KALW News - Health, Science and Environment

San Francisco moves closer to a Golden Gate Bridge barrier

KALW News — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:03:41 +0000

The Golden Gate Bridge’s suicide barrier came one step closer to becoming a reality this Wednesday.

Health, Science and Environment

UC Berkeley asks students to submit their spit

KALW News — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:23:38 +0000

With local universities and colleges cutting their admissions, many of those who just finished high school are wondering about their next step. Some of those fortunate enough to have been accepted at UC Berkeley this fall are opening up their mailed admissions envelopes to fill out their registration forms.

Health, Science and Environment

The Breathmobile rolls relief into Wilson Elementary School

KALW News — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:27:36 +0000

Yesterday, we took a car ride with environmentalist Margaret Gordon on a toxic tour of West Oakland to see how community members in the East Bay are dealing with industrial pollution. Addressing those issues is critical in West Oakland and all throughout Alameda County, because diesel emissions cause major problems for the kids who live there.

KAREN HARDY: Asthma, for starters, is a very common problem, and especially common in urban settings.

Health, Science and Environment

Shaky river delta infrastructure threatens water supplies

KALW News — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:45:42 +0000

North of the Bay Area lie two significant bodies of water: the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. And where they converge, there’s a unique and expansive inland river delta. The delta is crucial for California--it supplies drinking water for about 25 million people, and irrigates one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country. But it’s not doing so well.

Every year the organization “American Rivers” ranks the country’s most endangered rivers. This year, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ranked 2nd. It’s the only California river making the list.

Health, Science and Environment

West Oakland: where houses and industry meet

KALW News — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:27:56 +0000

West Oakland has a long industrial history. In the 1940s the neighborhood was made a center for shipbuilding with the construction of the Oakland Army Base and Naval Supply Center. Since then, recycling companies, a postal service distribution center and other heavy industries have joined the growing port. At the same time Oakland has been trying to encourage residents to move into the area with new housing projects. The combination has been deadly.

Health, Science and Environment

Teaching disaster safety in Chinatown

KALW News — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:33:46 +0000

By some estimates, more than half the residents of San Francisco's Chinatown live in Single Room Occupancy buildings, or SROs. Whole families live in one-room apartments, sleeping in bunk beds. The rooms don’t have bathrooms or kitchens. Instead, tenants use communal facilities, or cook in their rooms on hot plates. The cramped conditions present fire and earthquake hazards. But educating the residents about disaster safety is complicated, because many are recent immigrants with limited English skills.

Health, Science and Environment

Hoarders: how to treat a condition no one wants to talk about

KALW News — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:15:39 +0000

This story is about something we can probably all relate to: not wanting to throw something away. Maybe it’s a baseball card collection, or a garage full of unread National Geographic magazines. But when the need to acquire and keep things crosses a certain threshold, it’s known as hoarding. It's a disorder that’s as difficult to diagnose as it is to treat. It's not as rare as you might imagine. Hoarders make up anywhere from 1.5 to 5% of the U.S. population. Cases range from cluttered living spaces to houses buckling under the weight of what appears to be trash.

Health, Science and Environment

SF homebuyers pay a lot more for walkable neighborhoods

KALW News — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:06:31 +0000

Property descriptions have always been their own genre of creative writing, but in recent years something new has appeared amid this flowering of adjectives and abbreviations. Now, along with Realtorese like “half bath,” “huge upside,” and “junior five,” you’re likely to find some reference to a property’s “walk score,” a number that tells buyers how easy it is to get by without getting in the car. KALW's Nathanael Johnson has found that some buyers look for a good walk score before looking for anything else.

Health, Science and Environment

California's state rock raked over the coals

KALW News — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:48:10 +0000

California’s official state symbols tell a story of a place of natural wealth and pioneering spirit, not to mention exploitable natural resources.

For example, there’s the redwood tree—a reminder of rugged coastlines and peaceful mountains. Then there’s the state mineral, gold, which tells of the hardy miners of the past. But what’s the meaning behind serpentine, the state rock? In 1965, leaders chose this mineral-packed stone as a symbol for the state’s mining prowess.

Health, Science and Environment

Hooked on seafood

KALW News — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:56:57 +0000

Images of suffocating, oil-drenched fish continue to pour in from the Gulf Coast, and while it’s easy to be moved to sympathy by the images, there’s a little-spoken irony behind the sentiment: we fully intended to kill these fish anyway.

Health, Science and Environment