Environment
The Benefits of Radioactive Fallout
Wildlife seems to be thriving in the radioactive areas around Chernobyl. For now it looks like if animals had to choose, they'd choose radioactivity over humans.
Post on Jan 09, 2012 by Dr. Barry Starr from QUEST Northern California
Got Science on the Brain? Come Blog with QUEST
Got science on the brain? Come blog with us. KQED’s QUEST is looking to add new voices to our blog, which already offers commentary from our producers, reporters, and several writers from science organizations in our region. pply by February 1st.
Post on Jan 02, 2012 by Craig Rosa from QUEST Northern California
A Census for the Birds
Grab your binoculars and checklist! The annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is under way. During the last two weeks of the year, from dawn to dusk volunteers spread out over 22,000 count areas, including Peru, Haiti, the U.S. and Canada. Their tally is used by scientists to understand changes in bird populations.
Audio Report on Dec 30, 2011 by Andrea Kissack from QUEST Northern California
Got Mercury? The New EPA Ruling And The San Francisco Bay
This week, after decades of legal delays and foot dragging by the coal and power industry, the EPA unveiled a new rule protecting public health from mercury and other toxins.
Post on Dec 23, 2011 by David McGuire from QUEST Northern California
Top KQED QUEST Stories of 2011
From hackerspaces to banana slugs, flying telescopes to cheese – it's been a quite a diverse year of storytelling here at QUEST. Here's a round-up of the top 10 video and audio stories and blog posts that you've enjoyed from the past year.
Post on Dec 21, 2011 by Jenny Oh from QUEST Northern California
O Perfect Christmas Tree
The Berkeley students from the Forestry Club described their trees as “free range,” in contrast to trees from Christmas tree farms, which are painstakingly grown to be perfect.
Post on Dec 20, 2011 by Jennifer Skene from QUEST Northern California
Algae…Soylent Green…and the Future of Biofuel
Can a renewable plant really replace crude oil? Find out how algae is becoming the fuel of the future — grown like a farm crop.
Post on Dec 19, 2011 by Gary Hochman from QUEST Nebraska
Biofuels Face a Reality Check
Despite the buzz around biofuels, the industry been slow to scale up. But Bay Area researchers are making breakthroughs that could move us one step closer to having our cars run on fuels from plants.
Audio Report on Dec 16, 2011 by Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California
How To Wash That Energy Waste Right Out of Your Hair
For an individual, switching to a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner could save more than 730 gallons of water a year and save about $4 in energy costs.
Post on Dec 15, 2011 by Jim Gunshinan from QUEST Northern California
'Tis The Season for the Science of Holiday Lights
Learn about the science of holiday lights with Discovery Street Tours in December.
Post on Dec 15, 2011 by Cat from QUEST Northern California
Flowers to Pharmacy
The nation's first hospital in Philadelphia culled its archives to create a collection of medical and botanical texts from the 18th and early 19th century.
Post on Dec 09, 2011 by Taunya English from QUEST Philadelphia
Songbirds as a Measure of Farm Sustainability
John Quinn, a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explains how he collects and uses bird calls to establish an indicator for farm healthiness known as the Healthy Farm Index.
Post on Dec 06, 2011 by John Quinn from QUEST Nebraska
Tidepooling Trip Planner
QUEST blogger Andrew Alden’s recent post about Bay Area Tides got me thinking about pulling on my rubber boots and heading out to the intertidal during an upcoming low tide. In the next few weeks, we’ll get some really low tides during daylight hours—a great opportunity to see the organisms that live on the narrow edge between the land and the ocean.
Post on Dec 05, 2011 by Jennifer Skene from QUEST Northern California
Porpoises Return to San Francisco Bay
Harbor porpoises haven’t been seen in San Francisco Bay for more than 60 years. Now, they’re returning in growing numbers and researchers are working to understand why.
Audio Report on Dec 02, 2011 by Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California
Iron Mining Controversy in Northern Wisconsin
A pristine area in Northern Wisconsin next to Lake Superior, much prized for its clean water and wilderness, is also home to 25 percent of the country’s iron ore reserves, a commercial value of $200 billion.
Post on Dec 02, 2011 by Adam Schrager from QUEST Wisconsin
Bay Area Tides
The daily tides are the Bay's way of breathing, from its windpipe at the Golden Gate to its lungs, the wetlands from the Delta to the coast.
Post on Dec 01, 2011 by Andrew Alden from QUEST Northern California
USGS at the Forefront of Saving Bats From White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)
In the winter of 2007, residents of New York State began finding dead bats in their yards. Since then it’s estimated that more than a million bats have died from white-nose syndrome, a fuzzy white fungus that grows on their noses and wings.
Post on Dec 01, 2011 by Dr. Kimberli MIller from QUEST Wisconsin
Post on Nov 29, 2011 by David McGuire from QUEST Northern California
What’s So “Smart” About a Smart Home?
SmartHome Cleveland was designed to create a vision for sustainable technologies and practices that are available right now to people who are thinking about building or renovating their homes.
Post on Nov 28, 2011 by George Viebranz from QUEST Ohio
Science on the SPOT: National Wildlife Health Center Investigates
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center investigates animal die-offs and threats to endangered species through on-site investigation and necropsies–animal autopsy–at its headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.
Video on Nov 23, 2011 by Andy Soth from QUEST Wisconsin
