Nightlife at a museumQuestPoint

Summertime and the living is easy and happening at Nightlife in the California Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park on Thursday evenings from 6 PM to 10 PM. If the idea was to make hanging out at the museum fun and interesting. Mission accomplished. I have to admit I hadn’t been to the Academy since it’s renovation in 2008. What an amazing piece of work. It is a terrific example of a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green certified building with unbelievable form and function. It is an environmental gem that makes great use of open space. Located at 55 Champion Drive in the Golden Gate the Academy of Science is easily reached by public transportation.

Nightlife draws in a variety of ever changing weekly events where visitors ages 21 and older can enjoy music, science, entertainment and cocktails, while experiencing the Academy’s world-class exhibits and having fun with friends.

Inside the the open space are some of the amazing exhibits. Up on the Roof is a two and a half acre a roof garden. The rooftop’s seven undulating green hillocks pay homage to the iconic topography of San Francisco and blurs the boundary between building and parkland. Living Roof´s 1.7 million native plants were specially chosen to flourish in Golden Gate Park´s climate. After experimenting with thirty native species, the finalists were all able to self-propagate. They will thrive with little water, resist the salt spray from ocean air, and tolerate wind. Surrounding the Living Roof is a large glass canopy with a decorative band of 60,000 photovoltaic cells. These solar panels will generate approximately 213,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year and provide up to 10% of the Academy’s electricity need. The use of solar power will prevent the release of 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emission into the air.

If that wasn’t enough there’s a Rainforest. Step inside a living 4-story rainforest, where dripping water sets the beat for a symphony of croaking frogs and chirping birds. Peer into one of Borneo’s bat caves, meet chameleons from Madagascar, and climb into the tree-tops of Costa Rica to find free-flying birds and butterflies. Finally, descend in a glass elevator into the Amazonian flooded forest, where an acrylic tunnel allows you to walk beneath the catfish and arapaima that swim overhead.The rainforest is contained within a spectacular 90-foot diameter glass dome. It’s the largest spherical rainforest exhibit in the world. Follow a spiraling path up through the exhibit, experience what it’s like to actually walk in a real rainforest.
Still there’s Madagascar, Extreme Mammals, and the Planetarium plus more. If you ever had some idea of museums being boring this is absolutely not the case with Academy of Science. It’s well worth visiting again and again.

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Renault to launch electric vehicles in 2011

All the pieces of the puzzle are in place for making a mass-production vehicle in the near future: battery range, optimized energy consumption, and performance and driving pleasure.
Carlos Ghosn, 2008 Paris Motor Show,

For Renault, the electric vehicle is the real long-term solution to today’s environmental and noise pollution issues. Technological innovations now make it possible to mass market an electric vehicle at reasonable cost. In addition, changes in vehicle use make electric cars ideal for the majority of trips, with 80% of Europeans currently driving less than 60 km a day.

Renault will bring its customers a complete range of electric vehicles by as early as 2011. Their design will be largely inspired by the concept cars revealed at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show:

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QUESTPOINT GOES MOBILE – Beta

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The Streets of San Francisco Now

What is Sunday Streets?

Sunday Streets originated in Bogota, Columbia as a day to promote free, health and community oriented events. 30 years after the first program, the concept has spread around the world from Tokyo, Japan to Kiev, Ukraine. Now, it is back in San Francisco!

Letter from the Mayor

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In Deepwater: A report back from the Gulf with Riki Ott and Diane Wilson

EVENT in BERKELEY

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Intersolar North America

Taking place from July 13-15 in San Francisco’s Moscone Center West Hall, promotes the development of business opportunities throughout the U.S. solar industry. More than 550 U.S.-based and international exhibitors and 20,000 trade visitors are expected.

Facing Tough PV Manufacturing Challenges: Intersolar North America 2010 to Host Inaugural PV Group North American Fab Managers Forum

Leading Solar Cell-Makers Will Convene at July Event in San Francisco

SEMI PV Group today announced that the first annual North American Fab Managers Forum will be held at Intersolar North America 2010 in San Francisco, California on July 12, 2010. Hosted by SEMI PV Group, the Fab Managers Forum is focused on addressing shared supply chain challenges and improving customer-supplier relations across the photovoltaic supply chain.

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Lobbying for Solar

NEW YORK — Applied Materials Inc. spent $320,000 lobbying the federal government in the first quarter of the year on energy legislation and other issues.

That’s more than double the $130,000 the company spent in the same quarter a year ago, according to congressional disclosure forms, but down from $470,000 spent in the quarter before.

Applied Materials provides technology used by solar panel and semiconductor manufacturers. It lobbied the U.S. House, Senate and various federal agencies on the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which would establish a cap-and-trade system to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

The company also listed a House bill that would direct the Energy Department to establish a solar energy research program.