Search Results for Engineering

Some of the most passionate astronomers don't even need to leave their own backyards. QUEST meets the amateur stargazers in the Bay Area who are making important observations about the cosmos and inventing tools at home to do it.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Apr 28 2008

QUEST teams up with Make Magazine to construct the latest must have, do-it-yourself device hacks, whiz-bang gizmos and techno do-dads.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Apr 15 2008

Last month, a Mill Valley wastewater treatment plant dumped five million gallons of sewage into the San Francisco Bay. The real shocker: Sewage spills happen all the time, even in the eco-conscious Bay Area.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Feb 21 2008

Human beings have used maps to describe the world for thousands of years. Blind people have used Braille for about 150. But there's never been a way for the blind to have easy access to maps of everyday places. Until now. Amy Standen reports.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Feb 1 2008

If investment is any guide, California's renewable energy companies are leaping into the new year. Investors poured billions of dollars into clean tech firms in 2007 to catapult green technologies to market. Lauren Sommer followed the trail to several Bay Area companies to see what breakthroughs lie ahead.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Jan 3 2008

San Francisco is studying a London-style plan to charge drivers a fee when they travel to high-traffic areas, like downtown San Francisco, or Doyle Drive during peak commute hours. But is congestion pricing a boon for public transportation? Or the death of downtown?

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Nov 29 2007

NASA has announced a new effort to send humans back to the moon, possibly to build an outpost by 2020. Mountain View's NASA Ames Research Center identifies scientific investigations that could be performed there on everything from geology to global warming. But some critics question the space agency's priorities.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Nov 8 2007

It's one of the most unusual car races in the world. In the DARPA Grand Challenge, the cars drive themselves - no remote controls needed. And the contest is not a game. It could change the way all of us drive.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Nov 2 2007

Is California's most controversial water proposal making a comeback? QUEST reports on the fervent politics behind the Peripheral Canal - a $5 billion plan to build a pipeline around the delta, sending Sierra water directly to the state water project.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Oct 26 2007

It's been called "Burning Man for science geeks." The annual Maker Faire attracts thousands of amateur inventors and scientists, displaying their home-made prototypes and gadget hacks. In a world where the technological race is speeding up, the Maker movement has revealed that the do-it-yourself culture is in no danger of dying out.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Sep 25 2007

It's a virtual world, but the transactions are real. Go inside Second Life, an online game where millions of people are creating digital personalities called avatars and are living virtual lives-- meeting other avatars, going to events, and even buying property with real money.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Sep 25 2007

Can earthquakes be predicted? Northern California researchers are now identifying the slow-moving clues that may foreshadow violent quakes. Their work may provide even a few seconds of warning to open elevator doors, slow down trains or alert firefighters.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Sep 11 2007

Burning Man is going green. QUEST heads out to the Nevada desert to see how clean tech CEOs are tapping into this counter-culture art festival.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Sep 7 2007

The urban forest is going digital. Thanks to volunteers with laptops and handheld devices, San Francisco is creating an online map of every street tree in the city, getting a leg up on keeping the urban landscape healthy and growing.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Sep 4 2007

Flying cars are usually the stuff of science fiction, but a group of engineers at NASA is hoping to change that. They're sponsoring a technology contest to revolutionize small planes - and it's open to the general public.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Aug 23 2007

Is desalination the solution to the California's chronic water woes? Four Bay Area agencies think it might be -- and are studying whether to build the largest desalination plant in the country.

Listen to this Radio Report Air Date: Aug 17 2007

Compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs, new compact fluorescent bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer. But some people say their lighting is too harsh. QUEST sheds some light on the bulb debate.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Jul 31 2007

Silicon Valley is planning one of the world's largest wireless networks, providing outdoors Web access to all and services to police and first responders. But how exactly does the technology known as Wi-Fi work?

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Jul 10 2007

California's largest wind farm cluster at Altamont Pass unintentionally kills golden eagles, burrowing owls and other threatened birds. Now, wind companies, scientists and environmentalists are working to bird-proof these massive wind farms.

Watch this TV Story Air Date: Jun 26 2007