Parents tell their kids, “Shut the front door, I’m not paying to cool the entire neighborhood.”
But research shows that, during Phoenix summers, we do pay to heat the neighborhood — to the tune of 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit — thanks to waste heat vented by our air conditioners.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Air Conditioners Heat Up Metro Phoenix Nights
No one expects the machinery of progress to roll backwards, but sometimes it seems that no one is watching the speedometer (or manning the brakes, assuming any exist). Is this a fair assessment? If so, should we be worried — and what can we do about it?
In this feature, experts on technology, risk, science, policy and neuroscience discuss risk, innovation and how our values affect our conceptions of both.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
ASU Experts Weigh the Risks of Innovation
Stable, nontoxic refrigerants changed the world, transforming food storage, expanding Sun Belt populations, even helping early movie theaters succeed. But they also wrecked the ozone layer — Earth’s shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Today, as stockpiles dwindle — and prices rise — due to phase-outs set by the Montreal Protocols 30 years ago, the future of Freon and its successors remains in doubt.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
As Stockpiles Dwindle, Freon Prices Rise
For fire managers, the Pinal Fire burning hundreds of acres near Globe, Arizona, presents not just a challenge, but an opportunity.
For years, they’ve planned to use a low-intensity burn to restore the resiliency of the fire-adapted ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forest.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Pinal Fire Presents Opportunity
Every six months, the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station southwest of Phoenix, Arizona shuts down one of its three reactors for refueling and maintenance.
Join me in this feature-length venture into the belly of the beast, from the storage casks to the open reactor itself.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
http://science.kjzz.org/node/472070
