In The NOCO

Members of Congress are required to show up in person to vote on any measures. That creates challenges for representatives who are in the final weeks of pregnancy, or who just gave birth.   U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen , a Democrat from Lakewood, understands these rules from experience. And she says they’re unfair. She’s due to give birth to her second child in a few days – which means she’s under...

As President Donald Trump begins his second term, one of his promises to supporters has been to carry out what he calls the largest deportation in U.S. history. This has a number of Colorado communities on edge, especially in places where immigrants without legal status make up a large part of the population.   It has also prompted education leaders across Colorado to prepare for how their student...

Old firehoses. Used forklifts. Two-thousand sheets of acrylic plastic.  These are the kinds of things you can find at repurposedMATERIALS in Lafayette. The company acquires discarded industrial materials and products and resells them instead of sending them to a landfill.   Damon Carson founded the business in 2011 after running two trash companies. The repurposedMATERIALS location in Lafeyette is...

Coloradans who struggle with anxiety or depression will soon have a new treatment option. Psychedelic treatment with a licensed therapist– will be as legal in Colorado as prescription antidepressants.  Colorado voters approved this . Starting in April, licensed healing centers can offer psychedelic therapy using psilocybin, the psychedelic component in some mushrooms.   We wanted to understand wha...

When Colorado writer X. Ho Yen was a kid, he loved to read science fiction.    X. Ho Yen is autistic. He liked how some sci-fi stories, like the Star Trek series, depicted a more enlightened future society where neurodivergent people were treated equally.    Eventually he began writing his own science fiction novels. His newest release is titled Space Autistic Author’s Puzzling Innerverse . It’s d...

If you think of Baroque music, it might bring to mind ornate-sounding pieces by composers like Bach, Vivaldi or Handel. But a pair of concerts in Denver this weekend will offer listeners a different flavor of Baroque music – one that blends European-style harmonies with rhythms and percussion from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The performances, by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colo...

Visitors to Colorado ski resorts can ride to the top of the mountain in a sleek gondola, or take a high-speed, four-person chairlift.   Or, if they head to one of the state’s smallest resorts, they can ride up in a trailer pulled by a snowcat.  Cuchara Mountain Ski Park in southern Colorado operates on weekends without a functioning ski lift, and serves just a few dozen skiers per day. They charge...

You may have heard the recent news of a scandal involving state lab technicians who falsified some test results of drinking water . The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suspended further testing for now, saying the results couldn’t be trusted.   You may also have heard about bogus test results in monitoring for water contamination near oil and gas wells around the Front Range ....

When it’s time to get a good night’s rest, women have it harder than men. Women are more likely than men to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .   But the treatments that doctors prescribe for sleep disorders, like medication or different bedtime routines, may be based more on data about male sleep patterns than female sleep...

Have any of your New Year’s resolutions included to live a happier life this year? If you said yes, one recent study suggests you’re probably not alone.   Americans feel less happy than in previous years, according to the recent World Happiness Rep, which collects data on happiness from countries around the world every year. The U.S. finished 23rd, behind countries like Kuwait and Slovenia.   So w...

The start of a new year often involves making changes in pursuit of a healthier life.  For many of us, that means fewer processed foods, more veggies, and – maybe – a few more trips to the gym.    Or perhaps your resolution is to work on relationships – to make new friends or reconnect with existing ones. After all, friendships are a key part of our well-being. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sa...

When someone dies nowadays, their online accounts and social media profiles can become a poignant online memorial. Or sometimes, those accounts can become a hassle for grieving loved ones.    For many people who have recently lost someone, knowing what to do with a loved one’s online accounts is a mystery.  Sometimes an account gets deleted by the organization that manages them. Sometimes the acco...

Colorado teachers say their students are missing something that helps determine their academic success. Call it grit.   If a student who struggles with math studies hard and performs well on their math test, that’s grit. If they complete a homework assignment that was tough to finish, that's also grit.    Erica Breunlin covers education for The Colorado Sun . Since the pandemic, she says teachers...

An electrical grid on the moon.  It’s an idea that could eventually power a small lunar colony and help take space travel to a new level.   And research by two Colorado School of Mines graduate students may help make it a reality.  Chris Tolton and Ken Liang built a prototype of that lunar grid and presented it during a recent competition run by NASA. The prototype worked – and Chris and Ken won a...

These shorter, colder days over the midwinter holiday are the perfect time to break out that bag of roasted Pueblo chile peppers some of us have kept stashed in the freezer since the fall. They're just waiting to be turned into a big batch of spicy green chile.   And for many pepper aficionados, only the Pueblo chile will do.    But the popularity of these Colorado-grown peppers is a relatively re...

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science made an exciting announcement this year: A new species of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion had been discovered in the foothills outside Boulder. Researchers named it Larca boulderica – a nod to the city of Boulder – and say the only place on the planet where you’ll find it is in just two caves near the Boulder Flatirons.     We reached out to David Steinmann, th...

Scientists have found a promising new way to break down harmful “forever” chemicals.   Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS , are found in many household products including nonstick cookware or waterproof clothing. They’ve also found their way into our drinking water, our food and our bodies.  They’re called forever chemicals because they were designed and manufactured...

It wasn’t that long ago that some doctors would use lobotomies as a treatment for mental illness, or insomnia, or severe headaches. That wouldn’t happen now – but modern medicine has made some weird, often tragic turns to get to where it is now.   Similarly, our modern roadways are designed with what amounts to junk science, according to author Wesley Marshall . He says it’s time for a wake-up cal...

A unique retelling of the holiday classic ‘The Nutcracker’ explores the history and cultural importance of Denver's Five Points neighborhood.    The Five Points Nutcracker replaces the story’s traditional characters with significant figures from Denver’s African American community. Five Points was once known as the “ Harlem of the West. ”   Duke Ellington’s jazz version of the music is the backbon...

Eye doctors today perform surgeries that would have seemed unthinkable a century or two ago. They can remove cataracts, correct someone’s vision with Lasik surgery, or do a cornea transplant to relieve pain or restore someone’s sight.  But one procedure they can’t do at the moment is a full eye transplant for vision restoration. And that prevents doctors from treating some more serious eye conditi...

When it comes time to decorate for the holidays, for many people a beautiful Christmas tree is the most essential piece.    And some people simply don’t want to let their Christmas tree go. So, they bring a live potted tree into their home, and then move it to their yard after the holidays to enjoy for years to come.    If that sounds like your kind of Christmas, our guest today has some tips to m...

The ingredients you select when you cook dinner can make a huge difference in your household’s carbon emissions.   Mark Easter explores that idea in his book The Blue Plate: A Food Lover’s Guide to Climate Chaos , He’s a retired ecologist in Fort Collins who studies the carbon footprint of the food we eat.  His book walks readers through the typical ingredients of a home cooked dinner. Then, Mark...

Tim McKay is a Denver artist who fills colorful, sprawling canvases with geometric figures . His paintings can span 12 feet or larger. But a year ago, a diagnosis threatened to disrupt his career. Doctors told him he had Parkinson’ s disease – a condition that would slowly take away his ability to use his muscles.   McKay responded by making art that reflects how the disease is changing his abilit...

Picture this: It's a summer day. You’re on a ship on the Arctic Ocean. You scan the horizon... and you don’t see any sea ice on the surface of the water.   For much of our history, this would be a surreal scenario. The Earth’s northernmost region is typically covered in sea ice and snow year-round.  But a University of Colorado researcher says that vision is going to become a reality. And the firs...

Forty years ago, a Denver radio talk show host named Alan Berg was assassinated. He was shot in his driveway by members of a militant, white supremacist group known as The Order. The group was active in the early 1980s, and one of their goals was to spark revolution against the American government.  A new movie tells that story, and explores the FBI investigation into the group. The movie, called...