Engineering
Reporter's Notes for Energy Storage: The Holy Grail
Energy storage (through batteries) is something we use everyday in our cell phones and computers. So it may be a little surprising that when it comes to the electric grid, storing energy is something that's rarely done.
Post on Jul 30, 2010 by Lauren Sommer
Computer Memory Poised to Get Shock Therapy?
In recent years, scientists have been playing around with more exotic forms of data storage. It turns out that some very specialized materials are not only like to be magnetically ordered, but are also naturally charged.
Post on Jul 29, 2010 by Christopher Smallwood
Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf Star at San Jose Electric Car Convention
After years of stops and starts, electric cars and plug-in hybrids are on the cusp of a new era of mainstream acceptance, starting this year.
Post on Jul 28, 2010 by Sheraz Sadiq
Homegrown Particle Accelerators
QUEST journeys back to find out how physicists on the UC Berkeley campus in the 1930s, and at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the 1970s, created "atom smashers" that led to key discoveries about the tiny constituents of the atom and paved the way for the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
Video on Jul 27, 2010 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Producer's Notes: Homegrown Particle Accelerators
If you’re enthralled by the Large Hadron Collider, you’ll want to watch QUEST’s story on atom smashers.
Post on Jul 27, 2010 by Gabriela Quirós
Post on Jul 21, 2010 by Cat
Solar Heats Up in S.F.
The solar industry has descended on the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco this week. QUEST Senior Radio Editor Andrea Kissack reports from the Intersolar North America Conference and Expo.
Post on Jul 13, 2010 by Andrea Kissack
Slowing Down PACE
The Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE) is being blocked for the time being by, of all things, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, holders of about half of the home mortgages in the country and a major player in the financial crisis that we are still recovering from.
Post on Jul 09, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
California On the Green Cutting Edge Again
The eyes of the nation are once again upon California for making bold steps in the water efficiency, energy efficiency, and global climate change arenas.
Post on Jun 25, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Finding a Home for Big Solar – Part One
California has set ambitious goals for a transition to clean, renewable energy: 33 percent by 2020. Some are skeptical that the goal is within reach.QUEST and Climate Watch continue to examine the promise and pitfalls of this historic transformation. Craig Miller reports on one Silicon Valley company's controversial proposal for Panoche Valley.
Audio Report on Jun 21, 2010 by Craig Miller from QUEST Northern California
Web Extra: Marine Sanctuary Patrol Flight Slideshow
Check out behind-the-scenes photos from Science on the SPOT's "Marine Sanctuary Patrol Flight" story.
Slideshow on Jun 17, 2010 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Marine Sanctuary Patrol Flight
The Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine sanctuaries cover more than 9,500 square miles of ocean habitat. Patrolling such an immense area by boat would take days, but now sanctuary managers are taking to the air in a rugged de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter bush plane to get a bird's eye view.
Video on Jun 17, 2010 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
A Realistic Look at Geothermal Heat Pumps
You can do just fine with a medium-efficiency furnace and burn much less fuel than you would with a high-end system—like a geothermal system—and a leaky house.
Post on Jun 11, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Dancing Within White Noise
Last week, I traveled to Los Angeles to attend the American Association of Museum Annual Meeting and Museum Expo. This year’s theme was Museums without Borders and the pulse of many of the workshops focused on exploring the connections between cultures and genres.
Post on Jun 03, 2010 by Cat
Post on May 28, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Has the Hydrogen Highway Become a Good Idea Again?
Now, after an exciting discovery at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the hydrogen highway is a good idea whose time may have come around.
Post on May 14, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Field Notes From New Orleans
Historians will one day come to view the post-Katrina rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as the first major example of green design and technologies.
Post on Apr 30, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Smog Checks Made Easy
This month Governor Schwarzenegger faces a stack of proposed legislation awaiting his signature. One of those bills has to do with the car you may be sitting in this very moment. It's a proposed change to California's annual smog check program which, as Amy Standen reports in this holiday rebroadcast, is due for a tune up.
Audio Report on Apr 12, 2010 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
The New Bay Bridge: Earthquake Makeover
The new self-anchored suspension bridge being built to replace the vulnerable eastern span of the Bay Bridge is scheduled to open in 2013 and will be seismically and aesthetically revolutionary in its design. QUEST explores the engineering features that will give the new bridge the strength and flexibility to withstand the next "big one."
Video on Apr 06, 2010 by Jon Fromer from QUEST Northern California
Behind the Scenes with the Mythbusters
Guest blogger Michael Kadel chronicles our behind-the-scenes visit to our explosive San Francisco neighbors, the Mythbusters.
Post on Apr 02, 2010 by Craig Rosa
