Science & Technology – Page 7

Another country bans single-use plastic plates and cutlery for environmental reasons

by: Josh Wolsky | January 9, 2023

When it comes to single-use plastic, England has decided the costs outweigh the convenience. They’re banning a bunch of stuff. Items caught in the policy net include plastic plates, trays, bowls, utensils, and other implements that find their way into the waste stream. England previously banned plastic straws in 2020. The goal is simple —

Read & Share sourced from: NPR

Montana weed sales estimated at $300M in recreational industry’s first year

by: Josh Wolsky | January 9, 2023

In 2021, Montana voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana. The law took effect on January 1, 2022, and the first-year data has come in. In the first 365 days, Montanan’s purchased $300 million in marijuana, more than double the state’s high-end projections. Purchases raised nearly $35 million in taxes. Get the full story from the Helena

Read & Share sourced from: Helena Independent Record

Trinity rejects MAGIC Fund loan

by: Josh Wolsky | January 9, 2023

Toward the end of last year, Trinity Health made a request to the MAGIC Fund, the City of Minot’s economic development resource, for proposed improvements to the soon-to-open new hospital. City Council amended the request for a grant and converted it to an offer for a loan with a portion forgivable. Jill Schramm with the

Read & Share sourced from: Minot Daily News

Saskatchewan reaches new record for overdose deaths in 2022

by: Josh Wolsky | January 9, 2023

The opioid addiction scourge knows no borders. It’s worth noting, especially as we seek solutions locally, that we need to look far and wide for those managing this crisis most effectively. It’s also timely as Governor Burgum recently announced how the state will go about using as much as $62 million in resources paid from

Read & Share sourced from: Regina Leader Post

Are You Using Your Ice Scraper Wrong?

by: Josh Wolsky | January 9, 2023

I know. Many of you are saying who needs an ice scrapper if you have an auto starter. But if you’re not that lucky now, or are unlucky in the future, it may be that a little ice scraper instruction is in order — even for winter-seasoned vets from North Dakota. It turns out that

Read & Share sourced from: Life Hacker

Burgum appoints advisory committee to distribute funds from settlements with opioid manufacturers

by: MinotVoice | January 7, 2023

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum today issued an executive order creating an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee to receive and distribute funds received under settlement agreements and recommend how they should be used by local governments. The state has entered into 11 settlement agreements with 13 opioid manufacturers and distributors in an effort to hold

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Cities Need to Realize the Value of Physical Design

by: Josh Wolsky | January 2, 2023

Have you ever been inspired by a physical space? If you spend time in nature, the answer is probably yes. If you spend time in our cities, particularly the modern iterations of them, the ‘yes’ response might not come so quickly. Thomas Heatherwick writing at WIRED calls those responsible for building our urban environments to

Read & Share sourced from: WIRED

Minnetonka’s Landing Shop sells items made by residents ages 55 to 96

by: Josh Wolsky | December 30, 2022

They say idle hands are the devil’s playground. And for a group of elderly citizen-makers in one Minnesota town, they’re occupying their time making and keeping the shelves stocked in their age-exclusive store. The Landing Shop in Minnetonka is a craft-makers consignment shop with a twist — the makers have to be at least 55

Read & Share sourced from: Star Tribune

State asks Minnesota Residents to weigh safety & environment when salting slick surfaces

by: Josh Wolsky | December 29, 2022

Slippery roads and sidewalks are a big risk in wintertime, and there’s no better way to deal with them than adding a little salt. But for every action, there is a consequence, and when all that salt is added up, it’s having an impact on lakes and rivers. That’s what our Eastern neighbors in Minnesota

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

Flaring in North Dakota causes thousands of hospital visits, costs millions in medical expenses, study finds

by: Josh Wolsky | December 28, 2022

North Dakota has made improvements in the amount of natural gas flared as a result of oil production, but the impacts on those living closest to the activity are still significant. Patrick Springer writing at The Dickinson Press has the full story on the down-wind health costs that researchers suggest are tied to flaring.

Read & Share sourced from: Dickinson Press

For some northern climate greens growers, winter doesn’t halt their harvests

by: Josh Wolsky | December 27, 2022

Fresh produce from Minnesota in December? No, it’s not a joke. From passive-solar powered greenhouses to hydroponic container farms, demand for local produce is inspiring small farmers to innovate. And in a place like Minot that has no shortage of cold and an economy built on agriculture, this is a trend we need to watch.

Read & Share sourced from: Dickinson Press

Does solar power still work in the depths of winter?

by: Josh Wolsky | December 27, 2022

When it comes to sunlight hours, Northern geographies tend to get less sunlight hours than places further south, but the colder weather actually benefits energy transmission. Get the full story on solar effectiveness up here in the North at Inforum.

Read & Share sourced from: Grand Forks Herald

Northern Plains tribes bring back their wild ‘relatives’

by: Josh Wolsky | December 27, 2022

When the prairie was plowed up for farming generations ago, there were things lost that we didn’t know we had. Among those was habitat for species like the Black-Footed Ferret and the Swift Fox. Today, it’s the Native American tribes of the Northern Plains that are making intentional space for the reintroduction of these long-threatened

Read & Share sourced from: Associated Press

Why Recycling Isn’t the Answer to the Plastic Pollution Problem

by: Josh Wolsky | December 23, 2022

Recycling is a juggernaut. It has been so ingrained as the solution to waste management that we’ve failed to recognize that it’s just not very effective. For example, in a typical recycling program, only 15% of plastic actually gets collected for recycling. After collection, about 40% of the collected amount is discarded for poor quality.

Read & Share sourced from: Nature

Oslo, Norway is Further North Than Us, But Far Less Frigid

by: Josh Wolsky | December 23, 2022

WDAY Meteorologist John Wheeler explains it in the Inforum article linked below. But basically, Oslo (and the rest of Western Europe) get that warm Atlantic Ocean air. Here in North Dakota, we get a lot of that air that isn’t warmed up by the ocean. The result: places that are a lot further North with

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The US is about to make opioid addiction treatment much easier

by: Josh Wolsky | December 22, 2022

When it comes to opioid addiction, the U.S. has a staggering, heartbreaking problem. In 2021, our nation lost 109,000 people to overdoses. For 2022, the forecast is to see that number go down only slightly. To deal with the issue, Congress is expected to get the red tape out of the way. Get the full

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz