QUEST Lab
Behind-the-scenes tours of local science, environment, and technology innovations.
QUEST Lab: Engineering Fire
In a dark lab at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, engineers and mathematicians are developing new burners and studying different flames in hopes of better understanding the power of fire and how to make the most efficient flame possible.
Video on Sep 27, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: The Shaking Table at UC Berkeley
Khalid Mosalam and his colleagues at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center's Shaking Table Laboratory are helping to make communities safer in an earthquake.
Video on Sep 20, 2011 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Properties of Plastic
Exploratorium Staff Scientist Julie Yu changes and manipulates the physical and chemical properties of plastic bottles by exposing them to heat. This is how plastic bags and bottles can be recycled and used over and over again.
Video on May 25, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Bridge Thermometer
The roadway across the Golden Gate Bridge rises and falls as much as 16 feet depending on the temperature. When the sun hits the bridge, the metal expands and the bridge cables stretch. As the fog rolls in, the cables contract and the bridge goes up. Curators from the Outdoor Exploratorium in San Francisco have set up a scope two miles away so you can see how the bridge is moving up or down depending on the weather.
Video on May 04, 2010 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Speed of Sound
Along with cable cars and seagulls, the Golden Gate Bridge foghorn is one of San Francisco's most iconic sounds. But did you know that if you hear that foghorn off in the distance, you can calculate how many miles you are from the bridge? Using the Speed of Sound exhibit at the Outdoor Exploratorium at Fort Mason, Shawn Lani shows us how sound perception is affected by distance.
Video on Apr 06, 2010 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Newton's Laws of Motion
Paul Doherty of the Exploratorium performs a "sit-down" lecture on one of Sir Issac Newton's most famous laws.
Video on Jul 14, 2009 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: The Resonator
Quest goes to the Exploratorium to learn how and why helium changes the sound of your voice.
Video on May 19, 2009 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Five-Cent Battery
How much electrical power will a nickel buy you? This week the Exploratorium shows us how to make an LED flashlight battery for only five cents.
Video on Mar 24, 2009 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
QUEST Lab: Aerogel
It looks like frozen smoke. And it's the lightest solid material on the planet. Aerogel insulates space suits, makes tennis rackets stronger and could be used one day to clean up oil spills.
Video on Apr 01, 2008 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
