science

Exploratorium opens doors at Pier 15

Ninna Gaensler-Debs — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:43:31 +0000

Yesterday was opening day for the new and improved Exploratorium over in San Francisco's Embarcadero. Right around Pier 15, the new space boasts 330,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits, 150 of them brand new. It also hopes to become the largest net-zero energy museum in the United States — if not the world.

Rational comedy for an irrational planet

Roman Mars — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:24:18 +0000

The Bay Area is home to some of the smartest people on the planet. So, it makes sense that our brainy nature would demand the occasional brainy entertainment. That's where Brian Malow, the science comedian, comes in. Malow spoke with Roman Mars, host of the radio design show 99 Percent Invisible. His latest CD is called Rational Comedy for an Irrational Planet.

Listen to the full story above.

Commentary: A state on fire

Max McClure — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:08:19 +0000

Here in California, the wildfire is an emblem of catastrophic carelessness. A single cigarette butt, dropped in moronic innocence, can easily set off something like the fires we've seen this summer in Lake, Shasta, Tehama, San Diego, Mendocino and Riverside Counties; Joshua Tree, Plumas National Forest, Yosemite, etc.

Restoring John Muir's Hetch Hetchy: Is It Worth It?

City Visions — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 17:00:37 +0000

It’s been nearly 100 years since Congress authorized the City of San Francisco to build the O’Shaughnessy Dam in Yosemite National Park.

Voices from the past recount historic quake

Steven Short — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 01:04:15 +0000

Last week, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park launched a major new exhibit called “Earthquake.” It has a walk-through model of the earth, an interactive space to teach earthquake preparedness, and even live ostriches. (Apparently, there’s a connection.) There’s also an earthquake simulator resembling an old Victorian home, bringing us right back to the big one in 1906.