Artistic rendition of exoplanet Gilese 436 b, created in Celestia
In the past fifteen years, the search for other Earths– and possibly life– outside our own solar system has taken off. As of May 2008, 293 extrasolar planets have been confirmed. Most of these planets are big, gas giants like our own Jupiter but new technology is helping astronomers get closer to finding earth sized planets. To find an extrasolar planet scientists first identify a star and then, using different methods, look to see if there is a planet, or planets, orbiting the star. It’s estimated that at least 10% of sun-like stars have planets.

Once astronomers have found an extrasolar planet, also called an exoplanet, they look to see if it is in the Goldilocks zone. This is an area of space in which a planet is just the right distance from its' parent star so that the surface is neither too hot nor too cold. A habitable temperature means that the planet could possibly host liquid water, an ingredient for life.

A number of exoplanet findings have come from astronomy teams in Switzerland and near San Jose at Lick Observatory. Astronomers at Lick made news in the fall of 2007 when they discovered 55 Cancri. The discovery of the five-planet system came after nearly 20 years of observations. Also in 2007, astronomers with the Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search Program discovered the most earth-like planet ever found. Gilese 581 c lies in the Goldilocks Zone, it's surface temperature ranges from an estimated 32 degrees Fahrenheit to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The research team that discovered the new planet believes it may have a developed atmosphere and be covered with oceans.

Curious to see how astronomers hunt for extrasolar planets, I took the trip up the long, windy road to the top of Mt. Hamilton. It is a beautiful drive up to the observatory and it's wise to take your time so that you can enjoy the ideal California landscape of rolling hills dotted with oak trees and wildflowers. The 365 sharp curves along the 19 mile road will also slow you down.

At the top of Mt. Hamilton are several white domes dotting the 4,200-foot crestline. From Lick Observatory you can see forever– not just across the vast northern California landscape but out into our own galaxy and beyond. By coincidence, the night I was there astronomer Debra Fischer confirmed five new planets outside our solar system. The discovery was the culmination of five years of watching these specific planets from Lick's 3-meter Shane Telescope. Fischer and her colleague Geoff Marcy will publish their findings soon. These two astronomers are obsessed with looking for exoplanets, they just returned from the Andes mountains in Chile, where they spent day and night for several weeks hunting for planets. But Fischer and Marcy are not the only ones who have caught the exoplanet bug.

Scientists at NASA are nearly ready to launch a bus-sized telescope into space. NASA's Kepler Telescope which will orbit our sun, will be trained on a hundred thousand stars at a time. It may be our best chance yet for finding new life in outer space. The telescope is scheduled to launch in February. Kepler will find planets by looking for tiny dips in the brightness of a star caused by planetary transits.

Make sure to check out our photo set on Flickr which includes: photos of Lick Observatory; the Kepler testbed at NASA Ames in Mountain View; the Kepler spacecraft assembly in Boulder, Colorado; and artists' renditions of exoplanets discussed in this report.You can also hear our radio story on the search for exoplanets, watch the Planet Hunters TV story online and find additional links and resources.

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 cells like the one I posted here (that's my handsome cell). They got to use DNA from a crime scene to solve a murder. They got to make bacteria glow like a jellyfish. They got to spool their own DNA. And they got to learn what 1000-2000 bases of their DNA looks like.

For the most part they were genuinely excited and engaged in the activities. They learned about nuclei, dominant and recessive gene versions, why blood cells look different from nerve cells and lots more.

Some educators call this sort of thing "drive-by science." A scientist zooms in, wows the kids and then disappears. These educators feel that this sort of thing has little effect on learning science. I beg to differ.

This experience obviously can't replace classroom learning. But it can reinforce what they've already learned. And it can show them how exciting science really is (even if their textbooks have convinced them otherwise).

Nice theory, but is there any proof this sort of thing works? You betcha.

A new study out by the National Academies shows that this kind of "informal learning" greatly increases the retention time of the things people learn while in that environment. For example, these kids, having seen and taken a picture home with them of their own nuclei, will remember that a nucleus houses DNA longer than if they learn it in a textbook or lecture.

If the study is right, the students will also become more excited about science so they'll pursue it in the future. Especially if the teacher then does follow on activities to reinforce what they learned (which he will).

Hopefully the nine graduate students from Stanford's Department of Genetics and I did our part to get some kids wanting to learn more about science. Maybe we even got a few to imagine themselves as scientists. Not bad for a day's work.

* Quote from the students' teacher:

These are some of the adjectives my students used to describe their experience: "awesome", "cool", "fun"; and they don't use these very lightly when it comes to academic activities. Some of them were wondering if we are "going to do that again." They enjoyed not only the activities, but also the experience of interacting with young graduate students from Stanford. Some experiences that can be a matter of fact for us can be huge for some of these kids and have a dramatic impact on their lives.

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 Faire!

The science projects of students from a range of schools in Oakland are on display at Chabot Space & Science Center for a couple of days-a long-time tradition I know, because when I was in elementary school (Glenview Elementary in Oakland) I participated in the Science Faire every year and wound up with my First Grade project (Which Straw Works Best-longer or shorter?) on display at Chabot Observatory on Mountain Blvd.

So I went out into our halls to browse the rows of free-standing cardboard displays (all pre-fabbed display boards; in my day we'd make our own from boxes, staples, and glue!) to see what today's young minds are thinking about science. In particular, I was looking for any that dealt with astronomy.

As usual, I saw a range of science topics, presentations styles, decoration, and grade levels. I saw the cadre of "standard" science projects that get done every year (the tabletop volcano, the floating egg, the electric potato, and the like).

I also saw some that I'd not seen before. There was one where the question asked was who has more germs, boys or girls? The experimenter took swab samples from behind the ears and from the hands of the students in her fourth grade class and grew germ cultures, which were all displayed before the presentation board in little plastic Petri dishes. What was the result? Do you want to know? Well, by this experiment at least, the girls won over the boys in having more germs from both sample sites….

But what of the astronomy? In all of the couple hundred project displays, only three of them were astronomy projects. This doesn't surprise me too much, since astronomy is for the most part an observational, not experimental, science and doesn't lend itself to the kinds of things kids like to get their hands into. And of my own elementary school science faire projects, not one of them dealt with astronomy, so I really can't complain!

What were they? One dealt with observations of Moon phases, asking the question is there a pattern to the way in which the Moon's shape changes from day to day. One asked why do the planets of the Solar System take different periods of time to orbit the Sun, and why do they have different temperatures. Finally, one asked the ultimate Inconvenient Truth sort of question: What would happen to Earth if the Sun suddenly turned off? (That would be inconvenient!) The answer to that one was, not long, since just about everything we do requires energy derived ultimately from the Sun.

The results of my own observation project, walking down the halls of Chabot and seeing what's up in the minds of our youth, was a happy success: the curiosity and scientific enthusiasm of our budding scientists appears to be alive and well.

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 the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada.

You may listen to the "California's Fire Future" Radio report online, as well as find additional links and resources.

It's entirely possible to spend years living in the Bay Area and never encounter a California Newt. This tiny amphibian spends most of its time living in burrows and holes. But once year, the newts make an epic migration (at least for them) to nearby ponds for mating season. It's incredible to see dozens of these animals making their slow, deliberate pilgrimage through the grass and underbrush.

That was one of the things we wanted to document when we began our exploration of Briones Regional Park, just east of Berkeley. This park is a favorite spot for locals, but is also home to some amazing wildlife. With the help of East Bay Regional Parks naturalist Meg Platt, we put together a science hike where you can see some of the amazing things the park has to offer. But you'll also notice on the map that we didn't pinpoint exactly where the newts live.

As Meg described, this is a fragile species and thanks to Parks District's work, the newts are able to thrive in Briones and several other East Bay parks. But it's important for hikers and park users to give this species plenty of space, especially during mating season. Make sure to keep dogs out of the park's ponds. Luckily, the East Bay Regional Parks district puts together programs for the public so everyone can safely discover this amazing species.

Check out the interactive map of the Briones exploration online, and watch our audio slide show about California Newts.

Lauren Sommer is an Associate Media Producer for QUEST.

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 armed with correct information, we can all help chickens and still enjoy those eggs. The following chart gives information about a few local farms and is thanks to my favorite place to grocery shop, Rainbow Grocery.

Organic Fed / Certified Organic

All organic eggs are certified by the USDA. Organic eggs come from hens whose feed is free of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and commercial fertilizers. Organic chicken feed contains no animal byproducts and the hens have never been given antibiotics.

Hormones and Antibiotics:

The FDA banned the use of hormones – most notably diethylstilbestrol, or DES – in poultry in 1959, after they not only caused tragic health problems in consumers but also failed to stimulate growth in chickens. "Hormone free" is a misleading bit of marketing that suggests other egg producers are illegally dosing their birds.

Kept in Cages

Some hens are kept in battery cages; enclosures so small the animals can't spread their wings. Battery caged hens are crammed as many as six chickens into a cage at a time, leaving each bird with less personal space than a sheet of ordinary notebook paper. Critics say the battery system causes the spread of disease, requires the painful de-beaking of birds, and restricts natural bird behaviors, such as dusting or nesting.

Have Access to Outside

"Free Range" and "Free Roaming" are terms that bring to mind idyllic barnyard scenes. These labels, which are regulated by the USDA, may be used by a producer if their hens are allowed some access to the outdoors. This does not guarantee constant access, nor is there any specification of the size of the outdoor area (which is, of course, a penned area, not a range).

Beaks Clipped

Also known as debeaking, or beak trimming, is a process by which parts of the beak of a chicken or turkey are trimmed. Many variations of debeaking are used. Most commonly, the beak is shortened permanently, with the lower beak somewhat longer than the upper beak. The goal of this is to reduce cannibalism in stressed-out bird populations, such as in crowded egg-laying hen houses.

Forced Molted

When light and temperature are manipulated so hens lay eggs more than normal.

Omega-3 enriched

Omega-3 is a polyunsaturated fatty acid considered crucial by some for developing brains and preventing heart disease and depression. Farmers boost the omega-3 content of their hens' eggs by adding ground flaxseed, algae, or even fish oil to the birds' feed.

My own kind choice is to stay informed, shop at the local farmers' market and ask questions, and someday, raise my own.

If you have any tips or insights into local egg farms, please do share!

For more egg carton terms, go to:

http://blog.pennlive.com/naturalliving/2007/06/eggs.html

Amy Gotliffe is Conservation Manager at The Oakland Zoo.

There are times when you are in the production trenches, plumbing the depths of a story, that you realize how lucky you are to work on QUEST. Assisting QUEST Producer Amy Miller on this segment was yet another occasion to experience such a sentiment, as we found out about the amazing work of Ashok Gadgil and his colleagues to help the women and families who've been displaced as a result of the genocide in Darfur.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, in 2005, Ashok Gadgil, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, led a team of four people to north and south Darfur to determine how families were cooking their meals. This may seem like an odd fact-finding mission but it had very real consequences for alleviating the suffering and violence the Darfuri women experience. Every other day, many women leave the relative safety of the refugee camps to travel six to seven hours to collect fuel wood for their meals. In the process, they risk rape and mutilation at the hands of the Janjaweed, a state-sponsored militia which has been lodged in a genocidal fight against Darfuri rebel groups pressing for more autonomy from the government in Khartoum. Three years later, Ashok Gadgil and Ken Chow of Engineers Without Borders are on version eight of the Berkeley Darfur stove, an elegantly simple yet effective ten pound metal stove which is four times more efficient than the traditional three-stone fire with which the Darfur refugees have traditionally cooked. Ashok and his colleagues on the Darfur Stoves Project hope to have five to six manufacturing plants operating in north, west and south Darfur, producing hundreds of thousands of stoves a year from the flat-pack kits of the stove Ken Chow has engineered.

For me, this QUEST segment highlighted how scientists with the brilliance and dedication of Ashok Gadgil can think up solutions to problems that have the potential to alleviate suffering and help the economic lot (each stove saves roughly $250 dollars in fuel wood annually for a Darfuri family) of hundreds of thousands of people existing within the margins of survival. Fortunately, there are organizations, in addition to the Darfur Stoves Project, that are also helping to get more stoves into the hands of Darfuri refugees, including The Hunger Site, Global Giving, The Child Health Site. You can visit these non-profit organizations and purchase a Berkeley Darfur stove on behalf of a family in Darfur, and also make a donation to the U.S. chapter of Engineers Without Borders to support their projects in Asia and Africa.

On a final production note, our QUEST segment about the Darfur Stoves Project was immensely helped by U.N.'s archival footage department and the U.N. Mission in Sudan, both of which gave us footage of the stark conditions in the Darfuri refugee camps. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees also accepts donations for their international humanitarian activities.

Watch the "Darfur Stoves Project" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.


Sheraz Sadiq is an Associate Producer for QUEST on KQED Television.

When most of us think of tuna, we think of the can. Maybe we remember "Charlie Tuna" from the old commercials. What many people don't realize is that these amazing animals are at the pinnacle of fish evolution. Tuna are capable of covering vast distances, traversing the entire Pacific Ocean in a matter of days. They are incredible athletes, described as the "Olympians of the sea." They are sleek, powerful and oftentimes, massive animals. A bluefin tuna can grow up to 1,500 pounds and 15 feet long. And for generations, they were so abundant it was thought that you could never take all the tuna from the sea. Things change. Our insatiable appetite combined with the technical advances that allow us to over-harvest have pushed tuna to the brink. Scientists are now racing to learn more about these incredible animals in the hope of saving them. Learn more at Tag-A-Giant.

Another species that TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators) is tracking is the Leatherback Turtle. Reaching 7 feet long and weighing 2000 pounds, leatherbacks have survived in the world's oceans for 100 million years. Now they may only have decades left. While sea turtles are not being commercially fished, they still face daunting challenges in the open ocean. They are often accidentally caught and drowned in fisherman's long-lines and nets. And pollution is also taking a nasty toll. In the water, common plastic bags look very similar to the turtles' favorite food: jellyfish. The problem is, plastic bags aren’t easy to digest. But the biggest problem the turtles face may be on land. Over harvesting of turtle eggs has long been a problem for sea turtles but now the biggest concern is over development of their nesting beaches. Turtles need a sandy beach to lay their eggs. Unfortunately, people also enjoy vacationing in the same type of places. Humans looking for that seaside getaway are quickly gobbling up the sea turtles nesting grounds. Researchers are now working hard to save these vital nesting grounds to make sure the turtles can survive.

Watch the "Tagging Pacific Predators " TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources. Also don't miss our Web Extra: Tagging Pacific Predators Extended Interview with scientist Barbara Block of the Tuna Research and Conservation Center.

Chris Bauer is a Segment Producer for television on QUEST.

Nunavik territory, home to the Kuuvik River.This week I am taking a break from the usual astrophysics and cosmology to write about that other hot topic: climate change and global warming. Last summer I went out for an extremely remote 215 mile canoe trip for the International Polar Year to help raise awareness of climate change. I want to share some of that experience now that our website for the trip has been launched.

I was inspired to take this trip by my experiences leading similar, somewhat less extreme trips in northern Ontario and northern Quebec. During this time, I worked summers at a canoe camp located six hours north of Toronto. My job was to put a dozen teenagers on a bus, drive 24 hours to the end of the road, and head out into the Canadian bush for six weeks of travel by canoe and portage. You never know what to expect with these kids when you're several hundred miles from the nearest road, hence the sarcasm implied by my use of the italics above.

At this job I chased down the most remote rivers in Ontario and Quebec that my boss would allow. Each summer I got more into the lifestyle and each summer I wanted to go a little further out. I started to plot my own personal trips into the far-flung reaches of northern Canada that I couldn't reach through this job.

A beloved portage.

Almost ten years later, I was finally offered the opportunity to take one of those trips. A friend from this camp arranged a 3-week long canoe trip and complete sponsorship for four people. The sponsors completed the greenhouse circle from plane flights to carbon offsets. Seasoned canoe trippers, the four of us would run like a well-oiled machine. This was exactly what I had been craving after all those years of teenager drama.

The trip took us into the subarctic tundra of the Nunavik territories of northern Quebec. Here we would do what we love best– travel through nearly uncharted waters, explore the desolate tundra, and document our journey. Now that documentation is complete.

Without making any apologies for self-promotion, let me point you to my main contributions to this site: my first Google Earth creation and my first short film. Of course, both of these would have been total disasters without true expertise. The source for some of this expertise is responsible for the amazing public outreach for the Atlas Experiment. Another source of expertise is producing equally good footage at Al Gore's cable station.

The area we chose is particularly susceptible to global warming. In current models, the regions of permafrost and long winters experience the most significant climate change. The feedback loops here are most extreme: a modest increase in average temperature leads to shorter winters which lead to less snow cover which lead to darker terrain which leads to another modest increase in average temperature which leads to…

The purpose of this website is to convey our own experiences in this amazing area and to outline the threats posed by climate change. As my friend states in the press release:
The site will help North Americans to further appreciate the significance of global climate change, while offering ideas about how people can easily reduce the impacts of climate change. Those who visit will be treated to an interactive public education showpiece which utilizes audio, live animation and photography to share a compelling story.

Kyle S. Dawson is engaged in post-doctorate studies of distant supernovae and development of a proposed space-based telescope at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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 price tag – in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists and engineers in Silicon Valley are working to reduce the impact of a global network that we have all come to depend upon.

You may listen to the "Server Farms Radio report online, as well as find additional links and resources.