Aquarium Offers Look Inside a Kelp Forest

Most Southern Californians experience kelp only as the slippery, tangled stuff washed up on local beaches. But the kelp forests in nearby coastal waters are home to a dizzying array of marine life. A permanent exhibit at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro gives visitors a closer view.

“Kelp: California’s Golden Forest” provides a glimpse of life inside a kelp forest. Black sea bass, garibaldis, sea cucumbers and sunflower sea stars are among the animals that call the 3,200-gallon kelp forest tank home. Moray eel and octopuses are housed in separate tanks, and the story of their predator-prey relationship is recounted throughout the exhibit.

Visitors can learn about another kelp forest inhabitant, the sea otter, in displays included in the exhibit. Call (310) 548-7563.

PHYSICS

* Nobel Laureate Hans Bethe, professor emeritus at Cornell University and a physicist on the Manhattan Project, will discuss “The Making of the Bomb” at the Caltech Physics Research Conference, Ramo Auditorium, today at 4 p.m. Call (818) 395-4652.

HEALTH

* The UCLA Center on Aging will present a panel discussion on “The Immune System: The Key to Living Better Longer” in the RPB Auditorium at the Jules Stein Eye Institute on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. Reservations should be made by Tuesday. Call (310) 794-0676.

* “Plagues and People: The Battle Against Infectious Disease” will be the subject of the next Caltech Science, Ethics and Public Policy Seminar, Feb. 6 in the Baxter Lecture Hall at 4 p.m. Call (818) 395-4087.

ANTHROPOLOGY

* Primatologist Richard Wrangham will lecture on the origins of human violence, as discussed in his book “Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence,” at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Call (213) 744-3534.

ASTRONOMY, SPACE SCIENCE

* The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s planned 1997 projects, such as the Mars Global Surveyor and the Cassini mission to Saturn, will be the theme of the von Karman Lecture tonight at 7 in JPL’s von Karman Auditorium. Call (818) 354-5011.

* E. C. Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, will discuss the topic of his latest book, “Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings,” in a lecture co-sponsored by the Friends of the Observatory on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Planetarium Theater. For reservations call (818) 846-3686.

GEOGRAPHY

* John Goddard will talk about his exploration of the 2,700-mile Congo River in Zaire at the California Map Center in Santa Monica on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Call (310) 396-6277.

SCIENCE FOR KIDS

* Children ages 3 and 4, with an adult, can learn about the different kinds of animals at the zoo in classes at the Los Angeles Zoo on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Call (213) 666-4650, Ext. 267.

* At the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, the focus will be on feathers, insects and magnifying microscopic materials for children ages 3 and older who visit the Observation Station for ongoing activities Saturday and Sunday. Call (818) 449-9143.