Students Sniff Manure

  • Professor Albert Heber holds up one of the samples from the stinky study. (Photo courtesy of Purdue University)

University students are sniffing manure samples in the lab. As Mark Brush reports, the
students are part of a research effort aimed at reducing odors near livestock farms:

Transcript

University students are sniffing manure samples in the lab. As Mark Brush reports, the
students are part of a research effort aimed at reducing odors near livestock farms:


Students are paid thirty dollars to take part in each sniff test. They tell researchers
which air samples smell the worst. Researchers are trying to figure out how to cut back
on smells coming from large livestock operations.


Al Heber heads up the research at Purdue University. He says the studies help determine
what practices cut down on smells – and it helps communities decide where to locate
these big livestock operations in the first place:


“We have used these odor emission studies to help develop a setback model. So that if
the farm is located far enough from the neighbor then we can avoid the problem because
we let the atmosphere dilute the odor down to where it’s not a nuisance anymore.”


Heber says using appropriate setbacks could cut back on the conflict between livestock producers and the people who live near them.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Pet Health Records to Help Track Bird Flu?

Health experts say the medical records of cats and dogs could serve as an early warning system for diseases such as avian flu. The GLRC’s Rebecca Williams has more:

Transcript

Health experts say the medical records of cats and dogs could serve as an
early warning system for diseases such as avian flu. The GLRC’s
Rebecca Williams has more:


The health records of thousands of dogs and cats throughout the country
are tracked by the National Companion Animal Surveillance Program.


Larry Glickman helped design the system. He’s an epidemiologist at
Purdue University. He says it was originally designed to track anthrax or
plague outbreaks in pets. Glickman says now, the system could be used
to monitor pets for avian flu symptoms.


“What we’re concerned with in the U.S is for example, a pet animal like a
cat will come in contact with a bird that is sick or even died of avian
influenza, then the cat will pick up that virus and will become infected,
and the very same day it might climb in bed with people and transmit
that virus to people.”


Glickman says the system can pinpoint areas where quarantines are
needed… to slow the spread of disease in both pets and people.


For the GLRC, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Radio Waves Zap Zebra Mussels

Researchers say low frequency radio waves may be a more effective way of controlling zebra mussels. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Scheck has the story:

Transcript

Researchers say low frequency radio waves may be a more effective way of controlling zebra mussels. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Scheck reports.

Zebra mussels have caused millions of dollars of damage to power plants, boats and intake pipes. They’ve also seriously hurt native species in the Great Lakes and other inland waterways. Purdue University chemistry professor Matthew Ryan says he may have found a way to control the zebra mussels without harming fish or other aquatic wildlife. In the laboratory, he says low frequency electromagnetic radio waves were found to cause the zebra mussels to lose critical minerals at a much faster rate than they can acquire them.


“It ultimately kills them. There’s a stress response after a day or so. They stop feeding and begin to close their shells and after about 19 days about 50 percent of the mussels in a given population will be dead.”


Ryan says native fish and clams were not harmed when exposed to the same technique. If it’s proven effective in the wild, he says electrical barriers could block mussels from infesting other lakes and streams. For the Great Lake Radio Consortium, I’m Tom Scheck in Saint Paul.

Reducing Road Noise

Efforts to reduce road noise pollution are making progress in
Indiana. Last year, Purdue University opened the Institute for Safe,
Quiet, and Durable Highways. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
David Naylor reports:

Transcript

Efforts to reduce noise pollution are making progress in Indiana.
Last year, Purdue University opened the Institute for Safe, Quiet, and
Durable Highways. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David
Naylor reports:


In the past, measuring road noise meant measuring the sound of a
car’s mechanical systems, primarily engine and muffler noise. Now,
with the development of more efficient engines, researchers have
identified the tires and road surface as the newest problem.


So, Purdue researchers are looking for the quietest combination of
tire treads and pavement. They say the most promising surface so far is
one developed in Europe: a thick layer of asphalt, with pits one and a
half to two inches deep.
It reduces road noise by about 50% and does well in the
freeze-and-thaw cycle. But the major problem is keeping oil and dirt
out of the deep pits.
Lab director Bob Bernhard hopes a double layer of pavement will
help.


“One which has the properties that they think are optimal for acoustics, and then put a second

layer below it, which has bigger spacing. In that way, they can flush the dirt and the things that

are plugging, out of the top layer, where the acoustics are affected, in the bottom layer, and

then flush it out.”


Research on the porous pavement continues in Europe and the U.S.
There are no plans yet for commercial production.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Naylor.

Keeping Disabled Farmers Farming

The life of a farmer isn’t easy. The work is hard. The days are long.
The profit margins, low. It’s tough work for anyone, but when a farmer
becomes disabled, the challenges are even greater. But as the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports, help is available…and
it’s keeping disabled farmers, farming:

Laser Traces Jet Pollution

They’ve been used in cosmetic surgery, military technology or even justto play tag. But one of the latest uses for lasers is shining somelight on the way jet engines pollute. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:

A Greener Way to Hit the Slopes

Each year, Purdue University sponsors a contest to find creative usesfor soybeans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Naylor reportson how this year’s winners may have found a "greener" way to hit theslopes: