KQED QUEST never lets me down, here’s a good story on neuropyschology-research at Stanford using MRIs…the same technique used by our upcoming speaker, Dr. Phillipe Goldin. In this story, they are studying how children with various levels of reading skills have different neural patterns.
With the fMRI, the subject has to stay still for upwards of 45 minutes in the machine. The fMRI does only measure blood flow rates, which by all accounts is only one useful measure of brain activity. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating methodology with great potential …

On Tuesday, the California water wars (the fight between water rich NoCal and people/silicone rich SoCal) made national headlines by getting press on the Jim Lehrer News Hour. Here is the 10 minute video:

Takeaway:
Water is the new oil. This is probably the biggest issue facing California over the next 10 years. The biggest issue at hand is population growth, we just don’t have the water to keep up with growth and maintain the huge agricultural industry. By most accounts, conservation won’t make a big enough dent and no one is …

This past weekend, 6 DtaS attendees strapped on their boots and hit the trail. Considering the recent 5.6 quake last week, what better time to learn about faults here in the Bay Area?
Six of us hit the dusty trail in Los Trancos Open Space Preserve. It was a docent led hike and our leader was quite knowledgeable. Over the course of the 2-3 mike hike (click the link to see a virtual tour of the hike), we were learned about basic earthquake science, with a eye on the 1906 quake. …