Archive for the 'General' Category

Science in Action: It’s Wine Time

March 23rd, 2008 by Kishore

Kunde Wine Hike

Just announced!

Saturday June 21st, 8-4PM - Kunde Sustainable Winemaking Hike

Science in Action is returning, this time with a tour for the adults. We will be going on a hike through the sustainable vineyards at Kunde. It’ll be a 4 hour adventure through the volcanic hills above Kunde’s property…all the while learning about sustainable wine growing practices. The hike ends at the tasting room where we will all partake in Kunde’s wine before setting off back to SF.

The cost is $15/person (a portion of the proceeds goes to the Sonoma Ecology Center). The fee covers a wine tasting and the docent’s time.

Should be an incredible adventure. If you’re interested, send me an email.

Category: General | No Comments »

Pesticides - The Recap

March 22nd, 2008 by Kishore

If you missed the pesticide science cafe, boy did you miss a good one. Here’s a 2 minutes recap:

The Presentation (Flash is required)
To move to the next slide, click on the right side of the current slide. Click on the left side to go back.

Videos from the Pesticide event are up on the website. As always, you can watch snippets of the video on YouTube as well.

Category: General, Pesticides | 1 Comment »

Bay Area Science Forum Part 1 - Water Quantity and Quality

March 17th, 2008 by Kishore

Water in CA

Part one of the Bay Area Science Forum, a collaboration between the Cal Academy, UC Berkeley, & Stanford, launched last Thursday.

In the part one, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute & Ellen Hanak of the Public Policy Institute of California spoke on water quantity and quality here in California, focusing on where our water comes from, the rough breakdown of us, and the economics of efficiency/conservation. The podcast should be available online shortly.

I was especially impressed with Peter Gleick (I had been chasing him as a speaker for DtaS). He had an astounding breadth of knowledge of the water industry, which is a gigantic field.

I’m definitely going to part 2 on the Delta, April 3rd @ UC Berkeley. I encourage other to attend as well.

He mentioned a couple reports by Pacific Institute on Water issues…links to the articles can be found below.

I’ll summarize my thoughts on one particle article: The SFPUC’s request to divert an additional 25 MGal/day from the Tuolumne.
Currently, the SFPUC draws 85% of its water from the Tuloumne. 80% of the projected increase will be sold to other agencies (Alameda, Hayward, Milpitas, Santa Clara). The SFPUC project most of that increase comes from commercial and industrial users. The Pac Institutes refutes that growth projection for commercial users, expecting an economic growth of 17 percent.

The Pac Institute also indicates that the PUC underestimates water recycling and reuse (PUC projects 3% of increased demand met with recycling/reuse programs).

More Info
Tuolumne Analysis Paper
Desalination Report
The Human Right to Water
Report on Water Resources

Category: General, Water | No Comments »

Take the shirt right off my back

February 29th, 2008 by Kishore

Science Cafe Tshirts

I’m excited to announce the launch of the Down to a Science T-Shirt Shop. Shirts range from $18-$20 and I’ve even included a few special items. Proceeds from the shirts will go right back into DtaS advertising (unfortunately NOT the all important “Kish Beer Fund”).

Look for more special items all the time, including science branded reusable shopping bags, messenger bags, and hoodies.

I will continue to add products all the time. If you have suggestions/questions about the shirts, drop me a line.

Category: General | No Comments »

The Science of Solar Power - the Recap

February 18th, 2008 by Kishore

The Presentation (Flash is required)
To move to the next slide, click on the right side of the current slide. Click on the left side to go back.

Videos from the Solar Power event are up on the website. As always, you can watch snippets of the video on YouTube as well.

In addition, check out Sunpower’s Solar savings calculator to see how much you could potentially save with a solar installation. Only takes about 5 minutes.

Category: General, Solar | No Comments »