Tag: "QUEST"
Reporter's Notes: Who Will Revive the Electric Car?
One of the best parts of working on this story was stumbling upon a subculture of electric car fanatics, like Darell Dickey, many of whom drive incredibly rare, full-size all-electric cars that were available for a blink of an eye in the late '90s and early 2000s. There are just hundreds of these cars left [...]
Post on Jun 09, 2008 by Amy Standen
Vaccines: One Small Risk for a Child, One Giant Benefit for Mankind
You're as likely to be struck by lightningas to have a severe reaction to a vaccine. I was reading an article in Time last week about parents not vaccinating their children. The story was about how this phenomenon is becoming more widespread. These kinds of stories are weird to me because vaccines are pretty safe. [...]
Post on Jun 06, 2008 by Dr. Barry Starr
Where Water Runs Uphill
Harvey O. Banks Pumping PlantI'm standing in the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant, part of the State Water Project (SWP), looking at a set of huge pumps that slurp water from the Delta and hoist it 244 feet to the mouth of the California Aqueduct. The sensation is a little akin to the how I [...]
Post on Jun 05, 2008 by Ann Dickinson
Big Sur, Big Cliffs…Big Birds!
The Oakland Zoo Staff visit the California Condor There we were, 12 Oakland Zoo staff, winding our way down the Big Sur coast. We were spending a clear, bright Sunday morning with Sari, a biologist from the Ventana Wildlife Society, in hopes of learning about condors and perhaps catching a glimpse of this highly endangered [...]
Post on Jun 04, 2008 by Amy Gotliffe
Saving Energy in a Hurry
Yeah Alaska! Yeah Brazil! Yeah California? The people of Juneau saved electricity in a hurry– when electricity went to 55 cents per kilowatt-hourIn Juneau, Alaska, an avalanche on April 16th downed transmission lines and cut off the city from it's cheap source of hydroelectric power; electricity prices jumped by 500%. Alan Meier-a scientist at Lawrence [...]
Post on Jun 02, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Musings on Communication and Technology
Recently during "girl's day" with my mom – my mom made a comment that made me take a second take about technology. I was texting on my iphone and she tsked under her breath and said; "People don't talk anymore, it's all text this and email that, soon language will be obsolete!" My first instinct [...]
Post on Jun 02, 2008 by Cat
Drive by Science is OK Too
The author feeling cheekyLast Monday I finally took my show out on the road. At The Tech Museum I run hands on genetics programs for visitors. On Monday, we took them to Overfelt High School in San Jose. And the students had a blast*. They got to take home 4X6 glossy pictures of their cheek [...]
Post on May 27, 2008 by Dr. Barry Starr
Young Einsteins found in Oakland
School groups tour the Oakland Schools Science Fair projects at Chabot. Ben Burress, Chabot Space & Science CenterIt's the time of year again that I get a chance to peruse what our scientific-minded youth are thinking on questions of the physical world and universe around us: Oakland Unified School District Science Fair! The science projects [...]
Post on May 25, 2008 by Ben Burress
Discuss the "California's Fire Future" Radio Report
Scientists predict we’ll be seeing hotter conditions and drier forests in the near future. The Summit Fire that's been burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains is likely a part of that trend. QUEST talks to Malcolm North with the U.S. Forest Service. He says any area that's burned before is vulnerable to burning again, including [...]
Post on May 23, 2008 by Amy Standen
Quest for a Kind Egg
Yep, I love eggs: scrambled, poached, deviled, fried, boiled, and my favorite, egg in a basket. They are the perfect breakfast or power-ball snack. I also love the idea of purchasing eggs from farms that raise them with kindness and humanity, and that has proven a bit challenging. There are many terms to decipher, but [...]
Post on May 21, 2008 by Amy Gotliffe
Comment on this Report: Server Farms
When you fire up your computer in the morning and go online, chances are you’re not thinking of the environmental impact of the Internet. You might be surprised. The server facilities that keep us all connected gobble up nearly two percent of the electricity used in the U.S. Generating all that power carries a big [...]
Post on May 16, 2008 by David Gorn
Producer's Notes: Ugo Conti's Spider Boat
I first met Ugo Conti a number of years ago when we discussed an inflatable boat he had designed to sail from the San Francisco Bay to Hawaii. This adventure was born from Conti's passion for the sea and was somewhat of a follow up to the round-the-world sailing adventures he took with his young [...]
Post on May 12, 2008 by Chris Bauer
Producer's Notes: Nature Deficit Disorder
I'm the third from left to right.I'm in my late teens in this undated photo. I'm the third from left to right. It's very likely one of the last times I went camping as a member of the Girl Guide and Boy Scout Association of Costa Rica, which I joined when I was 11. I [...]
Post on May 12, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós
Reporter's Notes: Bike to Work
Image Source: luxomediaSan Francisco's got lofty plans to improve safety and convenience for cyclists. And with gas prices rising, parking a headache, and a desire to reduce their carbon footprint, more and more San Franciscans are cycling in the city to work and to do errands. Cycling rose 15% between 2006 and 2007, and injuries [...]
Post on May 09, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
Future History: Plastic Water Bottles – take our poll
What does our use of bottled water say about us? View our 2-minute TV short "Future History: Plastic Water Bottles" to take a look from the perspective of an anthropologist from the distant future, and the take our poll below: "Do you plan to change your bottled water habits?" ( polls) Josh Rosen is Series [...]
Post on Apr 29, 2008 by Josh Rosen
Pixels are so 20th century – say hello to 'spaxels'
Making Every Photon Count Last week I went to a talk given by the leader of the Supernova Factory collaboration at LBNL. What is SN factory? This is an ambitious project to study supernovae like never before. I mentioned this project briefly in a previous post , now that they are so close to releasing [...]
Post on Apr 23, 2008 by Kyle S. Dawson
Hug-a-helix: celebrate DNA Day, April 25th
DNA magnified 850,000 times through a scanning electron microscope DNA day is coming up on Friday April 25th. This annual celebration of genetics and genomics was set up in 2003 to commemorate the sequencing of the human genome and the 50th anniversary of the solving of the structure of DNA.DNA day was thought of as [...]
Post on Apr 14, 2008 by Dr. Barry Starr
Producer's Notes - Doggie DNA
There is a lot we don't know about our DNA and how it works. While there seems to be news every week about genetics, scientists are still in the early stages of finding out what effect our genes have on us (check out this post from another QUEST blogger, Dr. Barry Starr). That's what the [...]
Post on Apr 11, 2008 by Lauren Sommer
Up A Creek: an exploration of your watershed
Raise your hand if you live in a watershed! Are all of your hands up? We all live in a watershed, an area of land that all water (from rain, snow and springs) flows across, under and through on its way into a common body of water, such as a creek, river, bay or ocean. [...]
Post on Apr 09, 2008 by Amy Gotliffe
Supernova Legacy
Last night we completed our observations for the Supernova Legacy Survey. This was a five year program to study supernovae using a 4-meter telescope in Hawaii in combination with several of the largest optical telescopes in the world. The project was headed by a group at a university in Toronto and a group at a [...]
Post on Apr 08, 2008 by Kyle S. Dawson
