Ski scenic groomed trails on Mt. Bachelor
Nordic Sports Director Bob Mathews founded the Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center in 1975 by overseeing construction of a modest pair of looping trails with all of 7 kilometers of snowmobile-groomed trails. The then diminutive Nordic program was rounded out by a 150-square-foot rental and lesson department squeezed into a corner of the main lodge. Through […]
Pacific NW
My favorite Pacific Northwest RV camping spots
Caption: Deception Pass – Courtesy of DeceptionPassFoundation.org Written by Steve Froese It’s great to live in our neck of the woods! We have some of the most scenic highways and byways on the continent. For instance, here in the lower mainland of British Columbia, we can go snow skiing and water skiing on the same […]
New Oregon map shows status of popular recreation areas
SALEM, Ore. – Oregon’s Natural and Cultural Resources Recovery Task Force released an interagency status map in March to help the public navigate the status of popular recreation areas impacted by the 2020 wildfire season. The September 2020 wildfires swept through approximately 1.3 million acres of land in Oregon across multiple jurisdictions. Many of these […]
XPRIZE launches $100 million climate change competition
Caption: XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis has steered several competitions toward solving pressing environmental problems. Credit: XDRIVE Foundation. Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard of XPRIZE, which funds innovations in space exploration technology. Is XPRIZE used to address climate change or other environmental problems?-- J.D. via e-mail XPRIZE was launched in 1996 to spur innovation in the commercial aerospace sector. Back then, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis offered $10 million to the first privately financed team that could build and fly a three-passenger vehicle 100 kilometers into space twice within two weeks. That first contest—officially dubbed the Ansari XPRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight—attracted 26 teams from sevenAre hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars still viable?
Caption: Consider yourself lucky to see a Toyota Mirai or any other “FCV” (fuel cell vehicle) out in the wild — there are only about 300 on the road in the U.S., with the vast majority of those in California. Credit: Aaron Smart, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: What’s the latest on hydrogen powered fuel cells? Not long ago they were touted as the energy source of the future, but news has been scant of late.-- J. Gorman, Columbia, SC Indeed, around the turn of the millennium, the development of hydrogen fuel cells to power our transportation sector with renewable, non-polluting power
‘Climate feminists” make progress
Caption: Climate feminists march outside international climate talks in Poland in December 2018. Credit: Greenpeace. Dear EarthTalk: What exactly is "climate feminism?"-- Jim M., Lorton, VA Climate change impacts the everyday lives of all citizens around the globe, but certain communities are disproportionately affected. Women, in particular, shoulder a disproportionate burden as they are most reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods but lack the needed resources to properly respond to climate disasters. With women representing over 70 percent of the total global population living in poverty, the United Nations estimates that 80 percent of those displaced by climate change are
Is passive solar a good house option?
Caption: Dr. Wolfgang Feist and family pose in front of the world's first passive solar house, constructed in 1991 in Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: International Passive House Association. Dear EarthTalk: What is a so-called “passive solar” house and can I retrofit my existing house accordingly?-- Bill C., Raleigh, NC A passive solar house is typically designed from scratch factoring in several considerations to boost the structure’s ability to naturally keep the interior living spaces a comfortable air temperature without using conventional emissions-spewing HVAC appliances. The concept hinges on having lots of insulation, no air leaks, and large, strategically-oriented south-facing windows that “collect” heatTexas storm Uri is renewable energy wake-up call
Caption: Wind power provides a small fraction of electricity in Texas; frozen natural gas lines caused the state's power grid to go down recently. Credit: Athena, pexels. Dear EarthTalk: Were frozen wind turbines the reason for Texas’ historic power outages recently? If so, how can we make renewables more reliable moving forward?-- G. S., Hartford, CT As Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc on the American Midwest this past February with bitter cold snow, entire power grids shut down and states like Texas faced a crisis like never before. Conservative politicians put the blame on renewable energy, particularly wind and solar. “Our wind
Climate models help predict climate change trends
Caption: The paint-like swirls of this visualization from Los Alamos National Laboratory depict global water-surface temperatures, with the cooler temperatures designated by blues and warmer temperatures by reds, as delineated by recent climate modeling efforts. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: How does climate modeling work? What is the state-of-the-art in the field these days, and what do these most recent models tell us about our future? – J.M., Austin, TX Climate models are 3D figures of the Earth’s surface that demonstrate the cycling of energy and materials through the atmosphere, oceans and land. They compile geography, physics, chemistry
XPRIZE launches $100 million climate change competition
Caption: XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis has steered several competitions toward solving pressing environmental problems. Credit: XDRIVE Foundation. Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard of XPRIZE, which funds innovations in space exploration technology. Is XPRIZE used to address climate change or other environmental problems?— J.D. via e-mail XPRIZE was launched in 1996 to spur innovation in the commercial […]
Are hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars still viable?
Caption: Consider yourself lucky to see a Toyota Mirai or any other “FCV” (fuel cell vehicle) out in the wild — there are only about 300 on the road in the U.S., with the vast majority of those in California. Credit: Aaron Smart, FlickrCC. Dear EarthTalk: What’s the latest on hydrogen powered fuel cells? Not […]
Intel meets digital challenges with memory, storage products
Editor’s note: Intel is Oregon’s largest private employer with a reported 21,000 employees in the state. Intel recently announced six new memory and storage products to help customers meet the challenges of digital transformation. Key to advancing innovation across memory and storage, Intel announced two new additions to its Intel® Optane™ Solid State Drive (SSD) […]
This Intel barista never gets your order wrong
Editor’s note: Intel is Oregon’s largest private employer with a reported 21,000 employees in the state. At Crown Coffee, a small-yet-homey coffee bar in downtown Singapore, the barista never gets your order wrong. Ella is her name and with uncanny consistency she makes a perfect cup of coffee every time. Ella is not human, but […]
Researchers find pesticides shorten honeybee lives
The lives of honeybees are shortened – with evidence of physiological stress – when they are exposed to the suggested application rates of two commercially available and widely used pesticides, according to new Oregon State University research. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, honeybee researchers in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences found […]
