Robots! NightLife

Wire your circuits for a night of robotic revelry. Meet the OrbSWARM, a herd of autonomous beings that will flock, flirt, dance and interact with the crowd; and a crew of humanoid robots, DIY Mars Rover, and autonomous tabletop bugs supplied by the organizers of Robogames (the Olympics of the robot world). Watch out for robotic "land sharks" roaming through the darkness, and for a new perspective check out The Simple Act of Making a Mark, a recursive drawing machine that abstracts and automates the creative process, created by Alan Rorie of Almost Scientific. Also, don't miss the Chakratron and the Sunflower Robots in the Piazza. In the planetarium, learn about robot explorers of the solar system. Music by The Polish Ambassador, plus a Pixel Memory DJ set.  

Event Schedule

6-8pm Rainforests of the World (Last entry at 7:45pm)

6-10pm Pixel Memory DJ Set/ East Pavilion

6-10pm Tea Time Cocktail Tour/ Locations Below

6:30-10pm OrbSWARM, The Simple Act of Making a Mark, Simple Bots, Academy Robotics & Humanoid Robots/ African Hall

6:30pm Robot Explorers of the Solar System/ Planetarium

7-8pm Robotic Sharks/ Aquarium

7-10pm Robots! Chakratron, Sunflowers & Robotic Sharks/ Piazza

7pm Science Love Stories: Urchins & Sand Dollars/ Project lab

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story/ Planetarium

8-10pm The Polish Ambassador/ Piazza

Buy Tickets to NightLife on February 23rd

Robots! in African Hall

6:30-10pm African Hall

OrbSWARM
The SWARM of autonomous beings by their very nature will have emergent and complex behavior. They will flock , flirt, dance and interact, and their actions will surprise and astonish even us, their creators. They are simple, but together they will behave in ways more complex than we can predict. A lot like LIFE.

The Simple Act of Making a Mark
Dr. Alan Rorie is a designer, artist and scientist whose work focuses on the intersection between science, art and education. He founded Almost Scientific, a science and art collaborative, after someone told him his method of working was “very scientific.” “I know how science works,”  he replied. “This isn’t scientific–it’s almost scientific.”

Humanoid Robot Demos by RoboGames
RoboGames is the Olympics of Robots, which features a competition between the best minds from around the world in over 50 different events:  combat robots, fire-fighters, LEGO bots, hockey bots, walking humanoids, soccer boys, sumo bots, and event androids that do kung-fu.

This night, they'll have many robots in tow including humanoid robots, DIY Mars Rover, autonomous tabletop bugs, and a combat robot (with battle scars!).

Don't miss RoboGames next event, BarBot 2012, March 2-3rd. 

Cartoonists Drawing NightLife Guests as Robots!
Michael Capozzola, Jonathan Lemon, Kraig Rassmussen, and Wednesday Kirwan will be on-hand to draw NightLife guests looking like robots!

Robots! in the Piazza

7-10pm Piazza

Chakratron
The Chakratron is a huge, crystal Buddha with mesmorizing lights shining from within.  When guests give the Buddha an offering and hold its hand, it will tell them their fortune.  

Sunflower Robots  
See some amazingly beautiful sunflower robots by Stefano Corazza which move to face light and then glow!  They’ve been featured at Burning Man, Coachella, and other many other festivals.

7-8pm Aquarium / 8:45-10pm Piazza

Robotic "land sharks"
Beware of the sharks! Designed by Todd Williams, these robotic "land sharks" will knock your socks off as they roam through the darkness of the aquarium and later in the Piazza.

The Polish Ambassador

8-10pm Piazza

The Polish Ambassador is a beat machine from the future. Hailing simultaneously from the far reaches of other dimensional Universes and... Oakland, California, this dude drops his own unique blend of electro-funked, glitch-tweaked, wobble-freaked breakbeats that will have you dropping that bottom like it was 92.....3092, that is.

The Ambassador builds all of his live sets from a monstrous stash of original drums, bass, synth, and vox lines. "No Genre Left Behind," Sugalski jokes as he blends elements of funk, glitch, idm, hip hop, 80s music, jungle, and dub into a beat soup that will instigate healthy doses of booty shake and fist pump.

Claiming to be Poland's ambassador to the Universe, Sugalski has released 6 studio albums, 5 of them independently. Diplomatic Immunity in 2007, The Phantasmal Farm in 2008, I Found Him. Now I Must Kill Him in 2009, Mating Season (released under the Ample Mammal alias) and First Words in 2010. In 2011, Sugalski released his sixth record (Future, Sex, Computers) with a major lablel, 1320 Records with follow up remix record forthcoming this Fall. All 6 albums have obtained favorable press and achieved regular rotation on college, independent, and internet radio, and more than a dozen songs have been placed in nationally televised commercials.

Synthesizers and a pure spirit are the Ambassador's primary weapons. Join his army and help Polish annihilate bad beats marring the earth with shame and disgrace.

Pixel Memory DJ Set

6-10pm East Pavilion

Pixel Memory is a live electronic trio based in San Francisco, California (Lisa Greyson- vocals; Austin Fraser- keyboard, production; Joe Gray- drums). Their sound is at once dark yet glam, synthesizing the best elements of synthpop, dark disco, and modern underground house music, influenced by Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, and The Knife. In the live setting, dancefloor-primed productions combine with hypnotic live vocals and pounding drums, fusing the organic and the technological.

Tea Time Cocktail Tour

6-10pm

Lobby Bar
Ginger Chamomile Fizz
Featuring Numi Chamomile Lemon Tea, Skyy Ginger Vodka, lemon juice, honey, soda & Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters

Aquarium Bar
Moroccan Mint Daisy
Featuring Numi Moroccan Mint Tea, ORO Pisco Torantel, lemon juice, Luxardo Maraska Cherry Liqueur, honey & Bitter Truth Creole Bitters

Swamp Bar
Lavender Rose Collins
Featuring Numi White Rose Tea, Karlsson's "Virgin Potato" Vodka, lavender infused honey, soda & Bar Keep Lavender Spiced Bitters

Planetarium Bar
Desert Lime Rickey
Featuring Numi Desert Lime & Ginger Lemon Teas, ORO Pisco Alcholado, soda, lime & Peychaud's Bitters

3rd Floor/VIP Bar
Jasmine Gimlet
Featuring Numi Jasmine Green Tea, Oxley Gin, lime juice, honey & fresh mint

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm Robot Explorers of the Solar System

Humans don’t travel well in the cold, dangerous vacuum of space, so we send robot explorers in our stead—from the Voyager spacecraft to the Galileo, Cassini, and Dawn missions, our machines have sent back remarkable discoveries from planets, asteroids, comets, and everything in between… throughout our Solar System. Join Casey Selden on a tour of the Solar System from robot-eyes’ view.

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

NightLife's Darkroom

Celebrate the plethora of innovative photographic techniques and technologies out there today, with a night devoted to the art and science of photography. Lytro will be on-hand to demonstrate their innovative light field camera and discuss the technology behind it. Artist Genevieve Quick will lend groups her hand-made cameras throughout the night and show photos on a plasma screen. Plus, check out unique analog cameras created by Lomography, a balloon camera rig designed by aerial photographer Michael Layefsky, and meet the folks from Instagram and 1000memories. Winners of the Academy’s month-long LoveLife photo contest will also be announced. Music and imagery in the coral reef and east pavilion by Slayers Club DJs. With deep roots in bass music, this collective of DJs, vocalists, VJs and all-around creative types throws a hell of a party.

Buy Tickets to NightLife on March 1st

Slayers Club

6-10pm Coral Reef & East Pavilion

Your friendly dance-floor destroyers are taking over the famed Academy of Sciences for a night of taxidermy / marine biology / and systematic categorization of plant species.

We've invited some of our closest mammalian friends to join us as we help educate the masses on... the benefits of superfauna and mega flora.

BRINGING THE NOISE ::::::::::::::::

Visuals by VJ ALL.OF.IT.NOW (Slayers Club / Public Works)

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm Earth Update

What’s the latest from Planet Earth? Using actual data from NASA, NOAA, and other sources, discover what’s up on our blue planet! An immersive look at current, news-making developments in climate study, biodiversity, and the geosciences will give new meaning to the word “planet-arium.” Tim Horn will take you around the globe to study the most amazing world of all… The one we live on! Presented by Tim Horn.

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

Bold Local NightLife

Celebrate the best of San Francisco by touring a series of “meta-hoods” throughout the Academy, organized by the crew at The Bold Italic.  In Twin Steeps, local coffee and tea purveyors will reveal the secrets to steeping success.  In Makers Point, meet local makers, designers and builders creating wondrous works in the City. In Ice Cream Basin, discover local ice cream geniuses who are charting new territory and embracing the science of dessert. In Artcelsior, artist Hugh Leeman curates a pop-up exhibit of street art.  In the planetarium, meet the local stars in your neighborhood.  And then some! Music by Britt Govea of folkYEAH.  

Buy Tickets to NightLife on March 8th

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm Who are the Stars in Your Neighborhood?

Believe it or not, we are still discovering stars in our neighborhood—as well as planets and other exotic objects that have eluded detection until recently. How have these discoveries changed our perspective on the universe around us? Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium, takes you on a voyage from our Solar System to outside our galaxy, gaining insight on our neighbors… And our neighborhood.

7:30 & 8:30pm Life: A Cosmic Story

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

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What everyone is Twittering right now...

• RT @calacademy_nl This week's NightLife is all about ROBOTS! http://t.co/DMm1Qv9v 16 hours ago
• @CLASSACTRESS @calacademy_nl @noisepopfest Such a great show last night!!! 4 days ago
• 3.1 - "NightLife's Darkroom" - Mar 1 @ California Academy of Sciences http://t.co/8mCbAMta via @calacademy_nl nl 4 days ago
• Thanks to @bloodhoundsf, @ComradeMalt, @PyramidBerkely, & @calacademy_nl for great nights last night. Much beer was poured and it was good. 4 days ago
• Good times! RT @epicsauce: Four hour marathon set at Cal Academy -- so much fun! Big thanks to @noisepopfest + @EOTB + @calacademy_nl nl 4 days ago

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NightLife VIP Tour

Want an entirely different NightLife experience? Join us on our NightLife VIP Tour. Tickets include admission to NightLife, a one-hour behind-the-scenes tour with a private viewing of the Academy's renowned gem and mineral collection and interaction with Academy researchers in the lab, express entry into the building, an open bar in a reserved cocktail area prior to the tour, VIP access to the Rainforest, and a reserved pass for the 8:30 Planetarium show.

$59.00/person – limited tickets available each week

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (building closes at 10:00 pm)

For more information, please click here.

NightLife Private Lounge

Looking for a great space to celebrate landing that big account, throw a birthday party, or just gather with all your old friends, all while enjoying San Francisco’s most exciting Thursday night event?  Rent out the NightLife Private Lounge. You’ll get early access to a premium private room with catering and bar service and access to our Thursday NightLife event. For more booking information contact Dan Kalin at (415) 379-5837 or dkalin@calacademy.org.