Science on the SPOT HD Video Podcast

The Salt Creek tiger beetle is one of the most endangered species in the United States, with only 200 to 500 beetles left. They're found only in a small saline wetland area just north of Lincoln, Nebraska. QUEST Nebraska reports.

Katie Colbert, a naturalist at the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness, shares with us how she tracked dozens of Nothern Pacific Rattlesnakes and what she learned about their movements and behaviors.

Watch as thousands of prehistoric horseshoe crabs take over a beach in Delaware.

Every summer, 250,000 bats take up residence under a freeway bridge in California's Central Valley. And each night, they exit the bridge in a stunning ribbon-like formation.

Once an exotic product associated with royalty and overfishing, caviar is now being farmed sustainably right here in California.

They are an icon of the Pacific Northwest, stirring a mix of fascination, awe and affection. Thousands of people come to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound just to catch a glimpse of the Southern Resident orcas that call these waters home.

A dedicated group of outdoor lovers and trail planners is working to build a 500-mile trail around San Francisco Bay. Come along as QUEST hikes and bikes the newest section.

In 2005, a partial skeleton of a juvenile mammoth was discovered along the Guadalupe River near downtown San Jose. Those bones and a full-scale replica will be featured in The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose's mammoth exhibit, set to open June 11th. Learn more about these majestic creatures that roamed the Bay Area during the Ice Age with UC Museum of Paleontology's Kaitlin Maguire.

One of the most beloved and iconic native species within the old growth redwood forests is the Pacific Banana Slug. QUEST goes on a hunt to find and introduce Ariolomax dolichophallus, a bright yellow slug with a big personality.

Since the Gold Rush days when prospectors baked loaves in their encampments, sourdough bread has been a beloved favorite of the Bay Area. But what is true sourdough bread? It's more than just the tangy flavor. Science on the SPOT visits with Maria Marco of UC Davis and baker Eduardo Morrell to learn more about the secret science of sourdough.

One day each December, Bay Area mushroom lovers fan out and collect fungi of all shapes and colors. They then display their finds at the Mycological Society of San Francisco’s annual Fungus Fair. QUEST tags along with fair organizer J.R. Blair and his San Francisco State University students as they collect mushrooms in San Francisco’s McLaren Park. Then we tour the fair in Berkeley to explore the Bay Area’s tasty, dangerous and weirdly wonderful fungi.

Stanford geneticists Ghia Euskirchen and Barry Starr trek into the Santa Cruz Mountains to uncover the genetic mystery of the rare albino redwood trees. QUEST follows along as they seek to discover the root of the mutation. Taking both albino redwood and normal - or "wild type" - samples back to their lab, they will put them through the genetic ringer and for the first time sequence the complicated redwood genome.

UC Santa Cruz plant biologist Jarmila Pitterman and her students are studying rare albino redwood trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains to better understand the inner workings of these unusual plants. By learning how albino redwoods survive, they may unlock some of the mysteries of how redwood trees live and how they will weather things such as disease, drought or climate change.

QUEST meets the San Francisco Zoo’s resident peregrine falcon, "Bella." Not long ago Peregrine Falcons were perched at the edge of extinction. But through the work of conservationists, they have rebounded and have been taken off the endangered species list. "This is a conservation success story." says Noelle Bidegainberry of the SF Zoo, "Our hope is that when people meet Bella they are inspired to take conservation into their own hands."

Inspired in part by the open source movement, public spaces are emerging where people congregate to share ideas, make cool projects, teach, and brainstorm with collaborators on everything from coding to cooking. With no leaders, they have one rule: "Be excellent to each other." Take a tour of the hackerspace Noisebridge, located in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District, with co-founder Mitch Altman.