Ecologist Dirac Twidwell wants to change the way we think about prescribed burns. The University of Nebraska professor says he can harness extreme fire to restore grasslands on the Great Plains—and, with the help of the Nebraska Intelligent MoBile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) Lab, he has created a small drone that launches ping-pong balls-sized "dragon eggs" of fire to help him do it safely and cheaply. [node:read-more:link]
From police protection to trash pickup, cities and counties provide a variety of services to its residents. Adding broadband to that mix, especially on a citywide scale, is a relatively new conceptthat nonetheless can provide tangible benefits to the municipalities that offer it. For the most part, large cities don’t have a major problem with broadband installation. The populations are so dense that many private broadband providers will take on the expense of building and maintaining networks, confident that customers will follow. [node:read-more:link]
Tests of wolves across North America suggest that there is just one species of the canid: the gray wolf. What's more, populations of red wolves and eastern wolves, thought to be distinct species, are actually just hybrids of gray wolves and coyotes that likely emerged in the last couple hundred years, the study found. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. attorney for Idaho and the state attorney general announced they will not pursue charges against the two Adams County deputies who fatally shot rancher Jack Yantis. Following an investigation by the FBI, the U.S. attorney determined “there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against Adams County deputy sheriffs Cody Rowland and Brian Wood for the death of Jack Yantis.” After reviewing the results of an Idaho State Police investigation, the state attorney general’s office reached the same conclusion. [node:read-more:link]
A new study by university scientists seeks to foster rural acceptance of large carnivores by showing that cougars save lives by reducing the number of deadly collisions between vehicles and deer. Researchers affiliated with colleges in Washington, Idaho, Alaska and Alberta, Canada, compared data from 19 states in the East, South and Midwest. The scientists concluded that recolonizing cougars in those states would thin deer populations and prevent five traffic fatalities and more than 700 injuries a year. [node:read-more:link]
Indiana's well-known exotic animal refuge Wildlife in Need claimed another victory this month when a federal administrative law judge upheld a previous decision saying the federal government did not have grounds to terminate owner Tim Stark's exhibitor's license. Wildlife in Need posted the decision on Facebook Monday, saying the group "will not bow to the terrorism" and called the decision a win. [node:read-more:link]
Just in time for football season, Tin Roof Brewery plans to roll out its long-awaited Bayou Bengal beer: the first officially licensed beer of LSU. This may be the first official beer of the Fighting Tigers, but it’s not the first attempt to get there. The anticipation for such a partnership has been simmering since 2011, when the fledgling microbrewery first announced it was unveiling “Bandit Blonde” with LSU. [node:read-more:link]
Scientists following up on a rare wolverine sighting in the Sierra Nevada set up cameras and captured video of the animal scurrying in the snow, scaling a tree and chewing on bait. They believe the wolverine is the same one that eight years ago became the first documented in the area since the 1920s. Chris Stermer, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, set up the remote cameras in the Tahoe National Forest after officials at a field station sent him photos in January of unusual tracks in the snow near Truckee. [node:read-more:link]
New Zealand is a nation that takes its birds seriously, and it’s got very special ones. The country’s currency is adorned with images of winged species found nowhere else, including the yellow-eyed penguin and the black-masked kokako. The logo of the national air force is stamped with the famed kiwi — a chicken-sized puff of feathers that cannot fly. But many of those birds and other native wildlife are under assault from species that showed up with settlers to the island nation 200 years ago. [node:read-more:link]
A team of engineers has found a way to use graphene oxide sheets to transform dirty water into drinking water, and it could be a global game-changer. Graphene oxide has been hailed as a veritable wonder material; when incorporated into nanocellulose foam, the lab-created substance is light, strong and flexible, conducting heat and electricity quickly and efficiently. The new approach combines bacteria-produced cellulose and graphene oxide to form a bi-layered biofoam. "The process is extremely simple," Singamaneni said. [node:read-more:link]
