For Midwestern ski centers, this past winter has been disastrous. Driven by El Nino, the resorts have been hit by warm weather and a lack of snow. But now, even in the first weeks of spring, one New York ski center is still running strong. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Carol Colella (cah-lella) reports:
Tag: technology
Synthetic Wine Corks Popping Up All Over
The art of wine-making is thousands of years old, and the practice of closing the bottles with cork has been the industry standard for at least three hundred years. But corks can crumble or leak and for years, wine-makers have been looking for alternatives. Now, they may have one. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has the story:
Windpower Manufacturer Gets Government Boost
Advocates of renewable energy are hoping the deregulation of electric utilities will give solar and wind energy a chance to flourish. A small company in Duluth, Minnesota thinks they have designed a new wind-power electric generating system that will work equally well on Midwestern farms and in small villages in the developing world. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:
Computer Recycling
Personal computers are quickly becoming as common in American households as T.V.’s and telephones. But unlike those appliances, computers become obsolete at a much faster rate. And while many computer owners abandon their machines after just a few years of use, others think they still have a lot of value. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports:
Low-Flush Toilets Make a Splash
It’s one of the most private, intimate parts of our lives — in fact, most people talk more readily about sex than they do about what goes on in the bathroom. But now, toilet talk is heating up over a federal mandate requiring all new toilets to flush with no more than one-point-six gallons of water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has the story: