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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_48362\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg\" alt=\"photograph of grapefruit\" title=\"dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48362\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image courtesy of dullhunk via Wikimedia Commons\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You follow the directions on your medication carefully, always taking the pills with the correct frequency and with or without food as directed. But have you discussed with your doctor or pharmacist whether ingesting grapefruit could cause an unintentional drug overdose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A drug is normally metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract, but a liver enzyme called cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) deactivates much of the drug so the body only absorbs about half of it. This process is taken into account when a doctor prescribes the necessary dose. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Seville bitter oranges (used in marmalade), limes and pomelos naturally contain chemicals called furanocoumarins. These furanocoumarins inhibit the CYP3A4 enzymes, causing the gut to absorb much more of the drug at a potentially toxic level. Sweet oranges, such as navel or Valencia, do not contain furanocoumarins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Bailey, Ph.D., a clinical pharmacologist at the Lawson Health Research Institute, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2612087/\" title=\"Journal article on Bailey's initial discovery of grapefruit-medication interaction\">discovered\u003c/a> this interaction between grapefruit and some medications over 20 years ago. However, Bailey has recently released an \u003ca href=\"http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2012/11/26/cmaj.120951.citation\" title=\"Bailey CMAJ article with updated list of drugs that interact with grapefruit\">updated list\u003c/a> of medications affected by grapefruit in the peer-reviewed \u003cem>Canadian Medical Association Journal\u003c/em>. The researchers say the number of drugs that interact with grapefruit has significantly increased to more than 85 as new drugs have come on the market, and 43 of these drugs could interact with grapefruit and lead to serious side effects, such as kidney damage, blood clots, respiratory depression, abnormal rapid heart beats (torsade de pointes) and sudden death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers provide a list of drugs predicted to interact with grapefruit, including:\u003cbr>\n• \u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat cancer\u003c/strong>: crizotinib, dasatinib, erlotinib, everolimus, lapatinib, nilotinib, pazopanib, sunitinib, vandetanib, vemurafenib\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat or prevent infections\u003c/strong>: erythromycin, halofantrine, maraviroc, primaquine, quinine, rilpivirine\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat high cholesterol\u003c/strong>: atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat heart and blood vessel conditions\u003c/strong>: amiodarone, apixaban, clopidogrel, dronedarone, eplerenone, felodipine, nifedipine, quinidine, rivaroxaban, ticagrelor\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs affecting the central nervous system\u003c/strong>: oral alfentanil, buspirone, dextromethorphan, oral fentanyl, oral ketamine, lurasidone, oxycodone, pimozide, quetiapine, triazolam, ziprasidone\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat nausea\u003c/strong>: domperidone\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to suppress the immune system\u003c/strong>: cyclosporine, everolimus, sirolimus, tacrolimus\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat urinary tract conditions\u003c/strong>: darifenacin, fesoterodine, solifenain, silodosin, tamsulosin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How often such adverse reactions occur is under debate by scientists. Many cases may be missed because doctors don’t think to ask if patients have ingested grapefruit. The level of furanocoumarins in grapefruit also varies for \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/88/8839sci2.html\" title=\"journal article\">different grapefruit crops or juice batches\u003c/a>. The interaction may be affected by the frequency and timing of the citrus consumption. Some people are also more vulnerable to the interactions, depending on the levels of CYP3A4 enzymes normally present in their gut, their age and the medications that they take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if serious reactions are rare, Bailey argues that these incidences are entirely avoidable. People can avoid ingesting the risky citrus or doctors may be able to prescribe an alternate drug. So it is important to carefully read the information leaflet that comes with your medication, as well as discuss with your doctor or pharmacist how your diet may affect your medication.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "You should discuss with your doctor or pharmacist whether ingesting grapefruit could cause an unintentional drug overdose. Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice affects how the body metabolizes certain drugs, and the number of drugs that adversely interact with grapefruit has increased according to new research results.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_48362\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg\" alt=\"photograph of grapefruit\" title=\"dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48362\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/12/dullhunk_WikipediaCommons_640x360-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image courtesy of dullhunk via Wikimedia Commons\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You follow the directions on your medication carefully, always taking the pills with the correct frequency and with or without food as directed. But have you discussed with your doctor or pharmacist whether ingesting grapefruit could cause an unintentional drug overdose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A drug is normally metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract, but a liver enzyme called cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) deactivates much of the drug so the body only absorbs about half of it. This process is taken into account when a doctor prescribes the necessary dose. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Seville bitter oranges (used in marmalade), limes and pomelos naturally contain chemicals called furanocoumarins. These furanocoumarins inhibit the CYP3A4 enzymes, causing the gut to absorb much more of the drug at a potentially toxic level. Sweet oranges, such as navel or Valencia, do not contain furanocoumarins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Bailey, Ph.D., a clinical pharmacologist at the Lawson Health Research Institute, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2612087/\" title=\"Journal article on Bailey's initial discovery of grapefruit-medication interaction\">discovered\u003c/a> this interaction between grapefruit and some medications over 20 years ago. However, Bailey has recently released an \u003ca href=\"http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2012/11/26/cmaj.120951.citation\" title=\"Bailey CMAJ article with updated list of drugs that interact with grapefruit\">updated list\u003c/a> of medications affected by grapefruit in the peer-reviewed \u003cem>Canadian Medical Association Journal\u003c/em>. The researchers say the number of drugs that interact with grapefruit has significantly increased to more than 85 as new drugs have come on the market, and 43 of these drugs could interact with grapefruit and lead to serious side effects, such as kidney damage, blood clots, respiratory depression, abnormal rapid heart beats (torsade de pointes) and sudden death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers provide a list of drugs predicted to interact with grapefruit, including:\u003cbr>\n• \u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat cancer\u003c/strong>: crizotinib, dasatinib, erlotinib, everolimus, lapatinib, nilotinib, pazopanib, sunitinib, vandetanib, vemurafenib\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat or prevent infections\u003c/strong>: erythromycin, halofantrine, maraviroc, primaquine, quinine, rilpivirine\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat high cholesterol\u003c/strong>: atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat heart and blood vessel conditions\u003c/strong>: amiodarone, apixaban, clopidogrel, dronedarone, eplerenone, felodipine, nifedipine, quinidine, rivaroxaban, ticagrelor\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs affecting the central nervous system\u003c/strong>: oral alfentanil, buspirone, dextromethorphan, oral fentanyl, oral ketamine, lurasidone, oxycodone, pimozide, quetiapine, triazolam, ziprasidone\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat nausea\u003c/strong>: domperidone\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to suppress the immune system\u003c/strong>: cyclosporine, everolimus, sirolimus, tacrolimus\u003cbr>\n•\t\u003cstrong>Drugs used to treat urinary tract conditions\u003c/strong>: darifenacin, fesoterodine, solifenain, silodosin, tamsulosin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How often such adverse reactions occur is under debate by scientists. Many cases may be missed because doctors don’t think to ask if patients have ingested grapefruit. The level of furanocoumarins in grapefruit also varies for \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/88/8839sci2.html\" title=\"journal article\">different grapefruit crops or juice batches\u003c/a>. The interaction may be affected by the frequency and timing of the citrus consumption. Some people are also more vulnerable to the interactions, depending on the levels of CYP3A4 enzymes normally present in their gut, their age and the medications that they take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if serious reactions are rare, Bailey argues that these incidences are entirely avoidable. People can avoid ingesting the risky citrus or doctors may be able to prescribe an alternate drug. So it is important to carefully read the information leaflet that comes with your medication, as well as discuss with your doctor or pharmacist how your diet may affect your medication.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "Top KQED Science & QUEST Stories from 2012 | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>From the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to killer whales, bicycles to cheese — it’s been another year of diverse storytelling from the KQED Science and Environment team. Here’s a round-up of the top 10 stories shared on our website (based on page views) that you’ve enjoyed in 2012. Please let us know what other stories you’ve enjoyed in the comments section below and if there’s anything you’d like to see in the coming season!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/18/a-new-radiocarbon-yardstick-from-japan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A New Radiocarbon Yardstick from Japan\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/suigetsutop.jpg\" title=\"suigetsutop\" class=\"alignnone\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The most popular story featured on our website was written by our geology blogger \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/andrew-alden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Alden\u003c/a>; it describes a core of sediment from a Japanese lake that’s a Rosetta Stone for ice-age climate research.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/07/20/why-killer-whales-don%E2%80%99t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2011/07/MarqueeImage-KCTS-WhyKillerWhalesDontEatPeopleBlog.jpg\" title=\"killerwhale\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>It’s clear that in the wild, orcas seem to have a pretty universal rule: don’t attack humans. The reason would appear to be both biological and cultural. Read more from \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/ethanmorris/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ethan Morris\u003c/a> of KCTS, our partner station in Seattle.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2007/07/05/why-mosquitoes-buzz-in-peoples-ears/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/imp/blog_mosquito.jpg\" title=\"mosquitoes\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In this perennially popular blog post, The Oakland Zoo’s \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/amy-gotliffe/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amy Gotliffe\u003c/a> shares some interesting facts and fables about why mosquitoes buzz in our ears — especially when we’re trying to sleep at night.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/delta-map/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California’s Deadlocked Delta: Interactive Map\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Deltamap2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-37979\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science radio reporter \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/laurensommer/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lauren Sommer\u003c/a> created a rich, multimedia series that chronicles the history and issues surrounding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Working with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfei.org/DeltaHEStudy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Estuary Institute – Aquatic Science Center\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://west.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University\u003c/a>, their interactive maps take an in-depth look at the region that’s the heart of California’s water supply. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/22/in-defense-of-science-an-interview-with-ncse%E2%80%99s-eugenie-scott/\">In Defense of Science: An Interview with NCSE’s Eugenie Scott\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/genie2.jpg\" title=\"eugeniescott\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/lizagross/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liza Gross\u003c/a> generated a lot of discussion with her interview with Eugenie Scott, the longtime director of Oakland’s National Center for Science Education. Scott shared her thoughts on the challenges of communicating science in a climate of denial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/08/16/rumors-and-truth-in-lake-tahoe/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rumors and Truth in Lake Tahoe\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2011/08/Lake-Tahoe.jpg\" title=\"laketahoe\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This past summer, scuba divers in Lake Tahoe found the body of a man who had drowned in the lake 17 years ago. Still in its wetsuit, the body was very well-preserved. Because the water in this high alpine lake is so cold, decomposition is very slow. This fact has spawned rumors, the most famous of which involves Jacques Cousteau and still makes writer \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/jennifer-skene/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jennifer Skene\u003c/a> uneasy.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/video/the-science-of-riding-a-bicycle/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Science of Riding a Bicycle\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Their basic design hasn’t changed much, but scientists still don’t fully understand the forces that allow humans to balance atop a bicycle. QUEST producer \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/gabriela-quiros/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gabriela Quirós\u003c/a> visited Davis – a city that loves its bicycles – to take a look at a research bike and explore a collection of antique bicycles. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/audio/space-shuttle-endeavour-makes-a-bay-area-victory-lap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Shuttle Endeavour Makes a Bay Area Victory Lap\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/92krJJyEPGM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Endeavour flyover made a striking appearance in the Bay Area in late September. Piggybacked to a 747, the shuttle flew at a low altitude of 1500 feet over several local cities. KQED Science radio reporter \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/amystanden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amy Standen\u003c/a> covered the flight and Interactive Producer Jenny Oh created a \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/jennyoh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Storify presentation\u003c/a> that collected residents’ reactions from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/06/21/open-source-science-on-the-internet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open Source Science on the Internet\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/DnWocYKqvhw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about the Open Science movement and how science discoveries can spread across the Web in this post by \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/laura-khalil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Laura Khalil\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>From the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to killer whales, bicycles to cheese — it’s been another year of diverse storytelling from the KQED Science and Environment team. Here’s a round-up of the top 10 stories shared on our website (based on page views) that you’ve enjoyed in 2012. Please let us know what other stories you’ve enjoyed in the comments section below and if there’s anything you’d like to see in the coming season!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/18/a-new-radiocarbon-yardstick-from-japan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A New Radiocarbon Yardstick from Japan\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/suigetsutop.jpg\" title=\"suigetsutop\" class=\"alignnone\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The most popular story featured on our website was written by our geology blogger \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/andrew-alden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Alden\u003c/a>; it describes a core of sediment from a Japanese lake that’s a Rosetta Stone for ice-age climate research.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/07/20/why-killer-whales-don%E2%80%99t-eat-people-where-science-and-legend-meet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Killer Whales Don’t Eat People: Where Science and Legend Meet\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2011/07/MarqueeImage-KCTS-WhyKillerWhalesDontEatPeopleBlog.jpg\" title=\"killerwhale\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>It’s clear that in the wild, orcas seem to have a pretty universal rule: don’t attack humans. The reason would appear to be both biological and cultural. Read more from \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/ethanmorris/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ethan Morris\u003c/a> of KCTS, our partner station in Seattle.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2007/07/05/why-mosquitoes-buzz-in-peoples-ears/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/imp/blog_mosquito.jpg\" title=\"mosquitoes\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In this perennially popular blog post, The Oakland Zoo’s \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/amy-gotliffe/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amy Gotliffe\u003c/a> shares some interesting facts and fables about why mosquitoes buzz in our ears — especially when we’re trying to sleep at night.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/delta-map/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California’s Deadlocked Delta: Interactive Map\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Deltamap2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-37979\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2.jpg 640w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Deltamap2-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science radio reporter \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/laurensommer/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lauren Sommer\u003c/a> created a rich, multimedia series that chronicles the history and issues surrounding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Working with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfei.org/DeltaHEStudy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Estuary Institute – Aquatic Science Center\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://west.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University\u003c/a>, their interactive maps take an in-depth look at the region that’s the heart of California’s water supply. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/22/in-defense-of-science-an-interview-with-ncse%E2%80%99s-eugenie-scott/\">In Defense of Science: An Interview with NCSE’s Eugenie Scott\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/genie2.jpg\" title=\"eugeniescott\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/lizagross/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liza Gross\u003c/a> generated a lot of discussion with her interview with Eugenie Scott, the longtime director of Oakland’s National Center for Science Education. Scott shared her thoughts on the challenges of communicating science in a climate of denial.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/08/16/rumors-and-truth-in-lake-tahoe/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rumors and Truth in Lake Tahoe\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2011/08/Lake-Tahoe.jpg\" title=\"laketahoe\" class=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This past summer, scuba divers in Lake Tahoe found the body of a man who had drowned in the lake 17 years ago. Still in its wetsuit, the body was very well-preserved. Because the water in this high alpine lake is so cold, decomposition is very slow. This fact has spawned rumors, the most famous of which involves Jacques Cousteau and still makes writer \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/jennifer-skene/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jennifer Skene\u003c/a> uneasy.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/video/the-science-of-riding-a-bicycle/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Science of Riding a Bicycle\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Their basic design hasn’t changed much, but scientists still don’t fully understand the forces that allow humans to balance atop a bicycle. QUEST producer \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/gabriela-quiros/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gabriela Quirós\u003c/a> visited Davis – a city that loves its bicycles – to take a look at a research bike and explore a collection of antique bicycles. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/audio/space-shuttle-endeavour-makes-a-bay-area-victory-lap/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Shuttle Endeavour Makes a Bay Area Victory Lap\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/92krJJyEPGM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Endeavour flyover made a striking appearance in the Bay Area in late September. Piggybacked to a 747, the shuttle flew at a low altitude of 1500 feet over several local cities. KQED Science radio reporter \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/amystanden/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amy Standen\u003c/a> covered the flight and Interactive Producer Jenny Oh created a \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/jennyoh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Storify presentation\u003c/a> that collected residents’ reactions from all over the Bay Area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/06/21/open-source-science-on-the-internet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open Source Science on the Internet\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/DnWocYKqvhw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about the Open Science movement and how science discoveries can spread across the Web in this post by \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/author/laura-khalil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Laura Khalil\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Flame Retardants, Redux: From Toxic Couches to Buildings",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_47457\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 637px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/28/flame-retardants-redux-from-toxic-couches-to-buildings/dancingflames-quest/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-47457\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/DancingFlames.quest_-637x360.jpg\" alt=\"flame\" title=\"Dancing flames\" width=\"637\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-47457\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California's flammability standard, which has led to the use of toxic flame retardants in a wide range of consumer products, may finally change under the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Photo: Oscar/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Speaking before a roomful of \u003ca href=\"http://www.bcerp.org/2012mtg/\">breast cancer researchers and activists\u003c/a> in San Francisco earlier this month, Arlene Blum revealed her latest plan to get toxic chemicals out of our homes. “We want to change the international building code,” she said, “so you can have more fire safety in buildings without flame retardants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be challenging,” she acknowledged, with characteristic understatement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For close to six years, Blum, a biophysical chemist, visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and executive director of Berkeley’s Green Science Policy Institute, has worked with state Senator Mark Leno to get cancer-causing chemicals out of consumer products. Leno, who also spoke to the group, lamented the folly of pouring potentially dangerous chemicals into consumer products given the lack of data showing a fire safety benefit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2007, Leno has tried four different approaches to reduce exposures to flame retardants. Not one bill passed the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why is this industry so engaged in defeating every one of our efforts?” he asked. “They’re making billions and billions of dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. demand for flame retardants is \u003ca href=\"http://www.giiresearch.com/press/6786.shtml\">increasing 4.6% a year\u003c/a> to a projected 938 million pounds by 2016, according to market research released in October. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the best-selling flame retardants, produced in the range of \u003ca href=\"http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp202-c5.pdf\">10-50 million pounds a year\u003c/a>, is chlorinated Tris—a chemical that Blum and fellow Berkeley researcher Bruce Ames flagged as a carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. It’s the most commonly used flame retardant in furniture. As a resident of California, your couch probably has a little tag saying it complies with TB117—which means it contains about a pound of chlorinated Tris. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_47464\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 364px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/28/flame-retardants-redux-from-toxic-couches-to-buildings/leno/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-47464\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/leno-364x360.jpg\" alt=\"state senator mark leno\" title=\"senator mark leno\" width=\"364\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-47464\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Senator Mark Leno spoke about his efforts to get toxic flame retardants out of consumer products at the annual meeting of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program in San Francisco this month. The chemical industry fought hard to defeat his legislation for a simple reason, he said: Greed. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es303471d?prevSearch=couches&searchHistoryKey=\">new study released this week\u003c/a>, Blum and her colleagues found flame retardants in 85% of 102 couches they tested. The team analyzed couch samples purchased before and after California phased out the flame retardant formula known as Penta to find out which alternatives manufacturers turned to. Of samples bought before 2005, nearly 40% contained Penta and a quarter had chlorinated Tris. After the Penta phaseout, more than half the samples contained chlorinated Tris, and close to 20% had a little-studied replacement called Firemaster 550.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ehp.1205597.pdf\">Recent research\u003c/a> links Penta to decreased fertility, lower birth weight and cognitive deficits in children. Chlorinated Tris is a suspected human carcinogen and researchers haven’t had time to study the health effects of Firemaster 550. Since most people tend to keep big ticket items like couches for 20 years or more, there’s no telling how many home have Penta-treated furniture. Based on Blum’s recent research, most of us probably have Tris-treated couches. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But why do our couches have a pound of cancer-causing chemicals that build up in our dust—and our bodies?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As you may have heard by now, in 1975 California implemented TB117, which requires foam inside your couch to resist a very small flame for 12 seconds. But the first thing to burn when a cigarette or candle drops on your couch isn’t the foam, it's the fabric. As fabric burns, it generates a large flame, which in turn ignites the foam, which burns within a few seconds. When fire burns without flame retardants, it releases carbon dioxide and water. In the presence of flame retardants, fires release far more soot, smoke and carbon monoxide—which is what kills you in a fire. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TB117 doesn’t increase fire safety, Blum says. It just increases our exposure to toxic chemicals. And flame retardants are showing up in products that aren’t even listed in the standard. Sleep mats aren’t subject to the standard, yet one study found that all the sleep mats in 20 nursery schools in the East Bay contained flame retardants. Most of the foam products in America, including mattress pads and pillows, use flame retardants to comply with TB117, even though it’s not required. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blum believes that Gov. Jerry Brown, who directed state agencies to revise the standard in June, is determined to achieve fire safety without toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with a safer furniture standard within reach, she’s set her sights on an even bigger problem: foam plastic insulation in buildings. The Uniform Building Code, which regulates foam plastic insulation in walls, requires a 15-minute thermal barrier (typically gypsum wallboard) to protect them from the heat of a fire. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By the time you hit the insulation, you’ve had a raging fire in your house for 15 minutes,” Blum says. “Having flame retardants in the insulation just makes the fire more toxic.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flame retardants used in building insulation are turning up in the environment, household dust and human body fluids at increasing levels, Blum and her colleagues report in a new study released this week. Studies link the compounds to endocrine disruption, neurological and developmental toxicity and the potential to cause cancer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to a recovering housing market, construction is driving most of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-flame-retardant-demand-to-reach-938-million-pounds-in-2016-growing-46-annually-172172821.html\">growth in the flame retardant market\u003c/a> and accounts for the greatest share of sales. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, many green builders use flame-retardant-treated plastic insulation to boost energy efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All these flammability standards—which increase our exposure to toxic chemicals without increasing fire safety—went into effect in the 1970s, “perhaps not with malice aforethought,” Blum says. “But now’s the time to do something.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Last June, Gov. Jerry Brown directed state agencies to change California's flammability standard to ensure fire safety without dousing furniture and other foam products with toxic chemicals. Now activists are focusing on an even bigger market for flame retardants: foam insulation in buildings.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_47457\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 637px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/28/flame-retardants-redux-from-toxic-couches-to-buildings/dancingflames-quest/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-47457\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/DancingFlames.quest_-637x360.jpg\" alt=\"flame\" title=\"Dancing flames\" width=\"637\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-47457\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California's flammability standard, which has led to the use of toxic flame retardants in a wide range of consumer products, may finally change under the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Photo: Oscar/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Speaking before a roomful of \u003ca href=\"http://www.bcerp.org/2012mtg/\">breast cancer researchers and activists\u003c/a> in San Francisco earlier this month, Arlene Blum revealed her latest plan to get toxic chemicals out of our homes. “We want to change the international building code,” she said, “so you can have more fire safety in buildings without flame retardants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be challenging,” she acknowledged, with characteristic understatement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For close to six years, Blum, a biophysical chemist, visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and executive director of Berkeley’s Green Science Policy Institute, has worked with state Senator Mark Leno to get cancer-causing chemicals out of consumer products. Leno, who also spoke to the group, lamented the folly of pouring potentially dangerous chemicals into consumer products given the lack of data showing a fire safety benefit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2007, Leno has tried four different approaches to reduce exposures to flame retardants. Not one bill passed the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why is this industry so engaged in defeating every one of our efforts?” he asked. “They’re making billions and billions of dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. demand for flame retardants is \u003ca href=\"http://www.giiresearch.com/press/6786.shtml\">increasing 4.6% a year\u003c/a> to a projected 938 million pounds by 2016, according to market research released in October. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the best-selling flame retardants, produced in the range of \u003ca href=\"http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp202-c5.pdf\">10-50 million pounds a year\u003c/a>, is chlorinated Tris—a chemical that Blum and fellow Berkeley researcher Bruce Ames flagged as a carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. It’s the most commonly used flame retardant in furniture. As a resident of California, your couch probably has a little tag saying it complies with TB117—which means it contains about a pound of chlorinated Tris. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_47464\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 364px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/28/flame-retardants-redux-from-toxic-couches-to-buildings/leno/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-47464\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/leno-364x360.jpg\" alt=\"state senator mark leno\" title=\"senator mark leno\" width=\"364\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-47464\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Senator Mark Leno spoke about his efforts to get toxic flame retardants out of consumer products at the annual meeting of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program in San Francisco this month. The chemical industry fought hard to defeat his legislation for a simple reason, he said: Greed. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es303471d?prevSearch=couches&searchHistoryKey=\">new study released this week\u003c/a>, Blum and her colleagues found flame retardants in 85% of 102 couches they tested. The team analyzed couch samples purchased before and after California phased out the flame retardant formula known as Penta to find out which alternatives manufacturers turned to. Of samples bought before 2005, nearly 40% contained Penta and a quarter had chlorinated Tris. After the Penta phaseout, more than half the samples contained chlorinated Tris, and close to 20% had a little-studied replacement called Firemaster 550.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ehp.1205597.pdf\">Recent research\u003c/a> links Penta to decreased fertility, lower birth weight and cognitive deficits in children. Chlorinated Tris is a suspected human carcinogen and researchers haven’t had time to study the health effects of Firemaster 550. Since most people tend to keep big ticket items like couches for 20 years or more, there’s no telling how many home have Penta-treated furniture. Based on Blum’s recent research, most of us probably have Tris-treated couches. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But why do our couches have a pound of cancer-causing chemicals that build up in our dust—and our bodies?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As you may have heard by now, in 1975 California implemented TB117, which requires foam inside your couch to resist a very small flame for 12 seconds. But the first thing to burn when a cigarette or candle drops on your couch isn’t the foam, it's the fabric. As fabric burns, it generates a large flame, which in turn ignites the foam, which burns within a few seconds. When fire burns without flame retardants, it releases carbon dioxide and water. In the presence of flame retardants, fires release far more soot, smoke and carbon monoxide—which is what kills you in a fire. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TB117 doesn’t increase fire safety, Blum says. It just increases our exposure to toxic chemicals. And flame retardants are showing up in products that aren’t even listed in the standard. Sleep mats aren’t subject to the standard, yet one study found that all the sleep mats in 20 nursery schools in the East Bay contained flame retardants. Most of the foam products in America, including mattress pads and pillows, use flame retardants to comply with TB117, even though it’s not required. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blum believes that Gov. Jerry Brown, who directed state agencies to revise the standard in June, is determined to achieve fire safety without toxic chemicals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with a safer furniture standard within reach, she’s set her sights on an even bigger problem: foam plastic insulation in buildings. The Uniform Building Code, which regulates foam plastic insulation in walls, requires a 15-minute thermal barrier (typically gypsum wallboard) to protect them from the heat of a fire. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By the time you hit the insulation, you’ve had a raging fire in your house for 15 minutes,” Blum says. “Having flame retardants in the insulation just makes the fire more toxic.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flame retardants used in building insulation are turning up in the environment, household dust and human body fluids at increasing levels, Blum and her colleagues report in a new study released this week. Studies link the compounds to endocrine disruption, neurological and developmental toxicity and the potential to cause cancer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to a recovering housing market, construction is driving most of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-flame-retardant-demand-to-reach-938-million-pounds-in-2016-growing-46-annually-172172821.html\">growth in the flame retardant market\u003c/a> and accounts for the greatest share of sales. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ironically, many green builders use flame-retardant-treated plastic insulation to boost energy efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All these flammability standards—which increase our exposure to toxic chemicals without increasing fire safety—went into effect in the 1970s, “perhaps not with malice aforethought,” Blum says. “But now’s the time to do something.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/07/tracing-the-origins-of-the-durian%e2%80%99s-stench/durin-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46798\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/durin-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"durian\" title=\"durin resize\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-46798\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You either love \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian\">durian\u003c/a> or you hate it. This spiky football-shaped fruit is a delicacy in southeast Asia. But some can’t get over its stench, often described as rotten onions or stale vomit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Malaysian hotels even ban guests from bringing the fruit into the rooms when it’s in season. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now researchers in Germany have identified compounds in durian that might be responsible for its unique smell. (\u003cem>J. Agric. Food Chem.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf303881k\"> 10.1021/jf303881k\u003c/a>) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since scientists started investigating the molecular origins of the durian’s smell in 1972, they've identified about 200 different aroma molecules in the fruit. But scientists have either identified the structures of a few aroma molecules in the durian, or identified numbers of odiferous molecules without determining their structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jia-Xiao Li, Peter Schieberle, and Martin Steinhaus, all researchers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dwih.com.br/index.php?id=54\">German Research Center for Food Chemistry\u003c/a>, wanted to match the molecular structures of the aroma molecules with their odors to find the ones most responsible for the durian’s smell. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this, the scientists stationed a trained person at the end of an instrument called a gas chromatograph. They injected increasingly dilute durian extracts into the machine, which vaporizes the aroma molecules and separates them based on their boiling point. The person at the end of the machine sniffs the molecules leaving the machine and identifies their odors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the scientists took samples of each group of aroma molecules identified by the people. They injected the samples into an instrument that determines the mass of molecules in the sample. Knowing the mass of a molecule, scientists can determine the types and numbers of atoms in the molecule (six carbons, two oxygens and twelve hydrogens, for example). From there, they can connect those atoms into a molecular structure (fruity \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethyl_butyrate\">ethyl butanoate\u003c/a> in this example). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Li and colleagues identified 46 different aroma molecules, including fruity, skunky, honey, caramel, and roasted onion smells. Eight of the 13 most common molecules, identified at the lowest dilutions, were unknown in durian until now. The researchers write that they'd have to recreate the durian aroma without particular ingredients to determine the relative contributions of each aroma molecule without a doubt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the odiferous onion-like compounds contain sulfur. That’s not surprising because our noses are quite sensitive to sulfur. Natural gas companies lace the gas with a sulfur-containing compound so our noses can detect a gas leak. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As someone whose nose turns up when I turn on my gas stove, I admire the people who sniffed durian for this experiment. As a reward, I hope they get to work on experiments identifying \u003ca href=\"http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/07/better-beer-thr/\">hop aroma in beer\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/05/raising-glass-champagne\">the scent of champagne\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq-Urai-nX4]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/11/07/tracing-the-origins-of-the-durian%e2%80%99s-stench/durin-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46798\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/11/durin-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"durian\" title=\"durin resize\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-46798\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You either love \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian\">durian\u003c/a> or you hate it. This spiky football-shaped fruit is a delicacy in southeast Asia. But some can’t get over its stench, often described as rotten onions or stale vomit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Malaysian hotels even ban guests from bringing the fruit into the rooms when it’s in season. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now researchers in Germany have identified compounds in durian that might be responsible for its unique smell. (\u003cem>J. Agric. Food Chem.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf303881k\"> 10.1021/jf303881k\u003c/a>) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since scientists started investigating the molecular origins of the durian’s smell in 1972, they've identified about 200 different aroma molecules in the fruit. But scientists have either identified the structures of a few aroma molecules in the durian, or identified numbers of odiferous molecules without determining their structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jia-Xiao Li, Peter Schieberle, and Martin Steinhaus, all researchers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dwih.com.br/index.php?id=54\">German Research Center for Food Chemistry\u003c/a>, wanted to match the molecular structures of the aroma molecules with their odors to find the ones most responsible for the durian’s smell. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this, the scientists stationed a trained person at the end of an instrument called a gas chromatograph. They injected increasingly dilute durian extracts into the machine, which vaporizes the aroma molecules and separates them based on their boiling point. The person at the end of the machine sniffs the molecules leaving the machine and identifies their odors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the scientists took samples of each group of aroma molecules identified by the people. They injected the samples into an instrument that determines the mass of molecules in the sample. Knowing the mass of a molecule, scientists can determine the types and numbers of atoms in the molecule (six carbons, two oxygens and twelve hydrogens, for example). From there, they can connect those atoms into a molecular structure (fruity \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethyl_butyrate\">ethyl butanoate\u003c/a> in this example). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Li and colleagues identified 46 different aroma molecules, including fruity, skunky, honey, caramel, and roasted onion smells. Eight of the 13 most common molecules, identified at the lowest dilutions, were unknown in durian until now. The researchers write that they'd have to recreate the durian aroma without particular ingredients to determine the relative contributions of each aroma molecule without a doubt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the odiferous onion-like compounds contain sulfur. That’s not surprising because our noses are quite sensitive to sulfur. Natural gas companies lace the gas with a sulfur-containing compound so our noses can detect a gas leak. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As someone whose nose turns up when I turn on my gas stove, I admire the people who sniffed durian for this experiment. As a reward, I hope they get to work on experiments identifying \u003ca href=\"http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/07/better-beer-thr/\">hop aroma in beer\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/05/raising-glass-champagne\">the scent of champagne\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/wq-Urai-nX4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/wq-Urai-nX4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Playing Whack-a-Mole with Flame Retardants ",
"title": "Playing Whack-a-Mole with Flame Retardants ",
"headTitle": "QUEST | KQED Science",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46550\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 572px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/31/playing-whack-a-mole-with-flame-retardants/house_fire/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46550\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire.jpg\" alt=\"burning house\" title=\"House_fire\" width=\"572\" height=\"321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46550\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire.jpg 572w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire-400x224.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emerging research questions whether flame retardants used to meet California's flammability standard increase fire safety. Activists say fire-resistant fabric can protect furniture built to meet industry codes without the use of toxic flame retardants. (Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Countless consumer products sold in California contain a flame retardant flagged as a possible carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. As of this week, finally, they must carry a warning that the chemical causes cancer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year ago, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment \u003ca href=\"http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/102811list.html\">listed chlorinated Tris\u003c/a> as a cancer-causing chemical under Proposition 65. Under that 1986 law, businesses using a listed chemical have one year to add a warning label to their products. So now, if you buy foam furniture, car seats, nursing pillows or other \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/18chemical.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&\">baby products treated with chlorinated Tris\u003c/a>, you should see the warning: \"This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer.\" \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bad Characters\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nChlorinated Tris and most other flame retardants are \u003ca href=\"http://www.chemtopics.com/elements/halogen/halogen.htm\">halogenated chemicals\u003c/a>. They’re grouped together as halogens on the Periodic Table, which means they share structural and chemical properties and behave similarly. Halogens—which include the elements bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine and astatine—are highly reactive and can be extremely toxic at high enough doses. (Chlorine gas was one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.vlib.us/medical/gaswar/chlorine.htm\">most feared weapons\u003c/a> used during World War I.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most flame retardants come in brominated and chlorinated forms. Brominated Tris (Tris-BP) was \u003ca href=\"http://www.arleneblum.com/pdfs/blum_77.pdf\">first identified as a possible carcinogen\u003c/a> in 1977 by UC Berkeley researchers Arlene Blum and Bruce Ames. Blum and Ames showed that Tris-BP acts as a mutagen—it damages DNA—with a high likelihood of causing cancer. A previous study had shown that adding Tris-BP to a goldfish tank at 1 ppm—that’s one unit of Tris-BP to a million parts of water—could kill the fish in just five days. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46555\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/31/playing-whack-a-mole-with-flame-retardants/arlene/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46555\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/arlene.jpeg\" alt=\"arlene blum\" title=\"arlene blum\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46555\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arlene Blum, a biophysical chemist who led the first all-woman ascent of Denali in 1970, leads the call for safer flame retardants. She founded the Green Science Policy Institute after learning that a toxic chemical she helped remove from children’s pajamas in 1977 reappeared in foam furniture and baby products. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw/NIEHS)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thanks to Blum and Ames’ work, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned Tris-BP from children’s pajamas in 1977. Manufacturers then switched to chlorinated Tris—formally called tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, or TDCPP. Again, Blum, Ames and a colleague pegged the chlorinated form as a mutagen. This time, manufacturers voluntarily removed the toxic chemical from kids’ pajamas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then six years ago, Blum discovered to her horror that manufacturers were using chlorinated Tris on polyurethane foam in furniture cushions, nursing pillows, car seats and other consumer products to meet California’s flammability standard (called Technical Bulletin 117). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers switched to chlorinated Tris after phasing out another brominated chemical, called Penta, which along with its close cousin Octa were banned in California in 2003. \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/qanda.html\">Both have now been phased out\u003c/a> in the United States, but persist in the environment and are building up in the tissues of wildlife and humans, as well as in women’s breast milk. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers next turned to Firemaster 550, a proprietary formula that researchers have been scrambling to characterize. It’s now one of the most common replacements for banned flame retardants and a \u003ca href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es801070p\">major component of house dust. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Evidence of Harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nReplacing one halogen with another does nothing to address the safety of these flame retardants, Blum told me. You’re just trading one toxic compound for another, she explained. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are so worried about getting rid of bisphenol A,\" she said. \"But the halogenated flame retardants are far more dangerous and far more persistent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research in animals has linked halogenated flame retardants to a wide range of toxic effects, including liver, thyroid, reproductive and developmental damage, disrupted brain development and DNA damage. Human studies, though limited, point to lower IQ in children, reduced fertility, hormonal changes and altered onset of puberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now \u003ca href=\"http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-patisaul-firemaster/\">a preliminary study in rats\u003c/a> implicates Firemaster 550 as an endocrine disruptor and “obesogen,” a \u003ca href=\"http://www.uci.edu/features/2009/10/feature_obesogens_091019.php\">term coined by UCLA biologist Bruce Blumberg\u003c/a> to describe environmental chemicals that alter hormonal and metabolic processes and lead to obesity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pilot study, led by \u003ca href=\"http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hbpatisa/\">Heather Patisaul\u003c/a>, an assistant professor of biology at North Carolina State University and expert in endocrine-disruption, exposed pregnant rats to flame retardants at low, high and zero levels (as controls). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with other flame retardant studies, exposure to Firemaster 500 altered the thyroid levels of pregnant rats. Maternal thyroid hormones play a critical role in the normal growth and development of the fetus. Changes in thyroid levels can wreak havoc on developing organs, particularly the brain. In this study, Firemaster increased thyroid levels in the mothers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After exposing pregnant rats to Firemaster, the researchers detected a component of the flame retardant, called TBB, in both exposed mothers and their babies, suggesting the babies either ingested the compound while nursing or absorbed it in utero (after it crossed the placenta). Both exposed male and female offspring showed extreme weight gain. But in the female offspring, obesity came with additional costs, including early onset of puberty, high anxiety and insulin resistance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While taking care to point out that their findings are preliminary, Patisaul and her colleagues also note that endocrine-disrupting effects of prenatal exposure to Firemaster 550 occurred at levels “much lower” than that reported safe by the manufacturer—and that we likely encounter in our homes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire Safety without Toxic Chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nResearchers don't understand exactly how diverse halogenated flame retardants cause damage. But they know that their shared chemical properties—which help them persist, accumulate in living tissue, and disrupt molecular processes—means that if one is toxic, the rest may be too. When it comes to this class of flame retardants, there appears to be no safer alternative. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists have long argued that regulations favor industry over public health by forcing consumers to prove that chemicals cause harm rather than requiring industry to demonstrate safety. It’s hard to find fault with that complaint when the Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca href=\"ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0901-0950/sb_928_cfa_20100401_171410_sen_comm.html\">has tested just 200 out of some 85,000 chemicals\u003c/a> in commerce--and banned five--while the California Department of Toxic Substances Control notes that 45 percent of \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/assessingrisk/emergingcontaminants.cfm#Related_Links\">some 2,500 high production volume compounds\u003c/a> lack adequate health and safety toxicity data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the flame retardant business growing—from $4.6 billion in 2011 to a \u003ca href=\"http://www.bccresearch.com/report/flame-retardant-chemicals-market-chm014k.html\">projected $6.1 billion in 2014\u003c/a>—manufacturers have a clear interest in protecting their investments. They \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">spent more than $23 million\u003c/a> to defeat five bills to regulate their products before the California Legislature. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as a devastating \u003ca href=\"http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/flames/index.html\">report from the Chicago Tribune\u003c/a> showed, the industry deceived the public about the safety and efficacy of their products. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blum thinks it’s time to end the whack-a-mole approach to regulating flame retardants. And so does Gov. Jerry Brown, judging from his June directive to the Bureau of Electronic Appliance Repair, Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation, the bureau that controls the state’s flammability standards, to ensure fire safety without toxic flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can have fire safety without toxicity, Blum says. She hopes the research documenting the toxic effects of flame retardants reaches parents just as the pajama studies did. When it does, she believes, they’ll demand safer products. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IDlb4N-_u4]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Countless consumer products sold in California contain a flame retardant flagged as a possible carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. As of this week, finally, they must carry a warning that the chemical causes cancer. But is it enough when manufacturers simply replace one toxic chemical with another?\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46550\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 572px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/31/playing-whack-a-mole-with-flame-retardants/house_fire/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46550\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire.jpg\" alt=\"burning house\" title=\"House_fire\" width=\"572\" height=\"321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46550\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire.jpg 572w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/House_fire-400x224.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emerging research questions whether flame retardants used to meet California's flammability standard increase fire safety. Activists say fire-resistant fabric can protect furniture built to meet industry codes without the use of toxic flame retardants. (Image: Kpahor/Wikipedia)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Countless consumer products sold in California contain a flame retardant flagged as a possible carcinogen nearly 35 years ago. As of this week, finally, they must carry a warning that the chemical causes cancer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year ago, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment \u003ca href=\"http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/102811list.html\">listed chlorinated Tris\u003c/a> as a cancer-causing chemical under Proposition 65. Under that 1986 law, businesses using a listed chemical have one year to add a warning label to their products. So now, if you buy foam furniture, car seats, nursing pillows or other \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/18chemical.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&\">baby products treated with chlorinated Tris\u003c/a>, you should see the warning: \"This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer.\" \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bad Characters\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nChlorinated Tris and most other flame retardants are \u003ca href=\"http://www.chemtopics.com/elements/halogen/halogen.htm\">halogenated chemicals\u003c/a>. They’re grouped together as halogens on the Periodic Table, which means they share structural and chemical properties and behave similarly. Halogens—which include the elements bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine and astatine—are highly reactive and can be extremely toxic at high enough doses. (Chlorine gas was one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.vlib.us/medical/gaswar/chlorine.htm\">most feared weapons\u003c/a> used during World War I.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most flame retardants come in brominated and chlorinated forms. Brominated Tris (Tris-BP) was \u003ca href=\"http://www.arleneblum.com/pdfs/blum_77.pdf\">first identified as a possible carcinogen\u003c/a> in 1977 by UC Berkeley researchers Arlene Blum and Bruce Ames. Blum and Ames showed that Tris-BP acts as a mutagen—it damages DNA—with a high likelihood of causing cancer. A previous study had shown that adding Tris-BP to a goldfish tank at 1 ppm—that’s one unit of Tris-BP to a million parts of water—could kill the fish in just five days. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46555\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/10/31/playing-whack-a-mole-with-flame-retardants/arlene/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-46555\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/10/arlene.jpeg\" alt=\"arlene blum\" title=\"arlene blum\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46555\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arlene Blum, a biophysical chemist who led the first all-woman ascent of Denali in 1970, leads the call for safer flame retardants. She founded the Green Science Policy Institute after learning that a toxic chemical she helped remove from children’s pajamas in 1977 reappeared in foam furniture and baby products. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw/NIEHS)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thanks to Blum and Ames’ work, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned Tris-BP from children’s pajamas in 1977. Manufacturers then switched to chlorinated Tris—formally called tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, or TDCPP. Again, Blum, Ames and a colleague pegged the chlorinated form as a mutagen. This time, manufacturers voluntarily removed the toxic chemical from kids’ pajamas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then six years ago, Blum discovered to her horror that manufacturers were using chlorinated Tris on polyurethane foam in furniture cushions, nursing pillows, car seats and other consumer products to meet California’s flammability standard (called Technical Bulletin 117). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers switched to chlorinated Tris after phasing out another brominated chemical, called Penta, which along with its close cousin Octa were banned in California in 2003. \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/qanda.html\">Both have now been phased out\u003c/a> in the United States, but persist in the environment and are building up in the tissues of wildlife and humans, as well as in women’s breast milk. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers next turned to Firemaster 550, a proprietary formula that researchers have been scrambling to characterize. It’s now one of the most common replacements for banned flame retardants and a \u003ca href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es801070p\">major component of house dust. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Evidence of Harm\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nReplacing one halogen with another does nothing to address the safety of these flame retardants, Blum told me. You’re just trading one toxic compound for another, she explained. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are so worried about getting rid of bisphenol A,\" she said. \"But the halogenated flame retardants are far more dangerous and far more persistent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research in animals has linked halogenated flame retardants to a wide range of toxic effects, including liver, thyroid, reproductive and developmental damage, disrupted brain development and DNA damage. Human studies, though limited, point to lower IQ in children, reduced fertility, hormonal changes and altered onset of puberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now \u003ca href=\"http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-patisaul-firemaster/\">a preliminary study in rats\u003c/a> implicates Firemaster 550 as an endocrine disruptor and “obesogen,” a \u003ca href=\"http://www.uci.edu/features/2009/10/feature_obesogens_091019.php\">term coined by UCLA biologist Bruce Blumberg\u003c/a> to describe environmental chemicals that alter hormonal and metabolic processes and lead to obesity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pilot study, led by \u003ca href=\"http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hbpatisa/\">Heather Patisaul\u003c/a>, an assistant professor of biology at North Carolina State University and expert in endocrine-disruption, exposed pregnant rats to flame retardants at low, high and zero levels (as controls). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with other flame retardant studies, exposure to Firemaster 500 altered the thyroid levels of pregnant rats. Maternal thyroid hormones play a critical role in the normal growth and development of the fetus. Changes in thyroid levels can wreak havoc on developing organs, particularly the brain. In this study, Firemaster increased thyroid levels in the mothers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After exposing pregnant rats to Firemaster, the researchers detected a component of the flame retardant, called TBB, in both exposed mothers and their babies, suggesting the babies either ingested the compound while nursing or absorbed it in utero (after it crossed the placenta). Both exposed male and female offspring showed extreme weight gain. But in the female offspring, obesity came with additional costs, including early onset of puberty, high anxiety and insulin resistance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While taking care to point out that their findings are preliminary, Patisaul and her colleagues also note that endocrine-disrupting effects of prenatal exposure to Firemaster 550 occurred at levels “much lower” than that reported safe by the manufacturer—and that we likely encounter in our homes. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fire Safety without Toxic Chemicals\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nResearchers don't understand exactly how diverse halogenated flame retardants cause damage. But they know that their shared chemical properties—which help them persist, accumulate in living tissue, and disrupt molecular processes—means that if one is toxic, the rest may be too. When it comes to this class of flame retardants, there appears to be no safer alternative. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists have long argued that regulations favor industry over public health by forcing consumers to prove that chemicals cause harm rather than requiring industry to demonstrate safety. It’s hard to find fault with that complaint when the Environmental Protection Agency \u003ca href=\"ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0901-0950/sb_928_cfa_20100401_171410_sen_comm.html\">has tested just 200 out of some 85,000 chemicals\u003c/a> in commerce--and banned five--while the California Department of Toxic Substances Control notes that 45 percent of \u003ca href=\"http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/assessingrisk/emergingcontaminants.cfm#Related_Links\">some 2,500 high production volume compounds\u003c/a> lack adequate health and safety toxicity data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the flame retardant business growing—from $4.6 billion in 2011 to a \u003ca href=\"http://www.bccresearch.com/report/flame-retardant-chemicals-market-chm014k.html\">projected $6.1 billion in 2014\u003c/a>—manufacturers have a clear interest in protecting their investments. They \u003ca href=\"http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/money-to-burn\">spent more than $23 million\u003c/a> to defeat five bills to regulate their products before the California Legislature. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as a devastating \u003ca href=\"http://media.apps.chicagotribune.com/flames/index.html\">report from the Chicago Tribune\u003c/a> showed, the industry deceived the public about the safety and efficacy of their products. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blum thinks it’s time to end the whack-a-mole approach to regulating flame retardants. And so does Gov. Jerry Brown, judging from his June directive to the Bureau of Electronic Appliance Repair, Home Furnishing and Thermal Insulation, the bureau that controls the state’s flammability standards, to ensure fire safety without toxic flame retardants. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can have fire safety without toxicity, Blum says. She hopes the research documenting the toxic effects of flame retardants reaches parents just as the pajama studies did. When it does, she believes, they’ll demand safer products. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Creative Use of a Cancer Mutation May Improve Nylon Production",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/26/creative-use-of-a-cancer-mutation-may-improve-nylon-production/nylon-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-44992\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/nylon-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"nylon\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-44992\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A cancer-caused mutation in a protein provides clues to improving the production of a chemical used to make nylon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Invented in 1935, nylon found its first use replacing silk in stockings. Supplies of nylon dwindled during World War II as the material was funneled towards making rope, parachutes and mosquito netting. Once the war ended, ladies formed long lines – \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/threaded/2012/09/stocking-series-part-1-wartime-rationing-and-nylon-riots/\">“nylon riots”\u003c/a> -- at local stores hoping to purchase easy-care nylon stockings once again. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now nylon is so common, in things from rope to zippers, that it’s hard to imagine supplies were ever low. It’s easy to make too: Mix two particular liquids and nylon strands form where the liquids touch. The synthesis of nylon is a common chemistry demonstration:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxkpctjDTr8]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those liquid precursors to nylon, including something called adipic acid, typically come from petroleum processing. Some chemical companies want to create environmentally friendly sources of these chemicals, starting from sugar instead of fossil fuels. These companies hijack and rework the metabolism of bacteria and yeast so the microbes convert sugar into commodity chemicals. Hopefully the final products will be cheaper than their petroleum-derived counterparts, as well as “greener” in terms of releasing less greenhouse gases during production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One company in California, \u003ca href=\"http://www.verdezyne.com/verdezyne/index.cfm\">Verdezyne\u003c/a>, has a pilot plant challenging engineered yeast to make adipic acid on a small industrial scale. Meanwhile, researchers look for other microbial metabolic pathways that could be altered to create the 6-carbon adipic acid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers in Germany cobbled together one \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi1020056\">potential pathway\u003c/a> using proteins from several different bacteria. But this pathway is incomplete: one of the proteins works best using a molecule with five carbon atoms, instead of the six-carbon precursor needed to make adipic acid. Altering the preference of this protein with genetic engineering might make this pathway a viable bio-based route to adipic acid. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists redesign proteins using educated guesses, computer models and time-consuming rounds of evolution. While studying genetic mutations that turn normal cells into cancer, Hai Yan, at Duke University Medical Center, and his colleagues found clues that might help streamline the protein redesign for adipic acid production. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes those genetic mutations in cancer cells alter metabolic proteins like those scientists tweak for chemical production. In 2008 and 2009, Duke researchers identified an altered protein in cancer cells where the mutation created the reaction needed for the adipic acid pathway. But this cancer protein prefers five-carbon compounds, so the researchers couldn’t insert it directly into the catalytic pathway. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they identified a structurally similar protein in yeast that preferred six-carbon compounds and mutated it to resemble the change in the cancer cell protein. The altered yeast protein performed the reaction they wanted using a six-carbon molecule, thus completing the biochemical production pathway. The scientists even applied similar logic to redesigning a protein from bacteria, though this protein was less selective than its yeast relative. (\u003cem>Nature Chemical Biology\u003c/em>, DOI:\u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1065\">10.1038/nchembio.1065\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this redesigned protein to make adipic acid in microbes is still a large challenge, as scientists would have to tinker with the microbe’s metabolism to increase adipic acid production. The big lesson from this work is in the design. Cancer-caused mutations that alter a protein’s function, though extremely rare, might be a useful source of information to guide other protein redesigns, the researchers write. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, this story is just reminder that science, like many aspects of life, is a creative process. You never know where you’ll find inspiration to solve a problem.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Chemists want to reengineer metabolic proteins and pathways in microbes so they can convert sugar into commodity chemicals. Now a mutant protein found in cancer cells provides clues to help scientists improve a protein that could help microbes create a precursor to nylon. In science, as in so much of life, inspiration can come from unusual places.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/26/creative-use-of-a-cancer-mutation-may-improve-nylon-production/nylon-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-44992\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/nylon-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"nylon\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-44992\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A cancer-caused mutation in a protein provides clues to improving the production of a chemical used to make nylon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Invented in 1935, nylon found its first use replacing silk in stockings. Supplies of nylon dwindled during World War II as the material was funneled towards making rope, parachutes and mosquito netting. Once the war ended, ladies formed long lines – \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/threaded/2012/09/stocking-series-part-1-wartime-rationing-and-nylon-riots/\">“nylon riots”\u003c/a> -- at local stores hoping to purchase easy-care nylon stockings once again. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now nylon is so common, in things from rope to zippers, that it’s hard to imagine supplies were ever low. It’s easy to make too: Mix two particular liquids and nylon strands form where the liquids touch. The synthesis of nylon is a common chemistry demonstration:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/KxkpctjDTr8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/KxkpctjDTr8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those liquid precursors to nylon, including something called adipic acid, typically come from petroleum processing. Some chemical companies want to create environmentally friendly sources of these chemicals, starting from sugar instead of fossil fuels. These companies hijack and rework the metabolism of bacteria and yeast so the microbes convert sugar into commodity chemicals. Hopefully the final products will be cheaper than their petroleum-derived counterparts, as well as “greener” in terms of releasing less greenhouse gases during production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One company in California, \u003ca href=\"http://www.verdezyne.com/verdezyne/index.cfm\">Verdezyne\u003c/a>, has a pilot plant challenging engineered yeast to make adipic acid on a small industrial scale. Meanwhile, researchers look for other microbial metabolic pathways that could be altered to create the 6-carbon adipic acid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers in Germany cobbled together one \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi1020056\">potential pathway\u003c/a> using proteins from several different bacteria. But this pathway is incomplete: one of the proteins works best using a molecule with five carbon atoms, instead of the six-carbon precursor needed to make adipic acid. Altering the preference of this protein with genetic engineering might make this pathway a viable bio-based route to adipic acid. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists redesign proteins using educated guesses, computer models and time-consuming rounds of evolution. While studying genetic mutations that turn normal cells into cancer, Hai Yan, at Duke University Medical Center, and his colleagues found clues that might help streamline the protein redesign for adipic acid production. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes those genetic mutations in cancer cells alter metabolic proteins like those scientists tweak for chemical production. In 2008 and 2009, Duke researchers identified an altered protein in cancer cells where the mutation created the reaction needed for the adipic acid pathway. But this cancer protein prefers five-carbon compounds, so the researchers couldn’t insert it directly into the catalytic pathway. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they identified a structurally similar protein in yeast that preferred six-carbon compounds and mutated it to resemble the change in the cancer cell protein. The altered yeast protein performed the reaction they wanted using a six-carbon molecule, thus completing the biochemical production pathway. The scientists even applied similar logic to redesigning a protein from bacteria, though this protein was less selective than its yeast relative. (\u003cem>Nature Chemical Biology\u003c/em>, DOI:\u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1065\">10.1038/nchembio.1065\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this redesigned protein to make adipic acid in microbes is still a large challenge, as scientists would have to tinker with the microbe’s metabolism to increase adipic acid production. The big lesson from this work is in the design. Cancer-caused mutations that alter a protein’s function, though extremely rare, might be a useful source of information to guide other protein redesigns, the researchers write. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, this story is just reminder that science, like many aspects of life, is a creative process. You never know where you’ll find inspiration to solve a problem.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "West Coast a Test Bed for Ocean Acidification",
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"content": "\u003cp>This week, scientists from around the world are \u003ca href=\"http://www.highco2-iii.org/main.cfm?cid=2259\">meeting\u003c/a> in Monterey to discuss what they call the “other” climate change problem: the \u003ca href=\"http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F\">oceans are becoming more acidic\u003c/a>. It happens as oceans absorb the carbon dioxide we add to the air through burning fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say it can be bad news for ocean animals with shells like oysters, mussels and others that are key to the marine food web. How bad? Some scientists are hoping that ocean conditions off the California coast will help them find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oyster Farms Face Impacts\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t have to go far to see the impacts that acidification is already having. At \u003ca href=\"http://hogislandoysters.com/\">Hog Island Oyster Company\u003c/a>, just outside Point Reyes, co-owner Terry Sawyer is seeing the effects in his supply chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oysters grow up in big, mesh bags that sit out in Tomales Bay, but Sawyer gets the oysters when they’re small, “the size of your little fingernail,” he says. He orders them from hatcheries in Oregon and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Sawyer started getting calls from those suppliers. They couldn’t fill his orders.\u003cbr>\n“They would have tens of thousands of gallons of tanks that were absolutely full of larvae. They would have the entire system die or crash,” says Sawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44938\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/oysters.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-44938\" title=\"Oysters\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/oysters.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pile of oysters being sorted at Hog Island Oyster Farm.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The hatcheries were \u003ca href=\"http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/study-links-raised-carbon-dioxide-levels-to-oyster-die-offs/\">filling their tanks with seawater\u003c/a> that was becoming more acidic. Scientists say the oceans are 30 percent more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more acidic the water, the harder it is for animals like oysters to build their shells. Their shells are weaker and they grow more slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sawyer is raising his own oyster larvae now so he’ll have a more predictable supply. But he says there’s no question that climate change is affecting his bottom line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know if we’re going to be able to survive the very real trending that is going on out there,\" he says. It’s a trend that could affect the entire food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Acidification on the California Coast\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see here, this is a mussel bed that’s made up of lots of California mussels,” says Eric Sanford, an ecologist with UC Davis’s Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rocky point we’re standing on is covered in tightly packed, purplish mussels – what he calls the “foundation species” of the California coast. “One that really defines the whole ecosystem, sort of the way corals define a coral reef,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mussels are a key part of the food web and so are a lot of animals with shells, says oceanographer Tessa Hill. “Probably most people like the fact that we have things like whales and salmon off along our coast. Those organisms are likely to be impacted because their food source will be impacted,” Hill says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big question is: will animals with shells be able to adapt to a more acidic future – where, in a hundred years, the oceans could be more than twice as acidic?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44940\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/sanford.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-44940\" title=\"SONY DSC\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/sanford.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Sanford at a mussel bed near Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These California mussels could help answer that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re facing the most acidic water that you’d see in the open ocean today,” says Hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Hill explains, acidic water from the deep ocean rises to the surface on the West Coast in the spring and summer, when the wind is blowing. This upwelling makes the waters off California some of the most acidic in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of \u003ca href=\"http://omegas.science.oregonstate.edu/?q=node/3\">OMEGAS\u003c/a>, a new project linking universities up and down the West Coast, researchers are asking: if organisms here have been blasted with more acidic water for generations, have they adapted to handle it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside their lab, Hill and Sanford show me jars full of young mussels, almost too small to see. Each jar is from a different part of the West Coast from Oregon to Santa Barbara. They’re being grown in water that reflects conditions in 2100, says Eric Sanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue we’re looking at is whether there might be genetic differences among different populations along the coast in their ability to cope with ocean acidification,” he says.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nFinding Genetic Tools\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found they have lucky genes,” says Steve Palumbi, biology professor at Stanford University who is also working on the OMEGAS project. He studied populations of another shelled animal on the West Coast - sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can think of genes like a set of tools, he says. “If you happen to have bad plumbing, you will have more plumbing tools in your house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been lots of plumbing problems on the West Coast, so to speak, in the form of acidic water. “And so all these populations, urchins anyway, have had to get the toolset to deal with it,” says Palumbi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a paper still in review, Palumbi says they found a segment of the urchin population that had around 100 genes that make them better adapted to more acidic water. That makes them more likely to survive and reproduce. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDcDqULXDOE&feature=share&list=UUbf-eynjiFxUKGLFMt8KNoQ\">Check out this microdoc video\u003c/a> for more on their research).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is good news,” he says, “because these organisms have the capacity to deal with more acidification. But it’s not good news forever because all it does is give us a little breathing room. The trouble is right now, the rate at which the ocean is acidifying is way faster than it ever has before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organisms will evolve, he says, but probably not fast enough to keep up. In the meantime, Palumbi and other scientists are mapping where the genetically resilient mussels and urchins are on the West Coast, so policymakers can look at protecting them.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This week, scientists from around the world are \u003ca href=\"http://www.highco2-iii.org/main.cfm?cid=2259\">meeting\u003c/a> in Monterey to discuss what they call the “other” climate change problem: the \u003ca href=\"http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F\">oceans are becoming more acidic\u003c/a>. It happens as oceans absorb the carbon dioxide we add to the air through burning fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists say it can be bad news for ocean animals with shells like oysters, mussels and others that are key to the marine food web. How bad? Some scientists are hoping that ocean conditions off the California coast will help them find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Oyster Farms Face Impacts\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t have to go far to see the impacts that acidification is already having. At \u003ca href=\"http://hogislandoysters.com/\">Hog Island Oyster Company\u003c/a>, just outside Point Reyes, co-owner Terry Sawyer is seeing the effects in his supply chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oysters grow up in big, mesh bags that sit out in Tomales Bay, but Sawyer gets the oysters when they’re small, “the size of your little fingernail,” he says. He orders them from hatcheries in Oregon and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Sawyer started getting calls from those suppliers. They couldn’t fill his orders.\u003cbr>\n“They would have tens of thousands of gallons of tanks that were absolutely full of larvae. They would have the entire system die or crash,” says Sawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44938\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/oysters.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-44938\" title=\"Oysters\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/oysters.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pile of oysters being sorted at Hog Island Oyster Farm.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The hatcheries were \u003ca href=\"http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/study-links-raised-carbon-dioxide-levels-to-oyster-die-offs/\">filling their tanks with seawater\u003c/a> that was becoming more acidic. Scientists say the oceans are 30 percent more acidic since the start of the Industrial Revolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more acidic the water, the harder it is for animals like oysters to build their shells. Their shells are weaker and they grow more slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sawyer is raising his own oyster larvae now so he’ll have a more predictable supply. But he says there’s no question that climate change is affecting his bottom line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know if we’re going to be able to survive the very real trending that is going on out there,\" he says. It’s a trend that could affect the entire food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Acidification on the California Coast\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see here, this is a mussel bed that’s made up of lots of California mussels,” says Eric Sanford, an ecologist with UC Davis’s Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rocky point we’re standing on is covered in tightly packed, purplish mussels – what he calls the “foundation species” of the California coast. “One that really defines the whole ecosystem, sort of the way corals define a coral reef,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mussels are a key part of the food web and so are a lot of animals with shells, says oceanographer Tessa Hill. “Probably most people like the fact that we have things like whales and salmon off along our coast. Those organisms are likely to be impacted because their food source will be impacted,” Hill says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big question is: will animals with shells be able to adapt to a more acidic future – where, in a hundred years, the oceans could be more than twice as acidic?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_44940\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/sanford.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-44940\" title=\"SONY DSC\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/sanford.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Sanford at a mussel bed near Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These California mussels could help answer that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re facing the most acidic water that you’d see in the open ocean today,” says Hill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Hill explains, acidic water from the deep ocean rises to the surface on the West Coast in the spring and summer, when the wind is blowing. This upwelling makes the waters off California some of the most acidic in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of \u003ca href=\"http://omegas.science.oregonstate.edu/?q=node/3\">OMEGAS\u003c/a>, a new project linking universities up and down the West Coast, researchers are asking: if organisms here have been blasted with more acidic water for generations, have they adapted to handle it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside their lab, Hill and Sanford show me jars full of young mussels, almost too small to see. Each jar is from a different part of the West Coast from Oregon to Santa Barbara. They’re being grown in water that reflects conditions in 2100, says Eric Sanford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue we’re looking at is whether there might be genetic differences among different populations along the coast in their ability to cope with ocean acidification,” he says.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nFinding Genetic Tools\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found they have lucky genes,” says Steve Palumbi, biology professor at Stanford University who is also working on the OMEGAS project. He studied populations of another shelled animal on the West Coast - sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can think of genes like a set of tools, he says. “If you happen to have bad plumbing, you will have more plumbing tools in your house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been lots of plumbing problems on the West Coast, so to speak, in the form of acidic water. “And so all these populations, urchins anyway, have had to get the toolset to deal with it,” says Palumbi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a paper still in review, Palumbi says they found a segment of the urchin population that had around 100 genes that make them better adapted to more acidic water. That makes them more likely to survive and reproduce. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDcDqULXDOE&feature=share&list=UUbf-eynjiFxUKGLFMt8KNoQ\">Check out this microdoc video\u003c/a> for more on their research).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is good news,” he says, “because these organisms have the capacity to deal with more acidification. But it’s not good news forever because all it does is give us a little breathing room. The trouble is right now, the rate at which the ocean is acidifying is way faster than it ever has before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organisms will evolve, he says, but probably not fast enough to keep up. In the meantime, Palumbi and other scientists are mapping where the genetically resilient mussels and urchins are on the West Coast, so policymakers can look at protecting them.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "H2-Whoa: Computing With Water Instead of Electrons",
"title": "H2-Whoa: Computing With Water Instead of Electrons",
"headTitle": "QUEST | KQED Science",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_43775\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/12/h2-whoa-computing-with-water-instead-of-electrons/lotus-leaf-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-43775\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/lotus-leaf-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"lotus leaf resize\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-43775\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The water repellency of a lotus leaf inspired scientists to recreate this kind of surface in the lab. Credit: Indoloony/{link url=” http://www.flickr.com/photos/indoloony/7561498510/”}Flickr{/link} \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Water and computers usually don’t mix, as anyone who has spilled a coffee on a laptop knows. Now researchers in Finland have used water to do computing tasks. They’ve stored information visually, as on a CD, by writing with water and recreated computer logic using water droplets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Information storage and logic require bits of information with two states: presence and absence. Lasers read CDs based on the presence or absence of a reflection due to pits in the surface of the disk. Logic depends on the presence or absence of electrons running through circuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for water-based computers, the researchers need to create two “states” of water. They do this using special superhydrophobic surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lotus leaves are the quintessential superhydrophobic surface, repelling water so effectively that droplets cleanly roll off a leaf, even when muddy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP11A-KK5Gs]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare that to a hydrophobic surface like the non-stick coating on a skillet. Water forms neat droplets on a freshly rinsed non-stick pan, but some of those droplets still stick to the pan when you hang it up to dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Materials scientists look to recreate superhydrophobic coatings in the lab, as potential coatings for waterproof clothing, reflective street signs and self-cleaning solar cells. Current coatings are not strong enough to be used commercially yet. Despite a variety of fabrication techniques, these surfaces share two common features: Superhydrophobic surfaces must be rough and slippery (meaning it’s covered with a hydrophobic coating).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Robin Ras, at Aalto University in Finland, and colleagues appear to have more computer-related plans for superhydrophobic surfaces. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the researchers wrote letters atop a superhydrophobic surface covered with water, mimicking optical data stored on a CD. They designed the surface to have two superhydrophobic “states.” Switching between the states erased the letters, wiping the visual data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To create the two superhydrophobic states, the researchers looked to the hairy legs of water striders, insects that skate and jump across ponds. Layers of thin hairs \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/12/h2-whoa-computing-with-water-instead-of-electrons/\">trap a layer of air\u003c/a> between the hair and the water, preventing the legs from getting wet and helping the insect float on top of the water. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To mimic this structure, the researchers built a silicon surface with two sizes of fibers. First they etched relatively large cylinders (10 micrometers wide, or one-tenth the width of a human hair) into the wafer. Then they covered these cylinders with tiny nanoscale silicon fibers. A slippery hydrophobic coating covered these nanofibers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To write the watery memory, the researchers submerged the patterned silicon wafer in water. The water first floats on a cushion of air surrounding the large cylinders. Then a specially designed narrow nozzle pushes the water between the posts. This compresses the layer of air so it hugs the tiny fibers rather than the large cylinders. This new superhydrophobic state changes reflectance of surface, allowing the researchers to read what they’ve written. They erase the data by tugging on the water with the nozzle so it floats on top of the large cylinders again (\u003cem>Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1204328109\">10.1073/pnas.1204328109\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEWPIjLbrSE]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Ras and his colleagues demonstrated another kind of water-based memory, called flip-flop memory, using water droplets zipping along superhydrophobic channels carved in a copper plate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flip-flop memory changes state every time it’s addressed. In this water example, a water droplet sits at the end of a superhydrophobic channel. Under the right conditions, an incoming water droplet bounces into the resting drop, sending it zipping down another channel (\u003cem>Adv. Mater.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202980\">10.1002/adma.201202980\u003c/a>). The collisions resemble that of billiard balls, if the cue ball stopped rolling when it hit a new rack of balls. And the water memory can flip 100 times without a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTnVwyWaVQw]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also patterned the channels to create logic gates, where droplet collisions affect their output path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s an example:\u003cbr>\n[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ckytxq0OWc]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These water devices are only one way that the natural world influences technology design. To learn more about biomimicry influences concrete, solar cell design and train aerodynamics, check out these articles:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"//www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html\">Janine Benyus: The promise of biomimicry\u003c/a>, TED talk, 2005\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"//www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/biomimicry-gallery/?pid=1785%E2%80%9D\">\u003cbr>\nMother Nature as Engineer: 9 Design Tricks Borrowed From Biology\u003c/a>, wired.com\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"//www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15480620%E2%80%9C\">Biomimicry: Beaks on trains and flipper-like turbines\u003c/a>, BBC\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_43775\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/12/h2-whoa-computing-with-water-instead-of-electrons/lotus-leaf-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-43775\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/09/lotus-leaf-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"lotus leaf resize\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-43775\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The water repellency of a lotus leaf inspired scientists to recreate this kind of surface in the lab. Credit: Indoloony/{link url=” http://www.flickr.com/photos/indoloony/7561498510/”}Flickr{/link} \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Water and computers usually don’t mix, as anyone who has spilled a coffee on a laptop knows. Now researchers in Finland have used water to do computing tasks. They’ve stored information visually, as on a CD, by writing with water and recreated computer logic using water droplets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Information storage and logic require bits of information with two states: presence and absence. Lasers read CDs based on the presence or absence of a reflection due to pits in the surface of the disk. Logic depends on the presence or absence of electrons running through circuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for water-based computers, the researchers need to create two “states” of water. They do this using special superhydrophobic surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lotus leaves are the quintessential superhydrophobic surface, repelling water so effectively that droplets cleanly roll off a leaf, even when muddy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/kP11A-KK5Gs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kP11A-KK5Gs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compare that to a hydrophobic surface like the non-stick coating on a skillet. Water forms neat droplets on a freshly rinsed non-stick pan, but some of those droplets still stick to the pan when you hang it up to dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Materials scientists look to recreate superhydrophobic coatings in the lab, as potential coatings for waterproof clothing, reflective street signs and self-cleaning solar cells. Current coatings are not strong enough to be used commercially yet. Despite a variety of fabrication techniques, these surfaces share two common features: Superhydrophobic surfaces must be rough and slippery (meaning it’s covered with a hydrophobic coating).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Robin Ras, at Aalto University in Finland, and colleagues appear to have more computer-related plans for superhydrophobic surfaces. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the researchers wrote letters atop a superhydrophobic surface covered with water, mimicking optical data stored on a CD. They designed the surface to have two superhydrophobic “states.” Switching between the states erased the letters, wiping the visual data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To create the two superhydrophobic states, the researchers looked to the hairy legs of water striders, insects that skate and jump across ponds. Layers of thin hairs \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/09/12/h2-whoa-computing-with-water-instead-of-electrons/\">trap a layer of air\u003c/a> between the hair and the water, preventing the legs from getting wet and helping the insect float on top of the water. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To mimic this structure, the researchers built a silicon surface with two sizes of fibers. First they etched relatively large cylinders (10 micrometers wide, or one-tenth the width of a human hair) into the wafer. Then they covered these cylinders with tiny nanoscale silicon fibers. A slippery hydrophobic coating covered these nanofibers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To write the watery memory, the researchers submerged the patterned silicon wafer in water. The water first floats on a cushion of air surrounding the large cylinders. Then a specially designed narrow nozzle pushes the water between the posts. This compresses the layer of air so it hugs the tiny fibers rather than the large cylinders. This new superhydrophobic state changes reflectance of surface, allowing the researchers to read what they’ve written. They erase the data by tugging on the water with the nozzle so it floats on top of the large cylinders again (\u003cem>Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1204328109\">10.1073/pnas.1204328109\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/AEWPIjLbrSE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/AEWPIjLbrSE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Ras and his colleagues demonstrated another kind of water-based memory, called flip-flop memory, using water droplets zipping along superhydrophobic channels carved in a copper plate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flip-flop memory changes state every time it’s addressed. In this water example, a water droplet sits at the end of a superhydrophobic channel. Under the right conditions, an incoming water droplet bounces into the resting drop, sending it zipping down another channel (\u003cem>Adv. Mater.\u003c/em>, DOI: \u003ca href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202980\">10.1002/adma.201202980\u003c/a>). The collisions resemble that of billiard balls, if the cue ball stopped rolling when it hit a new rack of balls. And the water memory can flip 100 times without a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/GTnVwyWaVQw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/GTnVwyWaVQw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also patterned the channels to create logic gates, where droplet collisions affect their output path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s an example:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/2Ckytxq0OWc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/2Ckytxq0OWc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These water devices are only one way that the natural world influences technology design. To learn more about biomimicry influences concrete, solar cell design and train aerodynamics, check out these articles:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"//www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html\">Janine Benyus: The promise of biomimicry\u003c/a>, TED talk, 2005\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"//www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/biomimicry-gallery/?pid=1785%E2%80%9D\">\u003cbr>\nMother Nature as Engineer: 9 Design Tricks Borrowed From Biology\u003c/a>, wired.com\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"//www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15480620%E2%80%9C\">Biomimicry: Beaks on trains and flipper-like turbines\u003c/a>, BBC\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_43050\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/29/starbucks-food-waste-fuels-experimental-biorefinery/starbucks/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-43050\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-43050\" title=\"starbucks\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/starbucks-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"starbucks pastry\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leftover pastries and coffee grounds from Starbucks could be turned into precursors to plastic. Credit: {link url=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreanna/4468677088/\"}Andreanna Moya Photography/Flickr{/link}\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An experimental biorefinery turns spent coffee grounds and old pastries from Starbucks into a building block for plastic. Using food waste as fuel might improve the sustainability of biobased chemical production, the researchers say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil refineries clean up crude oil to produce fuel for cars, trucks and planes. Side products from that process include building blocks for plastics, fabrics and detergents, like lactic acid, succinic acid and glycerol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biorefineries could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by creating fuel from renewable sources of energy like plant biomass. Right now, many biorefineries consume sugars and starches from corn – a plant we eat as food. Should food supplies become scarce, humans and biorefineries would compete for fuel. Energy from food waste, instead of food plants, could make biobased chemical production more sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carol Lin, at the City University of Hong Kong, and her coworkers developed a tabletop biorefinery to run on food waste from Starbucks. Fungi first break down the food into sugars. Then bacteria transform those sugars into succinic acid, a chemical building block for plastics, spandex, detergents and deicing solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starbucks Hong Kong donated money to help fund Lin’s research, which she presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society last week. The company produces nearly 5000 tons of food waste yearly in Hong Kong alone, which would normally be burned or buried in landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lin says she is adapting the biorefinery to make other chemicals from the pastry waste. And there is funding to test the technology on a pilot scale in Germany, she said in \u003ca href=\"http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_030537&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=85bffd3d-35ad-40f4-b0dd-7e90a1e51fd0\">a statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some companies already produce succinic acid using sugars in wheat and corn. BioAmber, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is running a pilot plant in France and \u003ca href=\"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bioamber-announces-biobased-succinic-acid-plant-in-ontario-canada-128586383.html\">plans to open a larger plant\u003c/a> in Ontario in 2013. The new plant will produce 18 thousand tons of succinic acid at first, scaling up to more than 38 thousand tons at peak production. Reverdia will soon open a plant in Italy that can produce about 10 thousand tons of succinic acid yearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “food versus fuel” debate over the sugar source for biorefineries often involves biofuel production more than chemical production. About 33 to 40% of corn in the U.S. goes towards making ethanol. And in a year where drought affects corn supplies, some groups are pushing government agencies to reduce their biofuel mandates.\u003cbr>\nMeanwhile, biobased chemical production \u003ca href=\"http://cenblog.org/cleantech-chemistry/2012/08/rfs-plagued-by-critics-while-bio-based-chemicals-move-forward/\">remains under their radar\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to sidestep this debate – for both fuels and chemicals – involves using cellulose in wood pulp and dried corn stalks as a sugar source. But this approach can't produce cost-competitive biofuels right now. It takes too much energy to disassemble rigid cellulose fibers into edible sugars for biorefinery microbes. Nevertheless, some companies hope to find ways to use cellulose for biobased chemical production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day our favorite fuels, plastics and detergents may come from plant and food waste instead of fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>Decades ago, researchers figured out how to create the picture-perfect tomato that travels well and is available year-round. The trouble is, as any supermarket shopper can tell you, tomatoes that look great sometimes taste terrible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not hard to see how much some tomatoes have changed. Just take the trucks on California highways during the summer, each pulling a double trailer stacked high with tomatoes. There’s a reason the tomatoes at the bottom of the pile aren’t squished into a tomato-y mess. That's thanks to the \u003ca href=\"http://daviswiki.org/square_tomato\">square tomato\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The square tomato is kind of a misnomer,” says Roger Chetelat, director of the Tomato Genetics Resource Center at the University of California-Davis. We’re in a greenhouse on campus where he’s holding a few square tomatoes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see they’re not square but they are blocky,” he says. The tomatoes are sort of flat on the side and are firm to the touch even though they’re ripe, sort of like a baseball. “I think I’d prefer to have a tomato like that thrown at me than a baseball, but yeah, they’re pretty tough,” Chetelat says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty years ago, farmers were looking for tougher tomatoes that could withstand new mechanical picking machines. So, plant breeders at UC Davis created a tomato with thick skin and a firm, meaty inside. California’s tomato production boomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Unintended Genetic Consequences\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the era of modern plant breeding came with some unintended effects, as UC Davis researcher Ann Powell discovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She demonstrates with a genetic taste test, of sorts. “We can try one of these,” she says, cutting up a standard grocery store tomato. “Tastes tomato-y.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42812\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/GreenShoulders.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-42812\" title=\"SONY DSC\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/GreenShoulders.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young tomatoes with green shoulders on the left and no shoulders on the right.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The other one we’re sampling has what Powell calls “green shoulders.” That means, as it grew, the tomato was dark green on top around the stem – something that’s controlled by a specific gene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re sweeter,” Powell says, tasting it. “Whether it’s all due to that particular gene, I can’t tell you. But, I don’t know, you can taste the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If green shoulders don’t sound familiar, that’s because most commercial tomatoes don’t have them anymore. Seventy years ago, breeders selected for uniformly light green tomatoes with no shoulders, which stood out better against the plant’s dark leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re a lot easier to see so a farmer could judge his yield. They could see how productive the plants were a lot easier,” says Powell. Their uniform color was also more attractive to consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, those green shoulders have a key job. “We found that it influences the amount of sugar in the ripe fruit,” she says. The dark green parts have more chloroplasts, which turn sunlight into sugars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made about a 20 percent difference in the amount of sugars. I think of it a little bit like how you eat berries. Most of us, including me, sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top to sort of enhance the flavor,” says Powell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42819\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/Powell.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-42819\" title=\"Powell\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/Powell.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ann Powell looks at tomatoes in a UC Davis greenhouse.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most heirloom tomatoes still have green shoulders, but Powell says now that they know about this gene, plant breeders could put it back in commercial varieties. And since the tomato genome was sequenced earlier this year, there are still other flavor genes to study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Focusing on Taste and Nutrition\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve modified and changed our food radically,” says Alyson Mitchell, professor in UC Davis’s Food Science and Technology Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve bred these seeds and plants to have all of these other characteristics: uniform shape, size, color, good disease resistance, high yield,” she says. That’s had major benefits: produce is widely available and more affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, “we’ve absolutely not paid attention to flavor and nutrition. You know, we’re telling children, eat more fruits and vegetables at a time that fruits and vegetables have never tasted worse,” Mitchell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are just starting to understand the molecular compounds that control taste and nutrition. “What we do know is that not all tomatoes are the same. Different cultivars have different levels of nutrients in them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing them organically can also change the levels of nutrients. In a ten-year controlled study of tomatoes, organic tomatoes showed higher levels of antioxidants and molecules that make up flavor and color. But researchers still aren’t sure which of these compounds are the most important for our health. Take flavonoids, which have gotten a lot of hype as antioxidants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are about sixteen hundred described flavonoids to date and we don’t even really at this point understand what that complement is, let alone what all of those different compounds do to benefit our health,” Mitchell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if there is one nutrient that stands out, it’s not always easy to enhance it. Take the case of “super broccoli.” “So they made this broccoli and the idea was to market it as a super broccoli because it had very high levels of this antioxidant, quercetin. Well quercetin is really bitter and they sat a bunch of people down to eat and nobody could eat it, it was so awful,” says Mitchell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitchell says it’s probably the combination of nutrients that gives produce its punch, which they’re working to understand better. Until then, she says, there is one way to make sure you’re getting those benefits: follow your mom’s advice and eat more fruits and vegetables.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Decades ago, researchers figured out how to create the picture-perfect tomato that travels well and is available year-round. The trouble is, as any supermarket shopper can tell you, tomatoes that look great sometimes taste terrible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not hard to see how much some tomatoes have changed. Just take the trucks on California highways during the summer, each pulling a double trailer stacked high with tomatoes. There’s a reason the tomatoes at the bottom of the pile aren’t squished into a tomato-y mess. That's thanks to the \u003ca href=\"http://daviswiki.org/square_tomato\">square tomato\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The square tomato is kind of a misnomer,” says Roger Chetelat, director of the Tomato Genetics Resource Center at the University of California-Davis. We’re in a greenhouse on campus where he’s holding a few square tomatoes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see they’re not square but they are blocky,” he says. The tomatoes are sort of flat on the side and are firm to the touch even though they’re ripe, sort of like a baseball. “I think I’d prefer to have a tomato like that thrown at me than a baseball, but yeah, they’re pretty tough,” Chetelat says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty years ago, farmers were looking for tougher tomatoes that could withstand new mechanical picking machines. So, plant breeders at UC Davis created a tomato with thick skin and a firm, meaty inside. California’s tomato production boomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Unintended Genetic Consequences\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the era of modern plant breeding came with some unintended effects, as UC Davis researcher Ann Powell discovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She demonstrates with a genetic taste test, of sorts. “We can try one of these,” she says, cutting up a standard grocery store tomato. “Tastes tomato-y.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42812\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/GreenShoulders.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-42812\" title=\"SONY DSC\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/GreenShoulders.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young tomatoes with green shoulders on the left and no shoulders on the right.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The other one we’re sampling has what Powell calls “green shoulders.” That means, as it grew, the tomato was dark green on top around the stem – something that’s controlled by a specific gene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re sweeter,” Powell says, tasting it. “Whether it’s all due to that particular gene, I can’t tell you. But, I don’t know, you can taste the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If green shoulders don’t sound familiar, that’s because most commercial tomatoes don’t have them anymore. Seventy years ago, breeders selected for uniformly light green tomatoes with no shoulders, which stood out better against the plant’s dark leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re a lot easier to see so a farmer could judge his yield. They could see how productive the plants were a lot easier,” says Powell. Their uniform color was also more attractive to consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out, those green shoulders have a key job. “We found that it influences the amount of sugar in the ripe fruit,” she says. The dark green parts have more chloroplasts, which turn sunlight into sugars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It made about a 20 percent difference in the amount of sugars. I think of it a little bit like how you eat berries. Most of us, including me, sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top to sort of enhance the flavor,” says Powell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42819\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/Powell.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-42819\" title=\"Powell\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/Powell.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ann Powell looks at tomatoes in a UC Davis greenhouse.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most heirloom tomatoes still have green shoulders, but Powell says now that they know about this gene, plant breeders could put it back in commercial varieties. And since the tomato genome was sequenced earlier this year, there are still other flavor genes to study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Focusing on Taste and Nutrition\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve modified and changed our food radically,” says Alyson Mitchell, professor in UC Davis’s Food Science and Technology Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve bred these seeds and plants to have all of these other characteristics: uniform shape, size, color, good disease resistance, high yield,” she says. That’s had major benefits: produce is widely available and more affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, “we’ve absolutely not paid attention to flavor and nutrition. You know, we’re telling children, eat more fruits and vegetables at a time that fruits and vegetables have never tasted worse,” Mitchell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are just starting to understand the molecular compounds that control taste and nutrition. “What we do know is that not all tomatoes are the same. Different cultivars have different levels of nutrients in them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing them organically can also change the levels of nutrients. In a ten-year controlled study of tomatoes, organic tomatoes showed higher levels of antioxidants and molecules that make up flavor and color. But researchers still aren’t sure which of these compounds are the most important for our health. Take flavonoids, which have gotten a lot of hype as antioxidants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are about sixteen hundred described flavonoids to date and we don’t even really at this point understand what that complement is, let alone what all of those different compounds do to benefit our health,” Mitchell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if there is one nutrient that stands out, it’s not always easy to enhance it. Take the case of “super broccoli.” “So they made this broccoli and the idea was to market it as a super broccoli because it had very high levels of this antioxidant, quercetin. Well quercetin is really bitter and they sat a bunch of people down to eat and nobody could eat it, it was so awful,” says Mitchell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitchell says it’s probably the combination of nutrients that gives produce its punch, which they’re working to understand better. Until then, she says, there is one way to make sure you’re getting those benefits: follow your mom’s advice and eat more fruits and vegetables.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "NASA's Roving Robotic Chemist Will Collect Clues For Life on Mars",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42612\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/15/nasas-roving-robotic-chemist-will-collect-clues-for-life-on-mars/curiosity-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-42612\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-42612\" title=\"curiosity resize\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/curiosity-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Curiosity rover\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist’s rendition of the Mars rover Curiosity, a robotic chemist and geologist. Credit: {link url=\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On August 5, the world was abuzz about a rover named Curiosity landing on Mars. Now that feat of \u003ca href=\"http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1090\">masterful engineering\u003c/a> is over, the rover wakes up, starts its instruments and begins its business of chemistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More specifically, Curiosity is looking for elements and molecules that could be clues to past life on the planet. Elemental analysis is one of the most basic things chemists do, as it helps them figure out products formed in a reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In graduate school, I worked in a lab that built complicated molecules that could be potential medicines. I mixed powders and liquids in a flask, waited for a reaction and then set about identifying what I made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the time I started a reaction knowing what the products should be. Sometimes I retrieved those products. Other times the reaction took an unexpected turn and I collected products with too few or too many atoms. That's when the chemical detective work began. Knowing what products the reaction created, I used my knowledge of chemistry, the reaction conditions, and the materials in the flask to guess how those side products might have formed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curiosity, the wandering robotic chemist, might find molecular products like methane or protein building blocks possibly formed by past life on Mars and now trapped in rocks and minerals. But scientists analyzing the significance of those clues have an extra challenge that I didn’t: They don’t know reaction conditions on the planet, like time, temperature and acidity, which could affect how those products formed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the minerals themselves, and the planet’s atmosphere, have information to help fill that knowledge gap. The rover vaporizes some rocks with a laser and identifies the elements in the rocks \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2012/08/08/light-crystals-and-a-chemist-called-curiosity/\">based on emitted light\u003c/a>. If a rock contains salts like sodium and potassium, then perhaps it formed in a watery environment. Other elemental indicators tell the scientists if that water was too acidic to support life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/carbon-in-rocks-frm-mars-comes-from-volcanoes-not-life/\">recent study \u003c/a>of Martian meteorites used a similar approach to conclude that carbon in the rocks came from volcanoes, not life. The scientists aimed a powerful laser at mineral grains in slices of the meteorite, identifying the elements in the minerals and structure of the carbon-containing compounds. The minerals likely formed in volcanoes; thus the graphite-like clusters inside the grains likely came from volcanoes too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That mystery about the origin of carbon in Martian meteorites took 15 years to solve, because other experiments couldn’t rule out the possibility that the carbon formed while the meteorite sat on Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Curiosity finds molecules that might be evidence for the existence of life as we know it, scientists have to rule out similar contamination issues. Perhaps the molecules formed in the planet’s atmosphere and fell to the surface, or maybe compounds in the soil altered the measurements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elemental analysis of minerals will help scientists identify the environment on Mars about one to two billion years ago, during the middle of its known life. With those clues to the reaction conditions on the planet, scientists can then work backwards to figure out if the planet could have sustained life. I look forward to following how Curiosity helps scientists unravel \u003ca href=\"http://www.msl-chemcam.com/index.php?menu=inc&page_consult=textes&rubrique=63&sousrubrique=208&soussousrubrique=0&titre_url=Curiosity%20-%20Why%20Mars?\">complex questions\u003c/a> about past habitability on Mars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More reading:\u003cbr>\n1. \u003ca href=\"http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/science/\">Science experiments\u003c/a> on Curiosity, from NASA\u003cbr>\n2. Details of some chemistry instruments on Curiosity:\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.springerlink.com/content/p26510688kg4q808/fulltext.pdf?MUD=MP\">Sample Analysis at Mars\u003c/a>, identifying carbon-containing compounds using instruments common to many labs here on Earth\u003cbr>\n3. \u003ca href=\"http://www.msl-chemcam.com/index.php?menu=inc&page_consult=textes&rubrique=64&sousrubrique=223&soussousrubrique=0&titre_url=ChemCam%20-%20What%20will%20ChemCam%20tell%20us?\">ChemCam\u003c/a>, studying the composition of rocks on a small scale and looking for interesting places to study with \u003ca href=\"http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/Instruments/CheMin/\">CheMin\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_42612\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/15/nasas-roving-robotic-chemist-will-collect-clues-for-life-on-mars/curiosity-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-42612\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-42612\" title=\"curiosity resize\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/08/curiosity-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Curiosity rover\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist’s rendition of the Mars rover Curiosity, a robotic chemist and geologist. Credit: {link url=\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On August 5, the world was abuzz about a rover named Curiosity landing on Mars. Now that feat of \u003ca href=\"http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1090\">masterful engineering\u003c/a> is over, the rover wakes up, starts its instruments and begins its business of chemistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More specifically, Curiosity is looking for elements and molecules that could be clues to past life on the planet. Elemental analysis is one of the most basic things chemists do, as it helps them figure out products formed in a reaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In graduate school, I worked in a lab that built complicated molecules that could be potential medicines. I mixed powders and liquids in a flask, waited for a reaction and then set about identifying what I made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the time I started a reaction knowing what the products should be. Sometimes I retrieved those products. Other times the reaction took an unexpected turn and I collected products with too few or too many atoms. That's when the chemical detective work began. Knowing what products the reaction created, I used my knowledge of chemistry, the reaction conditions, and the materials in the flask to guess how those side products might have formed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curiosity, the wandering robotic chemist, might find molecular products like methane or protein building blocks possibly formed by past life on Mars and now trapped in rocks and minerals. But scientists analyzing the significance of those clues have an extra challenge that I didn’t: They don’t know reaction conditions on the planet, like time, temperature and acidity, which could affect how those products formed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the minerals themselves, and the planet’s atmosphere, have information to help fill that knowledge gap. The rover vaporizes some rocks with a laser and identifies the elements in the rocks \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2012/08/08/light-crystals-and-a-chemist-called-curiosity/\">based on emitted light\u003c/a>. If a rock contains salts like sodium and potassium, then perhaps it formed in a watery environment. Other elemental indicators tell the scientists if that water was too acidic to support life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/carbon-in-rocks-frm-mars-comes-from-volcanoes-not-life/\">recent study \u003c/a>of Martian meteorites used a similar approach to conclude that carbon in the rocks came from volcanoes, not life. The scientists aimed a powerful laser at mineral grains in slices of the meteorite, identifying the elements in the minerals and structure of the carbon-containing compounds. The minerals likely formed in volcanoes; thus the graphite-like clusters inside the grains likely came from volcanoes too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That mystery about the origin of carbon in Martian meteorites took 15 years to solve, because other experiments couldn’t rule out the possibility that the carbon formed while the meteorite sat on Earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Curiosity finds molecules that might be evidence for the existence of life as we know it, scientists have to rule out similar contamination issues. Perhaps the molecules formed in the planet’s atmosphere and fell to the surface, or maybe compounds in the soil altered the measurements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elemental analysis of minerals will help scientists identify the environment on Mars about one to two billion years ago, during the middle of its known life. With those clues to the reaction conditions on the planet, scientists can then work backwards to figure out if the planet could have sustained life. I look forward to following how Curiosity helps scientists unravel \u003ca href=\"http://www.msl-chemcam.com/index.php?menu=inc&page_consult=textes&rubrique=63&sousrubrique=208&soussousrubrique=0&titre_url=Curiosity%20-%20Why%20Mars?\">complex questions\u003c/a> about past habitability on Mars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More reading:\u003cbr>\n1. \u003ca href=\"http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/science/\">Science experiments\u003c/a> on Curiosity, from NASA\u003cbr>\n2. Details of some chemistry instruments on Curiosity:\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.springerlink.com/content/p26510688kg4q808/fulltext.pdf?MUD=MP\">Sample Analysis at Mars\u003c/a>, identifying carbon-containing compounds using instruments common to many labs here on Earth\u003cbr>\n3. \u003ca href=\"http://www.msl-chemcam.com/index.php?menu=inc&page_consult=textes&rubrique=64&sousrubrique=223&soussousrubrique=0&titre_url=ChemCam%20-%20What%20will%20ChemCam%20tell%20us?\">ChemCam\u003c/a>, studying the composition of rocks on a small scale and looking for interesting places to study with \u003ca href=\"http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/Instruments/CheMin/\">CheMin\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41613\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/01/prescription-drug-disposal-who-should-foot-the-bill/novomycin-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-41613\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-41613\" title=\"novomycin resize\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/07/novomycin-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"antibiotics\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit:{link url=\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance requiring pharmaceutical companies to pay for prescription drug take-back programs in the county. The legislation is the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/press/2012/2012-07-24_SupervisorMileyPressRelease.pdf\">first of its kind in the country\u003c/a>, though the industry has voluntarily contributed to a pilot drug disposal program currently running in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say the new rules will help prevent prescription drug abuse and will protect our waterways from being polluted by unused medicine flushed down a toilet. A representative for the industry group \u003ca href=\"http://www.phrma.org/\">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/products/2012/2012-07-05_PhRMALetterofOpposition.pdf\"> says the group disagrees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s debate over whether take-back programs \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2012/05/junk-medicine/\">really are environmentally friendly\u003c/a>. But I’ll leave the environmental and public health discussion for another time. This new regulation, if it stands, is about money. And it’s part of a larger movement to shift responsibility for waste disposal from local governments to companies that make products like paint and batteries. Manufacturers then add the disposal costs to a product’s purchase price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceutical companies already pay for medicine disposal in the Canadian province of British Columbia, under requirements set by provincial legislation passed in 1997. Last year, \u003ca href=\"http://www.medicationsreturn.ca/\">the take-back program\u003c/a> collected about 76 tons of medicine from more than 1000 drop-off locations around the province. Containers, collection and medication incineration for the province \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/products/2012/2012-04-23_BC%20Case%20Study.pdf\">cost about $430,000\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug take-back programs here in the U.S. are nothing new. Since September 2010, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Association has sponsored four nationwide medicine collection events. In the Bay Area, pharmacies and police stations\u003ca href=\"http://www.savesfbay.org/pharmaceutical-disposal-sites\"> from San Jose to Petaluma\u003c/a> regularly accept drugs for disposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s harder to find \u003ca href=\"http://www.takebacknetwork.com/local_efforts.html\">drop-off locations in other parts of the country\u003c/a>, especially those that accept controlled substances like narcotic painkillers. Cash-strapped city and county governments struggle to fund these programs within complicated federal, state and local regulations for medicine collection and disposal -- let alone pay staff members to administer the programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal law designed to carefully track potentially abused medicines, with the goal of reducing the possibility that they end up in the wrong hands, inadvertently limits collection locations. The U.S. Controlled Substances Act strictly limits who can accept unused narcotics. Only law enforcement officers can collect medicines recognized by this act, including steroids, sleeping pills and antidepressants. It’s turned into a big headache for pharmaceutical take-back program organizers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Convenience matters when choosing locations for pharmaceutical disposal sites, and a police station may not be the best choice. People tend to return medicine to a pharmacy where they first picked it up, but the current law prevents pharmacists from accepting controlled substances unless a police officer is present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act, signed by President Barak Obama in October 2010, addresses this legal restriction. This new law gives the U.S. Attorney General power to modify the Controlled Substances Act and extend collection privileges to people other than law enforcement officers. However, the DEA hasn’t released the new regulations yet, and disposal program organizers hope the new rules will appear soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even once the federal regulations are changed, there are state and local waste regulations to consider. In California, for example, medicines in a home are considered residential waste and exempt from any state disposal laws. But once drugs are combined in the same bin at a business or collection site, \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/homehazwaste/Medications/Business.htm\">voluntary state guidelines effective until January 2013\u003c/a> recommend treating it as medical waste. The new Alameda County ordinance requires it to be incinerated, and there are no medical or hazardous waste incinerators in the state. That means pharmaceutical waste must be shipped across state lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s an added wrinkle for controlled substances. If the collection bin contains any of these drugs, federal law requires it to remain the property of law enforcement or specially registered waste haulers until it is destroyed. In California, police officers accompany these collection bins to waste-to-energy incinerators in Los Angeles and Stanislaus County, says Bill Pollock, program manager of the Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceutical disposal programs know how to work within these regulations, says Stevan Gressitt, one of the founders of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Safety, a collaboration of clinicians from several Maine universities. But running such a program requires consistant funding to cover medicine collection, disposal and staff training and time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the public asks for medicine take-back programs, local governments struggle to fund them, says Heidi Sandborn, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/index.html\">California Product Stewardship Council\u003c/a>. That spurs legislation like the new Alameda County ordinance requiring the pharmaceutical industry share the responsibility for disposing of waste medicine. A stable source of funding means that collection sites can expand to convenient locations for more Alameda County residents, like pharmacies and hazardous waste drop off sites, Pollock says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This regulation is in the same spirit as \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/epr/PolicyLaw/Paint.htm\">one signed by the governor in 2010\u003c/a> requiring paint companies to pay for disposal of leftover paint. Paint sold in California will soon have a surcharge to cover its disposal, Pollock says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike paint, the challenges of funding a medicine disposal program may not be over yet. A representative for PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry group, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Calif-county-makes-industry-pay-to-toss-Rx-pills-3729594.php\"> told the Associated Press\u003c/a> that she questioned the county’s ability to require the industry to pay for such programs, although no legal challenge has been considered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you're looking to get rid of unused medicine and there are no take-back programs near you, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has \u003ca href=\"//www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/UnderstandingOver-the-CounterMedicines/ucm107163.pdf%E2%80%9D\">guidelines\u003c/a> for its disposal. When directed by the manufacturer, flush some medicine down the toilet. Otherwise, mix the drugs with coffee grounds or other unpalatable things and throw it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>UPDATE 8/1/12: The article was corrected to reflect the fact that household medicines combined in a bin at a collection site are not classified as medical waste, as was originally stated, but voluntarily handled as such.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr clear=\"all\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41613\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 300px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2012/08/01/prescription-drug-disposal-who-should-foot-the-bill/novomycin-resize/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-41613\">\u003cimg class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-41613\" title=\"novomycin resize\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/07/novomycin-resize-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"antibiotics\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit:{link url=\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance requiring pharmaceutical companies to pay for prescription drug take-back programs in the county. The legislation is the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/press/2012/2012-07-24_SupervisorMileyPressRelease.pdf\">first of its kind in the country\u003c/a>, though the industry has voluntarily contributed to a pilot drug disposal program currently running in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say the new rules will help prevent prescription drug abuse and will protect our waterways from being polluted by unused medicine flushed down a toilet. A representative for the industry group \u003ca href=\"http://www.phrma.org/\">Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/products/2012/2012-07-05_PhRMALetterofOpposition.pdf\"> says the group disagrees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s debate over whether take-back programs \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2012/05/junk-medicine/\">really are environmentally friendly\u003c/a>. But I’ll leave the environmental and public health discussion for another time. This new regulation, if it stands, is about money. And it’s part of a larger movement to shift responsibility for waste disposal from local governments to companies that make products like paint and batteries. Manufacturers then add the disposal costs to a product’s purchase price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceutical companies already pay for medicine disposal in the Canadian province of British Columbia, under requirements set by provincial legislation passed in 1997. Last year, \u003ca href=\"http://www.medicationsreturn.ca/\">the take-back program\u003c/a> collected about 76 tons of medicine from more than 1000 drop-off locations around the province. Containers, collection and medication incineration for the province \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/assets/products/2012/2012-04-23_BC%20Case%20Study.pdf\">cost about $430,000\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drug take-back programs here in the U.S. are nothing new. Since September 2010, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Association has sponsored four nationwide medicine collection events. In the Bay Area, pharmacies and police stations\u003ca href=\"http://www.savesfbay.org/pharmaceutical-disposal-sites\"> from San Jose to Petaluma\u003c/a> regularly accept drugs for disposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s harder to find \u003ca href=\"http://www.takebacknetwork.com/local_efforts.html\">drop-off locations in other parts of the country\u003c/a>, especially those that accept controlled substances like narcotic painkillers. Cash-strapped city and county governments struggle to fund these programs within complicated federal, state and local regulations for medicine collection and disposal -- let alone pay staff members to administer the programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal law designed to carefully track potentially abused medicines, with the goal of reducing the possibility that they end up in the wrong hands, inadvertently limits collection locations. The U.S. Controlled Substances Act strictly limits who can accept unused narcotics. Only law enforcement officers can collect medicines recognized by this act, including steroids, sleeping pills and antidepressants. It’s turned into a big headache for pharmaceutical take-back program organizers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Convenience matters when choosing locations for pharmaceutical disposal sites, and a police station may not be the best choice. People tend to return medicine to a pharmacy where they first picked it up, but the current law prevents pharmacists from accepting controlled substances unless a police officer is present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act, signed by President Barak Obama in October 2010, addresses this legal restriction. This new law gives the U.S. Attorney General power to modify the Controlled Substances Act and extend collection privileges to people other than law enforcement officers. However, the DEA hasn’t released the new regulations yet, and disposal program organizers hope the new rules will appear soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even once the federal regulations are changed, there are state and local waste regulations to consider. In California, for example, medicines in a home are considered residential waste and exempt from any state disposal laws. But once drugs are combined in the same bin at a business or collection site, \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/homehazwaste/Medications/Business.htm\">voluntary state guidelines effective until January 2013\u003c/a> recommend treating it as medical waste. The new Alameda County ordinance requires it to be incinerated, and there are no medical or hazardous waste incinerators in the state. That means pharmaceutical waste must be shipped across state lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s an added wrinkle for controlled substances. If the collection bin contains any of these drugs, federal law requires it to remain the property of law enforcement or specially registered waste haulers until it is destroyed. In California, police officers accompany these collection bins to waste-to-energy incinerators in Los Angeles and Stanislaus County, says Bill Pollock, program manager of the Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pharmaceutical disposal programs know how to work within these regulations, says Stevan Gressitt, one of the founders of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Safety, a collaboration of clinicians from several Maine universities. But running such a program requires consistant funding to cover medicine collection, disposal and staff training and time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the public asks for medicine take-back programs, local governments struggle to fund them, says Heidi Sandborn, executive director of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calpsc.org/index.html\">California Product Stewardship Council\u003c/a>. That spurs legislation like the new Alameda County ordinance requiring the pharmaceutical industry share the responsibility for disposing of waste medicine. A stable source of funding means that collection sites can expand to convenient locations for more Alameda County residents, like pharmacies and hazardous waste drop off sites, Pollock says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This regulation is in the same spirit as \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/epr/PolicyLaw/Paint.htm\">one signed by the governor in 2010\u003c/a> requiring paint companies to pay for disposal of leftover paint. Paint sold in California will soon have a surcharge to cover its disposal, Pollock says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike paint, the challenges of funding a medicine disposal program may not be over yet. A representative for PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry group, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Calif-county-makes-industry-pay-to-toss-Rx-pills-3729594.php\"> told the Associated Press\u003c/a> that she questioned the county’s ability to require the industry to pay for such programs, although no legal challenge has been considered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you're looking to get rid of unused medicine and there are no take-back programs near you, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has \u003ca href=\"//www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/UnderstandingOver-the-CounterMedicines/ucm107163.pdf%E2%80%9D\">guidelines\u003c/a> for its disposal. When directed by the manufacturer, flush some medicine down the toilet. Otherwise, mix the drugs with coffee grounds or other unpalatable things and throw it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>UPDATE 8/1/12: The article was corrected to reflect the fact that household medicines combined in a bin at a collection site are not classified as medical waste, as was originally stated, but voluntarily handled as such.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cbr clear=\"all\">\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
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