SOUTH FAIRBANKS — Just after 3 a.m., over this city built near the confluence of two rivers, the sun rose with the color of an orange Creamsicle. I watched this sunrise with my wife, who is a bird biologist. She needed to do point counts along the route of a proposed new road through […]
Winter vehicle travel can cause long-lasting damage to the tundra, according to a new paper by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers published in the journal Ecological Applications. Scars from seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remained for decades, according to the study. The findings counter assertions made […]
High summer is here in middle Alaska. North of Fairbanks, in bright sunshine, alder flycatchers are perched in spruce tops, just arriving from Bolivia and Peru. A few steps away, accompanied by the smell of sulfur, dozens of carrion flies buzz on and above a moose carcass. Permafrost expert Tom Douglas has led me […]
A team funded by the National Science Foundation has developed a porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to inexpensively and efficiently clean up oil spills without harming marine life. The sponge can be reused dozens of […]