Health
Dynamic Duo: Antibiotics and Probiotics
Scientific evidence now suggests that taking probiotics with antibiotics can reduce the risk of negative side affects. In a recent combined study, people who took probiotics with antibiotics were 42% less likely to develop diarrhea. However, further research is needed to determine the most effective probiotics and dose.
Post on Dec 10, 2012 by Jennifer Huber from QUEST Northern California
Top KQED Science & QUEST Stories from 2012
From the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to killer whales, bicycles to cheese — it's been another year of diverse storytelling from the KQED Science and Environment team. Here's a round-up of the top 10 stories shared on our website (based on page views) that you've enjoyed in 2012.
Post on Dec 10, 2012 by Jenny Oh from KQED Science
Flame Retardants, Redux: From Toxic Couches to Buildings
Last June, Gov. Jerry Brown directed state agencies to change California's flammability standard to ensure fire safety without dousing furniture and other foam products with toxic chemicals. Now activists are focusing on an even bigger market for flame retardants: foam insulation in buildings.
Post on Nov 28, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
The Great Cancer Cell Mix Up
Under a microscope many cancer cells look the same. And since cell lines used in cancer research are anonymous, often shared informally between labs, the only way to definitively know where they came from is with DNA. But many scientists don't do this.
Audio Report on Nov 23, 2012 by Amy Standen from KQED Science
What Are Richmond Residents Breathing?
Chevron's Aug. 6 fire re-ignited questions many Richmond residents have asked for years. What does it mean to live next to the largest refinery on the West Coast? What are people living in the city breathing?
Audio Report on Nov 16, 2012 by Amy Standen from KQED Science
Nothing "Fishy" About Sustainable Seafood
Learn about what we can do to take care of our oceans, both for the fish and ourselves.
Post on Nov 09, 2012 by Sharol Nelson-Embry from QUEST Northern California
Frankenstein vs. Godzilla: What’s in Your Cereal Bowl?
In all of the recent discussion about genetically modified (GM) foods here in California, we’ve overlooked regular foods and how new traits are found (or created) in them. There isn’t usually a monk lovingly breeding peas in the Austrian countryside somewhere. Instead, more often than not, there is someone blasting a seed with radiation and/or harmful chemicals.
Post on Oct 31, 2012 by Dr. Barry Starr from QUEST Northern California
Playing Whack-a-Mole with Flame Retardants
Countless consumer products sold in California contain a flame retardant flagged as a possible carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. As of this week, finally, they must carry a warning that the chemical causes cancer. But is it enough when manufacturers simply replace one toxic chemical with another?
Post on Oct 31, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
Creepy Yet Compelling: Blood Vessels Blown in Glass
Halloween means time for gore! Blood, bones, brains and more! Severed fingers, severed toes, eyeballs and organs galore! But how accurate are all these loose bits of human anatomy in our front yards, costumes and punch bowls? Can we use that skeleton in the corner to bone up for a biology exam–or are we missing out on a tremendous opportunity to learn medical science?
Post on Oct 30, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Science Behind Vampire Myths
Why have people around the world always been fascinated by vampires? Did vampire tales begin as a way to explain frightening phenomena actually witnessed? Although there is no scientific evidence for vampires, there is some scientific basis for vampire folklore.
Post on Oct 29, 2012 by Jennifer Huber from QUEST Northern California
Be HEARD: A Rare Disease Science Challenge To Find Cures
Curing or even finding treatments for rare diseases is hard. Not necessarily because these diseases are any more complex than more common ones. It has more to do with the fact that there is very little profit to be made in helping people with these diseases.
Post on Oct 22, 2012 by Dr. Barry Starr from QUEST Northern California
Vaccine Waivers, Informed Consent and Public Health
Starting in 2014, California will require parents to see a health practitioner to learn the risks and benefits of vaccination before opting out of the state's immunization requirements. Public health officials hope that when parents learn the difference between science-based evidence and the uninformed myths so prevalent online and in the mainstream media, they'll decide to protect their children from the real risks of infectious disease, rather than worry about unfounded theoretical risks.
Post on Oct 17, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
Can Meditation Ease PTSD in Combat Vets?
The crisis of mental disorders such as PTSD has forced the military to rediscover therapies that would have considered from-the-fringes a generation ago.
Audio Report on Oct 12, 2012 by Amy Standen from KQED Science
SF Scientist Wins Nobel for Stem Cell Breakthrough
Shinya Yamanaka, a stem cell researcher at the Gladstone Institutes and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, has won this year's Nobel Prize in medicine.
Post on Oct 08, 2012 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Who is Qualified to Decide Scientific Matters?
In November, California voters need to decide whether or not GM foods should be labeled as such. They are making this decision even though a recent study shows that 49% of the people surveyed think that GM foods have genes whereas regular foods do not. Is this any way to run a democracy?
Post on Oct 08, 2012 by Dr. Barry Starr from QUEST Northern California
Think Pink? I’d Rather Raise a Stink
Every October, high-profile outlets from Ace Hardware to the NFL sell pink products to raise awareness and money for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Critics of "pinkwashing" urge consumers to ask just how much of that money goes to support breast cancer programs–and challenge us to move beyond awareness to action.
Post on Oct 03, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
Illustrating Science: Translating Knowledge Into Pictures
Allison Bruce has a wonderful job: she spends all day making pictures for scientists. Bruce started out in science herself, earning a chemistry degree from UC Davis. After college, she worked in an environmental lab, but she didn't enjoy it and turned to art classes "to keep from losing my mind," she says.
Post on Oct 02, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Science and the Flu: A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing
The first sniffles of flu season are upon us: a friend of mine was struck down, and couldn't join me in attending a science dialogue on Sunday night. This was darkly humorous, as the topic of the evening was pandemics.
Post on Sep 25, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Is Nail Biting a Pathology? Or Just a Bad Habit?
Nail biting — like skin picking and hair tending — stems from an evolutionarily adaptive behavior: grooming. But in "pathological groomers," as they're known in in the world of psychiatry, that healthy urge goes haywire.
Audio Report on Sep 14, 2012 by Amy Standen from QUEST Northern California
X-ray Microscope: Seeing Cells in 3-D
At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, scientists are using a cutting-edge microscope, the first of its kind in the world, to image whole cells in 3-D with the penetrating power of x-rays. The new images generated by the microscope are offering a deeper, more precise understanding of cellular structures and how they change with diseases.
Video on Sep 11, 2012 by Sheraz Sadiq from QUEST Northern California
