Welcome to Science@Cal! In laboratories deep underground, observatories atop mountains, the open plains, ocean depths and dense rainforests, Cal scientists are exploring our natural world, finding answers that explain our past and inform the future.

Science@Cal invites you to join these scientists on their journeys, explore their questions and share their discoveries! You can get involved by attending one of the events listed in our calendar, checking out our monthly free, public lectures, or by signing up for our mailing list.

January 21 Science@Cal Lecture: The Quest for the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Collider

Submitted by admin on January 3, 2012 - 8:10pm

 

The next Science@Cal Lecture will be given at 11 AM on January 21st in Evans Hall, Room 10 (NB - not our usual venue). See the Science@Cal Lectures page for details.

On January 21, our talk will be given by Dr. Beate Heinemann, and will be entitled "The Quest for the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Collider".

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TALK TAKES PLACE IN EVANS HALL, ROOM 10. THIS IS NOT OUR USUAL VENUE.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built in the past decade near Geneva at the border of Switzerland and France, and is now operating since last year at the world's highest energy. A primary objective of the LHC is to either discover or dispute the so-called Higgs boson. The Higgs boson was first hypothesized nearly 50 years ago in 1964 in order to find a mechanism by which all particles that make up the matter in our Universe acquire mass. Just in the last year the LHC has made significant  progress in its search for the Higgs boson. Particularly at the end of 2011 initial search results were observed that show tantalizing hints that a discovery might be very near which received a broad echo within the scientific community and the popular press. In my lecture will describe the LHC and its experiments, the relevance of the Higgs boson and the current state of the experimental searches.

Beate Heinemann received her Diploma and PhD from the University of Hamburg in Germany, working on the HERA electron-proton collider. From 2006-2006 she was a fellow at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, working with the Tevatron near Chicago. In 2006 she was appointed Associate Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. She works both on precision measurements of known processes, and on searches for new unknown particles, e.g. for the Higgs boson, supersymmetric particles and extra dimensions.

LHC images Arpad Horvath and Rainer Hungershausen

 

Thanks for a Great Festival!

Submitted by admin on December 20, 2011 - 8:58am

The 2011 Bay Area Science Festival has recently wrapped up and it was a great success! Thanks to everyone who attended one of our events and to all of our volunteers for all of their work.

At the South Berkeley Farmer's Market (Photo: John Van Eyck)

Below the fold we've posted more fun pictures from our events. You can check out the complete set on this album page in the Science@Cal Facebook Group.

Video for December Science@Cal Lecture Posted

Submitted by admin on December 19, 2011 - 4:17pm

The video for December's Science@Cal Lecture has been posted! Read on to the bottom of the post for the link.

 

On December 17, our talk was given by Prof. Bernard Sadoulet, and was entitled "Shedding Light on the Dark Side of the Universe".

The last decade of cosmological observations tells us that 95% of the energy density in the universe is dark: the combination of about 25% of dark matter, whose nature is unknown and 70% of an even more mysterious dark energy. Ordinary matter only represents 5% of the energy budget. I will review attempts to shed light on this dark side of the universe, in particular current attempts to detect Weakly Interactive Massive Particles, which could make the dark matter. 

 

December 17 Science@Cal Lecture: Shedding Light on the Dark Side of the Universe

Submitted by admin on November 22, 2011 - 8:05pm

The next Science@Cal Lecture will be given at 11 AM on December 17th in Genetics and Plant Biology, Room 100. See the Science@Cal Lectures page for details.

 

On December 17, our talk was given by Prof. Bernard Sadoulet, and was entitled "Shedding Light on the Dark Side of the Universe".

The last decade of cosmological observations tells us that 95% of the energy density in the universe is dark: the combination of about 25% of dark matter, whose nature is unknown and 70% of an even more mysterious dark energy. Ordinary matter only represents 5% of the energy budget. I will review attempts to shed light on this dark side of the universe, in particular current attempts to detect Weakly Interactive Massive Particles, which could make the dark matter. 

 

Video for November Science@Cal Lecture Posted

Submitted by admin on November 22, 2011 - 7:44pm

The video for November's Science@Cal Lecture has been posted! Read on to the bottom of the post for the link.

 

On November 19, our talk was given by Dr. Genevieve Graves, and was entitled "From Gas into Galaxies: Just Add Gravity!".

Galaxies, like our own Milky Way, are not eternal or changeless. They are born in the early universe out of massive clouds of gas. In their early years, they experience rapid growth, forming lots of new stars out of the matter that streams in to feed them.  As teenagers, they collide with other galaxies, setting off massive new bursts of star formation and growing large black holes at their centers.  From there, they settle down into a sustainable mode, forming stars reliably (to pay the mortgage!) and only occasionally having a run-in with another galaxy.  Finally, in their old age, they retire from the star-formation business and relax, coasting out the rest of time with their dwindling supply of stars.  This talk will trace the life-cycle of galaxies, large and small, from the early universe to the present.  Come learn about the origins and the ultimate fate of this "island universe" we call the Milky Way!

 

Video for "How Did the Universe Begin — and Does It Matter?" posted

Submitted by admin on November 13, 2011 - 6:58pm

The video for our "Wonder Dialog" on the topic "How Did the Universe Begin — and Does It Matter?" has now been posted. Read to the bottom of this post for the link.

Modern science offers us a startling and highly detailed account of Cosmology—the origin of everything. This same issue—and its significance—have occupied religious thinkers for thousands of years. Their insights are very different from those of science, but can also be beautifully complementary. In this unique Wonder Dialogue, an astrophysicist, a Jewish scholar, and a Buddhist monk bring their own perspectives to these vast, yet highly personal questions.

November 19 Science@Cal Lecture: From Gas into Galaxies: Just Add Gravity!

Submitted by admin on October 29, 2011 - 8:15pm

The next Science@Cal Lecture will be given at 11 AM on November 19th in Genetics and Plant Biology, Room 100. See the Science@Cal Lectures page for details.

 

On November 19, our talk was given by Dr. Genevieve Graves, and was entitled "From Gas into Galaxies: Just Add Gravity!".

Galaxies, like our own Milky Way, are not eternal or changeless. They are born in the early universe out of massive clouds of gas. In their early years, they experience rapid growth, forming lots of new stars out of the matter that streams in to feed them.  As teenagers, they collide with other galaxies, setting off massive new bursts of star formation and growing large black holes at their centers.  From there, they settle down into a sustainable mode, forming stars reliably (to pay the mortgage!) and only occasionally having a run-in with another galaxy.  Finally, in their old age, they retire from the star-formation business and relax, coasting out the rest of time with their dwindling supply of stars.  This talk will trace the life-cycle of galaxies, large and small, from the early universe to the present.  Come learn about the origins and the ultimate fate of this "island universe" we call the Milky Way!

 

Video for October Science@Cal Lecture Posted

Submitted by admin on October 18, 2011 - 9:48am

The video for October's Science@Cal Lecture has been posted! Read on to the bottom of the post for the link.

 

On October 15, our talk was given by Dr. Peggy Hellweg, and was entitled "Tectonic Timebombs: Earthquakes Near and Far".

Earthquakes have been prominent in the news during the past year or so, with the deadly and damaging earthquakes from Haiti, Chile, New Zealand and, most recently Japan. I'll talk (and answer questions) about these quakes, as well as about the earthquake hazard from the faults in our back yard.

October 15 Science@Cal Lecture: Tectonic Timebombs: Earthquakes Near and Far

Submitted by admin on September 27, 2011 - 4:24am

The next Science@Cal Lecture will be given at 11 AM on October 15th in Genetics and Plant Biology, Room 100. See the Science@Cal Lectures page for details.

 

On October 15, our talk was given by Dr. Peggy Hellweg, and was entitled "Tectonic Timebombs: Earthquakes Near and Far".

Earthquakes have been prominent in the news during the past year or so, with the deadly and damaging earthquakes from Haiti, Chile, New Zealand and, most recently Japan. I'll talk (and answer questions) about these quakes, as well as about the earthquake hazard from the faults in our back yard.

Video for September Science@Cal Lecture Posted

Submitted by admin on September 27, 2011 - 4:07am

The video for September's Science@Cal Lecture has been posted! Read on to the bottom of the post for the link.

 

On September 17, our talk was given by Dr. Meredith Hughes, and was entitled "How to Build a Planet".

The discovery of extrasolar planetary systems has overturned entrenched ideas about how our own planetary system formed. Around other stars we find exotic planets like nothing we see around our Sun: hot Jupiters, super-Earths, and massive planets at Kuiper Belt distances and beyond. Where do they come from, and can we devise a story of planet formation that can account for the wide diversity of systems we see around our own star and others? This talk will introduce you to some of the ways we learn about planet formation, starting with evidence from observations with the naked eye and small telescopes and proceeding to the latest in high-resolution optical, infrared, and radio telescope observations of the disks of gas and dust around young stars. We will explore the main theories and open questions about how planets form in circumstellar disks, and attempt to place our solar system in context: are we normal?

Powered by Drupal. Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer