Science on the SPOT
The Science on the SPOT original web video series from KQED's QUEST goes behind the scenes at local Bay Area labs, follows breaking discoveries, and gets you special access to obscure science locations and collections, plus much more.
Breakthrough Offers New Hope for Heart Repair
Scientists in San Francisco have coaxed mouse hearts to repair themselves from within.The breakthrough could lead to treatments for 5 million people in the United States whose hearts were damaged after they survived heart attacks.
Video on Apr 18, 2012 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Monarch Meetup
Monarch butterflies migrate from all over the western United States to overwinter along the California coast. Conservation Biologist Stu Weiss uses specialized photographic equipment to study what makes good monarch overwintering habitat.
Video on Apr 05, 2012 by Joshua Cassidy from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: National Wildlife Health Center Investigates
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center investigates animal die-offs and threats to endangered species through on-site investigation and necropsies–animal autopsy–at its headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.
Video on Nov 23, 2011 by Andy Soth from QUEST Wisconsin
Science on the SPOT: Resurrecting the Dead
QUEST travels to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to meet Linda Spurlock, an anatomist and forensic reconstruction artist who uses clay to re-construct the faces of ancient humans in order to show what they looked like when alive. She also sketches more recently deceased people using only their remains in order to help police solve crimes.
Video on Nov 09, 2011 by Toivo Motter from QUEST Ohio
Science on the SPOT: The Science of Salt Glaze Pottery
The art and science of salt glaze pottery requires skills and techniques acquired over generations of trial and error. Ben Owen III combines his family’s experiential knowledge of ceramics and additional scientific knowledge to create and improve his unique works of art.
Video on Oct 27, 2011 by Colleen Vasu from QUEST North Carolina
Science on the SPOT: Dark Matter: Inside the Compost Cycle
How does San Francisco’s 600 tons of compostable waste become a nutrient-rich material that improves the quality of our local wines? Agronomist Bob Shaffer, Northern California’s “compost guy,” takes QUEST into the composting process.
Video on Sep 06, 2011 by Kate Szrom from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Salt Creek Tiger Beetles
The Salt Creek tiger beetle is one of the most endangered species in the United States, with only 200 to 500 beetles left. They're found only in a small saline wetland area just north of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Video on Aug 26, 2011 by Perry Stoner from QUEST Nebraska
Science on the SPOT: Northern Pacific Rattlesnake Tracker
Katie Colbert, a naturalist at the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness, shares with us how she tracked dozens of Northern Pacific rattlesnakes and what surprised her about their movements and behaviors.
Video on Aug 17, 2011 by Michael Goode from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Rendezvous With Horseshoe Crabs
Watch as thousands of prehistoric horseshoe crabs take over a beach in Delaware.
Video on Aug 10, 2011 by Todd Vachon from QUEST Philadelphia
Science on the SPOT: Bats Beneath Us
Every summer, 250,000 bats take up residence under a freeway bridge in California's Central Valley. And each night, they exit the bridge in a stunning ribbon-like formation.
Video on Aug 03, 2011 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Green Eggs By The Gram – Sustainable Caviar
Once an exotic product associated with royalty and overfishing, caviar is now being farmed sustainably right here in California.
Video on Jul 27, 2011 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Sound Waves – Listening to Orcas
They are an icon of the Pacific Northwest, stirring a mix of fascination, awe and affection. Thousands of people come to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound just to catch a glimpse of the Southern Resident orcas that call these waters home.
Video on Jul 20, 2011 by Ethan Morris from QUEST Northwest
Science on the SPOT: Journey of the San Francisco Bay Trail
A dedicated group of outdoor lovers and trail planners is working to build a 500-mile trail around San Francisco Bay. Come along as QUEST hikes and bikes the newest section.
Video on Jul 12, 2011 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Lupe the Mammoth Comes to Life
In 2005, a partial skeleton of a juvenile mammoth was discovered along the Guadalupe River near downtown San Jose. A full-scale replica is now featured in a new exhibit at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. Learn more with Kaitlin Maguire from the UC Museum of Paleontology about these majestic creatures that roamed the Bay Area during the Ice Age.
Video on Jun 01, 2011 by Jenny Oh from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Banana Slugs Unpeeled
One of the most beloved and iconic native species within the old growth redwood forests is the Pacific Banana Slug. QUEST goes on a hunt to find and introduce Ariolomax dolichophallus, a bright yellow slug with a big personality.
Video on Apr 13, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Secrets of Sourdough
What is true sourdough bread? It's more than just the tangy flavor. Science on the SPOT visits with Maria Marco of UC Davis and baker Eduardo Morrell to learn more about the secret science of sourdough.
Video on Mar 23, 2011 by Jenny Oh from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Fungus Fair
QUEST tags along with fair organizer J.R. Blair and his San Francisco State University students as they collect mushrooms in San Francisco's McLaren Park. Then we tour the annual Fungus Fair in Berkeley to explore the Bay Area's tasty, dangerous and weirdly wonderful fungi.
Video on Mar 09, 2011 by Gabriela Quirós from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Revisiting Albino Redwoods, Biological Mystery
UC Santa Cruz plant biologists study rare albino redwood trees to better understand the inner workings of these unusual plants. By learning how albino plants survive, they may unlock some of the mysteries of how redwood trees live.
Video on Feb 23, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Revisiting Albino Redwoods, Cracking the Code
Stanford geneticists trek into the mountains to uncover rare albino redwood trees. Seeking to discover the root of the mutation, they are taking small samples back to their lab and for the first time will sequence the complicated redwood genome.
Video on Feb 23, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Science on the SPOT: Peregrine Falcons Up Close
QUEST meets the San Francisco Zoo's resident Peregrine Falcon, "Bella." The story of the Peregrine Falcon is a conservation success story. And the zoo's hope is that when people meet Bella they are inspired to take conservation into their own hands.
Video on Feb 08, 2011 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
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