Here are some science events coming up this week in the Bay Area.

A short list of dates and headlines is listed first, followed by the details.

Monday, June 9,  8:00 pm
Thomas Lovejoy in conversation with Kevin Welch
California Academy of Science
Conversations at the Herbst Theatre

Tuesday, June 10,  6:00 pm
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Professor Patricia Burchat, Stanford University
Cafe Scientifique
SRI Menlo Park, Middlefield Road at Ringwood

Wednesday, June 11,  7:00 pm
Birds, Bees, and Boids
Craig Reynolds; Senior Researcher at Sony Computer Entertainment US R&D
Ask a Scientist
Axis Cafe, 1201 8th Street (btw. 16th & Irwin) San Francisco

Thursday, June 12,  7:00 pm
The Dark Side of the Universe 
Bernard Sadoulet, Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley
The East Bay Science Cafe - Berkeley Natural History Museum
Espresso Roma, 2960 College Avenue at Ashby, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: (510) 644-3773

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The details:

Monday, June 9,  8:00 pm
Thomas Lovejoy in conversation with Kevin Welch
California Academy of Science
Conversations at the Herbst Theatre
Link:  Cal Academy Lectures

Thomas Lovejoy is an innovative and accomplished conservation biologist who coined the term "biodiversity." Since 2002, he has served as President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment based in Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, he brought international attention to the world’s tropical rainforests, and in particular, the Brazilian Amazon, where he has worked since 1965. Lovejoy also developed the now ubiquitous "debt-for-nature" swap programs and led the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project. He also founded the series Nature, the popular long-term series on public television. In 2001, Lovejoy was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
 
Lecture: $17 members/ $19 non-members
 
To order tickets, please call City Box Office at (415) 392-4400 or visit cityboxoffice.


Tuesday, June 10,  6:00 pm
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Professor Patricia Burchat, Stanford University
Cafe Scientifique
SRI Menlo Park, Middlefield Road at Ringwood
Links:  Cafe Scientifique    Map and directions

Everything in our observable world is made of the same building blocks: protons, neutrons and electrons ("baryonic matter"). However, baryonic matter comprises only 5% of the cosmos. This means an amazing 95% of the universe is comprised out of mystery materials that we cannot directly observe. Scientists have named the mystery components "dark matter" and "dark energy." Dark matter comprises roughly 23% of the universe. Scientists know dark matter is there because of its gravitational pull. The remaining 72% is dark energy, which causes space itself to expand at an ever increasing rate.

Patricia Burchat is a professor in Stanford's Department of Physics, where she is Department Chair. Her research has focused on fundamental physics: What is the Universe made of? What are the laws of physics that govern the fundamental constituents of the Universe? Her research efforts have included smashing things together at Stanford Linear Accelerator and the development of a large survey telescope in Chile which will focus on mapping dark matter.

Open to all - Free of charge


Wednesday, June 11,  7:00 pm
Birds, Bees, and Boids
Craig Reynolds; Senior Researcher at Sony Computer Entertainment US R&D
Ask a Scientist
Axis Cafe, 1201 8th Street (btw. 16th & Irwin) San Francisco
Link:  Ask a Scientist

Everyone's seen birds flying, ants foraging, bees working, and fish swimming — all with the apparent purpose and coordination of a single conscious organism. But with no leader, no centralized management, how does each individual participant know what to do and where to go? The collective behavior of such animals — each oblivious to the master plan, but contributing to the group's goals and success — is what's known as swarm intelligence. Researchers have found that such self-organizing systems function through constant interactions between individuals, each of which is following simple rules. In 1986, computer graphics researcher Craig Reynolds created a steering program called boids, in which life-like graphical objects follow three basic rules of motion. The result looks awfully familiar. He is now a leader in the field of computer animated crowd simulation, doing research on visual effects for films and video games. Tonight Craig will talk with us about his work and how it relates to biology, society, business, robots, and more!


Thursday, June 12,  7:00 pm
The Dark Side of the Universe 
Bernard Sadoulet, Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley
The East Bay Science Cafe - Berkeley Natural History Museum
Espresso Roma, 2960 College Avenue at Ashby, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: (510) 644-3773
Link:  Science Cafe

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.