Radio
Can Heroes Be Made?
If there is one thing Stanford Professor Phillip Zimbardo is known for, it's that normal people can be turned into sadists. Can he leave a more optimistic legacy and prove the opposite to be true?
Post on Feb 18, 2011 by Amy Standen from QUEST Northern California
Land Preservation on the Chopping Block
For more than four decades, much of California's ranchland has been protected by the Williamson Act. But with the state's budget woes, its funding is threatened – and that has both ranchers and environmentalists concerned.
Audio Report on Feb 14, 2011 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Local Cheese Makers Fear a Raw Deal
After a series of high-profile recalls, the FDA says it's reconsidering rules that allow cheese makers to use unpasteurized milk in their products. That could mean big changes in Northern California, which has become a hub of artisanal cheese making.
Audio Report on Feb 07, 2011 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Local Cheese Makers Fear a Raw Deal
Pasteurization may kill microbes like e.coli, but, they say, it also kills a cheese’s terroir, the unique taste associated with a particular place.
Post on Feb 04, 2011 by Amy Standen
A Happy Medium For Solar
Solar power is booming in California. Last year, state officials approved an unprecedented amount of new solar energy. But large solar farms and small home rooftop installations have run into challenges. As Lauren Sommer reports, that's why a new sector of solar is emerging — one that benefits from being in the middle.
Audio Report on Jan 31, 2011 by Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California
How CFLs Got Their Bad Rap
This month begins America's long goodbye to the incandescent light bulb. The most common replacement bulbs, CFLs, are just as bright and warm-colored as the old incandescents. So why do so many people complain about them?
Audio Report on Jan 24, 2011 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
How CFLs Got Their Bad Rap
CFLs — maligned for their industrial color and low-quality manufacturing — deserve better.
Post on Jan 21, 2011 by Amy Standen
Goodbye to the Bevatron
With the demolition of the Bevatron, a chapter of the Bay Area's high-level physics research comes to a close.
Post on Jan 13, 2011 by Amy Standen
California's Basement Bargains on Home Efficiency
Once upon a time, the job of your local utility — say, PG&E, or SMUD in Sacramento was simple: to sell you energy. Well, that business model is changing. Amy Standen reports.
Audio Report on Jan 10, 2011 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
California's Basement Bargains on Home Efficiency
After spending hundreds of millions of ratepayer dollars flooding the market with CFL light bulbs, California utilities are stepping up their efficiency game.
Post on Jan 06, 2011 by Amy Standen
Visiting the Dentist Chair of the Future
It probably goes without saying: the dentist's chair isn't the most popular place to visit. But going the dentist may soon be a very different experience. As Lauren Sommer reports, researchers at the University of California San Francisco are developing new technology that may make dentists' drills less common.
Audio Report on Jan 03, 2011 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Visiting the Dentist Chair of the Future
It probably goes without saying — the dentist’s chair isn’t the most popular place to visit. But going to the dentist may one day be a very different experience.
Post on Jan 03, 2011 by Lauren Sommer
California's Redwoods Face Climate Change
After a century of logging, California's old growth redwood forests are only a fraction of what they once were. Today, they remain a narrow coastal band that extends from Monterey Bay to the Oregon border. But redwoods are facing a new threat. As Lauren Sommer reports, scientists are trying to understand how these trees are responding to a changing climate.
Audio Report on Dec 20, 2010 by from QUEST Northern California
How Jet Lag Resets the Body Clock
If you plan to take any long plane trips this holiday season, here are a few things to keep in mind: jet lag, scientists say, often hits women harder than men. The direction you're flying matters, too. Jet lag is worse when traveling from west to east. In fact, studies suggests that jet lag can do a lot more than just wear us out
Audio Report on Dec 13, 2010 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
How Jet Lag Resets the Body Clock
Evolutionarily speaking, there is nothing natural about flying 600 miles per hour, crossing entire continents in the space of a day.
Post on Dec 10, 2010 by Amy Standen
Fish and Fishermen Go To Market
California fishermen once hauled in groundfish as if there were an unlimited supply, but now fish stocks have plummeted. Beginning in January, fishermen in California, Oregon and Washington will try something new. They'll become owners of the fishery, much like shareholders in a company. But as Lauren Sommer reports, not everyone is happy about it.
Audio Report on Dec 06, 2010 by Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California
Building an Artificial Leaf
At UC Berkeley, scientists studying how to feed our growing need for energy have turned to a surprising source. As Lauren Sommer reports, researchers there are trying to produce the next generation of green power by mimicking something every weekend gardener works to clean up.
Audio Report on Nov 29, 2010 by Lauren Sommer from QUEST Northern California
When Teaching Climate Gets Controversial
In the wake of mid-term elections, most pundits agree that a national climate change policy is farther from reach. Several science museums and aquariums are currently showing exhibits on climate change in an effort to educate the public on this complicated topic. But as Marjorie Sun reports, these institutions have to walk a fine line through a thicket of sensitive issues.
Audio Report on Nov 22, 2010 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Teaching Climate Change
The California Academy of Sciences and the Monterey Bay Aquarium have a big advantage that some educational institutions in other parts of the country do not: most of their local visitors believe that climate change is real.
Post on Nov 19, 2010 by Quest Radio
New Images from Inside the Brain
On Wednesday, scientists at Stanford Medical School released new images they’ve produced showing a slice of a mouse’s cerebral cortex.
Post on Nov 17, 2010 by Amy Standen
