Education, Fun at Autumn Sea Fair

A “walk” through a kelp forest, a Baja whale watch discussion and a variety of educational and entertaining games will among the highlights of the annual Autumn Sea Fair sponsored by the Cabrillo Marine Museum.

Nearly two dozen organizations will be on hand to answer questions and have informational displays on marine life and ocean conservation at the daylong event Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Call (310) 548-7563.

ASTRONOMY

UCLA Prof. Eric Becklin will discuss “Infrared Searches for Brown Dwarfs and Low Mass Stars” at an astronomy research colloquium presented at Caltech, Room 201 E. Bridge, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Call (818) 356-4652.

The fall skies will be inside when the Valley College Astronomy Club presents a planetarium program on the night sky at the campus planetarium Friday at 8 p.m. Call (818) 781-1200, ext. 335.

On Saturday, the Moorpark College Astronomy program will highlight the autumn stars and constellations at the Charles Temple Observatory on campus at 7:30 p.m. Call (805) 378-1408.

ORNITHOLOGY

Ornithologist Kimball Garrett, of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, will present “Birding the Los Angeles River--Past, Present and Future,” at the Los Angeles Audubon Society meeting at Plummer Park tonight at 7:30. Call (213) 876-0202.

ANTHROPOLOGY

“The Consequences of Columbus: A Clash of Cultures,” will be discussed by anthropologist Brian Fagan at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets may be obtained in advance. Call (805) 682-4711, ext. 316.

SCIENCE POLICY

Dr. Paul Billings, chief of medical genetics at the California Pacific Medical Center, will discuss “Rumor of Illness: Disease in the Genetic Age,” at a Caltech seminar on science, ethics and public policy Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Judy Library, 110 Baxter, on campus. Call (818) 356-4652.

HEALTH/MEDICINE

The latest approaches to breast imaging relating to the diagnosis of breast cancer will be presented by Dr. Myra Feffer at the meeting of Breast Cancer Recovery Plus on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Center for Women’s Health in Culver City. Call (310) 478-9463 or (310) 479-3846.

ENGINEERING

“Robotic Machines That Crawl, Walk and Slither,” is the topic of a presentation by Joel Burdick, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Caltech, at an engineering honors colloquium at USC’s Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, Room 106, Friday at 1 p.m. Call (213) 740-4710.