The recyclable aluminum in these packed bundles fetches around $1.50 per pound on the commodities market.

There's something about recycling that brings out the OCD in me.

A brown paper bag filled with scrubbed-out cans and neatly stacked newspapers; corn husks and coffee filters in a compost tub; a garbage bag so light it barely makes a thud when it lands in the black bin. Things falling into their rightful place. So satisfying!

And yet for all the care we take with recycling (and I know I'm not the only one), much about the process is mysterious to most of us. Why don't municipal recycling programs pick up plastic bags – even the ones with the chasing arrows symbol on them? What's the deal with yogurt containers? Or bottle caps? Greasy pizza boxes?

Part of the problem is that these rules change depending on where you live, the result of a schizophrenic system wherein local municipalities contract with private companies or non-profits to design their own, local recycling programs. Berkeley, for instance, declines to recycle most plastic on the grounds that while technically recyclable, plastic is an environmentally unsustainable substance that we should use a lot less of. San Francisco, in contrast, picks up everything from coffee cup lids to plastic buckets and flower pots. (San Francisco was also one of the first cities in the country to start picking up compostable food scraps – which emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, when landfilled.)

Meanwhile, economic and policy shifts are changing the way recycling happens. In this story, we look at how recycling programs find themselves at the mercy of sudden swings in the global commodities market. Meanwhile, Moore's law and the digital conversion have helped turn toxics-laden e-waste into the fastest growing waste stream. And what about San Francisco's recent decision to become the first city in the country to make recycling mandatory? Is it a PR move, or an enforceable policy? Just some of the issues we'll be looking at later this year.

In the meantime, check out the slide show, below, to see what happens to your recyclables once they leave the curb:

Listen to the Economics of Household Recycling radio report online.

Hot spot created by impact on Jupiter, taken by NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. Picture credit, NASA. An Earth-sized hole on Jupiter! the email alerts, websites, and finally news channels were saying on Monday, July 20th. At Chabot, we were polled by at least two local news channels asking what had happened. So, what happened?

Evidently, the aftermath of some kind of collision on Jupiter was spotted by an amateur astronomer in Australia that Monday morning. He spotted a dark marking near the planet's South Pole, and alerted NASA. NASA in turn turned its large infrared telescope in Hawaii onto the scene of the crash.

There glowed the thermal footprint of the likely impact, the affected area roughly the size of the Earth. Had this impact taken place on Earth instead, the results would have been catastrophic. Fortunately this was Jupiter, half a billion miles away and large enough to absorb the impact without lasting effects. (And, owing to the fact that Jupiter is a gaseous planet with no solid surface, it would quickly heal from the trauma, not unlike that liquid-metal Terminator from the second movie of the same name.)

A significant event? Yes, in fact. But that's not all…

Rewind 15 years to July 20th, 1994, the middle of the week during which twenty-something fragments of the broken comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 were in fact colliding with Jupiter… An amazing coincidence? Yes; the two events likely have nothing to do with each other. So, then, a common event, if we're seeing two of them in the span of only 15 years? Well… not really.

When the string of fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 hailed down on Jupiter, it was the first time in history that humans had observed actual impacts on a Solar System body (other than perhaps the Sun–but as it turns out comets hitting that huge target are not uncommon). The Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts, and the one on July 20th this year, left highly visible marks that lasted for days. The amateur astronomer who discovered the recent scar did so with a relatively small 14.5″ backyard telescope! So, if this sort of impact were a common event, even if the impacting comets or asteroids were never seen, the gashes they leave in Jupiter's atmosphere ought to be spotted from time to time.

Impacts—on Jupiter, Earth, and all the bodies of the Solar System—do occur, and the smaller the impacting object, the more frequently they happen. For a planet like Earth, on average a chunk of rock a few meters across enters our atmosphere about once a year, and often burns up completely or explodes before hitting the ground. A 50 meter object, again on average, is likely to strike Earth once in a century. A one-kilometer object impact averages every few hundred thousand years, and a multi-kilometer sized asteroid or comet similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and which would cause global catastrophe—well, the last one of that size struck ground 65 million years ago.

As for Jupiter, being a larger target than Earth, having a much stronger gravitational pull, and being close to the asteroid belt—well, Jupiter's impact statistics should probably involve higher frequencies than Earth.
In fact, impacts like the one on July 20th are happy events for us; every time Jupiter is hit by a large object, that's one less object in the Solar System that could potentially hit the Earth in the future. So, on July 20th, Jupiter took another bullet for us.

"For every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is devoted to science" – Chris Mooney, Author of Unscientific America

Chris has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since he released the bestseller, The Republican War on Science, in 2006. Chris cites some famous stats that scientific illiteracy is increasing: 46 percent of Americans reject evolution and think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. In his new book, he points the finger at a profit driven media, science phobic politicians, and the arrogance of scientists themselves. (Chris' recent showdown with famous science blogger PZ Myers is widely documented). His main point: this gap hinders productivity and has us falling behind in global innovation.

Then there was the recent Pew survey showing a widening gap between scientists and the public on key issues of global warming, evolution, and use of animals in research. The survey also looked at scientific illiteracy using a 12 question quiz (Take the quiz yourself!) with some surprising results:

• 54% incorrectly identified electrons as bigger than atoms
• 46% thought antibiotics kills viruses as well as bacteria
• 24% failed to correctly a basic question on plate tectonics

But it isn't all doom and gloom, Chris outlines his strategy for closing that gap including sexing up science and training a new generation of science ambassadors in society at large.

Chris Mooney: Unscientific America

When: Monday, August 3^rd 630 PM – 830 PM

Where: Kellogg Auditorium, Silicon Valley Bank, 3005 Tasman Dr., Santa Clara, CA

Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing

Cost: $15 members and non-members advance. $20 members and non-members at the door, Tickets

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is often mistakenly associated with the Tsunami.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

The philosopher George Berkeley posed this philosophical question and a quick internet search found a somewhat scientific answer in an 1894 issue of Scientific American. There they wrote: "Sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centers. The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound."

Maybe sometimes vibrations are heard much later, only when the right person is listening.

On January 26, 1700, at about 9:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time one of the largest earthquakes ever to strike the Pacific Northwest rumbled across the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This massive earthquake sent a giant 33 foot high tsunami crashing onto shore, inundating the quiet coastline. While there is no written account describing the earthquake, tsunami or consequential damage, the devastation was enormous.

So wait. If there was no written record, how can we know the exact time and date when the tsunami struck? How can we know how big it was or what kind of damage it did? It took some digging and an impressive bit of scientific detective work by geologist Brian Atwater. First scientists discovered an unusual layer of sand in a marsh area that left a clue that a wave had struck, taken sand from offshore and brought it far inland. The scientists were able to date this thin sand deposit to around 1700, plus or minus 25 to 50 years. Then through tree-ring dating they were able to narrow that down to within five or ten years. Further study of tree roots narrowed it down even further to winter, 1700. Then investigators went to Japan and checked for evidence of a tsunami during that time. They looked for one which did not have a known earthquake associated with it. These were known as “orphan tsunami." There, in the records from 1700, was a tsunami the struck Japan, a wave that had the right pattern, right size, and was generated at the same place, the Cascadia Subduction Zone all the way on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. January 26, 1700, 9:00 p.m.

Can it happen again. Yes. Are we listening?

Watch the Scary Tsunamis television story online.

I was traveling in Alaska when I saw a Golden Eagle for the first time. I saw one when I was looking out my window up toward the trees. They were a lot harder to spot than the iconic Bald Eagle, with its white-feathered head.
Seeing the Golden Eagle up close gave me a greater appreciation for how amazing they truly are. The largest of the raptors, they are typically 8-12 pounds, and their wing span is around 6-7 feet. While flying (the Golden Eagle is usually gliding) they dive towards earth to catch prey and can reach speeds of up to 200 mph!

The Golden Eagle we got to meet for our Cool Critters segment really captivated us. Between her enormous size, stunning eyes, and gorgeous plumage, we could still see the power and grace that are so iconic to American Eagles. And be sure to catch a look at Jason Pfau, her handler, while he watches her during the segment – the love and admiration he has for this bird tells a story all its own.

Personally, I think the Golden Eagle is cooler than the Bald Eagle, especially because you can see them here in your backyard. Just keep an eye to the sky – the Golden Eagle population over by Mt. Diablo is the highest concentration in the world!

If you want to get a close-up look at some amazing animals, including the Golden Eagle and the Bald Eagle, take visit the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA.

Watch the Cool Critters television story online.

Amy Miller and the two year-old twins Devon and FelixIt’s been two years since my twins, Felix and Devon were born on July 27, 2007. In that time pretty much every mother with grown children has advised me to “enjoy it while you can” because this wondrous time will seem like it flew by. “They’ll never be babies again!” they say. “Good”, I reply.

I wish I could say that the time has flown by but the fact is that the first year and a half were pretty challenging for us as first-time parents. Don’t get me wrong. I count my blessings every minute of every day. I have two beautiful, healthy, happy little boys. But it’s only been recently that Alex and I feel that we’ve found a rhythm with them and we’re starting to actually have fun. They are talking, singing, dancing, running and just recently, interacting and playing more with each other. They make us laugh all the time. Who knew that toddlers had such a sense of humor?

As a result of the QUEST story, my pregnancy became more of a public event than I expected it to be. Naturally, after the boys were born, there were several inquiries as to our well-being. Here’s what happened:

After lying in bed at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco for 30 days, I was very close to the end of my rope. Bed rest is infinitely more difficult that I could have ever imagined. When I was 34 weeks and 5 days pregnant, after an evening of crying to Alex that I couldn’t take much more of it, I decided to wind down and go to sleep. Normally, Alex would drive back to Oakland, where we lived at the time. But it was 1AM and even though he had to be at work at 6AM, he was too tired to go home. We asked a nurse to bring him a cot to sleep on in my room. Thank goodness we did. About 10 minutes after we turned off the lights, I felt my water break. If he’d gone back across the Bay Bridge, he would have missed the birth. We called the nurses and doctors and they decided to deliver the boys via caesarian section. Devon, or “baby A” as he was called at that time, was still breech and doctors will not deliver twins vaginally if the first baby is breech.

By 3:30AM, I had two little pink, wrinkly babies. Baby A was 4lbs. 12 oz., Baby B was 4 lbs., 6 oz. They stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 2 weeks then we took them home. They were perfectly healthy but just needed to gain a bit of weight and be able to keep their temperatures up without the help of an incubator. The rest, as they say, is history. They are now developing normally; growing and learning new things every hour, it seems. Life is good.

I’m also very happy to report that the other two families in the QUEST story are doing very well, too. Trynne Miller and David Prince’s identical twin daughters, Kate and Charlotte, were born at 28 weeks and 5 days gestation. Average gestation for twins is 35-36 weeks. For a singleton, it’s approximately 40 weeks. Kate weighed 2 lbs. 8 oz., Charlotte was 2 lbs., 5 oz. They were in the NICU for 8 weeks before going home. Today, according to father, David:

Kate and Charlotte Miller-Prince

"They have 'caught up to their age' in terms of their height and weight, and I suspect also
their skills, as they're dancing and talking up a storm. Charlotte (aka Charlie) is speaking in complete, well-formed paragraphs… but we can only understand a few of the words of them."

Josephine Tooley Boyd at age 2

The other child in the story, Josephine Tooley Boyd was born at 28 weeks, 2 days. She was 2 lbs., 12 oz. at birth. She spent 55 days in the hospital before going home at 4 lbs., 6oz. Mother Sarah and her husband moved the family to Oregon in early 2009. According to Sarah, Josephine is “doing great” and quite a big girl. She’s already in the 99th percentile for height and weight for her actual age, not even her “adjusted” age, which is a common parameter for preemies. She’s a talker, speaking in three word sentences and seemingly possesses above average motor skills. She loves playing outdoors and especially loves tractors.

All three children were enrolled in UCSF’s longitudinal MRI study to monitor development of preemies through the first couple of years of their lives. No problems were ever detected with any of these children. But they were the lucky ones. In our society today, preterm birth affects more than 530,000 children and the numbers continues to rise.

In November 2008, the March of Dimes released a “report card” for the nation on prematurely, which assigns grades to both the nation overall as well as to states which are based on how well they address the issue of prematurity.

The U.S. earned a “D” and not a single state received and “A”. The only state to earn a "B" was Vermont. Eight others earned a "C," 23 states earned a "D," and 18 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia got failing grades of "F."

There’s lots of good research being done but we still have a long way to go before we understand enough about why prematurity occurs that we can prevent it. Until then, visit the March of Dimes website for important information for all pregnant women that will help them recognize the early signs of preterm labor and possible risks for premature birth.

Sometimes, I think back to those thirty days when I was hospitalized prior to their birth and I remember all the things that I was fretting about. Would the boys be healthy? Will I be a good mother? Will our relationship weather the turmoil of two newborns? Will I love them? Will they love me? How will we be able to afford two children? How can we manage to both work full-time when I go back to QUEST in a few months? Believe me, if there was an issue to worry about, I did it. I think that’s pretty normal for first time mothers but lying in a hospital bed with nothing else to do immediately prior to being forced to deal with these issues really amplified those concerns for me.

Now that I’m an old hand at motherhood, I can look back and realize that many of these issues have a way of working themselves out. We figure things out as we go. We adjust to the changes that come along with parenthood because we have no choice but to do so. And thankfully, we did not have any short or long-term health issues to deal with as a result of their premature birth.

Watch the Born Too Soon: Pre-term Births on the Rise television story online.

Our trip to the Farallon Islands was certainly eventful: seasickness (me), bug bites (me) and immersion in one of the most unique wildlife habitats in the world (which made it all worth it). This chain of windblown rocks, about 27 miles from San Francisco, is teeming with 300,000 seabirds in the spring and summer.

The noise of all these nesting and breeding birds is almost overwhelming (check out the slideshow below for a firsthand look), but these birds speak for a lot more than themselves. Our guides, PRBO Conservation Science, have been studying these birds for 40 years. As Biologist Russell Bradley explained, these seabirds are environmental samplers. In order to raise their chicks, they depend on the food web that blooms in the spring when coastal upwelling brings nutrient-rich water to the surface. If that is disrupted or delayed, the first place scientists will see it is in these bird populations, who will either have poor or non-existent breeding seasons.

Those changes in the upwelling patterns can be due to natural variability in the system. But increasing, scientists are asking whether the changes are due to climate change. That's not an easy question to answer. There are a lot of different factors in the mix.

I spoke with Zack Powell, a professor at UC Berkeley who studies climate and upwelling, and he said it all comes down to the timing of natural cycles. First, there's El Nino – where warm water spreads across the equator and heads up the California coast. That can happen every two to seven years and when it does, it acts a barrier to upwelling, interfering with the marine food web. Scientists recently confirmed that El Nino will return this year.

Looking at changes on a longer time frame, there's the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. It's a pattern of ocean warming and cooling that can last 30 years. Powell says it can also have an effect on marine life and fisheries.

And finally, there's climate change, which comparably may cause changes on the longest time frame. Powell says there's about 100 years of historical data about the ocean conditions off the California coast and it's not much when looking at such long-lived patterns. Powell and others work on climate modeling to help answer these questions. Some of the models show that the seasonal winds may become stronger, meaning upwelling patterns could be altered. And ocean temperatures could rise significantly, changing the way warmer surface water and nutrient-rich deep water mix.

Powell says right now his focus is the granularity of the climate models. They simply can't predict changes on a small geographic scale. "For most models, the smallest footprint is about 100km and all the upwelling takes place closer to shore than that." But he's hoping there will be drastic improvements over the next few years. And if extreme changes do take place, for whatever reason, the birds will certainly tell us.

Listen to the Journey to the Farallones radio report online, and check out our Farallon Islands Interactive Map for the sights and sounds of the island. Or watch the audio slideshow below for a first-hand look.

Non-profits like Green For All are working with federal and state goverments to usher in new "weatherization worker" legislation.Editor's note: our home energy blogger Jim Gunshinan sends in his post from the 2009 National Weatherization Training Conference, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tuesday, July 21

There are 3,200 people here for the conference in Indianapolis! This is more than twice as many as the last time. Heard from Gil Sperling, Program Manager for the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, and others at opening plenary. Some buzz about Davis-Bacon prevailing wage legislation. Department of Labor created a new category "weatherization worker" and is polling organizations around the country to come up with prevailing wage numbers. Department of Labor staff is here to get feedback.

Five U.S. Territories are now part of the Weatherization network.

Van Jones speaking at lunch today.

Will set up display for later today. Something like 94 exhibitors are here, including heavy hitters like Home Depot and Sears. Will try to convince Home Depot folks to carry Home Energy Magazine in stores.

(later)

Van Jones, White House green jobs czar, spoke to weatherization workers at the National Weatherization Training Conference, "You are the quiet heroes. Your job is to take the inhalers out of little girls' pockets; little boys pockets."

No, he is not encouraging shoplifting, but the kind of homes that do not aggravate kid's asthma. A green home is an energy efficient and healthy one. That's something the weatherization community has known since the DOE Weatherization Assistance Program began in 1976.

Wednesday, July 22

At the awards lunch today, Gil Sperling mentioned that the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is making good progress in discussions with local weatherization agencies to determine the prevailing wage for a new classification of worker, the weatherization worker. The Davis-Bacon legislation from a decade ago (?) requires that organizations receiving federal government project money must hire people at the prevailing wage for similar work in the area. The legislation is being applied to the funds coming through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, (also known as the Stimulus Bill) for weatherization efforts. DOL came up with a new classification of worker, weatherization worker, in order to help the states comply with the Davis-Bacon requirements.

If the prevailing wages of construction workers were the standard, in New York, beginning weatherization workers would have to make $50 per hour! Weatherization agencies all over the country want to pay their workers well, but those kind of wages for beginning workers would wreck the budgets of most of them. So the new classification and prevailing wages will help agencies to pay a living wage, increase pay as workers become more experienced, and allow the agencies to live within their budgets. DOL staff are here in Indianapolis, and there listening sessions have been packed!

Thursday, July 23

A friend asked me What is the headline for the conference? I think it should be Weatherization Gets Down to Business. I am reminded of the ramp-up to the war in Iraq, and the war profiteering that is probably still going on. I remembered the “lost” $8-billion in the first months of the war. And I wonder if that kind of corruption will enter in the “war for energy security and green jobs and against global warming.” It probably will, because humans are involved. But the level of accountability here is very very high, and the expectations are very very clear. And I get the sense that, this time, the adults are in charge.

Air conditioners are one of 23 home products soon required to be revamped in the U.S. . Photo Credit:

According to a new report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEE , Americans could eliminate 158 million tons of greenhouse gas per year by 2030 – that's the equivalent of shutting down 63 large coal-fired power plants – and $123 billion, by changing the way some of our most common household appliances work.

This is old news to many of the folks at California Energy Commission , who have pushed for such changes for decades. But the real news is that these aren't just recommendations anymore. They're policy, or soon will be.

According to the ACEE, the Obama Administration plans to revamp 23 common household products – everything from battery chargers and clothes dryers to air conditioners – by requiring that manufacturers make more energy-efficient models. The ACEE report (no doubt intended to put a little wind into the White House's sails) adds to the story by calculating just what a difference those changes would collectively make.

For background, check out two of our recent Quest Radio stories, Air Conditioning Reinvented, and Let's Weatherize. You can also read the whole ACEE report, after registering (it's free) with the ACEE.

Bed bugs are small, but not invisible. (photo credit)
Before this past week, I really did believe this was a nursery rhyme. Bed bugs were a mere fluff equivalent to Miss Muppet and her tuppet and the eensy weensy spider climbing up the water spout. I was re-introduced to bed bugs recently by my neighbor who had his whole studio infested. He had dark circles under his eyes and a somber face when he warned me about the little bugs.

So I closed my door and did what I always do when faced with something I don’t know about, I Googled it. There is a species known as the Cimex lectularius that makes humans their host of choice. All Bed Bugs feed on blood and come out at night, as they are often averse to sunlight. Their most preferred feeding time is an hour before dawn when most hosts are in their deepest sleep. They are attracted by exhaled carbon dioxide as well as the heat a human body gives off. When biting, they inject two hollow tubes. One tube injects saliva into the host which is full of anticoagulants and anesthetics while the other tube withdraws the blood. This allows the blood to thin and flow freely without disturbing the host. Most often it is several minutes or hours later when a person will feel a bed bug bite, usually because of intense itching caused by a reaction to the agents injected.

Though itchy, Bed Bug bites do not appear to carry any pathogens or diseases. Bed bugs prefer to come out and eat every five to ten days but can go up to a year without feeding. Well fed bed bugs will live up to nine months but those that go dormant due to lack of food can live upwards of eighteen months.

Many people think bed bugs are not visible. They're just small: 1/8 to 3/16th of an inch long, about the size of a lentil. They are also wingless, flat, oval and reddish brown in color. After feeding, they take on a more intense red color due to the blood they just injested. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent and only take on the brownish-red color when they begin molting.

Bed bugs are also very well traveled and fare well in large cities. Chicago and New York have seen a great deal of infestations, in part due to international travel. The New York Times recently posted an article about best ways to deal with bed bugs. Locales of choice include mattresses, couches, and furniture near their hosts, often found in hotels, motels, hostels and apartment buildings. Given their small size, they can hide easily in seams, cracks and folds – even in a picture frame or a battery compartment of a clock! If a suitcase is laid on an infested bed in a hotel, it is easy for bedbugs to hitch a ride. The best prevention to take is to check furniture in hotels and put luggage up on luggage racks and check everything upon returning home.

As it turns out, infestations can also be caused by second-hand furniture. My apartment building got its bed bugs when a tenant brought in furniture he found on the street. To my great relief, after three sleepless nights, a great deal of laundry and bagging up clothes and pillows, my apartment was inspected and found to be clean. But I have definitely changed my routine. I have been bagging storage items in plastic and I put white sheets on the bed to be able to see bed bugs if they come in. I am also buying a mattress bag to protect my mattress.

In cities like San Francisco, international guests now include bed bugs. And they prove to be a hard visitor to get rid of!