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New Location! Beginning with the April 10th talk, the Cafe will be held at Espresso Roma, 2960 College Avenue at Ashby, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: (510) 644-3773 map This is a Cafe Scientifique style forum for discussing interesting and important scientific issues.

Upcoming Talks

Thursday, May 8, 2008 7pm -9pm Dr. Charles Fisher, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University

"Mortality and Nature: the Human Challenge."

Join Dr. Charles Fisher to discuss disease, old age and death in nature then how humans transformed these as we built civilizations. We will draw on evolution, animal studies, and epidemiology and address the question of whether "old age" is natural or a human invention. Charlie Fisher Ph.D. is an emeritus professor of Sociology at Brandeis University where he taught environmental history and meditation. He has a doctorate in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. He taught the history of science, and is a naturalist. He recently published a book entitled, "Dismantling Discontent: Buddha' Way Through Darwin's World," with a foreword by Lynn Margulis and endorsement from Jack Kornfield. More information at dismantlingdiscontent.com.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 7pm -9pm Bernard Sadoulet, Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley

"The Dark Side of the Universe"

Surprisingly, ordinary matter represents only 5% of the energy density of the universe and we do not know yet the nature of the dark matter and of the even more mysterious dark energy which make up the rest (roughly 25% and 70% respectively). I will briefly describe the observations behind this surprising state of affairs and how this touches some of the most fundamental foundations of our description of nature. I will then explain what physicists and astrophysicists are doing in the laboratory and in the Cosmos to pin down the nature of these two dark-side components. This will be less of a formal talk than a free flowing interaction with the audience.

About the Speaker: Bernard Sadoulet, a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (1963) and a "Docteur es Sciences" of Paris-Orsay University (1971), is by training an elementary particle physicist. As such, he had the chance of participating in two prestigious experiments which led to Nobel Prizes: the Mark I experiment at SLAC which discovered the J/y, the t lepton and the charm, and UA1 at CERN which discovered the intermediate vector bosons W and Z. In 1984 he decided to shift his efforts towards particle astrophysics and cosmology. In 1985 he was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and from 1989 to 2001 he was the director of the Center for Particle Astrophysics, one of the 11 first generation Science and Technology Centers of the National Science Foundation. He is currently director of the UC system-wide Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (INPAC).

Past Talks

• 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."