Posted inScience

(VIDEO) Fireball caught on doorbell cameras shoots across Casper skies early Wednesday

CASPER, Wyo. — A bright fireball lit up skies over Casper early on Wednesday morning. Several Casper-area homeowners shared video of what appears to be a meteor that streaked across the night sky at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. There are three active meteor showers happening, according to the American Meteor Society. Those include the Orionids, […]

Posted inScience

New Yellowstone Volcano Observatory plan calls for more attention on hydrothermal activity

CASPER, Wyo. — The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory has released a new 10-year plan to help monitor volcanic, hydrothermal and earthquake activity and to assess hazards in the Yellowstone Plateau region, according to the University of Wyoming. The new plan calls for the updating of some existing infrastructure and the addition of new infrastructure to help […]

Posted inCommunity

Goodbye Sky? Wyoming astronomers ponder the future after Musk’s ‘satellite train’ flies overhead

CASPER, Wyo. — University of Wyoming Professor of Physics & Astronomy Daniel Dale was backpacking in the Snowy Range last month when he suddenly spotted something moving in the moonless night sky. “It was pretty insane,” he said, recalling the site of some 60 bright, low-orbiting satellites in a perfect line speeding overhead. “It was […]

Posted inCommunity

UW’s Biodiversity Institute seeking volunteer scientists for Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project

CASPER, Wyo. — The University of Wyoming’s Biodiversity Institute is seeking volunteers to help with the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project. “With this community science opportunity, you adopt a catchment in a route of your choice, visit that catchment twice this summer, and record all of the toads, frogs, and salamanders that you find,” the Biodiversity […]

Posted inWeather

PHOTOS: After teasing chance to glimpse Northern Lights in Wyoming, NWS in Riverton captures ‘dancing colors in the sky’

CASPER, Wyo. — On Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Riverton forecast the possibility that people might be able to glimpse the Aurora Borealis during the evening hours. “If you are up this evening or even late at night, take a look to the north — you might see those dancing colors in the […]

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Students tackle topical and timeless topics at district and regional science fair

CASPER, Wyo. — Timely and timeless questions of scientific inquiry (from steam technology to the performance of battery-driven vehicles and sleep hygiene) were tackled by students at the Natrona County School District and Central Regional Science Fair at Verda James Elementary on Saturday. One student even took a crack at some of science’s holy grails: the […]

Posted inEnergy

Natrium nuclear plant coming to Wyoming may not improve on existing water-cooled reactors

CASPER, Wyo. — When Governor Mark Gordon announced this June that Wyoming has been selected for the construction of a new “advanced” nuclear reactor, he said it would be “game-changing and monumental” for Wyoming. The system that would be built at one of four sites in Wyoming is called the “Natrium” reactor. It was co-developed […]

Posted inWyoming

Game and Fish forensic lab receives National Standard board’s ‘top accreditation’

CASPER, Wyo –The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Wildlife Forensics and Fish Health Lab in Laramie recently received a “highly coveted” accreditation  through the American National Standards Institute’s National Accreditation Board, the Department said Monday.  “It’s the top accreditation a lab can acquire, and it makes the Game and Fish facility one of the most […]

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UW team’s discovery of unusual inland belt of melted crust could point to ore deposits

CASPER, Wyo —A group of University of Wyoming professors and students has identified an unusual belt of igneous rocks that stretches for over 2,000 miles from British Columbia, Canada, to Sonora, Mexico, UW announced. The rock belt runs through Idaho, Montana, Nevada, southeast California and Arizona. “Geoscientists usually associate long belts of igneous rocks with […]

Posted inScience

UW study: each Wyoming ‘orphaned’ oil and gas well emits less methane/hr than a dairy cow

CASPER, Wyo. —University of Wyoming “Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute” (EORI) research has found that abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells in Wyoming “are likely responsible for less than 1 percent of reported methane emissions from the state’s oil and gas operations,” UW said in an April 9 release. “Sampling conducted at 10 such ‘orphan’ […]