Archive for October, 2008
Reporter's Notes: Oil Spill Anniversary
November is the month when thousands of migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway make their stop in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's also the month when herring arrive in the Bay in gigantic schools – tons and tons of the tiny fish. And November's the month last year when the Cosco Busan crashed, leaking 53,000 gallons of black goo into San Francisco Bay.
Post on Oct 31, 2008 by David Gorn
Science Event Pick: Wonderfest, The Bay Area Festival of Science
The first weekend of November brings one of my favorite hidden Bay Area gems: Wonderfest, the Bay Area Festival of Science.
Post on Oct 31, 2008 by Kishore Hari
QUEST's Environmental Election Round-Up
Unless you're one of the undecided voters, still dithering over your pick for the presidency, it's time to think about some of the other stuff on the ballot: the measures and propositions related to science and the environment. This blog is a round-up of QUEST and KQED's coverage of environmental election issues.
Post on Oct 31, 2008 by Jennifer Skene
A Wonderful Find in the Pelt Room
It was studying the Snow Leopard that made me fall in love with the big cat family and set me on a course to learn about conservation.
Post on Oct 31, 2008 by Cat
Living Life To The Extreme
Fish live in the below-freezing waters off Antarctica. How these beasts have adapted to their incredibly harsh environment? More specifically, what changes have happened in their DNA that allow them to live where no other animal could?
Post on Oct 27, 2008 by Dr. Barry Starr
Reporter's Notes: Closing the Science Gap
Stacy Morrow, who teaches fourth grade at Fair Oaks Elementary School in Redwood City did not need to tell me about her students' enthusiasm for science. It was obvious. Working in teams with a FOSS kit on magnetism and electricity, they could barely contain their excitement at powering a light bulb with a simple electrical circuit.
Post on Oct 24, 2008 by Amy Standen
Green Sushi
Modeled after the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s popular Seafood Watch Pocket Guide, the new sustainable sushi guide helps consumers make informed choices by categorizing seafood into three areas: Green (or best choice), Yellow (or good alternative) and Red (what to avoid). Just what kind of sushi you should avoid may surprise you.
Post on Oct 24, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
Mercury MESSENGER: The View Is Great; Wish You Were Here
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has made yet another swing past our Solar System's innermost planet, Mercury. But, like the traveler who just can't seem to get enough sightseeing in, this was another whirlwind flyby set to the furious tempo of a camera snapping pics–about 1200 in all…
Post on Oct 22, 2008 by Ben Burress
5 Things You Can Do to Help Science Education in the Bay Area
There are, of course, countless ways for concerned citizens to pitch in. As a former high school science teacher the five suggestions below are my personal recommendations – resources I wish I had known about when I was teaching and things I now give as someone who cares about students' understanding of science.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Jessica Neely
Producer's Notes for Make At Home: Tabletop Linear Accelerator
My favorite Make projects all seem to have something to do with things that other people might say "Don't try this at home." In this case we went out to the Make Magazine "Test Lab" to learn how to make a small steel ball fly across the room using magnets… good clean fun in my book.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Chris Bauer
Producer's Notes for Underwater Wilderness: Creating Marine Protected Areas
Through the eyes of these scientists, we witness the undersea life in bloom. They clearly have one of the best offices to go to work to each day.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Chris Bauer
Producer's Notes for Bio-inspiration: Nature as Muse
Bio-inspired design borrows its creative inspiration from models and systems in nature, that is, plant and animal parts that have been slowly tweaked for over 3.8 billion years. But that doesn't mean that nature's designs are perfect.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Joan Johnson
Reporter's Notes: Condor Return
By now, I am used to the usual suspects of species degradation: urban sprawl, loss of habitat, pollution, shrinking resources. Those are almost always given as the explanation for why a particular species is threatened or endangered. This surprised me.
Post on Oct 17, 2008 by David Gorn
The Most Efficient Home Is One That's Built Already
Making new homes more efficient is not enough. To solve our energy and environmental problems, we have to make our existing homes much more efficient.
Post on Oct 17, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
The Building is Platinum
The California Academy of Sciences is officially the greenest museum on the planet.
Post on Oct 15, 2008 by Cat
Producer's Notes for Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Big
There's a term – Singularity" – that is being used to describe the moment when technological progress will leapfrog and herald the creation of computers that not only achieve human-like intelligence, but also give rise to a progeny of computers who will be smarter then their digital forbears.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Sheraz Sadiq
Producer's Notes for Cool Critters: Fruit Bats
In honor of Halloween this month, Quest offers up a short story on bats. But these are not your screeching, swarming, bloodsucking Hollywood movie bats.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Joan Johnson
Safer Prenatal Testing
A new study out from Stanford (yay Stanford!) promises to revolutionize prenatal testing. Instead of looking at a fetus’ cells, the test looks at mom’s blood. More specifically, it looks at the small amounts of fetal DNA found in her blood.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Dr. Barry Starr
Reporter's Notes for HIV Research: Beyond the Vaccine
Although African Americans represent one eighth of the U.S. population, they make up half of the people living with HIV in the country, according to the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós
Reporter's Notes: The Hayward Fault
A lesser known cousin of the San Andreas, the Hayward fault is a creeper. Basically, it moves, slowly, along the surface but deep inside… it's locked until tension builds up and and it slips.
Post on Oct 10, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
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