Minot’s Hobbyist Model Airplane and UAS Pilots Find Growing Interest

There’s little doubt that the UAS industry is growing and full of potential, but where do people in the business get there start? In all likelihood, it’s on their own, through a friend, or perhaps through a grassroots group of like-minded enthusiasts. And it turns out, Minot has just such a community.

Read & Share   sourced from: Minot Daily News

On health care and everything else, the path to compromise is available

Contrary to most, I was not surprised that Congress has failed to repeal and replace “Obamacare”. “Repeal and Replace” has been the unifying slogan of the Republican party since 2009. That slogan may have become fact except for one minor detail. Like the Democratic party, the Republican party is merely a coalition of various diverse

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Drug experts see confluence of factors behind opioid crisis

In Minot, the Mayor’s Committee on Addiction met this week. When it comes to dealing with the effects of the opioid and larger addiction problem, they’re going to divide and hopefully conquer. They’ll be splitting into several sub-committees to deal with different arms of the larger animal. It’s important work, but the method also invites

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Optimistic investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers

There are two companies chasing the concept of the meatless burger, and before you dismiss the idea with some picture of a bean patty or veggie burger, the goal is a burger that looks and tastes like real beef, and they’re closer than you realize. It may seem far-fetched or impossible, but the impacts on ranchers

Read & Share   sourced from: Quartz

The Gulf Of Mexico’s Dead Zone Is The Biggest Ever Seen

When agricultural producers use too much fertilizer, the surplus that isn’t absorbed into the land and plants runs off into the water shed. When it gets to the end of the downstream line, it dumps into the ocean or a lake. In North Dakota’s case, one of those end-of-the-line watershed deposits is the Gulf of Mexico.

Read & Share   sourced from: NPR

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EPA chief to discuss water regulations during visit to state

Scott Pruitt, the EPA’s top administrator, will be visiting North Dakota next week, and the Waters of the U.S. rule making is expected to be a hot topic of conversation. Between agricultural and energy industries and our cultural disposition toward property rights, environmental regulations and rules have big impacts on North Dakota, and it sounds

Read & Share   sourced from: Williston Herald

White House commission recommends president declare a national emergency over the deadly opioid epidemic

The opioid epidemic that’s been discussed so heavily here in Minot is not just a local problem, it extends far beyond North Dakota’s borders. And a White House Commission on the opioid epidemic is now recommending the President declare a national emergency with regards to the issue. Locally, the Mayor’s committee on addiction will meet

Read & Share   sourced from: Los Angeles Times

North Dakota passes 400 percent fine increase for littering

The police and highway patrol have been empowered to get serious about littering. Starting August 1, the fine for throwing out that cigarette will be something you notice if you get caught; it’s going from $100 to $500. The Grand Forks Herald has more on the story.

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There’s evidence, E-cigarettes do help people quit smoking

The evidence is significant; it’s pulled from a study that included 160,000 people over 15 years. And what it points to is important, e-cigarettes help people quit smoking.

Read & Share   sourced from: The Verge

Verizon argues throttling video is allowed under net neutrality rules

What will the Internet look like if there’s a roll back on the FCC’s net neutrality rules? We’re perhaps getting a taste. Last week, Verizon was caught and then admitted to throttling video content on its network. Basically, that means they slowed down the speed at which they delivered video — intentionally.

Read & Share   sourced from: The Verge

Comcast says it should be able to create internet fast lanes for self-driving cars

The first of a couple articles on the net neutrality issue, Comcast is arguing that the need to provide faster more reliable service to self-driving cars will warrant a competitive pricing model. That means they can charge more for certain types of data traffic. Medical uses and automated cars are the examples they use to

Read & Share   sourced from: The Verge

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The world’s first crewless ship will launch next year

Automation is coming; there’s nothing to be done about it. Why? Because it will be safer and more efficient. There’s no way to stop evolution toward those values. And it won’t just be cars and trucks. The video below tells the story of technology that’s already available, this ship is in production. The question we

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Stretch of Mississippi River in and around St. Cloud sheds its sullied history

For one city in Minnesota, the Mississippi River was just a water pathway that flowed through town. It was the place they dumped their sewage; it was the home of meat-packing plants that sent their environmental impacts downstream. They stopped the environmental damage they were doing a generation ago; now their eyes are opening to

Read & Share   sourced from: Star Tribune

Ward County asks N.D. board to stop cloud-seeding

Yesterday, the Ward County Commission voted unanimously to discontinue the County’s weather modification program for the rest of the year. This article on the story comes from the Grand Forks Herald — particularly local coverage.  But in the article, you’ll find a bit more scientific context (along with a bit of honest commentary) on the theory

Read & Share   sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

A Toxic Legacy: North Dakota Looks To Clean Up Old Oilfield Waste

One of the considerable by-products of oil production in North Dakota is the extremely salty wastewater we get back along with the oil. It’s not a new problem. And though modern practices inject wastewater deep underground, there are still a number of legacy era brine pits that continue to leach salt water contamination into nearby

Read & Share   sourced from: Inside Energy

Paddlers promote ‘positive trace ethic’ by cleaning up litter along Minnesota, St. Croix and Mississippi rivers

The old mantra for the environmentally minded heading into the wilderness was, “take only pictures, leave only footprints”. But for a few, it seems that’s not good enough. The concept is called adventure stewardship, and the goal is to go out and have the fun recreationally but leave the environment better as a result. In

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum