Tag: "QUEST"
Collaborative Creativity in the Digital World
When you think of digital art, Photoshop or a Wacom tablet may come to mind. And yes, drawing on a screen instead of a pad of paper is certainly one kind of digital art. But digital art can also happen on an entirely different level: art can be made with lines of code.
Post on Aug 21, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
NASA's Roving Robotic Chemist Will Collect Clues For Life on Mars
Scientists are looking for elements and molecules that signify life as we know it. But even if they don’t find those molecules, minerals contain important information about the Martian environment. That could help scientists determine if life could have survived on the planet.
Post on Aug 15, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
The Reverential and the Precious: Human Anatomy as Art
It may take an unusual muse to be deeply inspired by the body's insides. Artist Sara Nilsson possesses just such a muse–as well as the skill to create breathtakingly beautiful, anatomically accurate cross-sections of the human body with quilled paper.
Post on Aug 14, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Fracking Gives Hydrogen Fuel Cells New Life
In 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Energy Steven Chu dismissed zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as an impractical alternative to electric cars. Now an abundant supply of natural gas, from which hydrogen can be extracted, is changing Chu's mind, but that natural gas comes from the controversial hydraulic fracturing process.
Post on Aug 08, 2012 by C.K. Hickey from QUEST Northern California
Stunning Solar Visualizations: The Sun's Van Gogh-like Artistry
While nearly all eyes are focused on Mars, two astophysicists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have been quietly staring at the sun instead.
Post on Aug 07, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Prescription Drug Disposal: Who Should Foot the Bill?
A new ordinance in Alameda County requires the pharmaceutical industry to pay for disposal of extra medicine. The regulation is part of a larger movement to shift responsibility for waste disposal from local governments to companies that make products like paint, medicine and batteries.
Post on Aug 01, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
Avatars and the Mirrorbox: Can Humans Hack Empathy?
Virtual avatars are one thing. But what about real bodies? Would identifying with another person's body make you behave more like that person? If the body belongs to a different gender, age, or ethnicity than yours, would you become more empathic to others in that group?
Post on Jul 31, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Illustrating Science: Int'l Science and Engineering Fair Student Projects Beautifully Visualized
ISEF student projects can be just as esoteric as Nobel laureates' research. But this year, those of ISEF's student scientists lucky enough to be paired with professional artists will see their research translated into compelling and accessible posters for the public.
Post on Jul 24, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Smelly Rocks: Researchers Reveal The Source of "Stinkspar" Stench
The source of the stench in crushed “stinkspar” is a 200-year old mystery. Solving this puzzle took a mixture of old-fashioned chemical analysis and modern instruments.
Post on Jul 18, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
The Bay Area Thanks Buckminster Fuller for Geodesic Domes
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is showing, for just a few more short days, an exhibit called "The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area." Fuller never actually lived in the Bay Area, but the exhibit's designers seem to think he would have liked it.
Post on Jul 17, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Oriental Ink Painting with a Computer Instead of a Brush
Traditional occidental painting techniques like watercolor or oil build an image from many layered brush strokes. You don't usually notice the individual strokes unless you stand very close. But in traditional oriental ink painting, called sumi-e, the brush strokes are the painting.
Post on Jul 10, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Post on Jul 04, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
"I Flamed Amazement": The Physics of St. Elmo's Fire
Ariel personified St. Elmo's Fire, the glow that can appear around ship masts and chimneys during a thunderstorm. Lacking a scientific explanation for the light, people in Shakespeare's time attributed it to the patron saint of sailors. Four hundred years later, we still don't completely understand how storms create such magnificent atmospheric phenomena.
Post on Jun 26, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Shining a New Light on the Chemistry of Art Conservation
Conserving delicate artwork requires knowing what paints and techniques were used to create a piece. A new imaging technique helps restorers look at the pigments in frescos even while visitors are enjoying the works in a gallery.
Post on Jun 20, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
How I Learned to Love Olives and Hate Their Pests
I've always hated olives. I'd pick them off pizzas and out of salads. But in the last few weeks, I've actually started eating them on purpose. It could be because I'm pregnant, a condition which has me craving salt—and few foods are saltier than a nice olive.
Post on Jun 19, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
KQED Science Fan Spotlight
We'd like to share your stories about why you're passionate about science.
Post on Jun 13, 2012 by Jenny Oh from QUEST Northern California
When Scientists Were Artists: The Royal Society's Picture Library Goes Digital
A hammerhead shark's baleful stare. A longnose batfish's fierce armor and delicate fins. These masterpieces of expression and scientific detail fill the pages of the world's first ichthyology book, De Historia Piscium, published in 1686 by the Royal Society.
Post on Jun 12, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
The Fungus Among Us Could Help Clean Oily Soil
There’s more to fungi than just mushrooms. Buried in the soil live large fiber networks of fungi. And these fibrous microbes might be able to help clean up polluted soil.
Post on Jun 06, 2012 by Melissae Fellet from QUEST Northern California
Creative Connections at Earth • Science • Art Exhibit
Helen Golden is a digital fine artist; her daughter Nadine Golden is a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Pacific Coast and Marine Science Center. Although both live in Santa Cruz, mother and daughter seem worlds apart. But in fact, they are fascinated by each other's work . . .
Post on Jun 05, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
The Man Who Made California Safe for Mountain Lions
More than 40 years ago, Sen. John Dunlap (D-Napa) made conservation history when his mountain lion hunting moratorium passed the California Legislature and became law in 1971. He recalls the fight to pass the bill and his guiding principle, "when in doubt, preserve."
Post on May 30, 2012 by Liza Gross from QUEST Northern California
