Past Articles by Amy Standen
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A Short Fuse For Fusion As Ignition Misses Deadline   The $5 billion National Ignition Facility has been called a modern-day moonshot, a project of "revolutionary science." But the massive experiment that aims to generate nuclear fusion has failed to do so by a key deadline. |
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A Short Fuse For Fusion As Ignition Misses Deadline The $5 billion National Ignition Facility has been called a modern-day moonshot, a project of "revolutionary science." But the massive experiment that aims to generate nuclear fusion has failed to do so by a key deadline. |
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Through Meditation, Veterans Relearn Compassion The epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder has pushed the VA to explore new and sometimes unorthodox treatments. In one VA facility in Menlo Park, Calif., veterans of current and past wars gather to meditate and break down the shields that combat forced them to hold. |
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California Rejects Genetically Modified Food Labels, Supporters Vow To Fight On A closely-watched vote on food labeling ends at California's ballot box, but supporters of genetically-modified food labeling say a new food movement is just getting warmed up. Labeling supporters were far outspent by opponents like major food companies Monsanto and Kraft. |
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California Rejects Genetically Modified Food Labels; Supporters Vow To Fight On A closely watched vote on food labeling ends at California's ballot box, but supporters of genetically modified food labeling say a new food movement is just getting warmed up. Labeling supporters were far outspent by opponents like major food companies Monsanto and Kraft. |
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California Rejects Labeling Of Genetically Modified Food; Supporters Vow To Fight On A closely watched vote on food labeling ends at California's ballot box, but supporters of genetically modified food labeling say a new food movement is just getting warmed up. Labeling supporters were far outspent by opponents like major food companies Monsanto and Kraft. |
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Nail Biting: Mental Disorder Or Just A Bad Habit?  The next version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders proposes to lump nail biters and other pathological groomers with people who have obsessive compulsive disorder. But some psychiatrists see nail biting as a much more benign habit. |
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At Silicon Valley Boot Camp, A Startup's Success Only 1 percent of high-tech startups in Silicon Valley are run by African-Americans. The number of women is less than 10 percent. The NewME minority accelerator is trying to change the face of the industry by encouraging, mentoring and training women and minorities to test their ideas in the high-tech and venture capital world. |
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At Silicon Valley Boot Camp, Perfecting The Pitch Second in a three-part series. Only 1 percent of high-tech startups in Silicon Valley are run by African-Americans. The number of women is less than 10 percent. The NewME minority accelerator is trying to change the face of the industry by encouraging, mentoring and training women and minorities to test their ideas in the high-tech and venture capital world. |
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Silicon Valley Boot Camp Aims To Boost Diversity By a recent estimate, 1 percent of America's technology entrepreneurs are black. And only 8 percent of tech companies are founded by women. A new boot camp aims to give these entrepreneurs pointers so they can get their startups off the ground. |
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Kids Get Hands-On With Science In A 'Dream Garage' As California's public schools have cut back on science programs, Dan Sudran has created the Community Science Workshop Network to help fill the gap. The free workshops let low-income kids play with microscopes and build hot air balloons. |
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75 Years Later: Building The Golden Gate Bridge For years, the construction of the bridge had a perfect safety record. But that changed when a catwalk collapsed into the waters just weeks before the bridge was to open. |
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75 Years Ago, A Deadly Day On The Golden Gate Constructing the iconic bridge was a coveted job in Depression-era San Francisco. The work was dangerous, but the men were careful and years passed without a single fatality. Just months before it opened, however, the bridge finally claimed its due - all in a few horrifying seconds. |
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Fight Over Flame Retardants In Furniture Heats Up Nearly every sofa and armchair sold in the U.S. is treated with flame-retardant chemicals thanks to an obscure California law. Some experts say the chemicals do little to prevent fires; others worry that they might cause health problems. The industry has opposed attempts to change the law. |
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Who's A Park For? Dog Owners Fight Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area is expanding, but the relationship between the National Park Service and locals is off to a rocky start. New rules say people can't walk dogs off-leash anymore, and the community is furious. |
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Wanted: Specially Designed Tools For Pediatric Surgery Pediatric surgeons often have to improvise the tools of their trade, because surgical instruments are not often designed specifically for children. Some surgeons are teaming up with engineers to try to change this. |
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Is Adding Fiber To Food Really Good For Your Health? Fiber-fortified products are all over the supermarket. But are these foods actually making you healthier? This question turns out to be one of those places where scientists know a lot less than you may think they do. |
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Ending Nightmares Caused By PTSD Some people suffering from PTSD have recurring nightmares of a single, traumatic event. Researchers are focusing on a specific event during sleep that may be causing the disturbing dream cycle. |
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Calif. High Speed Rail Isn't Quick To Take Off The dream of high speed rail in California is running into tough realities. Cost estimates have more than doubled - to nearly $100 billion - since the project was approved by voters in 2008. The date of completion has been pushed back to 2030. |
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Veterans To Create World's Largest Medical Database The Department of Veterans Affairs is way ahead of the curve when it comes to electronic medical records, which it's been collecting for 25 years. The Million Veteran Project launched this year is an effort to pair the records with blood samples - which contain DNA - from 1 million veterans. |
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NTSB Blames PG&E For Deadly Gas Explosion One of the nation's largest gas companies Pacific Gas & Electric is to blame for an explosion that killed eight people and burned down a neighborhood in California's Bay Area last year. That's the unanimous finding of the National Transportation Safety Board. The panel says substandard welds and other safety problems date back to the mid-1950s and that regulation was lax. |
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Blind Teens Tap Into Senses At Chemistry Camp Enchanted Hills, a camp in Northern California, offers blind students an opportunity to study science through smell and touch. The leader of the camp says chemistry is something you do with your brain, not your eyes. "Nobody can see atoms," he says. |
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'Evil Scientist' Wants To Teach People To Do Good  Forty years ago, the Stanford Prison Experiment revealed that people tend to conform - even when that means otherwise good people doing terrible things. Now Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist who created that study, has a new project: proving that regular people can be taught to be heroes. |
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If E.T. Phones, Will We Hear? SETI Loses Key Funding Astronomers at the SETI Institute say California's budget crisis has forced the shutdown of the Allen Telescope Array, a powerful tool in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. |
