Future Fridays

Upcoming Speakers | Past Speakers
Chabot Space & Science Center presents
a series of community conversations
with science and futurist thought leaders
- Tickets: $20 Members / $23 Guests
($29 at the door, no discounts & subject to availability) - Series Tickets (all five speakers): $83 Members / $98 Guests
Ticket proceeds help underwrite the educational programming at Chabot.
Speaker Series tickets make great gifts for friends and teachers!
This series is proudly sponsored by Rudney Associates
Upcoming Speakers for 2013
- March 22 (6pm - 7:30pm)

Dr. Alex Filippenko
Astrophysicist
Alex Filippenko was a member of both teams whose leaders were awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the accelerating Universe. Voted the "best professor" on the UC Berkeley campus a record nine times, and the 2006 National Professor of the Year, he is frequently featured in "The Universe" series on The History Channel.
Mysterious dark matter and dark energy are aspects of our Universe that we cannot see, taste, or feel, but they are very important: dark matter keeps galaxies gravitationally bound, and dark energy is accelerating the expansion of the Universe. We wouldn't exist without dark matter, or if dark energy were much stronger than it is!
- April 19 (6pm - 7:30pm)

Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon
Astrobiologist
Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon is a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow in residence at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her expertise broadly covers the intersection between biology and geology with a focus in astrobiology. Wolfe-Simon uses innovative methods and tools from molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology to address biogeochemistry questions. The focus of her work deliberates on "what chemical elements can support microbial life on Earth?" She earned her B.A. (Biology) and B.M. (Music Performance) from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music and her Ph.D. in Oceanography from Rutgers University.
- May 10 (6pm - 7:30pm)

Jim Capobianco, Derek Thompson & Kevin O'Brien
Pixar Animation Studios
The Science of Story
Join three certified science fiction and space nuts in an evening illustrating how storytelling and science come together in the most natural of ways. Structured around the "Scientific Method of Story," Jim Capobianco, Kevin O'Brien and Derek Thompson, an Apollo triumvirate of story knowledge, will illustrate their talk with images, anecdotes and behind the scenes footage from their work at Pixar, such as Wall-e, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, as well as from their long collective history as storytellers in animation and their passion for all things space!
- October 18 (6pm - 7:30pm)

John Romero & Brenda Brathwaite Romero
Game Designers
DOOM™, Dungeons and Beyond... the Importance of Video Games
Join us for a lively conversation about all things gaming! Meet the dynamic husband and wife duo of John Romero and Brenda Brathwaite Romero as they discuss their paths into and through this industry and get a peek at what they believe the future holds. John is the mastermind behind games like DOOM™ and Quake™, and together with Brenda, the recent Facebook game, Ravenwood Fair and Ghost Recon Commander. Brenda has been a game designer since age 15, working on games in the Dungeons & Dragons®, Wizardry®, Jagged Alliance®, Def Jam® and Playboy® series, among others. She is the author of several books including Challenges for Game Designers and Breaking into the Game Industry: Advice for a Successful Career from Those Who Have Done It. She is also the mastermind behind the Role Playing Game of the Year, Wizardry 8, as well as a series of award winning non-digital games known as the Mechanic is the Message.
- November 15 (6pm - 7:30pm)

Robert Weiss
President of Xprize & Entertainment Movie Producer
Mr. Weiss is Vice Chairman and President of the X PRIZE Foundation. The X PRIZE Foundation’s mission is to foster innovation through incentivized competition. The Foundation has active competitions in Genomics and Lunar Exploration, and is now developing X PRIZEs in Healthcare, Energy, and Exploration.
Weiss is a veteran Hollywood television and film producer having produced over 20 feature films and TV series during the past 25 years. He began his career in the late 1970’s producing the feature film, KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE and later produced the ABC television program POLICE SQUAD! as well as the three NAKED GUN movies starring Leslie Nielsen. Weiss produced the international hit, THE BLUES BROTHERS for Universal Studios. His other feature films produced for Universal include AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON and DRAGNET. Weiss was the Executive Producer for the television series WEIRD SCIENCE and SLIDERS (that he co-created).
As president of Broadway Pictures at Paramount, Weiss joined forces with Saturday Night Live Executive Producer Lorne Michaels. Weiss executive produced many films at Paramount including TOMMY BOY, A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY, SUPERSTAR, and THE LADIES MAN. He went on to produce the hit movies, SCARY MOVIE 3 & 4.
Past Speakers
2012
- Brian David Johnson
Author and FutureCaster at Intel
- Ben Burtt
Sound Director, Designer & Engineer for LucasFilms/Pixar
- Bill Nye the Climate Guy
Scientist, Engineer, Comedian, Author, and Inventor
- Ray Jayawardhana
Author and Professor of Observational Astrophysic
2011
- Dr. Michio Kaku
Bestselling Author and Popularizer of Science
- Mary Roach
Columnist and Popular Science Writer and Author - Bill McKibben
American Environmentalist and Writer
- Al Worden
Apollo 15 Astronaut
