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| QUEST: Discover Episodes 101 and 102 |
Episode 101: Sea Otter Mystery and NASA's Rocket to the Moon.
Sea otters, those loveable mascots of the California coast, have fought back from the brink of extinction over the past 75 years. But recently, their population growth has stalled dramatically. Scientists aren't sure why, but they are alarmed. If California's otters were thriving, their numbers should have rebounded by now to about 16,000, yet the State's otter population is holding steady at about 2,700. A major catastrophic event like an oil spill could wipe out the entire population. This urgent population puzzle has prompted coordinated research efforts by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, UC Santa Cruz, and the California Department of Fish and Game, to name a few. The QUEST team follows these scientists and researchers as they try to unlock the mystery. Could the main suspect be a parasite found in cat litter? And what are the otters telling us about our ocean's health?
Next, QUEST trails scientists at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, as they prepare to launch a spacecraft on a deliberate collision course with the moon -- all in the name of human exploration. Their goal? To detect water and perhaps find a prime spot to build a permanent moon base. The unmanned spacecraft, known as the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, is scheduled to blast off in 2008. It will crash into the moon at more than 5,000 mph, creating a cloud of debris 40 miles high that will be analyzed for hydrogen. Why the search for water? Future astronauts could drink life-sustaining water or make it into rocket fuel. NASA also could save huge sums of money -- it costs about $15,000 per pound to bring anything to the moon. This mission is not only important to building a permanent moon base, but also to eventually sending astronauts on to Mars.
Episode 102: Plug-In-Hybrids and Debris in San Francisco Bay
The green car revolution just got greener. Some hybrid owners may be satisfied with 44 miles per gallon, but a new breed is working on 100 mpg or more. The QUEST team goes under the hood of CalCars, a Palo Alto-based non-profit group of entrepreneurs, environmentalists and engineers who are tinkering with and lobbying for new technology that will add batteries to a typical hybrid car to make it run further on electricity. To get the attention of auto manufacturers, CalCars volunteers have modified several Toyota Prius hybrid cars, transforming them into plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. Under certain driving conditions, the souped-up "Prius Plus" cars can get 100 mpg. Could this be the next step to alleviating our smog and global warming problems and reducing our dependence on oil? These engineers and entrepreneurs think so. Will these plug-in hybrid vehicles be coming off the assembly line soon? QUEST hits the road in search of a more efficient car.
Ferries. Sailboats. Oil tankers. Windsurfers. All cross the cool blue waters of San Francisco Bay. But do their riders know what potential dangers are lurking just beneath? Most likely not, because the Army Corps of Engineers cleans up the garbage-some of it deadly. Ever since 1942, when a seaplane carrying Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, crashed after hitting a floating telephone pole, killing the pilot and almost drowning Nimitz, two boats, the Raccoon and the Grizzly, have been hauling in floating debris. During winter, on average, they remove more than 120 tons of debris a month. From kitchen sinks to cows and even dead bodies, the QUEST team dives in to examine for themselves the remarkable finds of our marine garbage collectors who keep the bay safe and answers the question: just where does all that junk in the bay come from?
Mini-segment: In addition to high-tech hybrid cars and the health of San Francisco Bay, QUEST also uncovers the work of Chelsey Juarez, a doctoral student in forensic anthropology at UC Santa Cruz who is using real-life CSI tactics to help reunite the remains of Mexican migrants who die crossing the US-Mexico border with their families.
QUEST Television airs every Tuesday at 7:30pm on KQED 9 and KQED HD, Comcast 709.
The first episode premieres Tuesday, February 6th at 7:30pm.
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