Radio
Reporter's Notes: Tracking Urban Lions
It's amazing that such large animals can live so near to urban areas and remain unseen – particularly since these animals inspire such fear and alarm whenever there is a reported sighting.
Post on Jan 09, 2009 by David Gorn
Last Minute Rules
The Bush Administration has recently passed dozens of so-called "midnight regulations" – last-minute rules and amendments. Many of those new laws affect the environment, including a change to the Endangered Species Act that has California environmentalists deeply worried.
Audio Report on Jan 05, 2009 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: Last Minute Rules
The Bush Administration has recently passed dozens of so-called "midnight regulations" – last-minute rules and amendments. Many of those new laws affect the environment, including a change to the Endangered Species Act that has California environmentalists deeply worried.
Post on Jan 02, 2009 by David Gorn
Building Blocks Go Green
Some of the most common building materials – drywall, steel, cement – are among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Manufacturing them requires vast amounts of energy. Now, several Silicon Valley start-ups are looking for cleaner solutions and some of their efforts are drawing major venture capital.
Audio Report on Dec 22, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: Building Blocks Go Green
I got interested in this story after hearing Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla speak at a conference this fall in Sausalito. He explained how he decides where to invest in green tech and it was fascinating. He and other top venture capitalists think they can help stop global warming and make a ton of money at the same time.
Post on Dec 19, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
Dialing in on Traffic
Drivers are increasingly looking to their cell phones for advice on steering clear of heavy traffic. New technology from UC Berkeley uses cell phones to plot traffic patterns, giving a real-time picture of how long it takes to get from place to place. QUEST takes a ride with an early adopter.
Audio Report on Dec 15, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: Dialing in on Traffic
The pilot project at UC Berkeley called Mobile Millennium uses cell phones as data points to show traffic patterns in real time. To become an early adopter of the technology, you must have an unlimited data plan on a mobile phone with a GPS system.
Post on Dec 12, 2008 by David Gorn
Get the Soot Out
That black, sooty exhaust from old diesel trucks may be a thing of the past. A landmark decision expected next week at the state Air Resources Board would mean California truckers must retrofit their diesel rigs at a price tag of about $5 billion. The cost is high, but given the health complications from diesel emissions, air pollution regulators feel they can't afford not to act.
Audio Report on Dec 08, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: Get the Soot Out
It's not just truckers that will have to spend a lot of money to retrofit their diesel engines. And quite a few trucks on California roads will actually be unaffected by a new California diesel regulation. The California Air Resources Board is expected to vote on a new diesel-emissions regulation when the board meets on December 11 and 12 in Sacramento.
Post on Dec 05, 2008 by David Gorn
UCSF Researcher Wins Nobel Prize
UPDATE: Elizabeth Blackburn, a professor of biology and physiology at the University of California-San Francisco, on Monday was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for solving the mystery of how chromosomes protect themselves from degrading when cells divide. Blackburn was featured in this December QUEST radio report about the aging of HIV patients.
Audio Report on Dec 01, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: The Graying of HIV
Some 30 researchers from the University of California-San Francisco and the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology have come together to investigate why HIV-positive patients, who are now living longer lives thanks to anti-retroviral drugs, seem to be aging faster than their uninfected peers.
Post on Nov 26, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós
Underwater Laboratory
In Monterey Bay, scientists have successfully launched a deep-sea laboratory unlike anything in the world. The $13 million, unmanned lab is expected to revolutionize the way ocean research is done. Scientists ran 32 miles of cable from the shoreline to collect data and to provide uninterrupted power to remote robots, seismometers and real-time video of a world deep below the ocean.
Video on Nov 24, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff
Reporter's Notes: Underwater Laboratory
The Eye in the Sea is one of the coolest, gee-whiz scientific projects you'll see. It's part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's so-called MARS project (that stands for Monterey Accelerated Research System). MARS is an undersea laboratory, set up deep on the sea floor about 30 miles offshore from Monterey.
Post on Nov 21, 2008 by David Gorn
Looking for Mars Life on Planet Earth
Last week, NASA declared the Mars Phoenix Lander mission completed as the lander succumbed to Martian winter and lost radio contact. NASA scientists are already preparing their next mission: to send a rover to search for evidence of life on Mars. But to help decide what signs to look for, scientists are studying extreme life forms on our own planet.
Video on Nov 17, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff
Reporter's Notes: Looking for Mars Life on Planet Earth
When I hear about searching for alien life, it's hard not to think about all those science fiction movies with little green men and Earth-destroying spacecraft. But it's an idea that's far from science fiction for scientists at NASA Ames.
Post on Nov 14, 2008 by Lauren Sommer
Food Safety
Recent scares over melamine-laced cookies from China and salmonella-tainted Mexican jalapenos have raised stark questions: Who's monitoring the safety of imported food? And does the system work?
Audio Report on Nov 10, 2008 by Amy Standen from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes: Food Safety
We put this story on the calendar back in September, before melamine-tainted milk started making headlines in China. We'd been planning to focus on criticism of FDA's handling of imported fresh produce, and had to recast the piece when it became clear that the concerns around food safety were much broader.
Post on Nov 07, 2008 by Amy Standen
Oil Spill Anniversary
It's been a year since 53,000 gallons of oil from the Cosco Busan cargo ship spilled into the San Francisco Bay. More than half of that heavy bunker fuel is still around. Now, one challenge is trying to put the long-term effects of the spill into dollar terms, and then seek a settlement with the ship's owners. Officials say this work may set the national standard for handling man-made crises.
Audio Report on Nov 04, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
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
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
