From Lawrence Berkeley National Labs to Silicon Valley, researchers are manipulating particles at the atomic level, ushering in potential cures for cancer, clothes that don't stain, and solar panels as thick as a sheet of paper.
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An explosion in green building is underway, with cleverly engineered libraries, office buildings, even public housing projects popping up across the Bay Area, and championed as much by landlords trying to cut energy and water costs as by environmental groups.
Tired of toxic embalming fluid, rainforest wood caskets and other ecologically unfriendly practices, a new generation of undertakers is attempting to green up the funeral industry with burials that go easy on the land.
Check, Please! Bay Area's third season episode 1 (#301) profiles and reviews these three Bay Area restaurants: Alfred's Steakhouse, Bacco, El Tonayense Taco Truck
State transportation planners have nearly finished designing a high-tech bullet train system that would take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two hours at 220 mph -- faster than a Ferrari. But will California voters pay for it?
A mysterious sea creature up to 7 feet long, with 10 arms, a sharp beak and a ravenous appetite, has invaded ocean waters off Northern California. Packs of fierce Humboldt Squid attack nearly everything they see, from fish to scuba divers. Marine biologists are working to discover why they've headed north from their traditional homes off South America.
Are we in danger of running out of water? California's population is growing by 600,000 people a year, but much of the state receives as much annual rainfall as Morocco. With fish populations crashing, global warming, and the demands of the country's largest agricultural industry, the pressures on our water supply are increasing.
Check, Please! Bay Area's third season episode 3 (#303) profiles and reviews these three Bay Area restaurants: Capannina, Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, Playground
With California's ambitious renewable energy goal, the state needs wind power. But California's largest wind farm cluster at Altamont Pass unintentionally kills golden eagles, burrowing owls and other threatened birds. Now, wind companies, scientists and environmentalists are working to bird-proof these massive wind farms.
Check, Please! Bay Area's third season episode 4 (#304) profiles and reviews these three Bay Area restaurants: Cyrus, The Yellow Submarine, The Slanted Door
At UC Berkeley, a team of undergrads is experimenting with velocity, force, and aerodynamics. But you won't find them in a lab -- they work on a baseball diamond, throwing fast balls, sliders and curve balls. QUEST discovers how the principles of physics can make the difference between a strike and a home run.
It looks like frozen smoke. And it's the lightest solid material on the planet. Aerogel insulates space suits, makes tennis rackets stronger and could be used one day to clean up oil spills. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Alex Gash shows us some remarkable properties of this truly unique substance.
In dry years, fires in California cost billions of dollars and often result in lost lives. QUEST goes inside the fire season, looking at how the history of forest management could be feeding today's flames.
Check, Please! Bay Area's second season episode 24 (#224) profiles and reviews these three Bay Area restaurants: Holy Land, Sodini's Bertolucci's Ristorante, B44 Catalan Bistro
![California\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/jviyBx5MMqQ/2.jpg "California\")
![State of Thirst: California\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/panaJZaffYk/2.jpg "State of Thirst: California\")
