Tahoe-Area firefighters struggle to keep pace with frequent fires in near-record dry season
Low moisture levels in plant life give us a clue as to why firefighters are gearing up for one of the worst fire seasons yet.
Can Virtual Reality Help You Get Over Your Fear?
Scared of spiders? Fear of heights? New research is finding that Virtual Reality could help patients overcome these fears. It works by stimulating part of the brain and exposing patients to the fear in a safe setting.
Bringing back the Lahontan cutthroat trout: a story about a fluke finding, genetic study and a tribe’s hard work
Lahontan cutthroat trout went locally extinct in Pyramid Lake in the 1940s. But some determined folks and genetic research have brought the fish back, restoring an important cultural and economic asset for local Paiute people.
Windy, but no windfall: Why Nevada lags behind in commercial wind power
Nevada is a vast, windy state yet it ranks 33rd in the nation’s wind energy production. It turns out the temperamental gusts are part of the problem.
Despite pandemic, state incentives help boost Nevada’s ‘electric highway’
People keep buying electric vehicles, and Nevada continues to build infrastructure to support the shift away from internal-combustion transportation. The shift reduces green-house gas emission.
Nevada’s renewable energy sector faces some clouds, then — perhaps soon — sunny days
As Nevada pushes toward sourcing half its electricity from renewable energy by 2030, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some turbulence in the renewables sector.
Yucca Mountain: Faster water flow undermines project safety, UNR geologist says
More than two decades of research raises questions about whether scientific “fixes” at a proposed nuclear repository could keep groundwater safe from radioactive contamination.
Daylight On Demand: Why batteries may fuel the future of solar power in Nevada
While the COVID-19 pandemic is proving problematic for the solar industry, there’s a more fundamental challenge: the sun doesn’t always shine. Read how one power plant in Nevada was able to find an unusual way around that issue, and why others may be taking a different approach in the near future: batteries.
What it’s like running a new restaurant — with your parents — amid the COVID-19 pandemic
It’s hard enough to keep a fledgling new restaurant up and running in normal times. Imagine running one during a pandemic.
The Virus Hunters: Finding animal diseases before they infect humans
More than 60 percent human viruses originally come from animals.
For the past decade, these researchers around the globe have been working to identify risky viruses before they infect humans.
The team found a new Ebola virus in bats in Sierra Leone, and has worked with various communities to reduce exposure.
