Author Archives: Amy Standen

About Amy Standen

As a radio reporter for KQED Science, Amy's grappled with archaic maps, brain fitness exercises, albino redwood trees, and jet-lagged lab rats, as well as modeled a wide variety of hard hats and construction vests. Long before all that, she learned to cut actual tape interning for a Latin American news show at WBAI in New York, then took her first radio job as a producer for Pulse of the Planet. Since then, Amy has been an editor at Salon.com, the editor of Terrain Magazine, and has produced stories for NPR, Living on Earth, Philosophy Talk, and Pop Up Magazine. She's also a founding editor of Meatpaper Magazine.

Debate Takes on Safety of Flame Retardants

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[UPDATE: EPA announces plans to study whether flame retardant chemicals are safe] Does injecting sofas and armchairs with flame retardants hurt us or protect us? That debate took place in Sacramento Tuesday as part of a hearing on an arcane … Continue reading »


NASA Robot Approaches Mars

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If all goes well, at approximately 10:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Sunday, NASA’s Curiosity Lander will touch down on the surface of Mars, ending a 352-million-mile journey that began last November. That’s a big “if.” NASA engineers have half-jokingly referred to … Continue reading »


Victim of Bacterial Meningitis at VA Lab Named; Lab Worked With Several Strains

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The 25-year old lab worker who died on Saturday from a bacterial infection has been identified as Treasure Island resident Richard Din. Din died of a form of bacterial meningitis that he likely caught while working in a San Francisco … Continue reading »


Lab Accident at San Francisco VA Leaves Man Dead of Bacterial Meningitis

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A young lab assistant at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco died on Saturday after becoming infected with a deadly strain of bacterial meningitis that he had been working with in the lab. Officials at the VA wouldn't release … Continue reading »


How Can We Listen to Just One Voice at a Crowded Party?

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It's called the cocktail party effect, and it's a unique ability that's been a scientific mystery: You're in a noisy room filled with voices. Yet you're able to shut out almost all of them, focusing only on the one person … Continue reading »


Arysta, About to Lose Methyl Iodide Lawsuit, Wants Case Dismissed

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When Arysta LifeScience abruptly pulled methyl iodide off the U.S. market this week, it cited the “economic viability” of the controversial fumigant, which is used to sterilize soil before crops are planted. But at a hearing in an Oakland courtroom Wednesday, … Continue reading »


SF Supes Pass Enhanced Plastic Bag Ban

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Update 3:50 p.m. The board has passed the legislation, adding an exception for oversize merchandise that doesn't fit in a paper bag. Earlier post San Francisco shoppers may see plastic bags just about disappear from city stores, depending on a … Continue reading »


Judge Puts Onus on State to Prove It Considered Methyl Iodide Alternatives

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The lawsuit over California's approval of a controversial pesticide may hinge on a seemingly straightforward question: Did regulators ever ask themselves what would happen if they didn't approve methyl iodide? In an Oakland courtroom today, Alameda Superior Court Judge Frank … Continue reading »


High-Speed Rail Officials: It's Now or Never

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Officials with the state's High Speed Rail Authority say it's now or never for the plan to build a bullet train from San Francisco to LA. That's in response to an internal watchdog group's report, issued Tuesday, which recommended holding … Continue reading »


NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Two Earth-Sized Planets; Video: Watch Narrated Overview

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NASA scientists, including astronomers from NASA Ames and UC Berkeley, today announced they've discovered two rocky planets, each about the same size as Earth, orbiting a star almost 1,000 light years away. The Kepler project uses a space-based telescope to … Continue reading »