Television
Bio-Inspiration: Nature as Muse
For hundreds of years, scientists have been poaching design ideas from structures in nature. Now, biologists and engineers at UC Berkeley are working together to design a broad range of new products, such as life-saving milli-robots modeled on the way cockroaches run and adhesives based on the amazing design of a gecko's foot.
Video on Oct 21, 2008 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
Producer's Notes for Make At Home: Tabletop Linear Accelerator
My favorite Make projects all seem to have something to do with things that other people might say "Don't try this at home." In this case we went out to the Make Magazine "Test Lab" to learn how to make a small steel ball fly across the room using magnets… good clean fun in my book.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Chris Bauer
Producer's Notes for Underwater Wilderness: Creating Marine Protected Areas
Through the eyes of these scientists, we witness the undersea life in bloom. They clearly have one of the best offices to go to work to each day.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Chris Bauer
Producer's Notes for Bio-inspiration: Nature as Muse
Bio-inspired design borrows its creative inspiration from models and systems in nature, that is, plant and animal parts that have been slowly tweaked for over 3.8 billion years. But that doesn't mean that nature's designs are perfect.
Post on Oct 21, 2008 by Joan Johnson
Underwater Wilderness: Creating Marine Protected Areas
California waters are some of the richest in the world. But declines in fish species have led state leaders to begin creating large protected areas, or "no fishing zones," similar to wilderness areas on land. Although controversial with some fishing groups, the zones may help bring back fish, birds and marine mammals currently on the brink.
Video on Oct 20, 2008 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
MAKE it at Home: Table-Top Linear Accelerator
QUEST teams up with Make Magazine to construct the latest must have, do-it-yourself device hacks and science projects. This week well show you how to make a tabletop linear accelerator that demonstrates the finer points of kinetic energy by shooting a steel ball.
Video on Oct 20, 2008 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Web Extra: High-Speed Rail on the Ballot
In this QUEST Web exclusive, we update a story we did last year on a plan to bring high-speed rail to California as voters head to the ballot boxes to decide the fate of Proposition 1A. Hop aboard to learn about the science behind high-speed rail travel and the obstacles that lie in its path.
Video on Oct 17, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Web Extra: A Dose of A.I.
In this QUEST web exclusive, Stanford University computer science professor and artificial intelligence (A.I.) researcher Daphne Koller explains how A.I. can be used for tasks that require sifting through a sea of data to arrive at a meaningful conclusion, be it diagnosis of a person's illness or assessing their fitness as a job candidate.
Video on Oct 14, 2008 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
HIV Research: Beyond the Vaccine
Over the past 15 years, the number of people who die of AIDS each year in the United States has dropped by 70 percent. But AIDS remains a serious public health crisis among low-income African-Americans, particularly women. QUEST meets two Bay Area research groups studying innovative approaches that could lead to new treatments and possibly a cure.
Video on Oct 14, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Producer's Notes for Cool Critters: Fruit Bats
In honor of Halloween this month, Quest offers up a short story on bats. But these are not your screeching, swarming, bloodsucking Hollywood movie bats.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Joan Johnson
Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Big
Though computers have gotten faster, smaller and more versatile, it's still a big challenge to get them to demonstrate intelligent behaviors. Will machines like robots ever match — or perhaps even exceed — the capabilities of the human brain?
Video on Oct 14, 2008 by Sheraz Sadiq from QUEST Northern California
Reporter's Notes for HIV Research: Beyond the Vaccine
Although African Americans represent one eighth of the U.S. population, they make up half of the people living with HIV in the country, according to the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute.
Post on Oct 14, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós
Cool Critters: Fruit Bats
Flying Foxes are a type of fruit bat – they subsist mainly off fruit juice which they obtain by squeezing pieces of the fruit pulp in their mouths. Quest visits the Oakland Zoo to meet their Malayan & Island Flying Foxes and find out more about these fascinating and charismatic critters.
Video on Oct 14, 2008 by Josh Rosen from QUEST Northern California
Producer's Notes- The Hayward Fault: Predictable Peril
So we know- or should know- the seismic risks of living in one of the most vibrant, diverse places in the U.S. Short of leaving the region, what can we do?
Post on Sep 30, 2008 by Sheraz Sadiq
Your Photos on QUEST: Cris Benton
Join QUEST in our latest photography feature about viewers like you who love documenting science, environment and nature here in the Bay Area. Meet architect and photographer Cris Benton. To document the rich colors of the south San Francisco Bay's salt ponds, he places his camera in a very unique position: suspended from a kite.
Video on Sep 30, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
The Hayward Fault: Predictable Peril
October 21st, 2008 marked the 140th Anniversary of the 1868 Hayward Earthquake. Geologists say that's important because major earthquakes happen on the Hayward fault every 140 years on average. With much of the East Bay on or near the fault, geologists and community members are working to prepare for what may be the next big one.
Video on Sep 30, 2008 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
The Physics of Sailing
Northern California has a storied, 500-year history of sailing. But despite this rich heritage, scientists and boat designers continue to learn more each day about what makes a sail boat move. Contrary to what you might expect, the physics of sailing still present some mysteries to modern sailors.
Video on Sep 30, 2008 by Josh Rosen from QUEST Northern California
Producer's Notes: Physics of sailing
It was another average Tuesday. I was sitting at my desk, looking at my calendar. Another day of budget meetings, returning emails, reviewing contracts, yawn. The usual buzz of production was going on around me, a crew going out to do a story about… sailing. Ah sailing, my favorite topic.
Post on Sep 30, 2008 by Joan Johnson
The Cal Acad's Master List
My position title finally caught up with my nebulous role – Manager, Special Programming. So when I was asked to help out with exhibits, I was up to the challenge. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!
Post on Sep 05, 2008 by Cat
Producer's Notes: Cal Academy Comes To Life
By the time I was ten years old I knew the old California Academy of Sciences building by heart. After countless birthday parties, field trips and family outings, my brother and I, along with our sugar-filled urchin gang of friends and cousins, could have led tours of "the Aquarium."
Post on Aug 19, 2008 by Chris Bauer
