.

Our speaker, Dr. Damian Elias, is Associate Professor in the Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management Department at UC Berkeley. At the Elias Lab, he investigates the interplay among physics, behavior, and sexual selection that allows animals to produce and process complex stimuli.

Dr. Damian O. Elias

Humans have sought “signs from above” for millennia. The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) began circa 1960, and, today, grows ever deeper and more technologically diverse. The scope of modern research is breathtaking. Methods include continuous scans over the entire sky for electromagnetic (EM) signals, targeted EM searches near known Earth-like exoplanets, the hunt for exotic forms of communication, and the careful search for ET artifacts on/near Earth.

Our Zoom speaker, Dan Werthimer, is Chief Technologist at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. Since 1979, Dan has helped to design and build numerous sensitive tools for the detection of ET. In 2019, Dan earned Wonderfest’s Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization.

Dan Werthimer

Quantum physics is arguably the most successful scientific theory ever devised. (And recall: “In science, theory is as good as it gets!”) Yet, there is a problem: What does this immensely fruitful theory say about deep reality? Why does “measurement” play a special role in the theory? Can we say anything about atoms and subatomic particles when we’re not actually measuring them? For years, the standard answer to questions like this was to “shut up and calculate” — to ignore these issues, and simply use quantum physics to predict the outcomes of experiments. But our curiosity persists. What are the puzzles at the heart of quantum physics, and why do they matter?

Our speaker, Dr. Adam Becker, is a freelance author and astrophysicist. He has written for the NY Times, BBC, NPR, New Scientist, Scientific American, et al. His most recent book, WHAT IS REAL? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics, will be available for purchase at this event.

Dr. Adam Becker

What does it mean to be female? (… Ovum-producing? … Nurturing? … The “weaker sex”?) In her latest book, Bitch: On the Female of the Species, zoologist Lucy Cooke reveals a marvelous cast of animals that enlarge our understanding of biological femininity. Rebecca Giggs of The Atlantic, writes: “[Cooke] is motivated to find new ways for humans to see themselves reflected in nature, … [and not just in] primates, but in venomous intersex moles, hyenas that give birth through their clitoris, filicidal mother meerkates, and post-menopausal orcas.” Consequently, our view of humanity as a whole is enriched and enlightened.

Lucy Cooke earned her masters degree in zoology from Oxford university, studying with renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. She is a New York Times best-selling author of three books, and she has presented a range of natural history programs for the BBC. Ms. Cooke will be interviewed by Brian Hackney, anchor and meteorologist at CBS5 KPIX TV.

This event is produced by the Commonwealth Club in collaboration with Wonderfest. We can enjoy it in either of two ways: in person or online. Access to the two different ticket types is described in the HOW space, below. Each type is deeply discounted for Wondernauts who use the discount code WONDERFESTPROMO.

Lucy Cooke