http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog Science, Environment, and Nature in the SF Bay Area Tue, 13 May 2008 01:31:59 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The day was hot, the owl was angry... we shot this really fast. It's not Olivia the owl's fault, it was just one of those days. As we all know, owls are nocturnal creatures, and we happened to be filming Olivia during the hottest, brightest part of the ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/12/producers-notes-cool-critters-owls/ 37.7509 -122.148 I first met Ugo Conti a number of years ago when we discussed an inflatable boat he had designed to sail from the San Francisco Bay to Hawaii. This adventure was born from Conti's passion for the sea and was somewhat of a follow up to the round-the-world sailing adventures ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/12/producers-notes-ugo-contis-spider-boat/ 37.911933 -122.350495 I'm the third from left to right.I'm in my late teens in this undated photo. I'm the third from left to right. It's very likely one of the last times I went camping as a member of the Girl Guide and Boy Scout Association of Costa Rica, which ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/12/producers-notes-nature-defecit-disorder/ 37.796492 -122.476015 Human and chimpanzee chromosomes are very similar. Note that human chromosome 2 is very similar to a fusion of two chimpanzee chromosomes. For the last few weeks I have been corresponding with someone about intelligent design (ID). More specifically, we have been chatting about why humans have 46 chromosomes and most of the ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/12/chromosome-fusion-chance-or-design/ 37.332 -121.903 Image Source: luxomediaSan Francisco's got lofty plans to improve safety and convenience for cyclists. And with gas prices rising, parking a headache, and a desire to reduce their carbon footprint, more and more San Franciscans are cycling in the city to work and to do errands. Cycling rose 15% between ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/09/reporters-notes-bike-to-work/ 37.775103 -122.419341 Mockup of Phoenix (top) and 'Robinson Crusoe on Mars' (bottom)—both set in Death Valley National Park… Credit: NASA (top), Paramount Pictures (bottom)It's that time of the Martian year again: when a flying saucer from Earth appears in the skies of Mars. Imagine if there actually were Martians up there: what's science fiction ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/09/probing-the-martian-pole/ 37.7631 -122.409 Why do Moon Bears need you to knit? Once upon a time in the far away land of Hong Kong, a woman named Jill Robinson discovered that beautiful moon bears where being held captive in tiny cages in China and farmed (through their bellies) as a living source for bear bile, ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/07/mittens-for-bears-and-other-tales/ 37.7772 -122.166595 A Pacific Chorus FrogWhen I was growing up in the Bay Area the chirping croaks of native tree frogs often serenaded us to sleep. The sound of those little Pacific Chorus frogs calling to each other was always familiar background music to long summer nights. Those were days ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/06/producers-notes-disappearing-frogs/ 37.621271 -122.492831 Unless our sewage happens to end up in the Bay and in the headlines, most of us probably never give a second thought to where our wastewater is headed each time we run the tap or flush the toilet. To learn more about the travels of sewage, I took a tour ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/06/have-sewage-will-travel/ 38.1048 -122.561 Infrared image of a zebra from the London Zoo. Credit: Steve Lowe Right now I am very excited about the possibility of working on a new small telescope in southern Utah. This telescope was funded by a private donation and will be run by the University of Utah. We even found a ... http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/05/05/mountain-top-telescopes-and-stars-that-dont-twinkle/ 37.8768 -122.251