Tom Fudge

1 week ago | kpbs.org | Thomas A. Fudge |Tom Fudge

A ten story building looms above UC San Diego’s earthquake shake table in nearby Scripps Ranch. Next week the device will simulate an earthquake to see whether a structure made from a lightweight, recycled steel material can withstand it. The building’s load-bearing system, its walls, floors and roofing are all made from cold-formed steel. In the real world building codes would only allow a building like this to be six stories high in a seismic zone like California.

2 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Thomas A. Fudge |Tom Fudge

A library is a place of community, where lots of people come together. And some of them suffer from opioid addiction. That’s why the first-step in a program to hand out the overdose reversal medication naloxone began at San Diego’s Linda Vista Branch Library. The city of San Diego has forged a partnership with a local nonprofit to provide naloxone in more places throughout the city. City Councilman Raul Campillo was at the Linda Vista library to promote it, and he said he had a good reason.

2 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Thomas A. Fudge |Tom Fudge

Skilled foreign workers in the United States are controversial for a variety of reasons. They get caught up in the politics of immigration and what people call a brain drain from other countries. But UC San Diego economics professor Gaurav Khanna said those who see migration in that negative way mistakenly believe that it’s a zero-sum game. “When immigrants come they take away jobs so it must be zero-sum,” Khanna said.

3 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Thomas A. Fudge |Tom Fudge

The Trump administration has cancelled many existing science grants and it’s proposing large budget cuts to science funding foundations like the National Institutes of Health. That’s why hundreds of people at UC San Diego on Friday attended what they called a “Stand Up for Science” protest. Protesters talked about the importance of science funding to the San Diego economy and to the progress of medicine. In fact, they said, federal cuts have already had a big impact on the university.

3 weeks ago | kpbs.org | Thomas A. Fudge |Tom Fudge

Up until this week, the San Diego Police Department has broadcast police calls on an open channel. It’s been a resource for people who follow crime and monitor the police. But some say it has its drawbacks. “In the past we were not encrypted, which meant that by using police scanners anyone in the public, the media, etc. could listen in on all of our radio communications,” said San Diego Police Lt. Daniel Meyer.