QUEST Community Science Blog Author: David Gorn

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Reporter's Notes: Where's my Hydrogen Highway

June 12th, 2009 by David Gorn



Hydrogen is not exactly a fuel. That is, we don't burn it to make energy. It's used more as a medium for storing and transporting energy.

The science of hydrogen fuel cell systems is based on a simple concept. When you combine hydrogen with oxygen, energy is released. You get electricity. What makes it such a clean technology is that the byproducts of that chemical reaction are just heat and water.  So when a fuel cell takes hydrogen from a fuel tank and combines it with oxygen in the air, it produces electricity and emits only a wisp of heated water vapor from the tailpipe.

Hydrogen is combustible (remember the Hindenburg?), and needs to be handled carefully. However, there are easy ways to demonstrate electrolysis, which breaks water apart into oxygen and hydrogen, and the opposite process of joining those chemicals. In fact, you could make a type of fuel cell in your kitchen, with a popsicle stick, battery clips, Scotch tape and a few other household products. You do need one item that can't be found in your kitchen: platinum wire or platinum-coated nickel wire.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. And hydrogen fuel cell conversion is a squeaky clean technology. But the production of hydrogen for use in fuel cells — that can produce a lot of carbon dioxide. In fact, most hydrogen is currently made by stripping, or re-forming, natural gas. That's one of the ongoing criticisms of fuel-cell technology, that it generates greenhouse gas emissions just to get the hydrogen in the first place.

Fuel cells also can store energy generated by solar-powered electrolysis, as well as similar energy generated by wind and hydropower. That's the kind of hydrogen generation that advocates hope to eventually use in fuel cells. But being able to store energy also makes it extremely attractive to harnessing wind, solar and hydropower.

For example, California could generate a lot of wind energy at night, but since electricity has to be used right away, that nighttime, offpeak energy is less valuable. But if it could be stored in a fuel cell through the electrolysis process, that would make it much more lucrative.

Listen to the Where's my Hydrogen Highway? radio report online, and watch our Web Extra Slideshow.







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Posted in Engineering, Environment, KQED, Radio | 3 Comments

Reporter's Notes: Crash Landing

May 29th, 2009 by David Gorn

Credit: NASA.

When the LCROSS satellite, nicknamed Centaur, smacks into the south pole of the moon in late October, it is expected to produce a plume of dust 37 miles high, which may be visible from Earth with a good backyard telescope. It will be visible in an arc from Hawaii to Texas.

If you'd like to catch the impact, the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland is hosting a Shooting the Moon star party on the night of impact. Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco may host a star-gazing event, as well, but it hasn't been announced yet. And you could check in on other observatories in the Bay Area, as well: Lick observatory in the Santa Cruz mountains, Foothill observatory in Los Altos Hills, Sonoma State observatory in Rohnert Park, and the Fremont Peak observatory in the East Bay.

Not all of them will be open to the public; for instance, Foothill Observatory will be closed to the public, because they’ve been asked to take photographs of the event.

If you know anyone with a 10-inch telescope (that's the diameter of the lens), you can bet that telescope will be lined up to look skyward when the LCROSS probe hits the moon.

If the impact goes well, then the plume above the moon's surface could hover there for hours. It will make its own crater on the moon about 6 feet deep and 30 yards wide, so the plume of dust will not be visible to the naked eye, or even through binoculars.

The exact date, time and even the exact location of the impact have not yet been determined. Keep your eye on NASA's site for more information.

And one aside: This impact will not hurt the moon, or send it off its orbit. That may seem apparent to many people, but NASA Ames officials say those are the most-asked questions about the project.

Listen to the Crash Landing radio report online.







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Posted in Astronomy, KQED, Radio | 3 Comments

Reporter's Notes: Sudden Oak Death

May 8th, 2009 by David Gorn



There is no proven cure for Sudden Oak Death. But that doesn't mean you can't find people selling cures.

In fact, the Internet is full of theories – and their related products – that explain how to treat Sudden Oak Death. The problem with them, says UC Berkeley researcher Matteo Garbelotto, is that they don't work. And in fact, he adds, they could actually harm people's backyard oak trees.

One of the most popular treatments says that part of the problem with oaks is that they're weakened by acidic soils (presumably from acid rain), and the theory is that heavy doses of calcium in the soil could restore natural balance and strengthen trees against the Sudden Oak Death pathogen. In hopes that the theory might bear fruit, the Garbelotto lab recently tested it.

The study found that it did nothing to stop the Sudden Oak Death pathogen. In fact, Garbelotto said, it's like giving a glass of orange juice to someone with a terminal disease. And in some cases, he added, it could have a detrimental effect.

A different Garbelotto study showed that a phosphonate fungicide, brand-named Agri-Fos, can prevent the onset of Sudden Oak Death, for a period of about two years. This is the only product on the market that is effective, he said – not as a cure, but as a two-year preventative.

Some people who love their oak trees decide to try both treatments, Garbelotto said. And since the phosphonate that does work is acidic, and the calcium treatment that doesn't work is basic, then you could end up inhibiting the treatment that actually works. That is, if you use both treatments, he said, the calcium could actually negate the positive effect of the phosphonate.

From 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday, May 16, Garbelotto will lead a "Sudden Oak Death Blitz" at the East Bay Parks Botanic Garden in Berkeley's Tilden Park. The event, sponsored by the California Oak Mortality Task Force, trains participants to spot vegetation infected with P. ramorum and collect samples for testing. The training is useful for homeowners who want to monitor their own trees for Sudden Oak Death.

Listen to the Sudden Oak Death radio report online.







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Posted in Biology, KQED, Radio | 14 Comments

Reporter's Notes: Sewage Spills Increasing

April 3rd, 2009 by David Gorn

The biggest problem can be the smallest thing, and that's the case in the sewer world.

More than 20 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into California waterways last year, according to the state Department of Water Resources Control Board. That's not counting the partially treated sewage that makes its way into our water from overflows and sewer system malfunctions.

Many big sewer pipes are old, and many of the sewage treatment plants are antiquated. But the biggest problem faced by sewer systems in California is the tiny pipe called the lateral.

That's the pipe that runs from your home to the street, the small pipes under all of our homes that end up joining the bigger sewer pipes. When those pipes develop cracks, water leaks into them.

Storm water itself would not overwhelm a sewage system, because it's designed to be a closed system. Storm water is not supposed to BE in sewer pipes. So in one way, it shouldn't even matter what the weather is like – storm water shouldn't really mix with sewage at all.

But during a rainstorm, water seeps into your broken lateral pipe, and all your neighbors' pipes, and that rainwater mixes with sewage in the sewer pipes, and the volume of water/sewage can actually build up far beyond the capacity of the sewer pipe. And in the same way, thousands and thousands of gallons of water mixed in with the sewage can swamp a treatment plant during a rainstorm.

That's the number one concern of sewage treatment plants now. And the sewer districts need your help.

Those laterals are owned by homeowners. They're on private land, so the district can't just go in there and tear them up to replace or fix them.

However, most sewer districts offer a service where they will inspect your laterals to check for leaks, and many have started programs where the district will help pay the cost of repairing or replacing those pipes.

Sewer systems are run by local municipalities. Most communities have a local sewer district, and officials at the district can help you inspect and fix your lateral pipes.

Listen to the Sewage Spills Increasing radio report online.







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Posted in Environment, KQED, Radio | Please Comment

Reporter's Notes: Tracking Carbon through Your Cell Phone

March 6th, 2009 by David Gorn

A carbon-tracking cell phone. Credit: Nokia
"Do I get to keep the phone?"

Not exactly the environmentally-conscious line of thinking that organizers were hoping for, but understandable for those high-schoolers holding a brand new, latest version of the Nokia in their hands.

The way the San Francisco pilot program works is like this: students get a mobile phone equipped with a GPS maps application. They fill out a profile with the make and model of the cars they use. The cell phone monitors movement, so it picks up when that student is making a car trip. The server factors in the time of day, the weather and humidity, and the type of car the student is riding in – and then calculates the amount of carbon output that trip represents.

The program currently doesn't differentiate between cars and other forms of transportation – bikes, ferries, trains, carpools, buses – so students may need to note when those trips were not regular car trips. The final number is their carbon rating.

When the program expands to three other San Francisco schools at the end of March 2009, a competition will be formed between the high schools to see which group of 25 students can cut back the most on their car trips and carbon output.

That will help answer the question of how much pollution people can save just by altering transportation behavior. And hopefully, the participants here are young enough that those transportation choices might continue after the program has ended. Once they get used to walking or biking, for instance, maybe they'll make that a regular form of transportation.

That, of course, doesn't ameliorate the answer to the other burning question – that, yes, the cool phone goes away when the pilot program ends.

Listen to the Tracking Carbon through Your Cell Phone radio report online.







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Posted in Environment, KQED, Radio | Please Comment

Reporter's Notes: Playing with Lead

February 27th, 2009 by David Gorn

Artificial Turf. Credit: Anthony V. ThompsonIt's easy to get scared. You look around the Oakland office of the Center for Environmental Health, and lead is everywhere. Piles of toys that are loaded with lead. Lunch boxes and kids' backpacks that have tested positive for high levels of lead. Samples of artificial turf.

And that's just the beginning. Lead has been found in venetian blinds, in pens, in the glaze of ceramic cups and bowls. It has been found in imported candies. And one Mexican folk remedy to cure stomachaches has landed a number of children in the hospital recently – a packet of powder that is almost entirely lead.

Since the effects of lead are cumulative, all those points of contamination add up.

Children's developing brains and central nervous systems are most susceptible to damage from ingesting lead. That's why a new federal standard for lead in children's products was recently put in place. And that's why the Center for Environmental Health, for one, focuses on products that come in contact with children on a daily basis.

The amount of lead in artificial turf, by itself, is unlikely to cause lead poisoning. And the same is true for the amount of lead found in lunch boxes, or in children's jewelry. But medical experts say that if kids play on artificial turf in the morning, distractedly put a charm bracelet in their mouths during class, and eat food from a lunch box with lead embedded in the vinyl – then those kids are at risk for lead impairment, such as a loss of IQ points, a sign of brain damage. For more, listen to the QUEST Radio story, or check our photos below.







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Posted in Health, KQED, Radio | 4 Comments

Reporter's Notes: Redesigning the Bay

February 20th, 2009 by David Gorn

Sea level rise scenarios for San Francisco International Airport.
Click the map to see a larger image.

The most recent estimate looks pretty dire. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), a state planning agency, says it expects San Francisco Bay to rise about 16 inches by 2050, and 55 inches by the end of the century.

The map on this page shows what San Francisco International Airport and the surrounding area would look like, if the bay rose a meter (roughly 36 inches). You can check other maps around the bay as well.

And the real danger of that big rise in bay waters happens during storm season. High tides and storm surges could send that higher water inland, flooding Highway 101 and neighborhoods along the bay. If the bay runs right up to the edge of development and we build sea walls to protect property, then that deep pool of water will have much higher waves, stronger currents and will pound the shoreline much harder than where there is now graduated wetlands. The effect, experts say, would be similar to what happens when you churn up water in a bathtub, and the wave energy quickly builds up and spills over the sides.

Part of the challenge in BCDC’s design competition is to come up with barriers that might absorb some of the power of those waves, instead of simply deflecting those waves with straight walls.

Listen to the Redesigning the Bay radio report online.







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Posted in Engineering, Environment, KQED, Radio | 2 Comments

Reporter's Notes: Investigating Darwin's Legacy

February 6th, 2009 by David Gorn

This year marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin - and the 150th anniversary of his landmark work, "On the Origin of Species". One of the iconic fossils that supports Darwin's theory of evolution is called the Archaeopteryx and it was recently flown out to Stanford University for an unusual test. Scientists are bombarding this dino-bird with high-tech gadgetry to unlock even more information about how we came to be here.

There are dozens of events celebrating Darwin this month. You can also join QUEST at one of them. On February 26th, QUEST will be screening our half-hour documentary, "Chasing Beetles, Finding Darwin" at the California Academy of Sciences. We'll be joined by two scientists featured in the story. You can get more info or buy tickets here.




Listen to the Investigating Darwin's Legacy radio report online.







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Posted in Biology, KQED, Radio | 1 Comment

Reporter's Notes: Birds vs. Planes

January 23rd, 2009 by David Gorn



Dave Feliz calls it "the bird highway in the sky."

Feliz works for California Department of Fish and Game, as area manager for the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, and he's talking about the Pacific Flyway.

Millions of migratory birds travel the same route every year, called the Pacific Flyway, stretching from the north slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska down to the tip of South America. An important stopover for all of those birds on the Flyway is the Central Valley, and the Yolo wildlife area in particular. Traveling south in the winter, it's the first large area for landing that’s not frozen. The Sacramento Delta, flat and wet and full of reeds, provides lots of food and shelter. And so do the thousands of acres of rice fields in the Central Valley.

The Yolo Bypass area is actually a flood-control zone, a mix of native vegetation and stubble from harvested rice fields. So it serves many uses, and has many "stakeholders" working together – farmers, county engineers, wildlife biologists, state and local governments.

And another, more unexpected stakeholder: children. Over the past 10 years, says Robin Kulakow, executive director of the Yolo Basin Foundation, more than 30,000 grade-school students have toured the levees and ponds of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.

Peak migration season is now. It started in November and lasts till the spring rains come, usually in March. Migratory birds are at the wildlife area year-round, because so many types of birds migrate at different times of year, to different locales. And whichever birds migrate south for the winter, those same birds migrate north after the winter. But right now, through March, is the best time to view the waterfowl and migratory birds at Yolo, wildlife experts say.

Migrating birds can be hazards for aircraft. Listen to the Birds vs. Planes radio report online. You can also check out photos from the story below, or see the full set on flickr.com.







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Posted in Environment, KQED, Radio | Please Comment

Reporter's Notes: New Life for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

January 16th, 2009 by David Gorn



Soon after Barack Obama is sworn in as President next week, he is expected to reverse George Bush’s executive order limiting embryonic stem cell research. Scientists say their research has been stifled by restricting them to existing stem cell lines. The resulting boom in this cutting-edge medical technology will benefit California's research institutes in a big way.

Researchers call stem cell technology a "revolution" in medicine, along the lines of the development of antibiotics in the 1940s, or the manufacturing of insulin and other therapies from recombinant DNA breakthroughs.

But why do stem cells offer such promise?


Robert Klein, chair of the governing board for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (the state stem-cell agency created by Proposition 71), says that the recombinant DNA revolution in the 1970s saved the life of his son, and that the potential for saving lives is even greater with stem cell work.

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Stem cell technology has only existed for a decade. And despite the Presidential ban on use of new lines of embryonic stem cells, the advances in research have happened quickly. And, according to Deepak Srivastava, Director of Cardiovascular Research at the UCSF Gladstone Institute, the many possible applications of stem cell work will be seen in the short term (over the next few years) and long term (regeneration of damaged organs could happen in 7 to 10 years, he says).

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Dr. Srivastava says, in the case of one of his patients, five-month-old Ryder Ortiz, stem cell technology could have been a godsend. And it might still BE a godsend, he adds. Ryder was born without a left ventricle, the heart chamber that shoots blood into the body. With stem cell technology, it may become possible to grow a new ventricle, and that would’ve been a huge boon to the infant Ryder.

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But here's the thing: Doctors jerry-rigged Ryder's circulatory system, and it's a process that works – until the patient hits his teen years. In many cases, that’s when the re-worked circulatory system fails. Now, if Dr. Srivastava's estimate is correct, and the technology develops in the next 7 to 10 years, that will be just in time for Ryder Ortiz, who will be inching nearer to adolescence at that time.

Listen to the New Life for Embryonic Stem Cell Research radio report online.







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Posted in Health, KQED, Radio | Please Comment
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