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"title": "From Fish Skin to Our Teeth: Tracing the Origin of Enamel",
"headTitle": "From Fish Skin to Our Teeth: Tracing the Origin of Enamel | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>We all stare at our teeth in the mirror, but when biologists brush their teeth they wonder how these unusual parts of our skeletons evolved. Now, a study combining the anatomy of fossils and the genomes of modern species argues that teeth have their roots in the skins of ancient fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">New study argues that teeth have their roots in the skins of ancient fish.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature15259.html\">A new paper\u003c/a> published this week in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html\">Nature\u003c/a> may provide an answer. Researchers at Sweden’s Uppsala University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing searched for clues in fossils of an ancient line of fish that were the ancestors of the tetrapods, and in the genomes of those species’ closest living relatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fish have these mineralized tissues, too, but some have them in two places — in their teeth and in spines on their skin, known as denticles. These account for the texture of shark skin, rough when stroked in one direction and smooth in the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between teeth and denticles, enamel presents a confusing set of clues. Modern bony fishes have teeth but no denticles, and their teeth are capped with a substance called acrodin instead of enamel. \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes\">Sharks and rays\u003c/a>, the oldest major class of living fishes, have both teeth and denticles, but they’re capped with a substance called enameloid instead of enamel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_271878\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-271878\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-800x450.png\" alt=\"Shark denticles\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-400x225.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-1180x664.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-960x540.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales.png 1258w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electron micrograph showing denticles on the skin of a lemon shark. They contain enameloid, a mineralized tissue that evolved independently of enamel. \u003ccite>(Pascal Deynat/Wikimedia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Things get interesting in the handful of species between these two groups. The \u003ca href=\"http://vertebrates.si.edu/fishes/coelacanth/coelacanth_wider.html\">coelacanths\u003c/a>, an ancient line of lobe-finned fishes related to the tetrapods, have true enamel everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper’s authors zeroed in on a primitive bony fish called the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar\">gar\u003c/a>. Unlike other bony fish or sharks, its denticles contain an enamel-like substance called ganoin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gar’s genome, which was sequenced earlier this year, contains several of the key genes responsible for building enamel. Moreover, these genes are expressed in the skin, so the authors conclude that ganoin and enamel are the same stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharks have no such enamel-making genes, and neither do modern bony fishes. The gene evidence suggests that somewhere between the rise of sharks and the modern bony fishes, fish must have evolved and then lost the ability to make enamel while the tetrapods and coelacanths and gars retained it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, the researchers checked that hypothesis against the fossil record. To trace the stages in enamel evolution, they inspected fossils of three species of ancestral bony fish dating from late in the Silurian Period (about 425 million years ago).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lophosteus\u003c/i>, a species found in Swedish rocks, had no enamel at all. \u003ci>Andreolepis,\u003c/i> also from Sweden, had enamel only on the denticles behind its head, not on its teeth or head denticles. And \u003ci>Psarolepis\u003c/i>, from China, had enamel everywhere \u003ci>but\u003c/i> its teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_271877\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 782px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-271877\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png\" alt=\"Evolution of enamel\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png 782w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution-400x226.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scenario for the evolution of enamel. Sharks and rays (chondrichthyans) diverged from the evolutionary line before enamel appeared, and tetrapods and modern fish (teleosts) diverged afterward. \u003ccite>(Tatjana Haitina/Nature)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The authors conclude that the first true enamel evolved in the skin before it spread to the head and then to the mouth. As the tetrapods evolved, climbing onto the land, they kept those enamel teeth and lost their denticles. The bony fishes lost their enamel, evolving newer tooth materials, and kept their denticles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are denticles for? Current thinking is that they serve to streamline the skin, helping fish cut through the water. Some modern fish use them as defensive weapons, analogous to the quills of a porcupine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But once teeth arose in the earliest fish, the skin and the teeth must have gone separate evolutionary ways. The paper’s authors suggest that humans, like other tetrapods, have lost all ability to grow sharklike spines from our skins, but traces of that history may be found in our genes.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We all stare at our teeth in the mirror, but when biologists brush their teeth they wonder how these unusual parts of our skeletons evolved. Now, a study combining the anatomy of fossils and the genomes of modern species argues that teeth have their roots in the skins of ancient fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">New study argues that teeth have their roots in the skins of ancient fish.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature15259.html\">A new paper\u003c/a> published this week in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html\">Nature\u003c/a> may provide an answer. Researchers at Sweden’s Uppsala University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing searched for clues in fossils of an ancient line of fish that were the ancestors of the tetrapods, and in the genomes of those species’ closest living relatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fish have these mineralized tissues, too, but some have them in two places — in their teeth and in spines on their skin, known as denticles. These account for the texture of shark skin, rough when stroked in one direction and smooth in the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between teeth and denticles, enamel presents a confusing set of clues. Modern bony fishes have teeth but no denticles, and their teeth are capped with a substance called acrodin instead of enamel. \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrichthyes\">Sharks and rays\u003c/a>, the oldest major class of living fishes, have both teeth and denticles, but they’re capped with a substance called enameloid instead of enamel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_271878\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-271878\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-800x450.png\" alt=\"Shark denticles\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-400x225.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-1180x664.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales-960x540.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/sharkscales.png 1258w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electron micrograph showing denticles on the skin of a lemon shark. They contain enameloid, a mineralized tissue that evolved independently of enamel. \u003ccite>(Pascal Deynat/Wikimedia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Things get interesting in the handful of species between these two groups. The \u003ca href=\"http://vertebrates.si.edu/fishes/coelacanth/coelacanth_wider.html\">coelacanths\u003c/a>, an ancient line of lobe-finned fishes related to the tetrapods, have true enamel everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper’s authors zeroed in on a primitive bony fish called the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar\">gar\u003c/a>. Unlike other bony fish or sharks, its denticles contain an enamel-like substance called ganoin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gar’s genome, which was sequenced earlier this year, contains several of the key genes responsible for building enamel. Moreover, these genes are expressed in the skin, so the authors conclude that ganoin and enamel are the same stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharks have no such enamel-making genes, and neither do modern bony fishes. The gene evidence suggests that somewhere between the rise of sharks and the modern bony fishes, fish must have evolved and then lost the ability to make enamel while the tetrapods and coelacanths and gars retained it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, the researchers checked that hypothesis against the fossil record. To trace the stages in enamel evolution, they inspected fossils of three species of ancestral bony fish dating from late in the Silurian Period (about 425 million years ago).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Lophosteus\u003c/i>, a species found in Swedish rocks, had no enamel at all. \u003ci>Andreolepis,\u003c/i> also from Sweden, had enamel only on the denticles behind its head, not on its teeth or head denticles. And \u003ci>Psarolepis\u003c/i>, from China, had enamel everywhere \u003ci>but\u003c/i> its teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_271877\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 782px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-271877\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png\" alt=\"Evolution of enamel\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution.png 782w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/enamel-evolution-400x226.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scenario for the evolution of enamel. Sharks and rays (chondrichthyans) diverged from the evolutionary line before enamel appeared, and tetrapods and modern fish (teleosts) diverged afterward. \u003ccite>(Tatjana Haitina/Nature)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The authors conclude that the first true enamel evolved in the skin before it spread to the head and then to the mouth. As the tetrapods evolved, climbing onto the land, they kept those enamel teeth and lost their denticles. The bony fishes lost their enamel, evolving newer tooth materials, and kept their denticles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are denticles for? Current thinking is that they serve to streamline the skin, helping fish cut through the water. Some modern fish use them as defensive weapons, analogous to the quills of a porcupine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But once teeth arose in the earliest fish, the skin and the teeth must have gone separate evolutionary ways. The paper’s authors suggest that humans, like other tetrapods, have lost all ability to grow sharklike spines from our skins, but traces of that history may be found in our genes.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Big Challenge as California Ramps Up Wind Power: Golden Eagles",
"headTitle": "Big Challenge as California Ramps Up Wind Power: Golden Eagles | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio//2015/09/WindFarmsEagles.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s history with wind power goes back decades — as do its troubles with turbines killing birds, including federally protected golden eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With state officials now planning to ramp up renewable energy, an uneasy tension exists between protecting wildlife, and fighting climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“At nighttime, as soon as it gets dark, striped skunks run to the wind turbines. Literally run.”\u003ccite>Shawn Smallwood, Ecologist\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Ecologist Shawn Smallwood has found mangled eagles several times in wind farms like those at Altamont Pass, near Livermore. The place has a reputation for turbines killing birds. Alameda County estimates 35 golden eagles were killed there in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researching this problem is complicated partly by scavengers, such as ravens, snatching up carcasses before Smallwood can tally them. Coyotes, foxes and badgers converge on the wind farm and search the grounds in a pattern, he says, just like a scientist would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At nighttime, as soon as it gets dark, striped skunks run to the wind turbines. Literally run,” says Smallwood. “They also go to the turbines that kill the most animals, so they’re familiar with where they can find food. They usually go to the downwind side of the turbines, again where the bats and birds are most likely to fall after they get hit by a wind turbine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The history of wind power is littered with attempts to make turbines safer for birds and bats. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtgBWNKwBkE\">It’s not easy\u003c/a>. Golden eagles fix their eyesight on prey on the ground and don’t necessarily see what they’re flying into. Smallwood once advocated shutting turbines off over winter, but says on an overcast day, birds can still fly right into blades that aren’t even turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_247869\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 401px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-247869\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-800x844.jpg\" alt=\"Biologists are studying golden eagles in the Altamont Pass by placing radio transmitters on them.\" width=\"401\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-800x844.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-400x422.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-1440x1518.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-1180x1244.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-960x1012.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Biologists are studying golden eagles in the Altamont Pass by placing radio transmitters on them. \u003ccite>(Joseph DiDonato/Wildlife Consulting and Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, a process is underway right now called “repowering.” This means removing hundreds of older, less efficient turbines. A single massive, new turbine can take the place of 20 or 30 of the older models. This also affords an opportunity to get turbines out of particularly lethal spots altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, the tip of a huge blade can slice through the air at \u003ca href=\"http://gizmodo.com/5930272/the-worlds-biggest-wind-turbine-blades-are-so-long-their-tips-spin-at-180-mph\">speeds like a racecar\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, before the repowering process started, Smallwood estimates 60 golden eagles were killed each year at Altamont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Permit to Kill\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While not listed as endangered, golden eagles are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Killing them is illegal. But, with the exception of a couple wind companies recently fined in Wyoming, the federal government \u003ca href=\"http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0514/Why-wind-farms-kill-eagles-with-federal-impunity\">has rarely enforced such laws\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Flaherty, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the agency wants to work alongside wind companies — not punish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While prosecutions are great and make for great headlines, they don’t always do the best thing for eagles,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, wind companies have been able to apply for a “take permit,” essentially, permission to kill a small number of golden eagles. Such applications are thick, highly technical and take a long time to write. Only one permit has been issued since the program was introduced — for a wind farm in Solano County. Seven other wind farms have applications in the pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_247865\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-247865\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Ecologist Shawn Smallwood holds a golden eagle found injured in the Altamont Pass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ecologist Shawn Smallwood holds a golden eagle found injured in the Altamont Pass. \u003ccite>(Joseph DiDonato/Wildlife Consulting and Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By getting wind companies in the door to discuss permits, Flaherty says the agency can also have a frank discussion about settling up over eagles killed in years past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One thing about eagle permits is that they don’t allow for past take,” he says. “They don’t really forgive past take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an agreement with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, one company recently paid $10,000 and will spend hundreds of thousands more on research to help eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The permits last five years. Last month, a federal judge kicked a new 30-year version \u003ca href=\"http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewire/commentary/court-sends-30-year-eagle-kill-permits-back-to-drawing-board.html\">back to Fish and Wildlife officials\u003c/a> for more work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hardly a Free Pass\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown’s administration has set an ambitious goal: By 2030, Brown wants half of California’s power to come from renewable sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nancy Rader, executive director for the California Wind Energy Association, says the industry is aiming to more than double wind energy capacity by 2030; hundreds of new turbines have to go \u003cem>somewhere.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_248142\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 355px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-248142\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-800x1052.jpg\" alt=\"Only one wind farm, in Solano County, has received a federal permit for the killing of golden eagles. Several others have applications in the pipeline.\" width=\"355\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-800x1052.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-400x526.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-1180x1552.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-960x1262.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B.jpg 1219w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Only one wind farm, located in Solano County, has received a federal permit for the killing of golden eagles. Several others have applications in the pipeline. \u003ccite>(Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Far from getting an easy pass from regulators, Rader points to proposed restrictions from the Bureau of Land Management, as well as local governments in places like Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing land-use plans coming out from both the federal government and county governments that actually prohibit the development of wind energy across large areas of California,” Rader says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy supply is about trade-offs, says Ryan Wiser, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s really no free lunch here,” he says, and refers to \u003ca href=\"http://energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-vision\">a report out this year\u003c/a> from the federal Department of Energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report examines a future in which wind energy scales up dramatically in coming decades. It concludes that replacing fossil fuels with wind will save hundreds of billions of dollars in “avoided global climate damages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Wiser points out, the report didn’t attempt to pin down the economic value of the loss of wildlife – such as eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science coordinating television producer Gabriela Quiros contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "So far, only one wind farm has gotten a permit allowing its turbines to kill the federally protected eagles.\r\n",
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"description": "So far, only one wind farm has gotten a permit allowing its turbines to kill the federally protected eagles.\r\n",
"title": "Big Challenge as California Ramps Up Wind Power: Golden Eagles | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s history with wind power goes back decades — as do its troubles with turbines killing birds, including federally protected golden eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With state officials now planning to ramp up renewable energy, an uneasy tension exists between protecting wildlife, and fighting climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“At nighttime, as soon as it gets dark, striped skunks run to the wind turbines. Literally run.”\u003ccite>Shawn Smallwood, Ecologist\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Ecologist Shawn Smallwood has found mangled eagles several times in wind farms like those at Altamont Pass, near Livermore. The place has a reputation for turbines killing birds. Alameda County estimates 35 golden eagles were killed there in 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researching this problem is complicated partly by scavengers, such as ravens, snatching up carcasses before Smallwood can tally them. Coyotes, foxes and badgers converge on the wind farm and search the grounds in a pattern, he says, just like a scientist would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At nighttime, as soon as it gets dark, striped skunks run to the wind turbines. Literally run,” says Smallwood. “They also go to the turbines that kill the most animals, so they’re familiar with where they can find food. They usually go to the downwind side of the turbines, again where the bats and birds are most likely to fall after they get hit by a wind turbine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The history of wind power is littered with attempts to make turbines safer for birds and bats. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtgBWNKwBkE\">It’s not easy\u003c/a>. Golden eagles fix their eyesight on prey on the ground and don’t necessarily see what they’re flying into. Smallwood once advocated shutting turbines off over winter, but says on an overcast day, birds can still fly right into blades that aren’t even turning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_247869\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 401px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-247869\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-800x844.jpg\" alt=\"Biologists are studying golden eagles in the Altamont Pass by placing radio transmitters on them.\" width=\"401\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-800x844.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-400x422.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-1440x1518.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-1180x1244.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2-960x1012.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Mighty2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Biologists are studying golden eagles in the Altamont Pass by placing radio transmitters on them. \u003ccite>(Joseph DiDonato/Wildlife Consulting and Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, a process is underway right now called “repowering.” This means removing hundreds of older, less efficient turbines. A single massive, new turbine can take the place of 20 or 30 of the older models. This also affords an opportunity to get turbines out of particularly lethal spots altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, the tip of a huge blade can slice through the air at \u003ca href=\"http://gizmodo.com/5930272/the-worlds-biggest-wind-turbine-blades-are-so-long-their-tips-spin-at-180-mph\">speeds like a racecar\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, before the repowering process started, Smallwood estimates 60 golden eagles were killed each year at Altamont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Permit to Kill\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While not listed as endangered, golden eagles are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Killing them is illegal. But, with the exception of a couple wind companies recently fined in Wyoming, the federal government \u003ca href=\"http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0514/Why-wind-farms-kill-eagles-with-federal-impunity\">has rarely enforced such laws\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Flaherty, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the agency wants to work alongside wind companies — not punish them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While prosecutions are great and make for great headlines, they don’t always do the best thing for eagles,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2009, wind companies have been able to apply for a “take permit,” essentially, permission to kill a small number of golden eagles. Such applications are thick, highly technical and take a long time to write. Only one permit has been issued since the program was introduced — for a wind farm in Solano County. Seven other wind farms have applications in the pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_247865\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-247865\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Ecologist Shawn Smallwood holds a golden eagle found injured in the Altamont Pass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Smallwood2.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ecologist Shawn Smallwood holds a golden eagle found injured in the Altamont Pass. \u003ccite>(Joseph DiDonato/Wildlife Consulting and Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By getting wind companies in the door to discuss permits, Flaherty says the agency can also have a frank discussion about settling up over eagles killed in years past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One thing about eagle permits is that they don’t allow for past take,” he says. “They don’t really forgive past take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an agreement with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, one company recently paid $10,000 and will spend hundreds of thousands more on research to help eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The permits last five years. Last month, a federal judge kicked a new 30-year version \u003ca href=\"http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewire/commentary/court-sends-30-year-eagle-kill-permits-back-to-drawing-board.html\">back to Fish and Wildlife officials\u003c/a> for more work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hardly a Free Pass\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown’s administration has set an ambitious goal: By 2030, Brown wants half of California’s power to come from renewable sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nancy Rader, executive director for the California Wind Energy Association, says the industry is aiming to more than double wind energy capacity by 2030; hundreds of new turbines have to go \u003cem>somewhere.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_248142\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 355px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-248142\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-800x1052.jpg\" alt=\"Only one wind farm, in Solano County, has received a federal permit for the killing of golden eagles. Several others have applications in the pipeline.\" width=\"355\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-800x1052.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-400x526.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-1180x1552.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B-960x1262.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/wind3B.jpg 1219w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Only one wind farm, located in Solano County, has received a federal permit for the killing of golden eagles. Several others have applications in the pipeline. \u003ccite>(Daniel Potter/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Far from getting an easy pass from regulators, Rader points to proposed restrictions from the Bureau of Land Management, as well as local governments in places like Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing land-use plans coming out from both the federal government and county governments that actually prohibit the development of wind energy across large areas of California,” Rader says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy supply is about trade-offs, says Ryan Wiser, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s really no free lunch here,” he says, and refers to \u003ca href=\"http://energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-vision\">a report out this year\u003c/a> from the federal Department of Energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report examines a future in which wind energy scales up dramatically in coming decades. It concludes that replacing fossil fuels with wind will save hundreds of billions of dollars in “avoided global climate damages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Wiser points out, the report didn’t attempt to pin down the economic value of the loss of wildlife – such as eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science coordinating television producer Gabriela Quiros contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "youre-not-hallucinating-thats-just-squid-skin",
"title": "You're Not Hallucinating. That's Just Squid Skin.",
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"headTitle": "You’re Not Hallucinating. That’s Just Squid Skin. | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]For an animal with such a humble name, market squid have a spectacularly hypnotic appearance. Streaks and waves of color flicker and radiate across their skin. Other creatures may posses the ability to change color, but squid and their relatives are without equal when it comes to controlling their appearance and new research may illuminate how they do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242132\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242132\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin.gif\" alt=\"Market squid skin changes color and pattern \" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Market squid skin is covered in chromatophores that expand and shrink to change the animal’s skin color or create camouflaging patterns \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Octopuses, cuttlefish and squid belong to a class of animals referred to as cephalopods. These animals, widely regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates, use their color change abilities for both concealment and communication. Their ability to hide is critical to their survival since, with the exception of the nautiluses, these squishy and often delicious animals live without the protection of protective external shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242133\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242133\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Cuttlefish and octopuses use closely packed chromatophores to match the color of their surroundings\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cuttlefish and octopuses use closely packed chromatophores to match the color of their surroundings \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To actually control the color of their skin, cephalopods use tiny organs in their skin called chromatophores. Each tiny chromatophore is basically a sac filled with pigment. Minute muscles tug on the sac, spreading it wide and exposing the colored pigment to any light hitting the skin. When the muscles relax, the colored areas shrink back into tiny spots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242136\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Chromatophores02.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242136\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Chromatophores02.gif\" alt=\"Tiny muscles expand chromatophores making the colored spots grow.\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tiny muscles expand chromatophores making the colored spots grow. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because the system is based on the action of quick responding muscles, cephalopods are able to change colors almost instantly and can produce spectacularly intricate patterns to break up their outline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242135\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242135\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Octopuses can mimic the color of stone\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Day octopuses, like this one at California Academy of Sciences, can adjust their skin color, texture and body position to mimic a rock \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www-marine.stanford.edu/profiles/chromatophores.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hannah Rosen\u003c/a>, a PhD candidate at \u003ca href=\"http://hopkinsmarinestation.stanford.edu/\">Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station\u003c/a> in Pacific Grove, is studying how exactly these animals control this dramatic light show. Squid are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity, so the first step toward studying them is to to head out into Monterey Bay to catch some specimens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosen isn’t the only one fishing for squid. But while the squid aboard most of the fishing boats in the bay will end up served as calamari, the squid Rosen catches may help explain the mystery of how these creatures control their color change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242137\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Market squid showing movement in once paralyzed chromatophores \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After a few days, the chromatophores on this market squid’s left side began moving despite being disconnected from the brain’s signals \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her research includes snipping a nerve that connects the brain to the chromatophores on one side of the squid’s body. When Rosen does this, the chromatophores on that side immediately relax and shrink to tiny spots, while the chromatophores on the intact side continue to flash normally. After a few days, some of the chromatophores on the paralyzed side began to move again, as if they were getting a signal from somewhere other than the squid’s brain. This phenomenon, Rosen says, is what fascinates her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosen also tests how the fresh dead squid skin reacts to electric voltages when exposed to different pharmaceutical drugs in order to track down the neurological pathways involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin-in-lab.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242138\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin-in-lab.gif\" alt=\"By testing how they react to specific chemicals, Rosen hopes to discover exactly how squid control their chromatophores.\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">By testing how they react to specific chemicals, Rosen hopes to discover exactly how squid control their chromatophores. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While it’s still early to say, one possibility is that the skin itself is able to see and stimulate the chromatophores locally, bypassing the brain. A recent study at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., indicates that cuttlefish skin has light-sensing cells. Further investigation may help researchers understand how much of the color change control comes from the brain and how much is controlled by the skin itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more info, you can visit:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Academy of Sciences – \u003ca href=\"http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/color-of-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Color of Life Exhibit\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nMonterey Bay Aquarium – \u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-experiences/exhibits/tentacles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tentacles Exhibit\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Octopuses and cuttlefish are masters of underwater camouflage, blending in seamlessly against a rock or coral. But squid have to hide in the open ocean, mimicking the subtle interplay of light, water, and waves. How do they do it?",
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"title": "You're Not Hallucinating. That's Just Squid Skin. | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For an animal with such a humble name, market squid have a spectacularly hypnotic appearance. Streaks and waves of color flicker and radiate across their skin. Other creatures may posses the ability to change color, but squid and their relatives are without equal when it comes to controlling their appearance and new research may illuminate how they do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242132\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242132\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin.gif\" alt=\"Market squid skin changes color and pattern \" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Market squid skin is covered in chromatophores that expand and shrink to change the animal’s skin color or create camouflaging patterns \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Octopuses, cuttlefish and squid belong to a class of animals referred to as cephalopods. These animals, widely regarded as the most intelligent of the invertebrates, use their color change abilities for both concealment and communication. Their ability to hide is critical to their survival since, with the exception of the nautiluses, these squishy and often delicious animals live without the protection of protective external shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242133\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242133\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Cuttlefish and octopuses use closely packed chromatophores to match the color of their surroundings\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/cuttlefish-and-squid-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cuttlefish and octopuses use closely packed chromatophores to match the color of their surroundings \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To actually control the color of their skin, cephalopods use tiny organs in their skin called chromatophores. Each tiny chromatophore is basically a sac filled with pigment. Minute muscles tug on the sac, spreading it wide and exposing the colored pigment to any light hitting the skin. When the muscles relax, the colored areas shrink back into tiny spots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242136\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Chromatophores02.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242136\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/Chromatophores02.gif\" alt=\"Tiny muscles expand chromatophores making the colored spots grow.\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tiny muscles expand chromatophores making the colored spots grow. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because the system is based on the action of quick responding muscles, cephalopods are able to change colors almost instantly and can produce spectacularly intricate patterns to break up their outline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242135\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242135\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Octopuses can mimic the color of stone\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/octopus-skin-looks-like-stone-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Day octopuses, like this one at California Academy of Sciences, can adjust their skin color, texture and body position to mimic a rock \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www-marine.stanford.edu/profiles/chromatophores.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hannah Rosen\u003c/a>, a PhD candidate at \u003ca href=\"http://hopkinsmarinestation.stanford.edu/\">Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station\u003c/a> in Pacific Grove, is studying how exactly these animals control this dramatic light show. Squid are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity, so the first step toward studying them is to to head out into Monterey Bay to catch some specimens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosen isn’t the only one fishing for squid. But while the squid aboard most of the fishing boats in the bay will end up served as calamari, the squid Rosen catches may help explain the mystery of how these creatures control their color change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242137\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-242137\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Market squid showing movement in once paralyzed chromatophores \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-squirm2-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After a few days, the chromatophores on this market squid’s left side began moving despite being disconnected from the brain’s signals \u003ccite>((Josh Cassidy/KQED))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her research includes snipping a nerve that connects the brain to the chromatophores on one side of the squid’s body. When Rosen does this, the chromatophores on that side immediately relax and shrink to tiny spots, while the chromatophores on the intact side continue to flash normally. After a few days, some of the chromatophores on the paralyzed side began to move again, as if they were getting a signal from somewhere other than the squid’s brain. This phenomenon, Rosen says, is what fascinates her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosen also tests how the fresh dead squid skin reacts to electric voltages when exposed to different pharmaceutical drugs in order to track down the neurological pathways involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_242138\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin-in-lab.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-242138\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/09/squid-skin-in-lab.gif\" alt=\"By testing how they react to specific chemicals, Rosen hopes to discover exactly how squid control their chromatophores.\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">By testing how they react to specific chemicals, Rosen hopes to discover exactly how squid control their chromatophores. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While it’s still early to say, one possibility is that the skin itself is able to see and stimulate the chromatophores locally, bypassing the brain. A recent study at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., indicates that cuttlefish skin has light-sensing cells. Further investigation may help researchers understand how much of the color change control comes from the brain and how much is controlled by the skin itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more info, you can visit:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Academy of Sciences – \u003ca href=\"http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/color-of-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Color of Life Exhibit\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\nMonterey Bay Aquarium – \u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-experiences/exhibits/tentacles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tentacles Exhibit\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Watch Abalone Reproduce in Gorgeous Bursts of Eggs and Sperm",
"headTitle": "Watch Abalone Reproduce in Gorgeous Bursts of Eggs and Sperm | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When the female abalone is ready to reproduce, she shoots long bursts of eggs from her respiratory hole. The male releases curlicues of sperm, which then swim around to find the eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Problem is, the increasing acidity in the ocean may be slowing the sperm down, say researchers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/\">Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ocean critters out here,” says Jim Barry, a Senior Scientist at the Institute, “are faced with a faster and larger change in ocean chemistry than they’ve seen for 30 to maybe 300 million years, through much of their evolutionary history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://gifs.com/embed/y4ALew\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" style=\"-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nBarry and researcher Charles Boch are looking at whether \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/highCO2/\">ocean acidification\u003c/a> interferes with ability of abalone to reproduce. And they’re finding that acidic waters significantly reduce the rate of abalone fertilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are an important source of food for sea otters, who in turn help keep kelp forests in balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that ocean acidification is huge,” Barry says. “This is one of the biggest things that happened to this Earth in the last many tens of millions of years. It’s a huge environmental change that’s happening right in front of us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://gifs.com/embed/m2kNPq\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" style=\"-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nLearn more about ocean acidification \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/08/31/ocean-acidification-threatening-many-species\">in this report\u003c/a> from \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/newsroom/\">KQED Newsroom\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the female abalone is ready to reproduce, she shoots long bursts of eggs from her respiratory hole. The male releases curlicues of sperm, which then swim around to find the eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Problem is, the increasing acidity in the ocean may be slowing the sperm down, say researchers at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/\">Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ocean critters out here,” says Jim Barry, a Senior Scientist at the Institute, “are faced with a faster and larger change in ocean chemistry than they’ve seen for 30 to maybe 300 million years, through much of their evolutionary history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://gifs.com/embed/y4ALew\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" style=\"-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nBarry and researcher Charles Boch are looking at whether \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/highCO2/\">ocean acidification\u003c/a> interferes with ability of abalone to reproduce. And they’re finding that acidic waters significantly reduce the rate of abalone fertilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are an important source of food for sea otters, who in turn help keep kelp forests in balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that ocean acidification is huge,” Barry says. “This is one of the biggest things that happened to this Earth in the last many tens of millions of years. It’s a huge environmental change that’s happening right in front of us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://gifs.com/embed/m2kNPq\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" style=\"-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003cbr>\nLearn more about ocean acidification \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/08/31/ocean-acidification-threatening-many-species\">in this report\u003c/a> from \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/newsroom/\">KQED Newsroom\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Many Fish in the Sea? Genetic Testing Could Answer That",
"headTitle": "How Many Fish in the Sea? Genetic Testing Could Answer That | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Advances in genetic testing have revolutionized everything from health care decisions to crime forensics. Now, the technology may help protect marine life off the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the waters of Monterey Bay, DNA sequencing is allowing biologists to study fish and whales without ever having seen them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a sample of seawater, the volume of a water bottle, is enough to reveal what marine life has been swimming through that part of the ocean. The technique could improve marine monitoring, where scientists track an ecosystem year after year to gauge how it’s doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One Fish, Two Fish\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking a marine census today requires hours of field time, either with scuba diving or boat trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It gets a little challenging because you’re floating, you’re swimming, you’re looking, you’re counting,” says diver Dan Abbott, unloading his scuba gear on a beach in Monterey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s holding a waterproof clipboard, on which he’s tallied all the fish and marine life he saw in a kelp forest just offshore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“About 150 fish in all. Pile perch, black perch, blue rockfish, kelp rockfish,” he says, just for a start. He’s diving with a team from \u003ca href=\"http://reefcheck.org/rcca/rcca_home.php\">Reef Check California\u003c/a>, a group of volunteers that surveys this site twice a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-219514\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS-800x455.jpg\" alt=\"Today, divers do marine surveys underwater, counting each organism they find.\" width=\"800\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS-400x228.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Today, divers do marine surveys underwater, counting each organism they find. \u003ccite>(National Park Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/08/20150831ScienceDNAmarinelife.mp3\u003cbr>\nThe group’s data help answer a question that’s key to California’s conservation efforts: are there more fish here now than there were eight years ago?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when this kelp forest became part of a massive experiment to restore marine life in California. It was set aside as a \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/index.asp\">marine protected area\u003c/a>, where there’s little or no fishing allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now more than a hundred protected areas up and down the coast, covering 16 percent of state waters. The idea is that marine life will slowly recover there, improving the ecosystem both inside and outside the boundaries of each area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only way to know if these areas are working is through underwater surveys, repeated year after year. In 2013, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/02/28/california-ocean-reserves-show-promising-results-for-marine-life\">biologists reported encouraging results\u003c/a> in the protected areas off the Central Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field surveys are expensive. The state supplied $16 million for monitoring studies, and the funding has already run out in some regions of the coast. Monitoring has continued, thanks to universities, foundations and volunteer groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Studying the Ocean Without Getting Wet\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been amazing what we can detect in just a liter of seawater,” says Jesse Port, an environmental genomicist at the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219513\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 524px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-219513\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"Port first tested the DNA floating in the tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.\" width=\"524\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-400x282.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-1180x831.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-960x676.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Port first tested the DNA floating in the tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Can you guess why he found turkey DNA in the tanks? \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He points to a rack of one-liter Nalgene water bottles that he uses to take seawater samples from the kelp forests in Monterey Bay. The rest of the work happens in the lab with a technique known as “environmental DNA” or eDNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So all organisms shed their DNA,” he says. “Their skin, their scales, their waste – all of this gets into the water. You can think of it as a soup of genetic information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port filters the seawater to collect all the cells. Then, he weeds out the algae and plankton and sequences the DNA of all the vertebrates, like whales, seals, and fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We get, with the machine we’re using, 150 million sequence reads for a given sequence run,” he says, “and that’s a lot of information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those gigabytes of results require heavy data-crunching, but eventually, he ends up with a spreadsheet that tells him what organisms were found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach is possible because DNA sequencing has gotten so much cheaper. One sample costs just $1,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was just not possible five, ten years ago,” Port says. “And sequencing technology is just going to get better, so this will probably get even cheaper.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Finding Turkey Underwater\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port first ran DNA tests in one of the large tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which provided an easy test case because he knew exactly what was swimming there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he got back results he didn’t quite believe. “Things like turkey,” he says. “We picked up chicken DNA in these tanks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“This is going to be transformative in oceanography. You don’t have to be out there on a boat with a huge crew, spending all this money.”\u003ccite>Jim Birch,\u003cbr>Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Turns out, poultry was in the feed some of the fish were getting. But it raised some big questions. How do you know whether the DNA comes from a fish or from something it ate miles away? Or how do you know the DNA didn’t float in on a current?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port is still working on the answers to these questions and he’s doing studies to ground truth his results, checking them against what scuba divers find. But if the technology proves itself in the ocean, it could revolutionize how marine monitoring is done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can cover such a larger area by taking water samples,” he says, “rather than having divers do that all themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Michel, the superintendent of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, says they’re already using eDNA testing to help assess species diversity in the sanctuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely, we did DNA testing on a research cruise in May,” Michel says, “and at each stop on the way, we were taking water samples. We can compare the DNA results to other types of samples over time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, it doesn’t even have to be humans taking those water samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219519\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-219519\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-800x487.jpg\" alt=\"MBARI's long-range autonomous underwater vehicle can remain at sea, unattended, for weeks at a time.\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-800x487.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-400x243.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1440x876.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1920x1168.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1180x718.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-960x584.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3.jpg 2034w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MBARI’s long-range autonomous underwater vehicle can take samples at sea, unattended, for weeks at a time. \u003ccite>(Todd Walsh (c) 2010 MBARI)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DNA Lab at Sea\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What this is, is a microbiology lab that exists out in the ocean,” says Jim Birch of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, pointing to a 10-foot yellow tube. It’s called a long-range AUV, or autonomous underwater vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looks like a torpedo, but it’s actually a robot, containing a miniature DNA lab called an \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/esp/\">Environmental Sample Processor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The robot cruises along underwater, taking samples and analyzing them onboard. Birch recently sent it out for a test run in Monterey Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was sitting in my living room with my computer open and there in front of me was the control panel for the AUV,” he says. “And I could direct it to go to a new place and it was just this surreal feeling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the AUV finds an organism it’s looking for, it surfaces and calls home, pinging a satellite or cell phone network with the data, and giving scientists an almost real-time snapshot of the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, it only tests for one thing at a time, like algae or plankton, and Birch says there’s more engineering work to be done before the AUV gains widespread use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be transformative in oceanography,” he says. “You don’t have to be out there on a boat with a huge crew, spending all this money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A change that could help the state’s conservation funding go farther, ensuring California’s marine protected areas are working.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Advances in genetic testing have revolutionized everything from health care decisions to crime forensics. Now, the technology may help protect marine life off the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the waters of Monterey Bay, DNA sequencing is allowing biologists to study fish and whales without ever having seen them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a sample of seawater, the volume of a water bottle, is enough to reveal what marine life has been swimming through that part of the ocean. The technique could improve marine monitoring, where scientists track an ecosystem year after year to gauge how it’s doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One Fish, Two Fish\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking a marine census today requires hours of field time, either with scuba diving or boat trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It gets a little challenging because you’re floating, you’re swimming, you’re looking, you’re counting,” says diver Dan Abbott, unloading his scuba gear on a beach in Monterey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s holding a waterproof clipboard, on which he’s tallied all the fish and marine life he saw in a kelp forest just offshore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“About 150 fish in all. Pile perch, black perch, blue rockfish, kelp rockfish,” he says, just for a start. He’s diving with a team from \u003ca href=\"http://reefcheck.org/rcca/rcca_home.php\">Reef Check California\u003c/a>, a group of volunteers that surveys this site twice a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-219514\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS-800x455.jpg\" alt=\"Today, divers do marine surveys underwater, counting each organism they find.\" width=\"800\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NPS-400x228.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Today, divers do marine surveys underwater, counting each organism they find. \u003ccite>(National Park Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/08/20150831ScienceDNAmarinelife.mp3\u003cbr>\nThe group’s data help answer a question that’s key to California’s conservation efforts: are there more fish here now than there were eight years ago?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when this kelp forest became part of a massive experiment to restore marine life in California. It was set aside as a \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/index.asp\">marine protected area\u003c/a>, where there’s little or no fishing allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now more than a hundred protected areas up and down the coast, covering 16 percent of state waters. The idea is that marine life will slowly recover there, improving the ecosystem both inside and outside the boundaries of each area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only way to know if these areas are working is through underwater surveys, repeated year after year. In 2013, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/02/28/california-ocean-reserves-show-promising-results-for-marine-life\">biologists reported encouraging results\u003c/a> in the protected areas off the Central Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Field surveys are expensive. The state supplied $16 million for monitoring studies, and the funding has already run out in some regions of the coast. Monitoring has continued, thanks to universities, foundations and volunteer groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Studying the Ocean Without Getting Wet\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been amazing what we can detect in just a liter of seawater,” says Jesse Port, an environmental genomicist at the Center for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219513\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 524px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-219513\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"Port first tested the DNA floating in the tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.\" width=\"524\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-400x282.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-1180x831.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ-960x676.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/MBAQ.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Port first tested the DNA floating in the tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Can you guess why he found turkey DNA in the tanks? \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He points to a rack of one-liter Nalgene water bottles that he uses to take seawater samples from the kelp forests in Monterey Bay. The rest of the work happens in the lab with a technique known as “environmental DNA” or eDNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So all organisms shed their DNA,” he says. “Their skin, their scales, their waste – all of this gets into the water. You can think of it as a soup of genetic information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port filters the seawater to collect all the cells. Then, he weeds out the algae and plankton and sequences the DNA of all the vertebrates, like whales, seals, and fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We get, with the machine we’re using, 150 million sequence reads for a given sequence run,” he says, “and that’s a lot of information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those gigabytes of results require heavy data-crunching, but eventually, he ends up with a spreadsheet that tells him what organisms were found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach is possible because DNA sequencing has gotten so much cheaper. One sample costs just $1,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was just not possible five, ten years ago,” Port says. “And sequencing technology is just going to get better, so this will probably get even cheaper.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Finding Turkey Underwater\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port first ran DNA tests in one of the large tanks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which provided an easy test case because he knew exactly what was swimming there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he got back results he didn’t quite believe. “Things like turkey,” he says. “We picked up chicken DNA in these tanks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“This is going to be transformative in oceanography. You don’t have to be out there on a boat with a huge crew, spending all this money.”\u003ccite>Jim Birch,\u003cbr>Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Turns out, poultry was in the feed some of the fish were getting. But it raised some big questions. How do you know whether the DNA comes from a fish or from something it ate miles away? Or how do you know the DNA didn’t float in on a current?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port is still working on the answers to these questions and he’s doing studies to ground truth his results, checking them against what scuba divers find. But if the technology proves itself in the ocean, it could revolutionize how marine monitoring is done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can cover such a larger area by taking water samples,” he says, “rather than having divers do that all themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Michel, the superintendent of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, says they’re already using eDNA testing to help assess species diversity in the sanctuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely, we did DNA testing on a research cruise in May,” Michel says, “and at each stop on the way, we were taking water samples. We can compare the DNA results to other types of samples over time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, it doesn’t even have to be humans taking those water samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_219519\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-219519\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-800x487.jpg\" alt=\"MBARI's long-range autonomous underwater vehicle can remain at sea, unattended, for weeks at a time.\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-800x487.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-400x243.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1440x876.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1920x1168.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-1180x718.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3-960x584.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lrauv_mission3.jpg 2034w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">MBARI’s long-range autonomous underwater vehicle can take samples at sea, unattended, for weeks at a time. \u003ccite>(Todd Walsh (c) 2010 MBARI)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DNA Lab at Sea\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What this is, is a microbiology lab that exists out in the ocean,” says Jim Birch of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, pointing to a 10-foot yellow tube. It’s called a long-range AUV, or autonomous underwater vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looks like a torpedo, but it’s actually a robot, containing a miniature DNA lab called an \u003ca href=\"http://www.mbari.org/esp/\">Environmental Sample Processor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The robot cruises along underwater, taking samples and analyzing them onboard. Birch recently sent it out for a test run in Monterey Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was sitting in my living room with my computer open and there in front of me was the control panel for the AUV,” he says. “And I could direct it to go to a new place and it was just this surreal feeling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the AUV finds an organism it’s looking for, it surfaces and calls home, pinging a satellite or cell phone network with the data, and giving scientists an almost real-time snapshot of the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, it only tests for one thing at a time, like algae or plankton, and Birch says there’s more engineering work to be done before the AUV gains widespread use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be transformative in oceanography,” he says. “You don’t have to be out there on a boat with a huge crew, spending all this money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A change that could help the state’s conservation funding go farther, ensuring California’s marine protected areas are working.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What IS Sustainable Seafood, Anyway? The Answer Might Surprise You",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/08/SeafoodWatch.mp3\u003cbr>\nIn the busy kitchen of \u003ca href=\"http://www.passionfish.net/\">Passionfish\u003c/a> restaurant, in Pacific Grove, chef Ted Walter is putting the final touches on grilled striped bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So this is a shaved granita that’s made from pomegranates and ginger,” he says, pointing to a frozen pink mixture he’s carefully spooning onto the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Walter and his wife, Cindy Walter, opened this restaurant 18 years ago, they decided to serve only sustainably caught seafood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means finding species that aren’t being overfished or caught in nets that accidentally kill other fish and catching what is in season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mother Nature really does drive the menu,” she says. “It depends on what the ocean is coughing up for us, and what the earth is spouting up for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_221017\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-221017\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Passionfish Chef Ted Walter is known for his unique dishes, including using many fermented vegetables.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passionfish chef Ted Walter is known for his unique dishes and his use of many fermented vegetables. \u003ccite>(Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She says the most popular dish is a tower of Dungeness crab and avocado, topped with spicy vinaigrette. (Having tried it on a recent visit, I can understand why.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the daughter of a local fisherman, she saw the industry collapse because of overfishing. But when they opened their restaurant, it was hard to figure out where to get the fish they wanted to serve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was having a really difficult time locating the vendors who could answer the questions that I had,” Cindy says. “Which area of the ocean are they harvesting? What is the gear that they’re using? I thought, when I saw the Seafood Watch cards, that the aquarium would have those answers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passionfish was one of the first restaurants to partner with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/\">Monterey Bay Aquarium\u003c/a> program, \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/\">Seafood Watch\u003c/a>. Passionfish now puts wallet-sized Seafood Watch cards on each table for customers, with the tab. It’s part of what keeps customers like Debbie Chinn coming back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You leave here with a greater appreciation about how to shop when you get back home,” says Chinn, who’s from Carmel. “When I go to a supermarket, I will avoid any kind of fish that’s overfished, so they have introduced a heightened sense of awareness about what I’m buying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seafood watch uses a color-coded ranking system: red means fish to avoid, yellow is a good alternative, and green is the most sustainable choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-219424\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-800x455.jpg\" alt=\"FullSizeRender\" width=\"800\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-800x455.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-400x227.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1440x819.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1920x1092.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1180x671.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-960x546.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for people who can’t remember to carry a paper wallet card around, there’s the Seafood Watch \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/our-app\">app,\u003c/a> where consumers can look up detailed information about whatever they come across in the supermarket or at a restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ranking system is not focused on human health—things like mercury levels in the fish. Rather, the emphasis is on the health of ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sustainable means the fishery or fish farm can exist into the future without negatively impacting the surrounding environment,” says Jenn Kemmerly, who heads the Seafood Watch program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says the program’s scientists review academic studies and talk with industry experts in crafting the recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was surprised to learn that many species of farmed fish rank just as high as wild fish on the Seafood Watch list. Kemmerly says while salmon have often been farmed in ways that damage coastal environments, other species, like farmed sturgeon, can be a great choice. That’s because they’re raised in filtered ponds that are less polluting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_220928\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 374px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-220928\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Farmed sturgeon, prepared with a Morrocan-style sauce at Passionfish\" width=\"374\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 374px) 100vw, 374px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Farmed sturgeon, prepared with a Morrocan-style sauce at Passionfish. Seafood Watch says farmed stugeon from the U.S. or Canada is the “Best Choice,” because all wild sturgeon species are depleted or near extinction due to the demand for caviar. \u003ccite>(Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>(By the way, I tried farmed sturgeon from Sacramento at Passionfish. I thought it was pretty meaty and tasted a bit like catfish…even though it was sitting in a tasty bath of Moroccan spices and vegetables.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not always easy to tell how something is fished or farmed when you find it in the supermarket. Kemmerly says those information gaps are exactly why they want consumers to start asking questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The number one thing that we want you to do,” she says, “is just ask: ‘Do you have a sustainable seafood program’ or, ‘What species is this? Is it farmed? Is it wild?’ That persistence sends a very clear message to the business that you’re shopping or dining at that you care. That reinforces their corporate policy, and that trickles down the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says since Seafood Watch started in the late 90s, big companies like \u003ca href=\"http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/seafood-sustainability-basics\">Whole Foods\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/2014-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf?ext=.pdf#page=14\">Target\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/celebrating-world-oceans-day-with-sustainable-seafood-at-walt-disney-parks-and-resorts/\">Disney \u003c/a>have adopted its ranking system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a boat just up the coast off Santa Cruz, fisherman \u003ca href=\"http://www.realgoodfish.com/fishermen-a-z\">Kevin Butler\u003c/a> is hooking a thrashing mackerel onto a line, bait for a prehistoric-looking fish called ling cod.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler uses a rod and reel to catch each individual fish, a technique called hook-and-line fishing. Butler says it’s friendlier to the ecosystem than \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/08/28/go-pro-captures-sustainable-fishing-600-feet-under-the-sea/\">trawl catching\u003c/a>, when fishermen drag a big net behind the boat. Or long-line fishing that uses multiple hooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“We’re told, ‘Eat this fish’ and it came halfway across the world on a jet plane. It just doesn’t make any sense.”\u003ccite>Kevin Butler, fisherman\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But some Central Coast fisherman have long been at odds with the Seafood Watch program, and want to see its priorities shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler says he’s less likely to bring in accidental bycatch—young fish that are too small to eat, or species other than the one he’s fishing for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not using nets, the fish have to voluntarily bite each hook, and we reel it in by hand. So there’s virtually no bycatch, all our fish is literally hand-picked,” says Butler, as he reels in a fishing line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler’s fish is sold as “sustainable” at Whole Foods and through \u003ca href=\"http://www.realgoodfish.com/\">Reel Good Fish\u003c/a>, which supplies local customers with a box of fish, kind of like an organic vegetable box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler wants Seafood Watch to prioritize \u003cem>local \u003c/em>in the way they rank fish. As it stands, some Monterey Bay fish are on the same category (yellow) as farmed tilapia from China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re told, ‘Eat this fish’ and it came halfway across the world on a jet plane,” Butler says. “It just doesn’t make any sense. The best strawberries are the ones grown down the street. The best peaches come off your neighbor’s tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, having your product sourced locally is a major part of sustainability. It really hurts a local fisherman when you have this organization that’s not supporting the local Monterey Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seafood Watch says it has to assess the environmental impact of fisheries around the world because, bottom line, up to 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says the program will soon begin collecting data on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/-/m/sfw/pdf/standard%20revision%20reference/seafood%20watch%20criteria%20for%20greenhouse%20gas%20consultation%202.pdf?la=en\">carbon footprint of seafood\u003c/a>, but that won’t influence its rankings, at least for now.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2015/08/SeafoodWatch.mp3\u003cbr>\nIn the busy kitchen of \u003ca href=\"http://www.passionfish.net/\">Passionfish\u003c/a> restaurant, in Pacific Grove, chef Ted Walter is putting the final touches on grilled striped bass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So this is a shaved granita that’s made from pomegranates and ginger,” he says, pointing to a frozen pink mixture he’s carefully spooning onto the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Walter and his wife, Cindy Walter, opened this restaurant 18 years ago, they decided to serve only sustainably caught seafood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means finding species that aren’t being overfished or caught in nets that accidentally kill other fish and catching what is in season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mother Nature really does drive the menu,” she says. “It depends on what the ocean is coughing up for us, and what the earth is spouting up for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_221017\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-221017\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Passionfish Chef Ted Walter is known for his unique dishes, including using many fermented vegetables.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6615-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passionfish chef Ted Walter is known for his unique dishes and his use of many fermented vegetables. \u003ccite>(Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She says the most popular dish is a tower of Dungeness crab and avocado, topped with spicy vinaigrette. (Having tried it on a recent visit, I can understand why.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the daughter of a local fisherman, she saw the industry collapse because of overfishing. But when they opened their restaurant, it was hard to figure out where to get the fish they wanted to serve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was having a really difficult time locating the vendors who could answer the questions that I had,” Cindy says. “Which area of the ocean are they harvesting? What is the gear that they’re using? I thought, when I saw the Seafood Watch cards, that the aquarium would have those answers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passionfish was one of the first restaurants to partner with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/\">Monterey Bay Aquarium\u003c/a> program, \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/\">Seafood Watch\u003c/a>. Passionfish now puts wallet-sized Seafood Watch cards on each table for customers, with the tab. It’s part of what keeps customers like Debbie Chinn coming back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You leave here with a greater appreciation about how to shop when you get back home,” says Chinn, who’s from Carmel. “When I go to a supermarket, I will avoid any kind of fish that’s overfished, so they have introduced a heightened sense of awareness about what I’m buying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seafood watch uses a color-coded ranking system: red means fish to avoid, yellow is a good alternative, and green is the most sustainable choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-219424\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-800x455.jpg\" alt=\"FullSizeRender\" width=\"800\" height=\"455\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-800x455.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-400x227.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1440x819.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1920x1092.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-1180x671.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/FullSizeRender-960x546.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for people who can’t remember to carry a paper wallet card around, there’s the Seafood Watch \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/our-app\">app,\u003c/a> where consumers can look up detailed information about whatever they come across in the supermarket or at a restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ranking system is not focused on human health—things like mercury levels in the fish. Rather, the emphasis is on the health of ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sustainable means the fishery or fish farm can exist into the future without negatively impacting the surrounding environment,” says Jenn Kemmerly, who heads the Seafood Watch program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says the program’s scientists review academic studies and talk with industry experts in crafting the recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was surprised to learn that many species of farmed fish rank just as high as wild fish on the Seafood Watch list. Kemmerly says while salmon have often been farmed in ways that damage coastal environments, other species, like farmed sturgeon, can be a great choice. That’s because they’re raised in filtered ponds that are less polluting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_220928\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 374px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-220928\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Farmed sturgeon, prepared with a Morrocan-style sauce at Passionfish\" width=\"374\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/IMG_6603-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 374px) 100vw, 374px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Farmed sturgeon, prepared with a Morrocan-style sauce at Passionfish. Seafood Watch says farmed stugeon from the U.S. or Canada is the “Best Choice,” because all wild sturgeon species are depleted or near extinction due to the demand for caviar. \u003ccite>(Sasha Khokha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>(By the way, I tried farmed sturgeon from Sacramento at Passionfish. I thought it was pretty meaty and tasted a bit like catfish…even though it was sitting in a tasty bath of Moroccan spices and vegetables.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not always easy to tell how something is fished or farmed when you find it in the supermarket. Kemmerly says those information gaps are exactly why they want consumers to start asking questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The number one thing that we want you to do,” she says, “is just ask: ‘Do you have a sustainable seafood program’ or, ‘What species is this? Is it farmed? Is it wild?’ That persistence sends a very clear message to the business that you’re shopping or dining at that you care. That reinforces their corporate policy, and that trickles down the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says since Seafood Watch started in the late 90s, big companies like \u003ca href=\"http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/seafood-sustainability-basics\">Whole Foods\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/2014-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf?ext=.pdf#page=14\">Target\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/celebrating-world-oceans-day-with-sustainable-seafood-at-walt-disney-parks-and-resorts/\">Disney \u003c/a>have adopted its ranking system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a boat just up the coast off Santa Cruz, fisherman \u003ca href=\"http://www.realgoodfish.com/fishermen-a-z\">Kevin Butler\u003c/a> is hooking a thrashing mackerel onto a line, bait for a prehistoric-looking fish called ling cod.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler uses a rod and reel to catch each individual fish, a technique called hook-and-line fishing. Butler says it’s friendlier to the ecosystem than \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/08/28/go-pro-captures-sustainable-fishing-600-feet-under-the-sea/\">trawl catching\u003c/a>, when fishermen drag a big net behind the boat. Or long-line fishing that uses multiple hooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“We’re told, ‘Eat this fish’ and it came halfway across the world on a jet plane. It just doesn’t make any sense.”\u003ccite>Kevin Butler, fisherman\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But some Central Coast fisherman have long been at odds with the Seafood Watch program, and want to see its priorities shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler says he’s less likely to bring in accidental bycatch—young fish that are too small to eat, or species other than the one he’s fishing for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not using nets, the fish have to voluntarily bite each hook, and we reel it in by hand. So there’s virtually no bycatch, all our fish is literally hand-picked,” says Butler, as he reels in a fishing line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler’s fish is sold as “sustainable” at Whole Foods and through \u003ca href=\"http://www.realgoodfish.com/\">Reel Good Fish\u003c/a>, which supplies local customers with a box of fish, kind of like an organic vegetable box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butler wants Seafood Watch to prioritize \u003cem>local \u003c/em>in the way they rank fish. As it stands, some Monterey Bay fish are on the same category (yellow) as farmed tilapia from China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re told, ‘Eat this fish’ and it came halfway across the world on a jet plane,” Butler says. “It just doesn’t make any sense. The best strawberries are the ones grown down the street. The best peaches come off your neighbor’s tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, having your product sourced locally is a major part of sustainability. It really hurts a local fisherman when you have this organization that’s not supporting the local Monterey Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seafood Watch says it has to assess the environmental impact of fisheries around the world because, bottom line, up to 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kemmerly says the program will soon begin collecting data on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.seafoodwatch.org/-/m/sfw/pdf/standard%20revision%20reference/seafood%20watch%20criteria%20for%20greenhouse%20gas%20consultation%202.pdf?la=en\">carbon footprint of seafood\u003c/a>, but that won’t influence its rankings, at least for now.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Chameleons are some of the most brilliantly colored animals on the planet. But how did they evolve the ability to change color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists used to believe that chameleons changed color by spreading out pigments in their skin, much like octopuses or squid do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The top layer of chameleon skin – called the epidermis – contains yellow pigment cells called xanthophores, and red pigment cells called erythrophores. But the amount of pigment in the cells stays the same, even when the chameleon changes color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"http://genev.unige.ch/fr/users/Michel-Milinkovitch\">Michel Milinkovitch\u003c/a>, an evolutionary geneticist and biophysicist in the \u003ca href=\"http://genev.unige.ch/\">Department of Genetics and Evolution at the University of Geneva\u003c/a> and a team of researchers discovered that Panther chameleons change color using a crystalline structure beneath their top layer of skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just beneath the chameleon’s skin is a layer of cells called iridophores. These cells contain microscopic salt crystals, which are arranged in a three-dimensional pattern like oranges stacked on a fruit stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When light hits the crystals, some wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected. The result, to our eyes, is the beautiful rainbow of colors on the chameleon’s skin. But what we’re actually seeing is light that is bouncing off of these tiny crystals. What we perceive as green, for example, is blue wavelengths of light being reflected off the crystals and through the layer of yellow xanthophore cells in the chameleon’s epidermis. The result is bright green skin that contains no green pigment!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/12/16/what-gives-the-morpho-butterfly-its-magnificent-blue/\">brilliant blue wings of the Morpho butterfly\u003c/a>,\u003cbr>\na colorful species found in the tropics, have a similar structure tko the tiny crystals in chameleons. But unlike Morhpo butterflies, chameleons have evolved the ability to move the structure. When chameleons change color, they’re actually tuning the distance between the salt crystals, which changes the color of light reflected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_206822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-206822\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/chameleons_4-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Each of these points of light is an array of crystals. When the distance between them changes, they reflect a different wavelength of light. The result is a dramatic shift in color.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each of these points of light is an array of crystals. When the distance between them changes, they reflect a different wavelength of light. The result is a dramatic shift in color. \u003ccite>(Michel Milinkovitch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chameleons have a second layer of iridiophore cells just beneath the first. The crystals in that layer are larger and reflect light waves in the infrared wavelengths. This suggests that chameleons are also changing colors to regulate their temperature, according to Milinkovitch. Chameleons are cold-blooded and heat their bodies with the warmth of the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is another possibility that is hard to prove. Like many animals, chameleons can see a wider range of light than humans can, including ultraviolet light. That means the color changes that we can see are just the beginning. In fact, chameleons have developed a whole language of color that extends far beyond what we can understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out our understanding of why chameleons change color was incomplete as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists once thought that chameleons color-changing abilities allowed them to better camouflage themselves. Most species of chameleons live high in the forest canopy and their various shades of green provide natural camouflage. Even their movement provides camouflage – they dance around to mimic leaves blowing in the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, chameleons change color primarily to communicate with each other, as though they were living mood rings. Males will warn each other about their territory and females will change color to let males know whether they’re interested in breeding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At around the same time as Milinkovitch published his findings, \u003ca href=\"http://www.dailycal.org/2015/03/16/uc-berkeley-team-engineers-invent-ultra-thin-chameleon-like-skin/\">scientists at UC Berkeley\u003c/a> were putting the final touches on a color-changing prototype they likened to synthetic chameleon skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of electrical engineers, led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/chang-hasnain.html\">Connie Chang-Hasnain\u003c/a>, etched a one-dimensional array into a thin silicon film. At the microscopic level, the array looks like it’s made of tiny ribbons laid in perfectly straight rows. The ribbons of silicon work in much the same way as the crystals in chameleon skin – they reflect a particular wavelength of light depending on how widely spaced they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists stuck the array onto flexible plastic. When the plastic is stretched, the spacing between the ribbons changes and the design changes color. They began with a flower design, but the patterns have become increasingly complex and now include a chameleon — a nod to the creature that helped inspire the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The array reflects up to 83 percent of the light that hits it. The applications for a color-changing array are enormous, according to Chang-Hasnain, including biosensors, energy efficient electronic displays and even sensors that would change color to warn of structural failure on a bridge or airplane wing.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chameleons are some of the most brilliantly colored animals on the planet. But how did they evolve the ability to change color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists used to believe that chameleons changed color by spreading out pigments in their skin, much like octopuses or squid do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The top layer of chameleon skin – called the epidermis – contains yellow pigment cells called xanthophores, and red pigment cells called erythrophores. But the amount of pigment in the cells stays the same, even when the chameleon changes color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"http://genev.unige.ch/fr/users/Michel-Milinkovitch\">Michel Milinkovitch\u003c/a>, an evolutionary geneticist and biophysicist in the \u003ca href=\"http://genev.unige.ch/\">Department of Genetics and Evolution at the University of Geneva\u003c/a> and a team of researchers discovered that Panther chameleons change color using a crystalline structure beneath their top layer of skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just beneath the chameleon’s skin is a layer of cells called iridophores. These cells contain microscopic salt crystals, which are arranged in a three-dimensional pattern like oranges stacked on a fruit stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When light hits the crystals, some wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected. The result, to our eyes, is the beautiful rainbow of colors on the chameleon’s skin. But what we’re actually seeing is light that is bouncing off of these tiny crystals. What we perceive as green, for example, is blue wavelengths of light being reflected off the crystals and through the layer of yellow xanthophore cells in the chameleon’s epidermis. The result is bright green skin that contains no green pigment!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/12/16/what-gives-the-morpho-butterfly-its-magnificent-blue/\">brilliant blue wings of the Morpho butterfly\u003c/a>,\u003cbr>\na colorful species found in the tropics, have a similar structure tko the tiny crystals in chameleons. But unlike Morhpo butterflies, chameleons have evolved the ability to move the structure. When chameleons change color, they’re actually tuning the distance between the salt crystals, which changes the color of light reflected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_206822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-206822\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/chameleons_4-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Each of these points of light is an array of crystals. When the distance between them changes, they reflect a different wavelength of light. The result is a dramatic shift in color.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each of these points of light is an array of crystals. When the distance between them changes, they reflect a different wavelength of light. The result is a dramatic shift in color. \u003ccite>(Michel Milinkovitch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chameleons have a second layer of iridiophore cells just beneath the first. The crystals in that layer are larger and reflect light waves in the infrared wavelengths. This suggests that chameleons are also changing colors to regulate their temperature, according to Milinkovitch. Chameleons are cold-blooded and heat their bodies with the warmth of the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is another possibility that is hard to prove. Like many animals, chameleons can see a wider range of light than humans can, including ultraviolet light. That means the color changes that we can see are just the beginning. In fact, chameleons have developed a whole language of color that extends far beyond what we can understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turns out our understanding of why chameleons change color was incomplete as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists once thought that chameleons color-changing abilities allowed them to better camouflage themselves. Most species of chameleons live high in the forest canopy and their various shades of green provide natural camouflage. Even their movement provides camouflage – they dance around to mimic leaves blowing in the wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, chameleons change color primarily to communicate with each other, as though they were living mood rings. Males will warn each other about their territory and females will change color to let males know whether they’re interested in breeding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At around the same time as Milinkovitch published his findings, \u003ca href=\"http://www.dailycal.org/2015/03/16/uc-berkeley-team-engineers-invent-ultra-thin-chameleon-like-skin/\">scientists at UC Berkeley\u003c/a> were putting the final touches on a color-changing prototype they likened to synthetic chameleon skin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group of electrical engineers, led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/chang-hasnain.html\">Connie Chang-Hasnain\u003c/a>, etched a one-dimensional array into a thin silicon film. At the microscopic level, the array looks like it’s made of tiny ribbons laid in perfectly straight rows. The ribbons of silicon work in much the same way as the crystals in chameleon skin – they reflect a particular wavelength of light depending on how widely spaced they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists stuck the array onto flexible plastic. When the plastic is stretched, the spacing between the ribbons changes and the design changes color. They began with a flower design, but the patterns have become increasingly complex and now include a chameleon — a nod to the creature that helped inspire the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The array reflects up to 83 percent of the light that hits it. The applications for a color-changing array are enormous, according to Chang-Hasnain, including biosensors, energy efficient electronic displays and even sensors that would change color to warn of structural failure on a bridge or airplane wing.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Octopuses are notoriously anti-social—if you put more than one in a tank, they’ll attack each other. And they certainly don’t form family ties—females are prone to eating males after mating, and they usually die when their eggs hatch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, in a recent study from UC Berkeley and the California Academy of Sciences, a mud-dwelling “harlequin octopus” defies all such stereotypes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As reported August 12 in the journal \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0134152\">PLoS ONE\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, members of this species—the larger Pacific striped octopus–will happily cohabit with their partners, share food and watch their eggs hatch for months on end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The roots of this paradigm-altering discovery reach back forty years and down 5,000 miles of coastline, to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radical News From Panama\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ib.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/caldwellr\">Roy Caldwell\u003c/a>, professor of biology at UC Berkeley and first author of the octopus study, was on sabbatical in Panama when he met biologist \u003ca href=\"http://arcadio.rodaniche.com/index2.html\">Arcadio Rodaniche\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Caldwell was hunting for the colorful shrimp that are his primary research interest, he says, “I caught three or four little striped octopuses; they came out of the rocks. Arcadio told me they were \u003cem>chierchiae\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Octopus chierchiae\u003c/em> is a tiny species, about the size of a quarter, sometimes called the lesser Pacific striped octopus. That’s in comparison to the \u003cem>larger\u003c/em> Pacific striped octopus, which is baseball-sized, and so poorly known it doesn’t have an official scientific name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_200274\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-200274\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-400x418.png\" alt=\"A painting by Rodaniche of the larger Pacific striped octopus.\" width=\"400\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-400x418.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-800x835.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-1180x1232.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-960x1002.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-32x32.png 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche.png 1210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A painting by Panamanian biologist and artist Arcadio Rodaniche of the larger Pacific striped octopus. \u003ccite>(Arcadio Rodaniche)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both lesser and larger species are called “harlequin octopuses” because of the dramatic stripes and spots they often display, which are unique to individuals—like fingerprints. And both species, it seems, have never heard that laying eggs is supposed to be fatal for octopuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I brought [the lesser Pacific striped octopuses] back to Berkeley because I thought they’d be neat to photograph,” says Caldwell, who is skilled behind the lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One female laid eggs right away and I was very bummed out, I thought she was going to die. She didn’t, she laid three more clutches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Rodaniche was making even more extraordinary discoveries about \u003cem>O. chierchiae’\u003c/em>s bigger cousins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to laying eggs for an extended time, mating pairs of larger Pacific striped octopuses sometimes shared a single den. Perhaps strangest of all, they mated beak-to-beak—an incredibly risky position if either partner is concerned about post-coital cannibalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Males of other octopus species take more sensible precautions, either handing over sperm at arm’s length or mounting the female from behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodaniche’s observations of the larger octopus, and to an extent Caldwell’s of the lesser, could have overturned years of octopus dogma. But neither set was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_200277\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-200277 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-400x453.jpg\" alt=\"Female and hatchling larger Pacific striped octopuse\" width=\"400\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-400x453.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-800x906.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-960x1087.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby.jpg 1060w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female larger Pacific striped octopuses watch their eggs hatch for months as they continue to lay more. \u003ccite>(Roy Caldwell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Caldwell says he “was too naive” to realize how unusual it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodaniche, a specialist on squid and octopus, did submit a scientific paper—but the journal rejected it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They weren’t ready to accept my findings,” he says. “I shelved the whole thing until Roy found some animals and contacted me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vindication at Last\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, Caldwell and co-author \u003ca href=\"http://packedhead.net/about/\">Richard Ross\u003c/a> of the Steinhart Aquarium had been working with \u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em>, the lesser Pacific striped octopus, when the collector who was supplying them unexpectedly sent a much bigger specimen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was, of course, a larger Pacific striped octopus—which no scientist had seen or studied for decades. “It felt like suddenly we got Bigfoot in the lab,” says Ross. “And then it was a race to make sure we got all the specimens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The passage of time had not changed this species’ mating preference. Couples still joined beak-to-beak, as Rodaniche had observed. One mating pair cohabited for days in the same den, and even shared food—also beak-to-beak, like the famous \u003ca href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaghettiKiss\">spaghetti kiss\u003c/a> from \u003cem>Lady and the Tramp\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further verifying Rodaniche’s original report, the females laid eggs for months on end, long after the first-laid eggs began to hatch. And unlike other octopus species, in which mothers stop eating to care for their eggs, these females continued to eat—and mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why Is This Octopus Such an Oddball?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell thinks most of the larger Pacific striped octopus’s unusual behavior stems from the females’ extended spawning period. “She couldn’t possibly go that long without eating,” he says. “And she probably has to replenish her sperm supply, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mating beak-to-beak allows a female to keep an eye on the eggs she’s already laid while collecting new sperm. Sharing dens and food could also make it easier for her to multi-task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, their unique body patterns may allow larger Pacific striped octopuses to recognize each other, an ability that could \u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018710\">minimize aggression\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\n[jwplayer mediaid=”200726″]\u003cbr>\nBut \u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em>, the lesser Pacific striped octopus, has unique patterns too, as well as an extended spawning period. Yet its behavior is more typically anti-social.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m much more scared putting the \u003cem>chierchiae\u003c/em> together,” says Ross. He suggests that the differences between the two species may be due to their different habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em> lives in rocky tidepools, a constantly changing environment which could make it difficult to build relationships. The larger Pacific striped octopus lives deeper, on muddy seafloors. This relatively stable habitat might be better suited to the evolution of gregarious behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know yet if they’re truly social,” cautions co-author \u003ca href=\"http://crissyhuffard.com/\">Christine Huffard\u003c/a> of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. But the possibility exists. “The type of behaviors we’ve seen, like food sharing and den sharing, that’s just in the laboratory. We’d probably see much more complex behaviors in the wild.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Octopuses are notoriously anti-social—if you put more than one in a tank, they’ll attack each other. And they certainly don’t form family ties—females are prone to eating males after mating, and they usually die when their eggs hatch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, in a recent study from UC Berkeley and the California Academy of Sciences, a mud-dwelling “harlequin octopus” defies all such stereotypes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As reported August 12 in the journal \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0134152\">PLoS ONE\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, members of this species—the larger Pacific striped octopus–will happily cohabit with their partners, share food and watch their eggs hatch for months on end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The roots of this paradigm-altering discovery reach back forty years and down 5,000 miles of coastline, to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radical News From Panama\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ib.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/caldwellr\">Roy Caldwell\u003c/a>, professor of biology at UC Berkeley and first author of the octopus study, was on sabbatical in Panama when he met biologist \u003ca href=\"http://arcadio.rodaniche.com/index2.html\">Arcadio Rodaniche\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Caldwell was hunting for the colorful shrimp that are his primary research interest, he says, “I caught three or four little striped octopuses; they came out of the rocks. Arcadio told me they were \u003cem>chierchiae\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Octopus chierchiae\u003c/em> is a tiny species, about the size of a quarter, sometimes called the lesser Pacific striped octopus. That’s in comparison to the \u003cem>larger\u003c/em> Pacific striped octopus, which is baseball-sized, and so poorly known it doesn’t have an official scientific name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_200274\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-200274\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-400x418.png\" alt=\"A painting by Rodaniche of the larger Pacific striped octopus.\" width=\"400\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-400x418.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-800x835.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-1180x1232.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-960x1002.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche-32x32.png 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/rodaniche.png 1210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A painting by Panamanian biologist and artist Arcadio Rodaniche of the larger Pacific striped octopus. \u003ccite>(Arcadio Rodaniche)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both lesser and larger species are called “harlequin octopuses” because of the dramatic stripes and spots they often display, which are unique to individuals—like fingerprints. And both species, it seems, have never heard that laying eggs is supposed to be fatal for octopuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I brought [the lesser Pacific striped octopuses] back to Berkeley because I thought they’d be neat to photograph,” says Caldwell, who is skilled behind the lens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One female laid eggs right away and I was very bummed out, I thought she was going to die. She didn’t, she laid three more clutches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Rodaniche was making even more extraordinary discoveries about \u003cem>O. chierchiae’\u003c/em>s bigger cousins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to laying eggs for an extended time, mating pairs of larger Pacific striped octopuses sometimes shared a single den. Perhaps strangest of all, they mated beak-to-beak—an incredibly risky position if either partner is concerned about post-coital cannibalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Males of other octopus species take more sensible precautions, either handing over sperm at arm’s length or mounting the female from behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodaniche’s observations of the larger octopus, and to an extent Caldwell’s of the lesser, could have overturned years of octopus dogma. But neither set was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_200277\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-200277 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-400x453.jpg\" alt=\"Female and hatchling larger Pacific striped octopuse\" width=\"400\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-400x453.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-800x906.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby-960x1087.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/mom-and-baby.jpg 1060w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Female larger Pacific striped octopuses watch their eggs hatch for months as they continue to lay more. \u003ccite>(Roy Caldwell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Caldwell says he “was too naive” to realize how unusual it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodaniche, a specialist on squid and octopus, did submit a scientific paper—but the journal rejected it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They weren’t ready to accept my findings,” he says. “I shelved the whole thing until Roy found some animals and contacted me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vindication at Last\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, Caldwell and co-author \u003ca href=\"http://packedhead.net/about/\">Richard Ross\u003c/a> of the Steinhart Aquarium had been working with \u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em>, the lesser Pacific striped octopus, when the collector who was supplying them unexpectedly sent a much bigger specimen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was, of course, a larger Pacific striped octopus—which no scientist had seen or studied for decades. “It felt like suddenly we got Bigfoot in the lab,” says Ross. “And then it was a race to make sure we got all the specimens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The passage of time had not changed this species’ mating preference. Couples still joined beak-to-beak, as Rodaniche had observed. One mating pair cohabited for days in the same den, and even shared food—also beak-to-beak, like the famous \u003ca href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaghettiKiss\">spaghetti kiss\u003c/a> from \u003cem>Lady and the Tramp\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further verifying Rodaniche’s original report, the females laid eggs for months on end, long after the first-laid eggs began to hatch. And unlike other octopus species, in which mothers stop eating to care for their eggs, these females continued to eat—and mate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why Is This Octopus Such an Oddball?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell thinks most of the larger Pacific striped octopus’s unusual behavior stems from the females’ extended spawning period. “She couldn’t possibly go that long without eating,” he says. “And she probably has to replenish her sperm supply, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mating beak-to-beak allows a female to keep an eye on the eggs she’s already laid while collecting new sperm. Sharing dens and food could also make it easier for her to multi-task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, their unique body patterns may allow larger Pacific striped octopuses to recognize each other, an ability that could \u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018710\">minimize aggression\u003c/a>.\u003cbr>\n[jwplayer mediaid=”200726″]\u003cbr>\nBut \u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em>, the lesser Pacific striped octopus, has unique patterns too, as well as an extended spawning period. Yet its behavior is more typically anti-social.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m much more scared putting the \u003cem>chierchiae\u003c/em> together,” says Ross. He suggests that the differences between the two species may be due to their different habitats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>O. chierchiae\u003c/em> lives in rocky tidepools, a constantly changing environment which could make it difficult to build relationships. The larger Pacific striped octopus lives deeper, on muddy seafloors. This relatively stable habitat might be better suited to the evolution of gregarious behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know yet if they’re truly social,” cautions co-author \u003ca href=\"http://crissyhuffard.com/\">Christine Huffard\u003c/a> of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. But the possibility exists. “The type of behaviors we’ve seen, like food sharing and den sharing, that’s just in the laboratory. We’d probably see much more complex behaviors in the wild.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Drought Makes Being a Shorebird More Difficult",
"headTitle": "Drought Makes Being a Shorebird More Difficult | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>This is one of the riskiest times of life for migratory shorebirds like willets, dunlin, marbled godwits and others. As these birds migrate along the Pacific Flyway, they normally stop to rest and refuel at marshes, lakes and other waterways — after migrating thousands of miles from the north. Some come from as far as the Arctic circle with migration paths established for thousands of years, particular to their species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year, birds migrating through northern California’s coast range and the Central Valley \u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/1579-birds-snowpack-drought-flyway-wetlands-California/\">are finding dry areas\u003c/a> where they expected lush wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hopscotching on their migration from wetland to wetland, drought and development have decimated many of their historic refuges,” says Cindy Margulis, Executive Director of Golden Gate Audubon. “It requires birds to seek new resting and refueling areas, forcing them to fly further in search of food and water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shorebirds that fly along the coastline seeking refuge have arrived early to East Bay salt marshes; they normally aren’t here in large numbers until the end of August or even early September. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_186895\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Western sandpipers and dunlin flocks are of special concern as their numbers have fallen in the last few years. They are two focus species in the Shorebird Monitoring Project.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-186895\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Western sandpipers and dunlin flocks are of special concern as their numbers have fallen in the last few years. They are two focus species in the Shorebird Monitoring Project. \u003ccite>(David B. Ledig/Wikimedia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There’s no evidence, though, that birds that normally migrate through California’s interior, down the Central Valley, have winged their way over to the Bay, says Melissa Pitkin, Director of Education and Outreach for \u003ca href=\"http://www.pointblue.org/\">Point Blue Conservation Science\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all birds are able to shift their migration patterns; they don’t have the ‘plasticity’ in their life history strategies to change in that way,” Pitkin says. “Some are very strict interior migrants who, in times of drought, will struggle with less water along the migration route.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://calrice.org/pdf/waterbirdhabitatbro_web.pdf\">One program underway\u003c/a> to assist these avian travelers teaches rice farmers how to manage farms in ways that benefit migratory waterbirds. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, working in partnership with Point Blue Conservation Science, Audubon California, The Nature Conservancy and the California Rice Commission, created and field-tested a set of practices, such as installing islands in flooded fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy has also developed \u003ca href=\"http://www.conserveca.org/our-stories/all/7-spotlight/132-precision-conservation?\">BirdReturns\u003c/a>, a program that pays rice farmers to flood their fields after the last harvest, creating \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">“pop-up wetlands”\u003c/a> for the birds. The organization piloted the program last year. One of its innovations, Pitkin says, is the bidding process where farmers place bids on how much money they would take to flood fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dISqPa8g840&w=640&h=360]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These unique partnerships rely on data from the Citizen Science \u003ca href=\"http://ebird.org/content/ebird/\">eBird program\u003c/a>, a project of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478\">Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u003c/a>. The data from eBird pinpoints the location and timing for the flooded fields and helps the partnership make the best use of their funds for these “popup wetlands.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right here in the South Bay, the ongoing conversion of salt-production ponds to tidal wetlands provided new habitat last winter when tens-of-thousands of birds flocked to the newly restored area, part of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.fws.gov/fieldnotes/regmap.cfm?framesFlag=0&arskey=34083&callingKey=executive_summary&callingValue=don%20edwards\">Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’d like to get involved in monitoring shorebird populations locally, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.migratoryshorebirdproject.org/index.php?page=home-en\">Migratory Shorebird Project\u003c/a>, coordinated by Point Blue Conservation Science, is recruiting volunteers to help with a 10-year population study, with a special focus on dunlin and sandpipers. You can also help shorebirds and all wildlife by, of course, conserving water.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This is one of the riskiest times of life for migratory shorebirds like willets, dunlin, marbled godwits and others. As these birds migrate along the Pacific Flyway, they normally stop to rest and refuel at marshes, lakes and other waterways — after migrating thousands of miles from the north. Some come from as far as the Arctic circle with migration paths established for thousands of years, particular to their species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year, birds migrating through northern California’s coast range and the Central Valley \u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/1579-birds-snowpack-drought-flyway-wetlands-California/\">are finding dry areas\u003c/a> where they expected lush wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hopscotching on their migration from wetland to wetland, drought and development have decimated many of their historic refuges,” says Cindy Margulis, Executive Director of Golden Gate Audubon. “It requires birds to seek new resting and refueling areas, forcing them to fly further in search of food and water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shorebirds that fly along the coastline seeking refuge have arrived early to East Bay salt marshes; they normally aren’t here in large numbers until the end of August or even early September. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_186895\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Western sandpipers and dunlin flocks are of special concern as their numbers have fallen in the last few years. They are two focus species in the Shorebird Monitoring Project.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-186895\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-400x267.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/1024px-Western_Sandpipers_and_Dunlins.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Western sandpipers and dunlin flocks are of special concern as their numbers have fallen in the last few years. They are two focus species in the Shorebird Monitoring Project. \u003ccite>(David B. Ledig/Wikimedia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There’s no evidence, though, that birds that normally migrate through California’s interior, down the Central Valley, have winged their way over to the Bay, says Melissa Pitkin, Director of Education and Outreach for \u003ca href=\"http://www.pointblue.org/\">Point Blue Conservation Science\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not all birds are able to shift their migration patterns; they don’t have the ‘plasticity’ in their life history strategies to change in that way,” Pitkin says. “Some are very strict interior migrants who, in times of drought, will struggle with less water along the migration route.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://calrice.org/pdf/waterbirdhabitatbro_web.pdf\">One program underway\u003c/a> to assist these avian travelers teaches rice farmers how to manage farms in ways that benefit migratory waterbirds. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, working in partnership with Point Blue Conservation Science, Audubon California, The Nature Conservancy and the California Rice Commission, created and field-tested a set of practices, such as installing islands in flooded fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy has also developed \u003ca href=\"http://www.conserveca.org/our-stories/all/7-spotlight/132-precision-conservation?\">BirdReturns\u003c/a>, a program that pays rice farmers to flood their fields after the last harvest, creating \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/during-drought-pop-up-wetlands-give-birds-a-break/\">“pop-up wetlands”\u003c/a> for the birds. The organization piloted the program last year. One of its innovations, Pitkin says, is the bidding process where farmers place bids on how much money they would take to flood fields.\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/dISqPa8g840'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/dISqPa8g840'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These unique partnerships rely on data from the Citizen Science \u003ca href=\"http://ebird.org/content/ebird/\">eBird program\u003c/a>, a project of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478\">Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u003c/a>. The data from eBird pinpoints the location and timing for the flooded fields and helps the partnership make the best use of their funds for these “popup wetlands.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right here in the South Bay, the ongoing conversion of salt-production ponds to tidal wetlands provided new habitat last winter when tens-of-thousands of birds flocked to the newly restored area, part of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.fws.gov/fieldnotes/regmap.cfm?framesFlag=0&arskey=34083&callingKey=executive_summary&callingValue=don%20edwards\">Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’d like to get involved in monitoring shorebird populations locally, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.migratoryshorebirdproject.org/index.php?page=home-en\">Migratory Shorebird Project\u003c/a>, coordinated by Point Blue Conservation Science, is recruiting volunteers to help with a 10-year population study, with a special focus on dunlin and sandpipers. You can also help shorebirds and all wildlife by, of course, conserving water.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Wildlife Walkway Will Protect Pumas From Their Number One Predator: Humans",
"headTitle": "Wildlife Walkway Will Protect Pumas From Their Number One Predator: Humans | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The winding roads and blind corners of Highway 17 are known to Santa Cruz County residents as both dangerous and beautiful. The lush redwoods lining the heavy traffic route are teeming with local wildlife. Birds, deer, bobcats and foxes forage the rural mountain ranges alongside the corridor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet none are as elusive and majestic as California’s golden mountain lions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These giant cats cloak themselves in the trees, while below them, roughly 55,000 cars commute over Highway 17. With drivers speeding between the San Francisco Bay Area and the coast, the mountain lions (also known as pumas), have no safe way to cross the buzzing highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There currently aren’t any under crossings or culverts more than about two feet in diameter,” says Nancy Siepel, a biologist and mitigation specialist for \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov\">Caltrans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_173042\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 399px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-173042\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg\" alt=\"Puma kittens are fitted with an ear tag for identification and a collar that will track their survival in the early and important months of their lives. \" width=\"399\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg 1293w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-400x322.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-800x645.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-1180x951.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-960x774.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Puma kittens are fitted with an ear tag for identification, and a collar that will track their survival in the early and important months of their lives. \u003ccite>(Santa Cruz Puma Project )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is a problem for big animals trying to find a route under the roadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Major highways like 17 dissect the mountain ranges pumas need to secure new territory, find food and avoid inbreeding. Severing long-ranging wildlife from their habitat introduces \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/2013/05/01/top-cats-how-pumas-and-other-apex-predators-populations-affect-the-big-biodiversity-picture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-cats-how-pumas-and-other-apex-predators-populations-affect-the-big-biodiversity-picture\">myriad problems\u003c/a>, not just for the animal, but for the entire ecosystem. And, while some cats successfully make it across the highway, many others fall victim to speeding traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such problem area is positioned two miles from the summit of Highway 17. A survey orchestrated by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.landtrustsantacruz.org\">Land Trust of Santa Cruz County \u003c/a>revealed that the location, known as Laurel Curve, is the best possible place to build a wildlife passage. There are, by far, more animals trying to cross the corridor at this particular site than anywhere else along the highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is probably a deer hit, if not every week, every other week at Laurel Curve,” says Dan Medeiros, project manager at the land trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laurel Curve is also known \u003ca href=\"http://www.mobileranger.com/losgatos/is-highway-17-that-dangerous-or-is-it-just-laurel-curve/\">among locals to be high-risk\u003c/a> for vehicular accidents. The heavy densities of wildlife crossing there adds pressure for both animals and motorists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Top Predator for Pumas: Humans\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThere are \u003ca href=\"https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/lion_faq.html\">4,000 to 6,000 pumas in California\u003c/a>. While they are not an endangered species, they aren’t what you’d call thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164072\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 545px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164072\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of Laurel Curve shows how the highway dissects the Santa Cruz Mountains in two. Without connectivity, long-ranging species have trouble securing territory, mating, or finding food. \" width=\"545\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Laurel Curve shows how the highway bisects the Santa Cruz Mountains. Without connectivity, long-ranging species have trouble securing territory, mating or finding food. \u003ccite>(Steve Mandel/Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131490\">13-year study\u003c/a> released last month in the journal\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"http://www.plosone.org/\">PLOS ONE\u003c/a> from the University of California, Davis, found southern California pumas have about a 56 percent chance of surviving through the end of each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For an unhunted population, it’s shockingly low,” says Winston Vickers, who leads the \u003ca href=\"http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/programs/california-conservation/mountain-lions.cfm\">Mountain Lion and Bobcat Project\u003c/a> at U.C. Davis. “We managed to kill a lot of them ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, humans are responsible for the cats’ top two causes of death: accidental vehicle collisions and \u003ca href=\"http://www.mountainlion.org/defining%20mountain%20lion%20depredation%20in%20California.asp\">deliberate kills\u003c/a>, either legal depredation or illegal poaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it has been illegal to hunt large cats for sport in California since the passage of \u003ca href=\"http://www.mountainlion.org/us/ca/Prop117/-ca-proposition117.asp\">Proposition 117\u003c/a> in 1990, landowners can get a “depredation permit” if a cat is considered a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Department of Fish and Wildlife \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Lion\">helps homeowners learn\u003c/a> how to avoid attracting mountain lions to their property. Yet depredation remains a main cause of death for pumas. From \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/depredation.html\">1972 to 2013\u003c/a> state officials issued 6,175 depredation permits resulting in 2,816 puma deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last 19 years, three people have been killed by mountain lions, and state officials have verified \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/attacks.html\">14 mountain lion attacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_173037\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 506px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-173037\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg\" alt=\"A male puma roughly a month after he was hit by a vehicle on Highway 17.\" width=\"506\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma-400x231.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male puma shows scarring on his hip, roughly a month after he was hit by a vehicle on Highway 17. \u003ccite>(Santa Cruz Puma Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Killer Curve\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nPumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains face the same threats as the southern population, says Chris Wilmers, associate professor of environmental studies at U.C. Santa Cruz and head of the \u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org\">Santa Cruz Puma Project\u003c/a>. His team has collared and tagged more than 60 pumas roaming the mountain forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are only between 50 and 100 pumas altogether in the Santa Cruz Mountains; accessibility to neighboring ranges such as Hamilton or Gabilon is critical to their survival and to diversifying their species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The land trust has dozens of wildlife cameras installed along Laurel Curve that show high densities of animals attempting to cross the highway. They have also gathered roadkill and collar data that confirms the animals’ activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to state wildlife officials, 14 pumas have been killed on Highway 17 since 2007\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong> Last year, of the 69 collisions reported at or around Laurel Curve, 9 of them were caused by animals. An adult male puma weighing about 150 pounds slamming into a car going at least the 50 miles per hour speed limit will probably kill the cat, and cause bodily harm to the driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164076\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 425px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164076\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg\" alt=\"Wildlife cameras capture a puma in 2014 walking the length of the corridor then turning around at the highway - exactly where the land trust plans to build the wildlife tunnel. \" width=\"425\" height=\"283\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wildlife cameras capture a puma in 2014 walking the length of the corridor then turning around at the highway — exactly where the land trust plans to build the wildlife tunnel. \u003ccite>(Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since 2011, the land trust has raised funds and purchased two of the three properties needed to build a wildlife crossing under the highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last property sits to the west of Laurel Curve — 190 acres of untouched forest north of Scott’s Valley, called “Marywood.” It is owned by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.msjdominicans.org/About/OurStory\">Dominican Nuns of San Jose\u003c/a>, and the land trust is currently planning a fundraising campaign for its purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Wanted: Safe Puma Crossing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many highways along California’s central coast have incorporated wildlife accommodations into existing culverts. But Caltrans’ Siepel says this would be the first project in Santa Cruz County built \u003cem>solely\u003c/em> for the function of connecting wide-ranging animals to wildlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both government agencies and non-profit organizations have supported the land trust’s efforts to purchase the pristine Marywood forest for a wildlife crossing. Medeiros expects the property will be expensive, but says it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The property has the ability to have four to five homes built there,” he says, “which would destroy the wildlife corridor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164175\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 344px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164175\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg\" alt=\"Situated two miles from the summit of Highway 17, a survey of all the available places to build a tunnel showed that Laurel Curve has the most animals trying to cross the highway. \" width=\"344\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Situated two miles from the summit of Highway 17, a survey of all the available places to build a tunnel showed that Laurel Curve has the most animals trying to cross the highway. \u003ccite>(Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two designs are being considered for the passageway. Both designs will have a 10-foot clearance and a 16-foot wide natural soil bottom. One design involves building a very large culvert under the highway. The second option would be to excavate a large passage under a section of Laurel Curve, basically turning it into a bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total project is estimated to cost around $10 million dollars. Caltrans and the land trust are currently exploring funding options, but don’t yet know where the money will come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the land trust must raise the funds to purchase Marywood by June 2016, and secure \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.org/about-us/private-lands-conservation/conservation-easements/\">a conservation easement\u003c/a> to protect it from development. The cost of Marywood is still in negotiation but is scheduled to be announced this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If all goes according to plan, Caltrans estimates construction can start in 2021, and be completed about a year later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, two pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains had litters, giving birth to five kittens. The four male kittens will likely have the toughest time of it; in just a year-and-a-half they have to strike out on their own to find new territory. They won’t get much help crossing Highway 17. But if they can stay alive, their kittens’ kittens may someday discover a tunnel that provides safe passage under the killer curve.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A wildlife passage under Highway 17 is in progress, but still another six years away. Can pumas wait?",
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"description": "A wildlife passage under Highway 17 is in progress, but still another six years away. Can pumas wait?",
"title": "Wildlife Walkway Will Protect Pumas From Their Number One Predator: Humans | KQED",
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"headline": "Wildlife Walkway Will Protect Pumas From Their Number One Predator: Humans",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The winding roads and blind corners of Highway 17 are known to Santa Cruz County residents as both dangerous and beautiful. The lush redwoods lining the heavy traffic route are teeming with local wildlife. Birds, deer, bobcats and foxes forage the rural mountain ranges alongside the corridor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet none are as elusive and majestic as California’s golden mountain lions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These giant cats cloak themselves in the trees, while below them, roughly 55,000 cars commute over Highway 17. With drivers speeding between the San Francisco Bay Area and the coast, the mountain lions (also known as pumas), have no safe way to cross the buzzing highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There currently aren’t any under crossings or culverts more than about two feet in diameter,” says Nancy Siepel, a biologist and mitigation specialist for \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov\">Caltrans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_173042\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 399px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-173042\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg\" alt=\"Puma kittens are fitted with an ear tag for identification and a collar that will track their survival in the early and important months of their lives. \" width=\"399\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten.jpg 1293w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-400x322.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-800x645.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-1180x951.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/wavingpumakitten-960x774.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Puma kittens are fitted with an ear tag for identification, and a collar that will track their survival in the early and important months of their lives. \u003ccite>(Santa Cruz Puma Project )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is a problem for big animals trying to find a route under the roadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Major highways like 17 dissect the mountain ranges pumas need to secure new territory, find food and avoid inbreeding. Severing long-ranging wildlife from their habitat introduces \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/2013/05/01/top-cats-how-pumas-and-other-apex-predators-populations-affect-the-big-biodiversity-picture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-cats-how-pumas-and-other-apex-predators-populations-affect-the-big-biodiversity-picture\">myriad problems\u003c/a>, not just for the animal, but for the entire ecosystem. And, while some cats successfully make it across the highway, many others fall victim to speeding traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One such problem area is positioned two miles from the summit of Highway 17. A survey orchestrated by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.landtrustsantacruz.org\">Land Trust of Santa Cruz County \u003c/a>revealed that the location, known as Laurel Curve, is the best possible place to build a wildlife passage. There are, by far, more animals trying to cross the corridor at this particular site than anywhere else along the highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is probably a deer hit, if not every week, every other week at Laurel Curve,” says Dan Medeiros, project manager at the land trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laurel Curve is also known \u003ca href=\"http://www.mobileranger.com/losgatos/is-highway-17-that-dangerous-or-is-it-just-laurel-curve/\">among locals to be high-risk\u003c/a> for vehicular accidents. The heavy densities of wildlife crossing there adds pressure for both animals and motorists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Top Predator for Pumas: Humans\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThere are \u003ca href=\"https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/lion_faq.html\">4,000 to 6,000 pumas in California\u003c/a>. While they are not an endangered species, they aren’t what you’d call thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164072\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 545px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164072\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of Laurel Curve shows how the highway dissects the Santa Cruz Mountains in two. Without connectivity, long-ranging species have trouble securing territory, mating, or finding food. \" width=\"545\" height=\"364\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/steve-mandel-laurel_curve-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Laurel Curve shows how the highway bisects the Santa Cruz Mountains. Without connectivity, long-ranging species have trouble securing territory, mating or finding food. \u003ccite>(Steve Mandel/Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131490\">13-year study\u003c/a> released last month in the journal\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"http://www.plosone.org/\">PLOS ONE\u003c/a> from the University of California, Davis, found southern California pumas have about a 56 percent chance of surviving through the end of each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For an unhunted population, it’s shockingly low,” says Winston Vickers, who leads the \u003ca href=\"http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/programs/california-conservation/mountain-lions.cfm\">Mountain Lion and Bobcat Project\u003c/a> at U.C. Davis. “We managed to kill a lot of them ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, humans are responsible for the cats’ top two causes of death: accidental vehicle collisions and \u003ca href=\"http://www.mountainlion.org/defining%20mountain%20lion%20depredation%20in%20California.asp\">deliberate kills\u003c/a>, either legal depredation or illegal poaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it has been illegal to hunt large cats for sport in California since the passage of \u003ca href=\"http://www.mountainlion.org/us/ca/Prop117/-ca-proposition117.asp\">Proposition 117\u003c/a> in 1990, landowners can get a “depredation permit” if a cat is considered a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Department of Fish and Wildlife \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Lion\">helps homeowners learn\u003c/a> how to avoid attracting mountain lions to their property. Yet depredation remains a main cause of death for pumas. From \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/depredation.html\">1972 to 2013\u003c/a> state officials issued 6,175 depredation permits resulting in 2,816 puma deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last 19 years, three people have been killed by mountain lions, and state officials have verified \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/attacks.html\">14 mountain lion attacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_173037\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 506px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-173037\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg\" alt=\"A male puma roughly a month after he was hit by a vehicle on Highway 17.\" width=\"506\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/injured-puma-400x231.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male puma shows scarring on his hip, roughly a month after he was hit by a vehicle on Highway 17. \u003ccite>(Santa Cruz Puma Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Killer Curve\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nPumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains face the same threats as the southern population, says Chris Wilmers, associate professor of environmental studies at U.C. Santa Cruz and head of the \u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org\">Santa Cruz Puma Project\u003c/a>. His team has collared and tagged more than 60 pumas roaming the mountain forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are only between 50 and 100 pumas altogether in the Santa Cruz Mountains; accessibility to neighboring ranges such as Hamilton or Gabilon is critical to their survival and to diversifying their species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The land trust has dozens of wildlife cameras installed along Laurel Curve that show high densities of animals attempting to cross the highway. They have also gathered roadkill and collar data that confirms the animals’ activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to state wildlife officials, 14 pumas have been killed on Highway 17 since 2007\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong> Last year, of the 69 collisions reported at or around Laurel Curve, 9 of them were caused by animals. An adult male puma weighing about 150 pounds slamming into a car going at least the 50 miles per hour speed limit will probably kill the cat, and cause bodily harm to the driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164076\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 425px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164076\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg\" alt=\"Wildlife cameras capture a puma in 2014 walking the length of the corridor then turning around at the highway - exactly where the land trust plans to build the wildlife tunnel. \" width=\"425\" height=\"283\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/lions-grid-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wildlife cameras capture a puma in 2014 walking the length of the corridor then turning around at the highway — exactly where the land trust plans to build the wildlife tunnel. \u003ccite>(Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since 2011, the land trust has raised funds and purchased two of the three properties needed to build a wildlife crossing under the highway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last property sits to the west of Laurel Curve — 190 acres of untouched forest north of Scott’s Valley, called “Marywood.” It is owned by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.msjdominicans.org/About/OurStory\">Dominican Nuns of San Jose\u003c/a>, and the land trust is currently planning a fundraising campaign for its purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Wanted: Safe Puma Crossing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many highways along California’s central coast have incorporated wildlife accommodations into existing culverts. But Caltrans’ Siepel says this would be the first project in Santa Cruz County built \u003cem>solely\u003c/em> for the function of connecting wide-ranging animals to wildlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both government agencies and non-profit organizations have supported the land trust’s efforts to purchase the pristine Marywood forest for a wildlife crossing. Medeiros expects the property will be expensive, but says it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The property has the ability to have four to five homes built there,” he says, “which would destroy the wildlife corridor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_164175\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 344px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-164175\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg\" alt=\"Situated two miles from the summit of Highway 17, a survey of all the available places to build a tunnel showed that Laurel Curve has the most animals trying to cross the highway. \" width=\"344\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/hwy17map-400-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Situated two miles from the summit of Highway 17, a survey of all the available places to build a tunnel showed that Laurel Curve has the most animals trying to cross the highway. \u003ccite>(Land Trust of Santa Cruz County)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two designs are being considered for the passageway. Both designs will have a 10-foot clearance and a 16-foot wide natural soil bottom. One design involves building a very large culvert under the highway. The second option would be to excavate a large passage under a section of Laurel Curve, basically turning it into a bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The total project is estimated to cost around $10 million dollars. Caltrans and the land trust are currently exploring funding options, but don’t yet know where the money will come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the land trust must raise the funds to purchase Marywood by June 2016, and secure \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.org/about-us/private-lands-conservation/conservation-easements/\">a conservation easement\u003c/a> to protect it from development. The cost of Marywood is still in negotiation but is scheduled to be announced this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If all goes according to plan, Caltrans estimates construction can start in 2021, and be completed about a year later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, two pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains had litters, giving birth to five kittens. The four male kittens will likely have the toughest time of it; in just a year-and-a-half they have to strike out on their own to find new territory. They won’t get much help crossing Highway 17. But if they can stay alive, their kittens’ kittens may someday discover a tunnel that provides safe passage under the killer curve.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Toxic Algae Is Killing Sea Lions, Shows No Sign of Diminishing",
"headTitle": "Toxic Algae Is Killing Sea Lions, Shows No Sign of Diminishing | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio//2015/08/150817ScienceAlgalBloom.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A toxic algae bloom that began off the West Coast this spring now stretches from California to Alaska. It’s poisoning marine life from shellfish to sardines to sea lions, and scientists say it’s one of the worst they’ve seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve never seen a bloom this big before,” says Anthony Odell, a research analyst with the University of Washington’s harmful algae bloom monitoring program. “It’s also one of the most toxic blooms we’ve seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“It’s pretty scary. Because it’s so big and it’s so toxic and it’s not really giving sea life a chance.”\u003ccite>Anthony Odell,\u003cbr>\nUniversity of Washington\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Odell is one of a rotating team of scientists who are studying the bloom aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a research vessel belonging to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the ship is traveling this summer up the west coast to British Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Odell says he’s seen a lot of toxic blooms, but this one’s different, partly because it consists of several species of harmful algae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s making a toxic plankton soup,” he says. “It’s pretty amazing to see all these things blooming together, because usually they prefer these different conditions so there’s definitely something unusual going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toxic algae blooms are not uncommon in the Pacific Ocean—they’re called red tides and they come in summer’s warm waters and dissipate in the fall. But the current algae bloom isn’t likely to dissipate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae are thriving in unusually warm waters—in fact, abnormally warm water that scientists are calling “the Blob.” The algae bloom itself is an estimated 40 miles wide and, in some places, \u003cem>could \u003c/em>reach a depth of more than two football fields, according to sonar readings. Scientists have been able to verify the presence of the algae bloom down to 45 feet by testing the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_191610\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 610px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-191610\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg\" alt=\"Average chlorophyll concentrations (in milligrams per cubic meter of water) in July 2015. The darkest green areas have the highest surface chlorophyll concentrations and the largest amounts of phytoplankton—including both toxic and harmless species. \" width=\"610\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg 610w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map-400x310.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Average chlorophyll concentrations (in milligrams per cubic meter of water) in July 2015. The darkest green areas have the highest surface chlorophyll concentrations and the largest amounts of phytoplankton—including both toxic and harmless species. \u003ccite>(NOAA Climate.gov map based on Suomi NPP satellite data provided by NOAA View.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“From a scientific standpoint it’s fascinating,” Odell says. “From a sea life and human health view point, it’s pretty scary. Because it’s so big and it’s so toxic and it’s not really giving sea life a chance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the toxins the algae are producing is domoic acid. It’s a neurotoxin that doesn’t have negative effects on shellfish and fish. But it can kill other marine life because the micro algae—or phytoplankton—are the base of the food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything in the ocean eats phytoplankton or eats something that eats phytoplankton,” Odell says. “So when you have one of these species that starts producing toxin, it works its way up through the food chain really fast. It gets into shellfish, it gets into crabs, it gets into small fin fish like sardines and anchovies, which are then fed on by salmon and pelicans and seals and sea lions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA scientists say domoic acid from the algae bloom is responsible for the high number of seizures and deaths in California sea lions this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Domoic acid can also poison humans, causing nausea and dizziness, or in worse cases, permanent short-term memory loss, and even death. That’s why fishery managers have shut down some crab fisheries in Oregon and Washington, and severely restricted fishery markets from California’s central coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re now unable to market anchovy,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. “And there’s a small, kind of an ethnic market for anchovy for human consumption. And also, anchovy used for bait and for animal food. So we’re now prohibited from selling to the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said after the anchovy market collapsed, fishermen moved on to squid, which feed on a different plankton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_190909\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-190909\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"Research analyst Anthony Odell is studying the massive toxic algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean this summer, aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research ship. \" width=\"400\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-400x242.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-1440x871.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-1180x714.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-960x581.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work.jpg 1453w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Research analyst Anthony Odell is studying the massive toxic algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean this summer, aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research ship. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far, there’s little sign the algae bloom is going to slow down and give sea life a break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s still quite a bit of toxin production going on,” Odell says, “and a rather sizable bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the unusually warm ocean water is one suspect, scientists still don’t know for sure the cause of the algae bloom. Odell says they’re researching whether climate change is contributing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been an international consensus that climate change would affect harmful algal blooms in the fact that we would likely see more of them,” Odell says. “But there’s just not enough data to tie the two together yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are scheduled to arrive in British Columbia in September. Then, it could take a few months to compile data before they can say more about what’s causing the toxic algae bloom, and what it means for the changing ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A toxic algae bloom that began off the West Coast this spring now stretches from California to Alaska. It’s poisoning marine life from shellfish to sardines to sea lions, and scientists say it’s one of the worst they’ve seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve never seen a bloom this big before,” says Anthony Odell, a research analyst with the University of Washington’s harmful algae bloom monitoring program. “It’s also one of the most toxic blooms we’ve seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">“It’s pretty scary. Because it’s so big and it’s so toxic and it’s not really giving sea life a chance.”\u003ccite>Anthony Odell,\u003cbr>\nUniversity of Washington\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Odell is one of a rotating team of scientists who are studying the bloom aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a research vessel belonging to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the ship is traveling this summer up the west coast to British Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Odell says he’s seen a lot of toxic blooms, but this one’s different, partly because it consists of several species of harmful algae.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s making a toxic plankton soup,” he says. “It’s pretty amazing to see all these things blooming together, because usually they prefer these different conditions so there’s definitely something unusual going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toxic algae blooms are not uncommon in the Pacific Ocean—they’re called red tides and they come in summer’s warm waters and dissipate in the fall. But the current algae bloom isn’t likely to dissipate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae are thriving in unusually warm waters—in fact, abnormally warm water that scientists are calling “the Blob.” The algae bloom itself is an estimated 40 miles wide and, in some places, \u003cem>could \u003c/em>reach a depth of more than two football fields, according to sonar readings. Scientists have been able to verify the presence of the algae bloom down to 45 feet by testing the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_191610\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 610px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-191610\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg\" alt=\"Average chlorophyll concentrations (in milligrams per cubic meter of water) in July 2015. The darkest green areas have the highest surface chlorophyll concentrations and the largest amounts of phytoplankton—including both toxic and harmless species. \" width=\"610\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map.jpg 610w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/NOAA-map-400x310.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Average chlorophyll concentrations (in milligrams per cubic meter of water) in July 2015. The darkest green areas have the highest surface chlorophyll concentrations and the largest amounts of phytoplankton—including both toxic and harmless species. \u003ccite>(NOAA Climate.gov map based on Suomi NPP satellite data provided by NOAA View.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“From a scientific standpoint it’s fascinating,” Odell says. “From a sea life and human health view point, it’s pretty scary. Because it’s so big and it’s so toxic and it’s not really giving sea life a chance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the toxins the algae are producing is domoic acid. It’s a neurotoxin that doesn’t have negative effects on shellfish and fish. But it can kill other marine life because the micro algae—or phytoplankton—are the base of the food web.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything in the ocean eats phytoplankton or eats something that eats phytoplankton,” Odell says. “So when you have one of these species that starts producing toxin, it works its way up through the food chain really fast. It gets into shellfish, it gets into crabs, it gets into small fin fish like sardines and anchovies, which are then fed on by salmon and pelicans and seals and sea lions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA scientists say domoic acid from the algae bloom is responsible for the high number of seizures and deaths in California sea lions this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Domoic acid can also poison humans, causing nausea and dizziness, or in worse cases, permanent short-term memory loss, and even death. That’s why fishery managers have shut down some crab fisheries in Oregon and Washington, and severely restricted fishery markets from California’s central coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re now unable to market anchovy,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. “And there’s a small, kind of an ethnic market for anchovy for human consumption. And also, anchovy used for bait and for animal food. So we’re now prohibited from selling to the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said after the anchovy market collapsed, fishermen moved on to squid, which feed on a different plankton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_190909\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-190909\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-800x484.jpg\" alt=\"Research analyst Anthony Odell is studying the massive toxic algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean this summer, aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research ship. \" width=\"400\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-800x484.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-400x242.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-1440x871.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-1180x714.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work-960x581.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Odell-at-work.jpg 1453w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Research analyst Anthony Odell is studying the massive toxic algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean this summer, aboard the Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research ship. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far, there’s little sign the algae bloom is going to slow down and give sea life a break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s still quite a bit of toxin production going on,” Odell says, “and a rather sizable bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the unusually warm ocean water is one suspect, scientists still don’t know for sure the cause of the algae bloom. Odell says they’re researching whether climate change is contributing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been an international consensus that climate change would affect harmful algal blooms in the fact that we would likely see more of them,” Odell says. “But there’s just not enough data to tie the two together yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are scheduled to arrive in British Columbia in September. Then, it could take a few months to compile data before they can say more about what’s causing the toxic algae bloom, and what it means for the changing ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How the Songbird Learns to Sing",
"headTitle": "How the Songbird Learns to Sing | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Like the best opera divas, songbirds must train their voices from an early age. But instead of studying for years at a conservatory, the birds’ brains are hardwired to experiment with complicated musical passages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, scientists from UCSF have honed in on the precise brain pathways that songbirds use to learn and tune their highly specialized vocalizations. Their \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4078.html\">results\u003c/a>, published recently in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/neuro/index.html\">Nature Neuroscience\u003c/a>, may have implications for understanding how our own brains learn new vocal tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baby zebra finches don’t make a peep for their first 30 days. Instead, they listen to adults around them and develop a mental model of what a song should sound like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That template tells them what they’re practicing to get to,” says Hamish Mehaffey, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSF and lead author of the study. “It’s like how the syllables we’re exposed to when we’re young shape our ability to learn new languages later.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young finches then spend the next few months experimenting with trial-and-error to perfect their own songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to a finch song:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n[audio mp3=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/Song.mp3\"][/audio]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a new song is better [than the previous song], then they keep whatever neural activity they used to make that song,” explains Mehaffey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists already knew that certain parts of the brain were involved in learning new songs, but until now, nobody knew exactly how these pathways were wired in the brain or how the new, experimental songs were generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Musical Brain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers needed a way to measure activity of different brain structures and how these structures interact to produce song. So, they started with brain slices from zebra finches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By isolating certain regions of the brain, they could stimulate the pathways involved in song production and then record the activity of cells that are involved in actually making the song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists could also identify the neurotransmitters and chemicals that activated or blocked each pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the slices, the researchers discovered that the birds’ creativity-generator involves a structure analogous to the human basal ganglia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This dense cluster of cells at the base of the brain stem is basically the same in all kinds of vertebrate animals, from lampreys to humans. It’s involved in almost everything we do, from thoughts and emotions to motor activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult to study something like that because it could literally be involved in anything,” says Mehaffey. “But using finch song, we’ve been able to learn a lot about how the basal ganglia works normally and how it helps us learn new things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_182998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1685px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-182998\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg\" alt=\"Zebra Finches are native to Australia but have become excellent lab models for scientists to study the neuroscience of song learning.\" width=\"1685\" height=\"1266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg 1685w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-400x301.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-1440x1082.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-1180x887.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-960x721.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1685px) 100vw, 1685px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zebra Finches are native to Australia but have become excellent lab models for scientists to study the neuroscience of song learning. \u003ccite>(Phil McIver/flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>From Bird Brain to Human Learning\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists were also able to show that the same chemicals that blocked the creativity generators in the brain slices also prevented live birds from modifying their songs as adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That gives us confidence that what they found in the slice is actually what’s at work in the intact bird,” says Franz Goller, a biology professor at the University of Utah, who also studies the neurobiology of finch song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goller says that the brain pathways involved in finch learning are probably similar in other animals, so the findings might ultimately help us understand how we and other animals learn new vocal tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s quite a bit of evidence that, at least in terms of core circuitry, learned vocal behavior in humans also has these multi-path systems,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could easily imagine that this is a highly dedicated pathway for vocal behavior, and it might be used in all kinds of motor skill learning.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "UCSF researchers have uncovered the brain pathways that songbirds use to learn and modify their songs",
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"description": "UCSF researchers have uncovered the brain pathways that songbirds use to learn and modify their songs",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Like the best opera divas, songbirds must train their voices from an early age. But instead of studying for years at a conservatory, the birds’ brains are hardwired to experiment with complicated musical passages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, scientists from UCSF have honed in on the precise brain pathways that songbirds use to learn and tune their highly specialized vocalizations. Their \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4078.html\">results\u003c/a>, published recently in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/neuro/index.html\">Nature Neuroscience\u003c/a>, may have implications for understanding how our own brains learn new vocal tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baby zebra finches don’t make a peep for their first 30 days. Instead, they listen to adults around them and develop a mental model of what a song should sound like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That template tells them what they’re practicing to get to,” says Hamish Mehaffey, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSF and lead author of the study. “It’s like how the syllables we’re exposed to when we’re young shape our ability to learn new languages later.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young finches then spend the next few months experimenting with trial-and-error to perfect their own songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to a finch song:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a new song is better [than the previous song], then they keep whatever neural activity they used to make that song,” explains Mehaffey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists already knew that certain parts of the brain were involved in learning new songs, but until now, nobody knew exactly how these pathways were wired in the brain or how the new, experimental songs were generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Musical Brain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers needed a way to measure activity of different brain structures and how these structures interact to produce song. So, they started with brain slices from zebra finches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By isolating certain regions of the brain, they could stimulate the pathways involved in song production and then record the activity of cells that are involved in actually making the song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists could also identify the neurotransmitters and chemicals that activated or blocked each pathway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the slices, the researchers discovered that the birds’ creativity-generator involves a structure analogous to the human basal ganglia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This dense cluster of cells at the base of the brain stem is basically the same in all kinds of vertebrate animals, from lampreys to humans. It’s involved in almost everything we do, from thoughts and emotions to motor activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s difficult to study something like that because it could literally be involved in anything,” says Mehaffey. “But using finch song, we’ve been able to learn a lot about how the basal ganglia works normally and how it helps us learn new things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_182998\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1685px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-182998\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg\" alt=\"Zebra Finches are native to Australia but have become excellent lab models for scientists to study the neuroscience of song learning.\" width=\"1685\" height=\"1266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o.jpg 1685w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-400x301.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-1440x1082.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-1180x887.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2015/08/19497700484_9e9e1c3e67_o-960x721.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1685px) 100vw, 1685px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zebra Finches are native to Australia but have become excellent lab models for scientists to study the neuroscience of song learning. \u003ccite>(Phil McIver/flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>From Bird Brain to Human Learning\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists were also able to show that the same chemicals that blocked the creativity generators in the brain slices also prevented live birds from modifying their songs as adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That gives us confidence that what they found in the slice is actually what’s at work in the intact bird,” says Franz Goller, a biology professor at the University of Utah, who also studies the neurobiology of finch song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goller says that the brain pathways involved in finch learning are probably similar in other animals, so the findings might ultimately help us understand how we and other animals learn new vocal tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s quite a bit of evidence that, at least in terms of core circuitry, learned vocal behavior in humans also has these multi-path systems,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could easily imagine that this is a highly dedicated pathway for vocal behavior, and it might be used in all kinds of motor skill learning.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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. ",
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"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",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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},
"mindshift": {
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"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>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"on-the-media": {
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"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"radiolab": {
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