WELCOME TO THE EAST BAY SCIENCE CAFE for 2009! Held the first Wednesday of every month at Cafe Valparaiso at La Pena Cultural Center from 7 to 9pm. 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705 This is a Cafe Scientifique style forum for discussing interesting and important scientific issues. This year we will be celebrating the Year of Science 2009 with a different scientific theme each month. Come join us! For more information or suggestions contact Deepa Natarajan.

Upcoming Talks

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Steve Croft, Researcher in the Department of Astronomy at U.C. Berkeley

The Evolving Universe

Almost 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang created the seeds of the vast structures that we see in the present-day Universe. But how did a sea of scorching hot gas evolve to form the cosmic web of galaxies, clinging together in huge filaments and sheets, and separated by enormous voids? Modern astronomers use telescopes and computers as time-machines, compressing millions of years of history into the blink of an eye, and studying the inexorable forces that smash galaxies together, fueling the gargantuan black holes at their hearts, and triggering the birth of new stars. Astronomers also study the ashes from the burned-out corpses of these stars -- ashes which play a surprising role in the evolution of life in the Universe.

About the Speaker

Steve Croft is a researcher in the Department of Astronomy at UC Berkeley. He grew up in England, and after a PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, he moved to the Bay Area to pursue research on supermassive black holes and their parent galaxies. He is a member of a team of scientists who are currently commissioning the Allen Telescope Array, a new type of radio telescope being built near Lassen National Park in Northern California. Despite nearly losing the tips of two fingers in a kitchen accident earlier this year, he still very much enjoys cooking for his wife Lori, a lawyer.

Past Talks

• June 3, 2009 "Algae mats, bugs, fish, and bats: mapping the future of rivers of the California North Coast", Mary Power, Professor of Integrative Biology at U.C. Berkeley
• May 6, 2009 "Solar Energy for 7 Billion People: Linking the Economics to the Chemistry Will Get us There", Cyrus Wadia, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
• April 1, 2009 "A Pathway to Sustainable LIFE on Planet Earth", Jeffery F. Latkowski, Chief Engineer for the Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy (LIFE) program
• March 4, 2009 "How Could We Survive the Big Bang?", Hitoshi Murayama, Professor in the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley, and Director of the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at University of Tokyo
• February 4, 2009 "Milkshakes and melanin: Evolutionary adaptations out of place in a modern world?", Leslea Hlusko, Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley
• January 7, 2009 "From limpets to echo location in whales: Serendipity in science", Dave Lindberg, Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley and Faculty Curator of the UC Museum of Paleontology.
• December 3, 2008 "Barcoding DNA???", Brent Mishler, Director of the University and Jepson Herbaria
• November 5, 2008 "Long-term effects of a wildfire on butterfly and moth diversity in coastal California", Jerry A. Powell
• October 2, 2008 "Glowing Bands and Patches of Light in the Sky - the Northern Lights" Dr. Laura Peticolas
• September 3, 2008 "Water Wars: Bottled vs. Tap." Kishore Hari, Independent Water Treatment Consultant
• June 12, 2008 "The Dark Side of the Universe." Dr. Bernard Sadoulet, Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley
• May 8, 2008 "Mortality and Nature: the Human Challenge." Dr. Charles Fisher, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University
• April 10, 2008 "Growing Dinosaur Salad", Paul Licht, UC Botanical Garden Director
• March 13, 2008 "Amanitas of California: The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful", Debbie Viess, Co-Founder Bay Area Mycological Society
• February 13, 2008"Charles Darwin", Kevin Padian, Curator UC Museum of Paleontology
• December 13th, 2007 "Arctic Dinosaurs - what do we know and what are we still wondering about...", Dr. Roland Gangloff, Visiting Scholar, UC Museum of Paleontology
• November 8th, 2007 Michael Eisen and the Public Library of Science
• October 11th, 2007. "Where Are Species Now? Changes in Distribution of Birds and Mammals in Yosemite over 100 Years", Craig Moritz UCB Professor & Director Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
• September 13th, 2007. "Evolution and Extinction on Remote Islands of Oceania: The Comings and Goings of Bugs", Rosemary G. Gillespie UCB Professor & Director Essig Museum of Entomology, BNHM.
• August 9th, 2007. "Can a new virus explain diabetes and other diseases?" Speaker was William Klitz, Public Health Institute, Oakland and School of Public Health, University of California
• June 14th, 2007. "The Basics of Nanotechnology and Applications to Energy and the Environment." Speaker was Jeff Grossman, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems, University of California, Berkeley (see QUEST Nanotechnology video)
• May 10th, 2007. "The Dangerous Nymphs of California." Speaker was Robert S. Lane, UC Berkeley, Professor of Medical Entomology
• April 12th, 2007. "Does Life Exist Elsewhere in the Universe?" Speaker was Dr. Jere H. Lipps from the UC Museum of Paleontology.
• March 8th, 2007. "Unseen and unheard: Finding bats in the night sky." Speaker was Dr. Joe Szewczak from Humboldt State University.
• Feburary 8th, 2007. Robert Dudley and Jim McGuire addressed the topic of "New Insights into Animal Flight Evolution Obtained from Gliding Southeast Asian Lizards and Amazonian Ant-Tossing"
• January 11th, 2007. Tyrone B. Hayes, PhD addressed the topic of "Amphibians, How Pesticides Impact Them, and Why Humans Should Be Concerned."