Brian Hackney

4 weeks ago | cbsnews.com | Brian Hackney

Lake Berryessa's unusual "glory hole" spillway activated for the first time in six years A rare and mesmerizing scene  taking place in the North Bay as the round "glory hole" spillway at Lake Berryessa is active for the first time in six years.  An historian who helped make the spillway a global sensation told CBS News Bay Area it has become something of a local tourist attraction..

May 28, 2024 | cbsnews.com | Brian Hackney

After 20 years in the making, the world's largest digital camera is now atop Cerro Pachón, home of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. And it wasn't easy. Margaux Lopez on the Stanford Linear Accelerator campus has been working for five years, planning for a single shipping. "It's been complicated," she said.

May 23, 2024 | cbsnews.com | Brian Hackney

A summer of discontent is looming in Sonoma County, as Measure J sets the stage for an old story: animal activists vs. large-scale poultry and cattle ranching. Measure 'J' would outlaw larger animal farms and those defined as polluting the water in Sonoma County. Such farms are called CAFOs, short for 'Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations'- or euphemistically, 'factory farms'. Kristina Garfinkel of the Coalition to End Factory Farming says "CAFOs are major polluters.

Mar 15, 2024 | cbsnews.com | Brian Hackney

There's a lot of excitement building for next month's total solar eclipse. But before you dust off your eclipse goggles, you're going to have to plan a trip to experience the full extent of this rare celestial event. Many stargazers say it will be worth it. Cal Poly physics graduate Kaitlin McArdle works in San Francisco as an exhibit developer at the Exploratorium. She has already planned her trip to see the total eclipse on April 8.

Nov 16, 2023 | cbsnews.com | Brian Hackney

Emperor penguins are not simply majestic. These birds are tough creatures who manage to survive in some of the harshest weather conditions imaginable.  The penguins breed and live on frozen sea ice in the Antarctic. But the Antarctic Sea ice is disappearing due to a warming planet and the melting sea ice threatens their very existence. "They show up at the breeding season and the ice isn't there, so they have nowhere to breed," explained Dr. Birgitte McDonald.