VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 286
AIR DATE: 07 07 2023
TRANSCRIPT

OPEN
((VO/NAT/SOT))
((Topic Banner))
Electric Vehicles

((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I think about the evolution of the automobile, electrification in the future, and the self-driving aspect. EV’s are more prevalent. Teslas are more prevalent.
((Animation Transition))
((Topic Banner))
Women Auto Mechanics
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Everybody told me I couldn't do it, that girls can’t be mechanics. I said, “Okay, let's see. I want to do it.” And here I am.
((Animation Transition))
((Topic Banner))
Cleaner Air Block by Block
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
In West Oakland, that's an area that is surrounded by freeways. It has residential but also industrial areas within the community. And so, we can see what parts of the community are overly impacted by these

particular sources.
((Open Animation))


BLOCK A


((PKG)) TESLA ROADSTER
((TRT: 06:22))
((Topic Banner: Electric Vehicles))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Arlington, Virginia))
((Main characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Blurb:
The Tesla Roadster

It’s known as the car that sparked the electric automobile revolution. The Tesla Roadster debut in 2006 just three years after the company was formed. It was a collaboration between British automaker Lotus and early Tesla engineers. What was most notable is that it changed the perception of what an electric car is and could be. Today, no longer serviced by Tesla, they are collector’s items with an extremely passionate fan base.))

((NATS/MUSIC))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I’m a tech worker. I’ve been in, you know, software development my whole career. I became interested in Tesla, which is around 2002 after all the dot com stuff. The Tesla Roadster, I guess, it was a light-bulb moment. The main thing that grabbed me initially was kind of this futuristic looking sports car. The idea that you power a vehicle without gasoline. When it came out, it was quicker than the Ferrari 430, you know, latest Ferrari at the time. The Roadster is truly the vehicle that sparked the EV [Electric Vehicle] revolution and it’s first car that, sort of, opened the door to all the other possibilities to come.
((MUSIC))
((Photo Courtesy: WIKI Media))
The first Tesla Roadsters, they started the production dates I think from 2008 I think were the first ones to 2011
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I know were the final ones.
You know, I think it was like $90,000 or something like that. For the entire world, there were about 2,500 original Roadsters made because they had a contract with Lotus [the British automaker] to produce that many bodies for them. From my understanding, there’s maybe 1,500 surviving.
((NATS))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Charge port connector.
So you can see, so up in the front, there is no storage like a, you know, frunk. But when you open it up, you can see there’s cooling fans with the AC [Air Conditioner] up in front and some electronics. So that’s about it. And there is a trunk for storage. And, I think, they designed it specifically to fit golf clubs because a lot of people in California play golf. This part is actually the battery, and it’s kind of L shaped, so it goes underneath here. This one they call the Power Electronics Module, sort of like the whole brains of the whole car. And then here, it’s an active cooling system. All Teslas have this active cooling system, so you can see this green liquid is constantly swirling throughout the battery pack to keep moderate the temperatures.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I believe that, you know, it’s eventually going to be a true collectors’ item. So, that is just the exposed carbon fiber.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
It’s a, you know, like a rolling work of art. That’s it.
Elon’s also involved
((Photo Courtesy: WIKI Media))
in Space X. It was, I believe, one of his original
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Tesla Roadsters, and they put a dummy in a flight suit,
((Photo Courtesy: WIKI Media))
colloquially known as Starman, and they shot the rocket into space. I mean, we assume
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
it is still out in space and didn’t get hit by an asteroid or something like that.
((NATS))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Tesla Model 3 came out in 2018. I think about the evolution of the automobile, you know, just as basically electrification in the future and also the self-driving aspect.
((NATS: Car’s GPS))
Now turn right onto North Queen Street.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Tesla’s approach to self-driving is machine learning. It’s a camera-based system to recognize physical objects on the road. Whether it’s cars or pedestrians or like a ball that goes in the road or something like that, the car knows what every object is, what needs to be avoided.
((MUSIC/NATS: Car’s GPS))
Now turn right onto 20th Street South.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Right now, the state of the software is, it’s definitely not a 100 percent, where I would not pay attention and trust that it will get me there. But I can see, for example, from 2018, the amount of progress that they have made and the trajectory it is going, I think it really is a matter of time, maybe, five to ten years ballpark. ((NATS/MUSIC))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Cars & Coffee, you know, car enthusiasts, they like to meet up and show of their cars and talk about the latest, you know, upgrades they made. They have Cars & Coffee in California and Texas, everywhere.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kurt
Tesla Roadster Owner))
Sorry, I’m late.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
But I do notice that, you know, now EV’s are more prevalent. Teslas are more prevalent.
((NATS))
((Kurt
Tesla Roadster Owner))
The driving, the charging, the battery maintenance.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
So I met Kurt. He got a Roadster, I think shortly, yeah, maybe about ten years ago or something. He had a different Roadster that he did get into unfortunately an accident, and…but then he replaced. He got a second Roadster after that.
((NATS))
((Kurt
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I happened to be on rotation in the Bay Area [San Francisco] in 2006 when they unveiled the car. And it was very easy back then to get into their press events because nobody knew who they were. And I was hooked. I was ready to go.
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
You get hooked. But I remember thinking to myself, very, it was a very clear moment that, holy cow, this is the future. This is the way driving should be. This is the way transportation should be.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))
I think, it will be probably a matter of time before gasoline cars will be for enthusiasts. Maybe they go to the racetrack, and they race real cars and stuff like that. So it’s kind of like, you know, if you’re like a horse owner, you know, you do that for fun, right?
But most cars, generally that you see on the road, will be electric. ((MUSIC/NATS))
((Mel Hsieh
Tesla Roadster Owner))

I take a lot of these pictures.

((NATS))

TEASE
((VO/NAT/SOT))
Coming up…
((Topic Banner))
Women in Automotive
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
We have created a scholarship for women in auto-care to train and help encourage, give another avenue for women who might want to come into our industry.

BREAK ONE

USAGM SHARE
((LogOn Voice Diagnosis Tech (TV/R)
HEADLINE: LogOn: Could Your Voice Help Diagnose Your Next Illness?
TEASER: Technology analyzing thousands of voices may play a role in the future of medicine
BYLINE: Julie Taboh
DATELINE: Washington
PRODUCER: Julie Taboh, Adam Greenbaum
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn, Amy R
TRT: 1:54 & 2:00
[[Voice experts have long known that a person's voice can provide important information about their emotional, physical and mental health. Now a U.S. government-funded project is collecting and analyzing thousands of voices and using artificial intelligence to diagnose illnesses. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.]]
((Courtesy: Allison Long/USF Health))
((NATS – patient’s voice being tested))
((NARRATOR))
Dr. Yael Bensoussan examines the vocal cords of a patient.
At the University of South Florida Health Voice Center, she treats patients with a range of voice disorders, such as upper airway, voice and swallowing disorders.
And lately, she’s been helping to lead a new project to build a database of 30,000 human voice recordings and train computers to detect diseases through changes in the human voice.
((Radio track: She spoke with VOA via Skype.))
((Dr. Yael Bensoussan, Voice Specialist)) ((SKYPE))
Not only to build that data, but also to develop the guidelines on how to share that data, how to collect that data, and also how to use that data for future AI [artificial intelligence] research. ((Courtesy: Weill Cornell Medicine))
((NARRATOR))
She works with a team of 45 investigators across 12 different universities in North America as well as a startup in Europe. ((NATS - Parkinson’s voice demo, Text on graphic: "Parkinson's disease"))
They study voice samples to help them detect illnesses like Parkinson’s disease…
((NATS - Glottic cancer voice demo, Text on graphic: "Glottic cancer"))
((NARRATOR))
cancer…
((NATS - Vocal fold paralysis demo, Text on graphic: "Vocal Fold Paralysis"))
((NARRATOR))
And voice disorders such as vocal fold paralysis…
The team also studies mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.
((Dr. Yael Bensoussan, Voice Specialist)) ((SKYPE))
So when somebody is depressed, sad, has anxiety, of course their speech changes.
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: NIH))
The study is one of four data-generation projects funded by the National Institutes of Health's Bridge to Artificial Intelligence program, designed to use AI to tackle complex biomedical challenges.
((Dr. Yael Bensoussan, Voice Specialist)) ((SKYPE))
They realized that there was such a big gap between the technology that we had available, and the clinical knowledge, and what we use in clinical care in our hospitals.
((NARRATOR))
And doing it while maintaining participants’ privacy.
[[Radio track: Grace Peng is one of the coordinators of the National Institutes of Health’s Bridge2AI program. She spoke with VOA via Zoom.]]
((Grace Peng, National Institutes of Health)) ((Zoom))
We want to think about the ethics associated with collecting people's voices. And how do we keep it private? ((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: NIH))
The study will start enrolling participants in the coming year. ((Julie Taboh, VOA News, Washington))
BUMP IN ((ANIM))

BLOCK B

((PKG)) WOMEN AUTOMOTIVE MECHANICS

((TRT: 06:40))
((Topic Banner: Women Automotive Mechanics))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))

((Camera/Editor: June Soh))

((Map: Chantilly, Virginia; Gainesville, Virginia))
((Main characters: 2 female; 0 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 0 male))
((Blurb:
Forty-six-year-old Virginia Tire & Auto (VTA) is one of the largest women-owned car repair businesses in the DC area. VTA’s Co-CEO, Julia Homes, is leading the company’s efforts to attract more women to the business.))
((NATS))

((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
My name is Dana Greenstreet. I am an automotive mechanic. I've been doing this for about 10 years now. I have two kids. I'm engaged.

((NATS))

((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
I’m checking to see if I see any coolant leaks at the moment. My pressure is going down, but I don't see any leaks. I guess when I start, when I get tickets like this that are leak checks, I get curious because you can't see them all the time immediately. And it’s, can always be different as to what failed this time. So, it's a bit of a different puzzle every time that you're trying to solve.

((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))

I started with Virginia Tire in 2014. So, I've got on and off, but this has been my home base.
((NATS: Julie Holmes with employees))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I think it matters to have a good work environment. It's something…yeah, yeah. Do you feel any difference?

((Employee))
Oh, yeah.

((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Virginia Tire & Auto was founded in 1976 by my parents, but here we are in 2023 and I like to call us a 46-year-old startup. I have so many memories of growing up in this business with my parents running it. We have…are operating about 17 stores throughout Virginia, auto repair. So, we fix everything under the hood, do tires and really handle all aspects of car care.
((NATS: Julie Holmes with Dana Greenstreet and other employees))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
So, I want to introduce you all to Dana. She is one of our star technicians at Gainesville. She's the real deal. And what's really cool is that she also teaches as one of the lab teachers at NOVA [Northern Virginia Community College] in auto tech program in the evenings. And…
((Employee))
That’s cool.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's cool. I love your story.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Which part?
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
The part where someone in your family told you, you couldn't do this.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Everybody told me I couldn't. Everybody told me that women didn't belong in a job, that I couldn't do it, that girls can’t be mechanics. I said, “Okay, let's see. I want to do it.” And here I am. ((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
I was first interested in cars when I was a little girl. I would start to help my dad out and changed the oils in the cars and things like that. Then when I was about 25 [years old], I moved back to Northern Virginia so that I could go to college, so that I could become an automotive mechanic, so that I could learn to work on cars, so that I could learn to rebuild an engine if I wanted to or a transmission if I wanted to.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
When I came here, I think initially, probably people were kind of apprehensive. Is she going to last? Is she going to be able to do her job? Is there going to be a whole bunch of problems? And we all just kind of meshed together really well. They're used to me now. They don't have anything, really. They won't say anything to me that they won't say to one of the other guys.
((NATS: Dana Greenstreet))
Okay.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Our industry of auto repair is dominated by about 95 percent of the workforce is male.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
And I've come into this, I have the benefit of being an attorney in my former life and being really exposed to a lot of different careers and companies. And I really noticed this is an anomaly. And it's something that I've seen as an opportunity to change. And it's really, I think it's been over the years, is being influenced by being a mom. I have four daughters, five children, and four of them daughters. And I've really seen that there's so many opportunities and there's so much that could lie ahead to them, if only the door is open to them. And I've noticed just through, not consciously but unconsciously, doors have been closed to women in this industry.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's a tough industry. It's been a dirty industry. The equipment has been challenging to use. In the past, there was a lot of physicality with the machinery. It was not conducive for someone unless they were a certain size or had a certain level of strength. But so much of that has changed. So, it’s really comes down to a mind game. And I know women are just as capable as men.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] job and career. There's a ton of mathematics involved, doing calculations and conversions, and you really need to have an engineering mindset in order to be able to visualize and figure out all the parts and how to fit it all together.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Women have all the skill set to be experts in the auto repair industry. There's really two sides of the business. There's the front of house, interacting with customers and management, and there is also the back of house, which is actually repairing the vehicles.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I really do believe if you want to see change, you have to help make that change. And so, we have created a scholarship for women in auto care to train, help, encourage, give another avenue for women who might want to come into our industry.
((NATS: Julie Holmes))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
So, we have a $2,500 per semester scholarship and where we would love to see more applicants to it. So, if you know of any girls in high school who might be interested in pursuing some sort of auto tech program, send them our way, and we’d love to talk to them.
((NATS: Julie Holmes))

((Courtesy: Julie Holmes))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
At whatever you're doing, work hard on it, getting these skills because they open up so many avenues for you.
((End Courtesy))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I really almost see it like a tidal wave starting to happen in terms of getting the opportunities to speak with girls who might be interested in a career in the auto repair industry. You can talk to them and motivate them and encourage them to, maybe, step out of their comfort zone and try an industry like ours and really tell them the opportunities. Because there aren't as many women in it, there's real opportunities. You can really make a mark here. I feel like there's been a great reception and excitement.
((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Always learning. There's not a day that goes by that I don't see something new that I haven't seen. We're going from internal combustion engines to a lot of electric vehicles now and that is a huge major, major change in the way everything works. There is always that opportunity, and there is always that chance for you to prove yourself, and there is always a reason to go try if you're interested. Just go try.
((NATS))

TEASE
((VO/NAT/SOT))
Coming up…
((Topic Banner))
Hyper Local
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
I think the data is revolutionary because we really can see
what is happening on this block, what's happening on that block over there, what's happening in this neighborhood where there happen to be, maybe, a lot of trucks that travel through the neighborhood.

BREAK TWO
USAGM
((LogOn Underwater Drones (TV, R)
HEADLINE: LogOn: Underwater Drones Take Off Like Those in the Air
TEASER: The discovery of the Endurance shipwreck in Antarctic waters this year has encouraged hobbyists to take up underwater drones
BYLINE: Genia Dulot
VIDEOGRAPHER: Genia Dulot
PRODUCER: Genia Dulot
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn
TRT: 2:01
[[As they overcome the challenges of operating in water, underwater drones are becoming more available for hobbyists, researchers and public agencies. Genia Dulot reports.)) ((NARRATION))
Jesuit Robotics, a high school robotics team from Sacramento, California, has been designing remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, for more than a decade.
[[For Radio: Charlie Diaz, a member of the Jesuit Robotics team]]
((Charlie Diaz, Jesuit Robotics))
We developed the grippers ourselves, the cameras, our modularly adjustable buoyancy systems.
((BROLL: Shots of Jesuit Robotics team))
((NARRATION))
Jesuit Robotics recently exhibited its underwater drone at a competition in Long Beach, California. Called the Manatee, this underwater drone can map shipwrecks or work on environmental projects.
((Charlie Diaz, Jesuit Robotics))
We have our custom AI detection software. … Our bottom gripper helps us to restore seagrass beds.
((NARRATION))
((Courtesy: FALKLANDS MARITIME HERITAGE TRUST, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC / AFP))
Entrancing many, the recent discovery by ROV of the Endurance, which sank in Antarctic waters in 1915. That effort cost an estimated $10 million.
ROVs have been slow to take off among hobbyists, however. Several startup companies are making design changes and adding technology to make drones work better underwater and reduce costs.
Blue Robotics, a Los Angeles firm, works on waterproofing underwater drone parts such as the thruster, which propels the ROV in the right direction, and has added various sensors measuring temperature, pressure and depth.
[[For Radio: Rustom Jehangir is founder and CEO of Blue Robotics]]
((Rustom Jehangir, CEO Blue Robotics))
Instead of trying to protect the motor from the water, why don’t we make a waterproof motor? That’s really the innovation here.
((Courtesy: Blue Robotics))
((NARRATION))
These new underwater drones cannot go to the deep sea, but they are being used in conditions unsafe for human divers, and by hobbyists, says Fritz Stahr, an ocean technology expert.
[[For Radio: Fritz Stahr, a judge at the competition, and chief technology officer at Open Ocean Robotics, a marine technology firm.]]
((Fritz Stahr, Ocean Tech Expert))
The ability for everybody or more people to be that explorer, to be that person who understands what’s going on in their local environment, is really important.
((NARRATION))
Unlike aerial drones, technology has yet to solve the problem of underwater communications. For now, these drones are controlled by a tether.
((Genia Dulot for VOA News, Los Angeles))
BUMP IN ((ANIM))

BLOCK C

((PKG)) LOCAL POLLUTION MONITORING
((Previously aired May, 2022))
((TRT: 07:25))
((Topic Banner: Cleaner Air Block By Block))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: San Francisco, California; West Oakland, California))
((Main characters: 3 female; 0 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Blurb:
We visit a climate tech company in California that monitors pollutants at a hyper local level, helping tackle health issues and climate change.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Davida Herzl
Co-Founder & CEO, Aclima))
What I realized, I think, growing up in a family of
entrepreneurs, sort of measure what you manage was a
mantra in business.
((Courtesy: Aclima))
And yet, when it comes to climate change, we're actually missing the measurement infrastructure to understand where emissions
are coming from and who they're impacting. So, we set out to solve that.
((Davida Herzl
Co-Founder & CEO, Aclima))
We now know that we have a climate crisis and that
emissions have added up to global levels that are historic and unsustainable. But all of those emissions come from local sources. And so, we have to understand them at the local level in order to be able to take action to address them.
((Courtesy: Aclima))
And so, hyper-local monitoring enables us to understand where
those pollution hotspots are and enables us to take really
targeted action to address those sources of emissions and to protect communities and protect public health at that local
level.
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
Our mobile sensor network is fascinating in that involves
a lot of different aspects of science and technology, all the way from how we design the device, which incorporates a
number of sort of the less expensive, small scale sensors that really allow us to shrink big research
equipment down to a small scale that you can use in cars to how do we get, how do we design that device and how do we operate the device, so we can get the kind of data and data quality we need, all the way to then how do you design, how do you sample within a car while
the car is moving? And then, where do you send the cars to make sure that you're getting what we call a representative sample on any particular road or street orpart of town?
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Davida Herzl
Co-Founder & CEO, Aclima))
One of the things that we've done over the course of the
years is partnered, really deeply,
((Courtesy: West Oakland Indicators Project))
with environmental justice organizations and advocates. And Ms. Margaret is one of the nation's leading advocates. And several
years ago, we teamed up with her to do a groundbreaking
study that, for the first time, proved that air pollution is hyper-local, that it can vary from one block to the next by up to 800 percent. And the data that we generated with her and with other
academics in West Oakland was really groundbreaking. It was the first time that that had ever happened.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ms. Margaret Gordon
Co-Founder & Co-Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project))
I come from a family of activists, always involved
((Courtesy: West Oakland Indicators Project))
in union, neighborhood stuff, the church, school, March of Dimes or something.
Well, I also have asthma and two of my grandchildren have asthma and one son.
((Ms. Margaret Gordon
Co-Founder & Co-Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project))
The Block by Block came, was a question that we asked EDF [Environmental Defense Fund]. We asked that first because we knew that
((Courtesy: West Oakland Indicators Project))
all of the air monitors from the institutions such as, Bay Area
Air Quality [is] five stories up.

So, it's not at the ground level where people are. It's not at
your front door and it's not your... How did, how do you detect was at the ground level, at the sidewalk,
and then also into your house?
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Courtesy: Aclima))
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
I think the data is revolutionary because we really can see
what is happening on this block, what's happening on that block over there, what's happening in this neighborhood where there
happen to be, maybe, a lot of trucks that travel through the neighborhood
or particular other sorts of sources. Restaurants for instance or what not, versus this other neighborhood which might just be
single-family homes and parks. And they might only be a few
blocks away from each other. Our sensor devices measure a number of pollutants and it's
really unique about our system. We measure with our device
six different pollutants: carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone, PM [particulate matter] 2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen monoxide. Those are all eithercriteria pollutants as identified by the EPA
[Environmental Protection Agency] or are climate pollutants like CO2. We also
measure, in addition to those, in separate units that we
combine into a single sort of
system, if you will, methane and ethane, very important climate pollutants that can also indicate
sources of perhaps natural gas leaks or other sorts of
signals like that as well as a pollutant we call black carbon.
Black carbon is a type of particle that is black but what it really measures
is diesel pollution, that the black plume that comes out of like a
heavy-duty diesel truck or a bus. That particular pollutant has health effects. It's considered a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.
It also has climate effects in that it actually
heats our environment.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
This type of data collection is important because it really
allows us to see signals that are really important to the
communities. For instance, in West Oakland, that's an area that is surrounded by freeways and it has the port on one side. In addition, it has residential but also industrial areas within the community. And so, we can see, on an individual block level or set of block levels, what parts of the community
((Courtesy: Aclima))
are overly impacted by these particular sources. The results from our mobile sensor platform really shows us how different
things can be from one block to a next.
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
In our initial mapping in the West Oakland area, we saw
differences in concentrations from one block to the block right next door that were between five and eight times
higher. That's huge.
((Ms. Margaret Gordon
Co-Founder & Co-Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project))
The way we've been able to use the data is
((Courtesy: West Oakland Indicators Project))
pushing the city of Oakland to change policy around
housing, where you place housing.
((Courtesy: West Oakland Indicators Project))
My hope for West Oakland is that we have the same level of air quality as they have in
the hills of Oakland, same level they have in Piedmont.
((Melissa Lunden
Chief Scientist, Aclima))
As a scientist, what I'm sort of ultimately really excited about is the sort of big picture view that
our data can help inform. You know, this view of pollution, you
know,
((Courtesy: Aclima))
in all of these areas and how it can help us really get a feel for ouratmosphere and how we can…how we can make things better.
How we can improve our climate.
How we can improve our planet's health.
How we can improve our own health. How we can move from the lungs of the planet to our very
own lungs because it's all connected.
((NATS: Davida Herzl and Driver))
((Davida Herzl))
And do they test all the new equipment with you or…?
((Driver, Aclima))
Yes.
((Davida Herzl))
Yeah. You are the guinea pig.
((Davida Herzl
Co-Founder & CEO, Aclima))
I think, we have the opportunity to bring radical transparency on a problem that has never really been seen at this scale before. We're literally making the
invisible visible. Doing that, I think, there's an opportunity to really quickly change the game on climate, on air pollution
and to finally fix these problems that are impacting so many
millions of people around the world.
((NATS/MUSIC))


((PKG)) NATURE:URBAN FOREST
((TRT: 02:00))
((Text on Screen:
Nature: Urban Forest
Enjoy the outdoors and appreciate the beauty of an urban forest in Washington, D.C.
((Camera/Editor: Linus Manchester))
((NATS))


CLOSING BUMPER
((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect


BREAK THREE
USAGM SHARE
((LogOn: Space Camera (TV, R)
HEADLINE: LogOn: Giant Camera Focuses on the Invisible
TEASER: Camera will document the universe for 10 years, gathering data for dark energy and dark matter research
BYLINE: Matt Dibble
VIDEOGRAPHER: Matt Dibble
PRODUCER: Matt Dibble
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn, Reifenrath
TRT: 1:55
[[In California, a camera the size of a car is being prepared for its mission: documenting unseen phenomena in the universe. Matt Dibble has the story.]]
((Courtesy: SLAC))
((NARRATOR))
At the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California
((Courtesy: SLAC))
((NARRATOR))
engineers are building the world’s largest digital camera. The LSST camera, as it’s called,
((Courtesy: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA))
((NARRATOR))
will be installed at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in southern Chile to record images of the night sky over a ten-year period.
((Courtesy: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA))
((NARRATOR))
By observing a wide swath of the universe over time, researchers expect to gain insight into some of science’s biggest questions.
[[For Radio: PhD student Theo Schutt is running final tests on the camera.]]
((Theo Schutt, Stanford University Ph.D Student))
How old is the universe, how fast is it expanding, why is it expanding?
So we're really like going for the 95% of the universe that we basically don't understand at all.
((Courtesy: NASA))
((NARRATOR))
Scientists theorize that 95% of the universe is made up of dark energy and dark matter, which can’t be seen directly.
((Courtesy: SLAC))
((NARRATOR))
However, the effect that dark energy has on its surroundings can potentially be detected if observed over time.
[[For Radio: ...says astrophysicist Aaron Roodman, who leads the camera project.]]
((Aaron Roodman, Rubin Observatory Deputy Director))
We can study it by looking at galaxies, ((Courtesy: NASA))
studying how the light from distant galaxies has been bent by all the matter between us and the distant galaxy.
((Courtesy: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA/ Todd Mason Productions))
((NARRATOR))
The camera will record on most nights, essentially compiling a time-lapse movie.
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Each image will be made up of about 3 billion pixels, ((Courtesy: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA)) about 300 times the size of a smartphone image. ((end courtesy))
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: SLAC))
Funded by the US government, the project will share images ((Courtesy: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA))
with international researchers, directing attention to short-lived phenomena as they happen.
((Aaron Roodman, Rubin Observatory Deputy Director))
Within two minutes, we will compare ((Courtesy: NASA))
the objects we see in it — the stars, galaxies, asteroids ((end courtesy)) — with how they previously appeared in prior images. And we will flag any differences.
((NARRATOR))
Researchers are eagerly expecting the unexpected.
((Matt Dibble for VOA News, Menlo Park, California))

BUMP IN ((ANIM))

SHOW ENDS