Environment

NASA Grant To Help Control Mosquitoes

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NASA News:
 
BROOKINGS, S.D. ―  When it comes to fighting West Nile virus, it’s all about timing.
 
Through a three-year NASA grant, two South Dakota State University researchers will help mosquito control officials use mosquito surveillance and environmental data to target West Nile virus.
 
People notice the nuisance mosquitoes that come out early in the season, but the Culex tarsalis mosquito, which carries West Nile, is active later in the season and later in the evening, explained SDSU biology professor Michael Hildreth.
 
Since 2003, he has helped
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Laser Light Shows Coming To Nature Center

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‘Laser Beatles’ is one of 12 laser light shows offered at the Nature Center. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

PEEC will host 12 laser light shows in its new planetarium during July.

Thursday, July 9 through Wednesday, July 15, there will be at least two laser light shows daily. Experience a feast for the senses in these dazzling and captivating laser light programs. Classic music fans will see how laser light transforms favorite bands, with separate shows dedicated to the music of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin,  U2, Pink Floyd: “Dark Side of the Moon” and Pink Floyd: “The Best of Echoes.”

Family friendly Read More

Take A Virtual Wildflower Walk Tuesday

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An example of the specimens on display at the Jemez Mountain Herbarium. Photo by Chick Keller

PEEC News:

Spring and summer are wonderful times to enjoy the abundant wildflowers.

Sometimes however, the weather does not cooperate, or a wildflower blooms at a time or location that is not convenient for viewing. But this shouldn’t stop local residents from knowing local wildflowers!

The Jemez Mountain Herbarium houses 950 species of local plants. Its curator, Chick Keller, is offering to take interested visitors on a virtual wildflower walk using specimens from this collection, allowing visitors Read More

Nature on Tap at UnQuarked Tonight

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CREATIVE DISTRICT News:

Nature On Tap is 5:30 p.m. today at UnQuarked Wine Room, at 145 Central Park Square in downtown Los Alamos.

The speaker is Jessica Clayton, who will be discussing the science and beauty of the aurora borealis. Nature performs beautiful light shows that dance across the sky. The group will hear about the science behind this mysterious phenomenon, known as the aurora borealis. The group will discuss what causes aurora to display such striking colors and why we need scientists to study them.

Clayton is a physicist and educator. She earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University Read More

Macaw Skeletons Signal Hierarchy At Chaco

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This skull of a scarlet macaw (Ara macao) was excavated from Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History in 1897. Courtesy/@AMNH/D.Finnin

 

SCIENCE News:

New work on the skeletal remains of scarlet macaws found in an ancient Pueblo settlement indicates that social and political hierarchies may have emerged in the American Southwest earlier than previously thought.

Researchers determined that the macaws, whose brilliant red and blue feathers are highly prized in Pueblo culture, were persistently traded hundreds of miles north from Mesoamerica

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Udall Hosts Deputy Interior Secretary At Chaco Site

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U.S. Sen. Tom Udall hosts U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor on a tour today of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Courtesy/Udall

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, standing on rock, and Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor, in front, break out the binoculars during a tour today of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Courtesy/Udall

STATE News:

  • Connor’s visit is in response to Udall’s request that an Interior official visit Chaco site

ALBUQUERQUE – Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall thanked U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor for joining Read More

WIPP: Bryson Named Acting Manager For CBFO

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New Acting Manager of DOE Carlsbad Field Office Dana Bryson
 
WIPP News:

Mark Whitney, Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), today named Dana Bryson the Acting Manager for the DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO).

He is replacing Joe Franco, who recently returned to a position in DOE’s Richland Operations Office in Washington. Bryson has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry and served as the CBFO Deputy Manager since December 2013. 

Previously, Bryson was the

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What’s Eating The Aspens?

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Aspens at Big Tesuque Campground defoliated by western tent caterpillars. Courtesy/SFNF

Western tent caterpillars on the Santa Fe National Forest. Courtesy/SFNF

SFNF News:

Visitors to the Santa Fe National Forest’s popular aspen groves along N.M. 475 (the road to the Santa Fe Ski Basin) are wondering what’s happening to the trees.

Although the aspens may appear to be dying, the bare branches can be blamed on hungry western tent caterpillars that are stuffing themselves on one of their favorite foods. The tent caterpillar is a native defoliator whose larvae feed on a variety of hardwood trees Read More

Legal Agreement Reached To Reduce Power Plant Pollution Damaging Southwest’s National Parks

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NPCA News:
 
WASHINGTON ― The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and other clean air advocates, represented by Earthjustice, reached an agreement today with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the owners of New Mexico’s Four Corners Power Plant to reduce the plant’s pollution and improve the health of surrounding communities and national parks.
 
“For far too long, the irresponsible management of Four Corners has denied the Navajo people the basic human right to clean, healthy air in our communities,” said Lori Goodman, board member of Diné
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NMDOH: Tularemia Kills Cat In Los Alamos

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American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Courtesy/CDC

 

By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post

The New Mexico Department of Health reports there have been 20 cases of the severe infectious bacterial disease tularemia in animals since Jan. 1 in New Mexico.

Cases include two cats from Los Alamos County as well as dogs, cats and or rabbits in Taos County, Santa Fe County and Bernalillo County.

Confirmatory testing was conducted at the Department’s Scientific Laboratory Division, NMDOH officials said.

A White Rock resident residing near Pinon Elementary School reported finding two Read More