Category: Science

Join us on Science Field Trips to Lawrence Livermore National Lab!

8232Join a group of science teachers and middle and high school students on a field trip to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the annual Science on Saturday (SOS) lecture series. Presented by leading LLNL researchers and supported by master high school science teachers, each topic highlights cutting-edge science occurring at the lab.

Check out this year’s field trips:

82323D Printing: From Imagination to Realization
Revolutionary changes to materials and structures are now possible with 3D printing, bringing concepts that were previously only imagined into reality. This breakthrough technology fabricates components by adding material layer by layer from the bottom up allowing for the creation of highly complex and previously unrealizable structures.

8232Reconstructing a Rabies Epidemic: Byte by Byte
A vast majority of the newly discovered human pathogens are viruses that have jumped to humans from an animal host (“cross-species transmission”). Find out how biologists and computer scientists have collaborated and used cutting edge ultra-deep sequencing technology to study the dynamics of a 2009 rabies outbreak to better understand emergent viruses, such as Ebola and Zika.

8232Forensic Science in Crisis: How Proteins Can Help
In the last decade, the scientific foundations of a number of traditional forensic methods have come under increasing criticism by the scientific community, leading to their discontinuation or reduced effectiveness in criminal prosecutions. These challenges raise questions about the admissibility of certain type of evidence in current cases and the validity of previous convictions. We will discuss the basis of these issues and describe some of the work ongoing at LLNL to try and address some of them. In particular we will describe an entirely new science-based approach to human identification.

Browse Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday to discover more from past field trips!

Unlocking the Science Behind Atmospheric Rivers

8232 This year, California’s winter weather has been wet and wild. Join Scripps scientist Marty Ralph, Director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) as he describes the phenomena of atmospheric rivers, their impact on our weather, and the essential role modeling and prediction play in managing California’s precious water resources.

Watch Unlocking the Science Behind Atmospheric Rivers

To see more programs in the Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series, click here.

UCTV Launches New Portal to Sustainability for California

8232As the world’s sixth largest economy and provider of more than half the nation’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables, sustaining California’s vitality is paramount. And, with greater demands from a changing climate and growing population, taking a proactive approach to maintaining sustainable growth for California is critical.

That is what Sustainable California, a new, media-rich web portal hosted by University of California Television (UCTV) is about.

Broadcasting stories of sustainability research and outreach conducted by University of California faculty, scientists and students, Sustainable California
connects users to the science-based, real-world solutions the University of California is creating to maintain the balance of natural resources, biodiversity and sustainable growth in our state.

Principal project partners include UC Water, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, the Sierra Nevada Research Institute and UC Merced School of Engineering among others.

UCTV Director Lynn Burnstan expressed her excitement at inaugurating the new portal, “This is what UCTV is about, connecting Californians to the real-world, inestimable values that the UC provides all of California. We are very excited to be able to join these partners and give the public direct access to what they are doing for all our benefit.”

The launch features Water in the Balance, from UC Merced headquartered UCWater, a 5-minute journey from Sierra Nevada snowpack through the state’s system of dams to groundwater; Introduction to Conservation Agriculture Cropping Systems, from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, featuring California farmers and UC scientists working together to develop sustainable farming practices and Sierra-Net, from Berkeley-headquartered CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, featuring the development of innovative cyber-infrastructure to provide real-time monitoring of the state’s water resources.

The channel’s content is appropriate for audiences of all ages and freely accessible to the public online at uctv.tv/sustainable-cal. The integrated video, article and curriculum format of the channel, in addition to its focus on biodiversity, natural resources, and low-impact living, provides users both a look at and connection to practical solutions and approaches the UC is developing, making it a valuable resource for professional practitioners, educators, and media outlets.

Scientists Tackle Big Questions at Lawrence Berkeley Lab

8232Every discovery and invention starts with a question.

Find out how scientists dive into the big questions that drive their research in two video presentations from Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s Science at the Theater.

“Questions drive science. Questions that provoke other questions keep science fresh and alive,” explains host Jeff Miller. “In fact, if you think about the root of the word question – quest – it’s really about a journey, it’s about momentum, it’s about a zest for answers that scientists have and need to keep propelling their research forward.” In short, “The questions never stop – and neither do we.”

82325 Big Questions: Dark Energy, Electron Microscopy, Energy from Ocean Waves, Climate and Building a Tabletop Accelerator

In this presentation, scientists explore the following questions: Is learning about dark energy going to get us anywhere? When I’m a scientist in 10 years, what will I be able to see with an electron microscope that you can’t see now? Is it possible to power all of San Francisco on ocean wave energy? Is climate change going to kill all the forests in California? What can a tabletop accelerator do that a big one, like the LHC, can’t do?

82325 Big Questions: Cancer and Aging, Radiation, Biofuels, Supernovae, Urban Food Initiative

In this presentation, scientists explore the following questions: What causes age-related disease? How can we see radion and how harmful is it? Do insects contain the secrets to sustainable food and energy production? Do we need math to blow up a star? Is sustainable urban food production possible?

Browse more videos from Science at the Theater to get all the latest research from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and explore cutting edge science with leading scientists.

Berkeley Lab’s First Cleantech Pitchfest

8232Hear from six Berkeley Lab scientists with big new ideas designed to help transform our carbon-drenched, overheating world. Each has tremendous promise and social value.

  • Energy-Efficient Desalination: Making fresh water from salty sources on the cheap
    Current desalination techniques require huge amounts of energy and generate large amounts of environmental waste. Berkeley Lab’s Chinmayee Subban, a Cornell PhD, leads a desalination research project that reduces environmental waste and energy use by incorporating an innovative mix of low-cost materials. The technique could help relieve the stress on global water supplies by reclaiming brackish water both in the US and other countries—including in the developing world.
  • DIY Efficient Windows: Applying paint-on coatings for energy-efficient windows
    Replacing millions of porous windows with energy-efficient versions in older buildings and homes can be prohibitively expensive. Berkeley Lab’s Raymond Weitekamp, a Caltech PhD, has a new approach: an inexpensive, paint-on, energy-efficient coating that can be applied simply and evenly without the help of a professional—while the windows are still in place. The paintable, clear material contains photonic crystals, developed by his startup company PolySpectra.
  • CalWave: Harnessing energy from ocean waves
    At CalWave, Marcus Lehmann is developing the WaveCarpet which harnesses the power of ocean waves to produce electricity and freshwater. Avoiding the pitfalls of other wave-energy projects, the WaveCarpet operates submerged, allowing it to survive stormy seas while causing no visual pollution or posing any collision danger. Recently CalWave was selected as one of nine ¬finalists to compete for the Department of Energy’s Wave Energy Prize—a 20-month design-build-test competition. Earlier this year, the German-born Marcus was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy Sector.
  • Nanoscale Sponges: Capturing carbon with metal-organic frameworks
    Removing excess carbon from an overheating atmosphere is an urgent and complicated problem. The answer, according to Berkeley Lab’s Jeff Urban, could lie at the nanoscale, where specially designed cage-like structures called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, can trap large amounts of carbon in microscopically tiny structures. A Harvard PhD with expertise in thermoelectrics, gas separation and hydrogen storage, Urban directs teams at the Molecular Foundry’s Inorganic Materials Facility.
  • Recycling CO2: Fueling your car on recycled CO2
    Kendra Kuhl co-founded Opus 12 to find out if an electrochemical process, operating inside a desk-sized reactor, can do on an industrial scale what is often hailed as the Holy Grail of carbon-recycling research—convert CO2 captured from smokestacks into ethanol and other valuable products. A self-proclaimed chemistry geek in high school, the Berkeley Lab scientist honed her big idea while completing her PhD at Stanford.
  • MyGreenCar: Test driving “virtually” to compare real fuel economy and EV range
    A Berkeley Lab scientist specializing in all things vehicular—from powertrain technologies, vehicle electrification and vehicle-grid integration to advanced engine technologies, personalized fuel economy and EV range prediction—Samveg (Sam) Saxena is leading the development of a new app called MyGreenCar. MyGreen Car predicts personalized fuel economy and eliminates EV range anxiety as a barrier for prospective car buyers. He also leads the development of V2G-Sim, a research platform for understanding how vehicles will interface with the grid.

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    If you prefer to watch them all together, the entire program is here. See more programs from the series here.