A few weeks from now, San Francisco residents will start facing warnings, and even fines, if they fail to recycle, as the city – like many in California – aims to keep ever more garbage out of its landfills. But, after twenty years of curbside recycling and, more recently, composting programs, Californians produce more waste than ever. Amy Standen reports, recycling can only take us so far.

In California, nuclear power has long been a subject that's "radioactive." But recent polls suggest that Californians may finally be warming up to the idea and a new study suggests that a clean energy future may not happen without it. Craig Miller reports on the prospects for a "nuclear revival" in the Golden State.

Months after the federal government enacted stricter standards intended to keep lead out of children's toys, a KQED investigation found merchandise that violates the law still sitting on many Bay Area store shelves. In part two of the series, QUEST looks at the challenges of keeping leaded toys out of stores.

Congress recently passed tougher limits on lead levels due to the large number of recalls of imported toys. But the new law, which went into effect in February, doesn't seem to be keeping dangerous items off store shelves, as reporter Oanh Ha found out.

Once they leave your driveway, your discarded bottles, newspapers, and other recyclables become part of a multi-billion dollar global commodities market. Last month's phone bill, for example, might be sent to China to be reincarnated as next month's iPhone packaging. But when those markets collapse -- as they did last winter -- neighborhood recycling programs are hit hard.

They've been called "California's Galapagos." Nearly 30 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge lie the Farallon Islands. This year marks their 100th anniversary as a national wildlife refuge. While the islands are off limits to tourists, reporter Lauren Sommer caught a rare - and rough ride with marine researchers to learn about how unpredictable changes in our climate could be affecting life there.

One in six Americans will experience a major episode of depression at some point in their lives. And yet the drugs commonly used to treat the disease have been described as "blunt instruments" by researchers in the field. One newer, FDA-approved approach uses magnets held against the patient's forehead to stimulate some of the neurological signals that underlie depression.

Call it Museum 2.0. One of our most traditional institutions is undergoing a 21st century re-design. In an effort to keep up with changing times, more and more museums are turning to Twitter, Wikis and online communities to ask for the public's help in designing their exhibits.

At UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, competitive performance horses receive stem cell treatments that are still off limits to humans. Veterinarians say their success may pave the way for other animals... like us.

Five years ago, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his vision for the Hydrogen Highway, a bold and ambitious program that promised to launch an alternative energy revolution in California. Right now, that highway is not as smooth as its planners had hoped and government funding is in danger of drying up. In the midst of the pile-up of bad news, the California hydrogen fuel cell program keeps chugging along.