Is Butte the Davos of the Rockies? A Visit to the Montana Jobs Summit
Sitting squarely on the Continental Divide, the mining town of Butte routinely hosts a fair piece of the world's movers and shakers as it works to shift its gaze from one boom to another.
More Evidence Linking Pesticides and Malformations
Additional studies suggest that common pesticides may be endocrine disruptors, bad news that nonetheless warms the heart of one citizen scientist.
Laboratory Looks at California’s Energy Future
John Lennon said imagining world peace is easy if you try. Imagining the energy makeup of a country four decades from now may be a little more difficult.
Q&A: Learning About the Smart Grid
The manager of the energy portfolio for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discusses the benefits of evening out our day’s use of electricity and how future appliances will decide when they can spark up most cheaply.
Friendship Paradox May Predict Flu Outbreaks
The Friendship Paradox may provide a handy predictor for whether a flu bug will result in a mass outbreak or a few cases of the sniffles.
Viewing Poisons at Our National Parks
A groundbreaking study of pristine national parks in the Western United States found an amazing array of airborne pollutants, including some chemicals banned for decades.
Mopping Up: From Hairballs to Penguin Transit
Oil spill cleanup remains a most primitive science, but it hasn’t been for a want of experimentation. Here are seven methods that have met with varying success.
Rejecting the Cold War View of Green Innovation
In a Miller-McCune.com Q&A, Asia watcher Christina Larson questions the zero-sum mentality in which green-tech advancement elsewhere somehow hurts the United States.
Questions and Answers With Energy Guru Teryn Norris
In a Miller-McCune Q&A, the co-author of the 'Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant' report addresses the United States' stumbling response to green energy.
Seeking Culprits for Montana's Falling Deer Harvest
Judy Hoy's lonely crusade to determine if farm chemicals are deforming deer boosted by falling populations
A Look at History of Health Cooperatives in the U.S.
Depression-era health solution may find new favor in the modern American struggle for health care change.
Grant Focuses on Salish-Kootenai History
Wonking Class Hero wins grant to continue work on preserving Montana's evaporating indigenous culture.
Quailing Before the Messy Business of Science
The perception that a veneer of certainty must reign over all levels of climate change has led proponents to come a cropper.
Pick Your Poison: Frail Reed or Sturdy Oak
Two recent studies find more Xena than imperiled Penelope among stereotype-busting women.
Destined For Greatness, You Little Scamp
With the right parenting, the mischievous -- but not the outright evil -- may be on the fast track to a leadership role.
Transforming Cassandra into Pollyanna
Worldwatch founder Lester Brown, long known for dire prognosis, reports cheerful climate and energy news for United States.
Watching You In the Loo
In honor of Global Handwashing Day, we examine the hygiene of public restroom users and what motivates them to wash up.
Go East, Young Man (Oh, You Already Are)
Fleeing congestion and high taxes, America's internal migrants must have Horace Greeley spinning in his grave.
Seeking Chemical Culprits for Those Deformities
Science casting wide net in search of chemicals seen as likely suspects in feminization and reproductive anomalies being spotted worldwide.
Divining the Secret of Deformed Roadkill
Judy Hoy has tracked genital malformations among Montana's roadkill for years. She's been reporting disturbing trends for years, but few are paying her heed.
Flu Vaccine Inoculates Against Antibiotic Overuse
Researchers have found that greater use of flu shots was accompanied by a reduction in prescriptions for antibiotics — a blessing for those concerned about overuse.
Pondering Free Speech at a Decorous Town Hall
Our Joan Melcher visits a town hall featuring Barack Obama and reflects on the nature of free speech.
Simply Irresistible
Ancient Greek wanderers knew something modern mortgage agents and serial snackers don't: It's easy to overestimate your willpower to resist.
Carbon-Fighting Cost Falls Unevenly
The states producing the most carbon per capita are financially the states least-capable of paying for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In Man vs. Virus, The Win Goes to the Swift
The executive director of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine explains that while zoonotic diseases like swine flu are increasingly with us, quick public health reflexes can successfully clamp down on the outbreak. A Miller-McCune.com interview.
Swine Flu Has Spanish Flu Pedigree
The current swine flu pandemic is surprising in some ways and predictable in others.
Cajune Brings American-Indian History to Public Schools
Julie Cajune leads a groundbreaking Montana initiative to compile American-Indian history and include it in public education.
Public Opinion's Climate-Change Ping-Pong
Americans seem to be of two minds on the reality of climate change, and which mind is ahead depends on when you ask.
Emission-Free Energy: Straight From Nature’s Oven
Geothermal energy, dubbed by some as a 'sleeping giant' or renewable power in the United States, appears as one of the most attractive climate-friendly options available.
Natural Gas a Player in Alternative Landscape
The nation's largest natural gas producer discusses the 'ocean' of untapped product available in North America.
In Praise of the Electric Car
Energy researcher Jonathan Dorn says he backs electric cars, dismisses natural gas as our savior and reluctantly supports a Big Three bailout.
Protect a Levee, Protect the World
A method of buttressing California's aging levees shows promise for capturing carbon dioxide.
Picking on Pickens’ Plan
The fossil-fueled portions of T. Boone Pickens' energy plan for the U.S. have had a rough ride.
Pollsters Despair of Finding Mobile Voters
Researchers say strictly land-line phone polling is missing a younger, wireless demographic.
Reducing Carbon One Garbage Can at a Time
With a clear cash incentive to reduce garbage, the 'one-can' concept gains ground.
Red or Blue, You Can Still Be Green
Our Joan Melcher, in Denver with her Democratic delegate dad, notes how a big event can still be a green event.
The Locavore’s Dilemma
In planning a diet based on global concerns, sometimes it's better that there are miles to go before you eat.
Solar Grand Plans Start Answering Basic Questions
Solar is a great theoretical answer to climate concerns and energy independence. Although some nettlesome questions keep it from becoming a practical solution, skyrocketing oil makes some answers more palatable.
Tapping Solar for Places Where the Sun Don't Shine
We've got deserts with no people and people with no power. So, like an electrical Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, we've got thinkers with an idea ...
Papa’s Got a Brand-New Ag?
A conversation with renowned entomologist Hans Herren on a United Nations report calling for changes in how the world produces its food.
Lunar Power: Running on Moonshine
While industrial production of ethanol may not be the savior as it was once heralded, home distillers are willing to tap into a more parochial form of energy independence.
Dying for Coverage: Charting the Insurance Gap
A recent study shows that life spans are decreasing for some regions in America where reduced access to Medicaid is common.
Garbage In, Garbage Out Can Be Overcome
Keeping trace contaminants out of drinking water is easier and cheaper than removing them later.
I’ll Have a Glass of What You Had Yesterday
Humans are actually less likely to be harmed by traces of detergents and drugs in our drinking water than are other species.
Forecasters Work to Avoid Next New Orleans
As weather patterns are likely to change with the climate, a national NOAA project centers on gathering meteorological data both before and during significant storms to create precision forecasts that researchers hope will allow us up to a week's notice.