Archive for May, 2009
Reporter's Notes: Crash Landing
When the LCROSS satellite, nicknamed Centaur, smacks into the south pole of the moon in late October, it is expected to produce a plume of dust 37 miles high, which may be visible from Earth with a good backyard telescope. It will be visible in an arc from Hawaii to Texas.
Post on May 29, 2009 by David Gorn
2 Top Kitchen Appliance Energy Myths De-bunked
Should you wave goodbye to your old microwave? Who's more energy efficient with the dishes– you or your dishwasher?
Post on May 29, 2009 by Jim Gunshinan
Where the (Waste) Water Goes
Which treatment plants have had problems with unintentional spills of untreated water into the Bay? Find out on our online map of Bay Area publicly-owned sewage treatment plants and spills.
Post on May 26, 2009 by Rachel Zurer
Producer's Notes: Wastewater Woes – Bye-Bye, Poo-Poo!
I learned that one of the main reasons for so many sewage spills in San Francisco Bay is that those of us who use and depend on the sewage system, don’t really understand it.
Post on May 26, 2009 by Amy Miller
Penny Wise, Science Foolish
The economy is in the tank and so the cuts at schools begin. And of course one of the first things on the chopping block is anything that can keep kids interested in science.
Post on May 26, 2009 by Dr. Barry Starr
Reporter's Notes: Sea Lion Rescue
For these notes, I thought I'd focus on something that didn’t make it into the sea lions radio broadcast: the necropsy. Each year the Marine Mammal Center treats somewhere between 600-1000 animals, including California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, Northern elephant seals, and steller sea lions. About half of them are treated successfully at the [...]
Post on May 22, 2009 by Amy Standen
Calling all Psocoptera! Science Book Clubs in the Bay Area
Lively discussion and science books, it's a good combination.
Post on May 22, 2009 by Kishore Hari
Hubble Gets a New Lease on Space
Hubble Space Telescope gets upgrades and repairs… for the last time.
Post on May 22, 2009 by Ben Burress
Producer's Notes: Asthma
Researchers are still very much working to figure out what, besides changes in the way asthma is diagnosed, might account for the 160 percent rise in the rate of asthma in children younger than five.
Post on May 19, 2009 by Gabriela Quirós
Producer's Notes: Seahorse Sleuths
This planet may have seemed endlessly bountiful 2000 years ago, but today we can no longer afford to take the survival of non-human species for granted.
Post on May 19, 2009 by Joan Johnson
Reporter's Notes: Do-It-Yourself Mini-Satellites
It's a classic engineering story – a garage inventor spends years working in isolation, only to produce something that gets the attention of the world. Ok, the CubeSat story may not be quite as romantic, but it does have a lot of the same ingredients.
Post on May 15, 2009 by Lauren Sommer
LEED or Get Out of the Way
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has become so popular and well known that many cities now require that new municipal buildings be built to LEED standards. But do these buildings actually save energy?
Post on May 15, 2009 by Jim Gunshinan
An Ode to Enrico Fermi
The concept of the "Fermi Problem"–a hard question made readily accessible by back-of-the-envelope calculations and familiar knowledge–is still powerful in physics and beyond. Science teachers routinely use these types of questions as brain teasers.
Post on May 14, 2009 by Christopher Smallwood
Those Intermittent Renewables – Part 2
"We believe energy storage is the next big thing," says Craig Horne, CEO of EnerVault, a Sunnyvale startup. His company is developing a battery that could help solve a renewable energy problem (check out our previous post): how to keep electricity flowing when we need it, even as more of it comes from sources we can't control. Horne was a panelist at a UC Berkeley-Stanford sponsored CleanTech Conference about energy storage held last week at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science.
Post on May 13, 2009 by Rachel Zurer
Being Green on the Way to Work
On Thursday, May 14th, expect a jump in the number of bikes on the road in San Francisco. The reason for the inflation? Bike to Work Day.
Post on May 13, 2009 by Cat
Producer's Notes: Randy Davis on Your Photos on Quest
Cycling and photography are two passions of mine that I ardently pursue in my free time, so it was only natural that I felt an immediate kinship with Your Photo on QUEST's featured photographer Randy Davis.
Post on May 12, 2009 by Jenny Oh
Producer's Notes: California's Lost Salmon
While producing our story on these magnificent fish we had the privilege to witness the incredibly dedicated conservation fishery biologists at the Don Clausen Fish Hatchery at Lake Sonoma. Sadly, it seems that much of their work may have gone for naught.
Post on May 12, 2009 by Chris Bauer
Fearing 1918
A lot of people have been commenting about the apparent overreaction of governments to the swine flu. Why go to such extreme measures to deal with simple influenza? The reason has to do with the flu pandemic of 1918-1919.
Post on May 11, 2009 by Dr. Barry Starr
Reporter's Notes: Sudden Oak Death
There is no proven cure for Sudden Oak Death. But that doesn't mean you can't find people selling cures. In fact, the Internet is full of theories – and their related products – that explain how to treat Sudden Oak Death. The problem with them, says UC Berkeley researcher Matteo Garbelotto, is that they don't work. And in fact, he adds, they could actually harm people's backyard oak trees.
Post on May 08, 2009 by David Gorn
Shooting the Moon
Launching a spacecraft bound for the Moon with the deliberate intention of striking the Moon in a spectacular impact! Sounds like something out of a Jules Verne novel…
Post on May 08, 2009 by Ben Burress
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