welcome to assignment 7. today on our program, technology for future cars. this one stops for pedestrians when you don't have the chance to hit the brake. the water is as acidic as your car battery. a rare look at one of most toxic places on the planet and chef come pe particulars involving jail inmates. >> we have seen a dramatic increase of computer chips over the years now it appears new research and stanford could lead to a similar phenomenon to solar panels. >> we know the sun can be tapped to produce electricity but the

sol a are a panels that make that happen could soon change. a team of three professors and six graduate students have made a breakthrough to get light and heat to work together. >> the light and heat can be use together and that hasn't been done before in a solar system. that is really the breakthrough here. >> it's done by applying a thin layer of a metal cesium. >> you now how a car surface can get hot. solar collectors do the same thing but it's wasted energy because the heat can be harness today create more electricity. >> the doctor and his colleagues believe they can boost out put by a third to use extreme heat. it would have to be above 1100 degrees. >> it gets very hot when you focus the light, if you hold a magnifying glass, the tip gets very hot. that makes our device more

efficient. >> it doesn't get that hot on a rooftop. the target will be large solar farms on the desert where concentrators can be used. >> two more years of research lie ahead. project has caught the interests of venture capitalists. new technology is not expected to replace single family solar installations. five years later this system hasn't paid for itself but the solar energy.lar energy. >> there is always going to be better technology but you have to decide when is the right time for you. there is no perfect time for everybody. >> david louie, abc7 money scope. >> a number of them are growing in dublin and pleasanton. some are now calling silicon valley east. >> this is one bay area company that is growing and moving from

current location in a building twice a as big in pleasanton. >> we're trying to draw resources of high-tech people. we want to be close to silicon valley. we have a right mix of people like that. >> san jose's company is another company moving to pleasanton. >> vendors that they want to work with. software companies and other software companies they can learn from and go with. >> still since 2006 the number of jobs in pleasanton has dropped 11%. the city lost 1200 when wamu closed. in 2005, the take over by oracle cost 600 positions. in dublin it's mostly retail like where mervyn's closed but dublin has attracted new companies with a package of incentives. >> we have lowered the fee. we have established a referral program and help with tenant improvement.

>> relocations from other parts of the bay area is expected to bring 600 jobs to the tri-valley. it's encouraging and the commercial vacancy ra rate still remains higher than it was just a few years ago. >> the market is downsizing. >> michael is with a commercial realty firm. >> i think we're close to the bottom. when the big companies take space like this we'll hopefully, the other businesses will start to grow and hope it picks up. >> the vacancy rate is now about 20% compared with 12% five years ago. there are a number of new technologies on the horizon to protect pedestrians. tran positive important tiags reporter heather ishimaru takes a look into the future. >> we're driving along the street. i'm going five to six miles per hour and talking and maybe i drop something in back.

>> this 2011 volvo slammed on the brakes itself when the driver was about to hit on pedestrian or a dummy that looks like one. >> our bodies are made up mostly water tells the computer and cameras take the image and there are 10,000 stored images and it has to determine that it is a human being. >> it warns with a flash of light if you don't respond. small children and pets are protected. it works up to a speed of 22 miles an hour. to disengage the system is tap lightly on the brakes. similar systems are available from other carmakers including volvo but pedestrian detection takes it one more step further. >> it's much more complicated to

stop for a human being than a car. >> this youtube video shows the braking systems earlier this year. volvo was it was a prototype vehicle. an expert says high-tech is the key to success. >> it's a race to gain sales and to be the first with the new technology. definitely but it has pluss for the driver's. >> in 2008, 600 pedestrians were killed. 72 of them in san francisco and oakland. the volvo s-60 will start at $36,000 with the detection system as part of a $2700 technology option. coming up, a rare look inside iron mountain. >> it's like having 100 refineries in one location

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the water that runs from the iron mountain mine is as acidic as your car battery. that water ran directly in the sacramento river, the source for drinking water for millions of people. dan ashley takes i inside. >> the iron mountain mine has been called the beast. a place where the water is so toxic, scientists had to come up with new methods to measure it. this mine was once the largest copper mine in california. it closed since 1966. rich is project manager for iron mountain for the environmental protection agency. >> they mined up 1963. 1963. but what it produced throughout the lot of the life, it produced acid for refining industry.

>> iron, zinc and cadmium. it's exposed to hundred inches of rain that fall on the mountain each year. undisturbed they wouldn't pose a problem. >> overflows from a dam to contain contaminated water jeopardized wildlife before. they have been monitoring the toxic runoff since 1986. >> large amounts of coper and zinc can kill fish because they have to breathe it through their gills. >> they discharge a ton of iron and zinc each day. >> it's like having hundred refineries in one location. >> i would have to go it on hoed midnight, going out lowering bottles down and taking samples

in the sacramento river. >> they estimate it will continue to shed it's toxic mess for at least 3,000 years. epa overtook operation in the 1980s declaring one of the toxic superfund sites. since then they have helped no clean up the mess including a treatment facility. >> we've been able to take 90% of the contaminants what was going in the sacramento river. >> water that runs from the mine is captured in a reservoir. it's taken to a treatment plant and then to a largest sludge thickener in the nation. it's separated out and sent to ponds to dry. at the end of the summer it will be trucked back up the mountain and contained in this massive storage area. it is lined so it can make its way down the mountain.

>> so a lot of water that would have been contaminated doesn't get contaminated any more and flows fresh around the mine site. >> the epa was able to dredge and remove sentiment that had built up minimizing the residual environmental impact. it was slated for four years to clean up, but they were able to move much faster. >> we were able to contends that down to about 1 months. >> the cleanup effort has cost the epa about hundred million dollars. former mine owners have chipped in $150 million for cleanup with one exception. >> the ore body is loaded with copper, gold and silver. >> he bought the mine in 1976. in an interview taped last year, he told a reporter he has been battling with the government for years to resume mining operations and make money off his investment. he floated ideas ranging from converting the toxic sludge into

fertilizer to place ago statue of jesus on top of the mountain. >> the idea is taking the 3,000 acres and make it all a garden of eden. >> a federal judge ordered him to pay the government $57 million plus interest for the ongoing cleanup but they say collecting the money seems unlikely. >> he doesn't have the financial wherewithal to meet those blix so we need to work through the court and determine what the outcome will be. >> 7 on your side, a san jose's woman power struggle after pg&e asks her to pay for their mistakes. also life changing technology for patients suffering from epilepsy. >> we need to work together to make a better life. >> san mateo county jail version of the iron chef competition.

recipe they haveed for a shot at success.

an apology to pg&e to a condo owner whose power was nearly turned off by the utility. michael finney has the story. >> obviously we apologize to the customer. >> it's been a long ordeal for janice of san jose. >> i'm just tired. i'm just tired. >> she first noticed the problem when she received this bill back in january for 255, that is nearly three times more than the previous month. >> so when i saw that. >> she made several calls to pg&e before getting an explanation. they than h underbilled her the prior month and added it to next month's bill. >> it's too much.

this bill is not correct. >> she was right. by putting both bills on to one month, utility put her into a higher paying tier. pg&e eventually adjusted her bill by $177. >> we wanted to obviously, as we've done with this customer. we did make an error. >> this is one of many apologies pg&e has issued of late. >> when some customers call with us questions we weren't as responsive as we should have been. that is unacceptable. >> so we have reached out and apologized to them. >> we certainly want to apologize to the customer. >> a doctor is a business professor at golden gate university. pg&e gets good marks for offering a apology. >> there is something loveable about an apology. >> but apologies only go so far

and company needs to get its act together. >> if the company makes the same mistake over and over again, ultimately they are insincere. >> it didn't put an end to her problems. it was the issue of the past due reminder notice that threatened to cut off her power if it was not paid. that threat was lifted but she also wanted a full explanation of how her refund was determined. she says months went by and no one would give her that explanation. >> i said okay, i'm going to send a letter to michael finney. >> we got her a full accounting of the refund, she has seen it and she is satisfied. >> i want to say thank you, for, you know, getting me the information that i had been trying to get from pg&e. >> in case you are wondering. she did not have a smart meter at the time of her billing

errors. pg&e says it has learned from its mistakes and they say its customers service is improving. what could be developed in the bay area could soon change the lives of patients suffering from epilepsy. >> monica cherishes every moment she spends with her children sometimes interest erupted by violent seizures. >> and then i black out. >> lately her seizures haoppe dropped off dramatically not because of a drug but a tiny computer surgically implanted in her skull. >> last month, i didn't have any

seizures. >> this a computer we use to interface. >> the device is designed to produce simulation or rms. it's similar to deep brain simulation but according to neurosurgeon, there is a key difference with rms. >> for the differences that in response or in response to a change in the brain wave activity of the patient. once it detects there is going to be that, it gives the stimulation. >> it also records brain wave activity helping doctors to program it. it can interrupt a seizure before it's full-blown and prevent symptoms. >> we make it recognize that is a specific a specific pattern that a seizure is going to develop. so if you get the electrical

stimulation at the right time you can abort the seizure. >> it's locked into position. >> we first reported on it in 2008 when clinical tleils were underway in san francisco. they since then have implanted them in 200 patients nationwide and they reported positive results from the clinical trials and now seeking fda approval. if it's gets the okay, they believe it could be used for conditions beyond epilepsy. >> maybe chronic pain, maybe disorders including parkinson's. >> long-term effects won't be known for years but they believe it could be life changing for them. >> i always wanted to do that. i wanted to finish college. >> carolyn johnson, "abc 7 news."

>> a culinary cook-off in the san mateo county jail showcases the skills of inmates. it's a recipe for a better future when they get out. don sanchez reports. >> creative chefs crowded in a kitchen in controlled chaos. a version of iron chef, four teams, two on each team are inmates in county jail. that master chef adam weiner. it's friday here and they are racing against the clock. >> 30 minutes. >> a panel of judges is waiting to sample the results. >> it's the pace. second thing is presentation and they have five things they must be graded. we want to show everybody can work together. >> i didn't realize they were part of a team.

it just happened. >> fortunately had we had a great team. i wasn't doing it by myself. >> they made it. >> give yourself a big hand. >> and they've completed the project for the day. this isn't about a finish. it really is about a start. a new start and about opportunity because now they have a skill. they continue to job training that is where janelle is now. >> i have a long history of problems and i tell you i never felt better about myself. >> they say because of the training, catering business has new applicants. >> we know they will be successful when they get out. >> here is what the judges are looking at and they are looking for a better future. >> they perceive them as people that have potential. >> up next, she is an

international thrill seeker the bay area woman who has achieved the adveveveveveveveveveveveveve

this next story is real life explorer. she recently climbed mount everest and she has done something that no american woman has ever done. >> what i did is the adventure grand slam which is all seven summits and skiing to the north and south pole. >> allison loves attention. we profiled her in 2002 when she first took the team expedition up mount everest and 200 feet from the summit they turned back because of the weather. >> she was 6. >> i like my routine. i like not knowing what is coming down the road. and i like trying different things.

>> allison recently completed her grand slam reaching the 29,000 foot summit of mount everest. >> i got to the summit and i started looking around and i was asking for ashton kucher to jump out. >> she spent a half an hour taking pictures and this is only the halfway point of your climb. >> you have to pull it altogether. keep your wits and you need a lot of mental strength to get you back down on off that summit. almost all of the accidents that occur on mount everest occur on the way back down. >> making good decisions at 29,000 feet is tough due to lack of oxygen but it keeps you out of life-threatening situations. not everyone reaches the summit and that is not considered a failure. >> the only failure is not come back alive. >> she will be at west point as a professor teaching lessons ine

extreme environments while she ponders her next adventure. could she get a plaque for her grand slam? >> mike shumann, abc7 sports. >> if you want more information for the stories today, go to our website at www.abc7.com and look under the news links on the left side for assignment 7. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i'm eric thomas, thanks for joining us. joining us. next at 5 let the crabbing begin. bay area fisherman gear up for what could be one of the best crab seasons in years. and freshman ore yep addition -- orientation on capitol hill. and freed by pirates. a retired couple on their way

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