Farming With Computers

You probably have a computer in your car, on your desk and
maybe even in your stove. It seems like there are computers everywhere
these days helping with everything from our checking accounts to our
turkey roasts. Now researchers want to install computers in another
place, where most of us would least expect it – in Old MacDonald’s
tractor. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Daniel Grossman has
this story:

Fingerprinting Oil Spills

When an oil spill happens on the Great Lakes, who do you call?
Federal law says spills must be reported to the National Response
Center. But when spills are discovered, often no one knows where
they came from. That’s when the detective work begins. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michelle Corum attended a conference on
oil spills. She learned how the ”fingerprint” of an oil spill can help
determine ”who dunnit”:

Harvesting Forests With Workhorses

Modern logging techniques that rely on heavy machinery to
pull – or skid – logs out of the woods have long been criticized as too
destructive. However, throughout the Midwest, there is a resurgence
of interest in a proven method of logging that is considerably lighter
on the land. Today, as in the past, teams of giant
workhorses and men are dragging out one log at a time and making it
pay… for themselves, for the forest’s owners, and possibly for the
long-term health of our forests. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Ed Janus has more: