In The NOCO

Each spring, the Front Range endures miller moth season . Even in relatively mild years, the tiny, winged visitors enter our homes, annoy us and even frighten us.    But they’re also fascinating.   So, we talked with Karim Gharbi – an insect expert and horticulture specialist with Colorado State University Extension – to unpack the mysteries of the miller moths.    Where do the moths come from? Wh...

Colorado’s mountain passes and great weather make it a destination for competitive cyclists. But the history of professional cycling races in Colorado is a rocky one.    Races like the Colorado Classic, the Coors Classic, and The USA Pro Cycling Challenge have all come and gone over the years.  So, we were intrigued when an events company recently announced plans to create the Tour of Colorado – a...

Colorado has an abundance of mountains named after famous men – think Long’s Peak, Mount Wilson, or Pikes Peak.  Since childhood, Sarah Hahn Campbell has been fascinated by the people behind place names. But she discovered little to no information on peaks, lakes or trails named after women.   So, in 2017, the Denver-based author and high school teacher set out to research the mysterious women beh...

There’s a lot of content these days about self-care: how to stay mentally and physically balanced when work, family or other stresses grind you down. We often see social media influencers posting about bubble baths, the perfect tea, or the best skin care routine.  But a new book argues that self-care isn’t simply about focusing on ourselves. Rather, it’s a crucial part of how we show up for other...

You know spring is here when the sound of lawn mowers fills your neighborhood. But some folks think mowing isn’t a great idea this time of year.  There’s been a trend in yard care called No Mow May – as in, don’t mow your lawn until June. The concept started in the U.K. in 2019. The idea is to protect pollinators like bees and butterflies by letting dandelions and clover grow for a while before cu...

Colorado is home to lots of people who are passionate about bicycling. They ride during all seasons.   Our host, Erin O’Toole, however, is more of a casual bike rider, with her bicycle spending many of the colder months cooped up in the garage. This means it often needs some maintenance before going on that first cruise of the year.    So today we’re talking about how to get our bikes ready for su...

For the past seven years if you were a Colorado farmer who was struggling and felt overwhelmed, you had a place to turn for help.     The AgWell program offered mental health support to farmers and ranchers in several Western states. It gave them stress management tools and support from their peers. That’s important because farmers statistically struggle with isolation and die by suicide at rates...

An artist in Lakewood who specializes in creating tiny books and illustrations received an unusual offer recently. An art gallery reached out to Evan Lorenzen and asked for his help in creating a book of original art – no bigger than your thumbnail – to be placed on the moon.      The Moon Gallery, based in Amsterdam, works to send cultural artifacts into space. They’ve shipped artwork to the Inte...

When people speculate about fallout from President Trump's threatened tariffs, they often talk about how tariffs on steel could drive up car prices, or how tariffs on some food products or imported wines will drive up prices at the store.   But tariffs are hitting some small outdoor recreation businesses in Colorado especially hard. Think about the price of a stand-up paddleboard or a ski jacket a...

A new study suggests that researchers should take a closer look at cannabis as a treatment for cancer and its symptoms. The team behind the study says the results suggest the federal government should remove restrictions on that research.   An organization called Cancer Playbook , which is based in Evergreen, paid for the study. Cancer Playbook’s head of research says it works to provide people ba...

An innovative new prosthetic foot dreamed up by students at Colorado State University could offer new options to amputees and other people with limb differences.   The team behind it calls it the “ Goldilocks foot ” because it serves as a middle option. It’s more comfortable than cheaper prosthetics but costs less than prosthetics built for running and other competitive sports. The design team say...

Writer Cassondra Windwalker’s new horror novel uses fiction to highlight a real-life crisis that often goes ignored.   Ghost Girls and Rabbits touches on the thousands of unsolved cases of Indigenous American and Alaska Native women who were missing or murdered. More than 4,000 cases fit that description, according to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs .  The novel tells the story of two Indigenous...

In 2025, artificial intelligence gives us personalized shopping recommendations. It writes emails for us. And all those quick tasks require lightning-fast computing and huge amounts of data. Which is why tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon are building massive data centers around the country.  Some state lawmakers have proposed incentives for companies that want to build data centers in Color...

Some of Colorado’s state laws share an unusual origin story.       One set aside money to help foster kids attend college. Another provides free menstrual products in schools. A third law funded an awareness program to prevent eating disorders.   All of these are laws that were designed and proposed by high school students , who actually drafted the language of each bill before legislators ultimat...

A clinic in Boulder that was one of only a handful in the country to provide abortions in later pregnancy has closed .   Dr. Warren Hern, who operated Boulder Abortion Clinic for 50 years, announced earlier this month that he was retiring and that the clinic would stop scheduling patients.   The closure means one less clinic in Colorado at a time when more women are traveling here from states wher...

Casey Fiesler had an intriguing idea for a research project.     Casey teaches information science and technology at the University of Colorado. And she wanted to create social media content that would help young people understand how artificial intelligence works. The National Science Foundation, or NSF, liked Casey's proposal too — so much that they approved a grant of about $268,000 to fund the...

Fatal traffic accidents involving pedestrians are on the rise in Colorado. In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available,135 pedestrians died in Colorado traffic accidents. That’s more than twice as many pedestrians as died in traffic crashes a decade earlier, according to a story from the Colorado Sun .   But the number of pedestrian deaths has actually decreased in one city. Official...

If you've tried a slew of dieting routines with minimal success – think the Keto Diet, Caveman Diet, or South Beach Diet – a new study says you might have better luck fasting a few days per week.   University of Colorado researchers recently found that participants who fasted three days each week were more successful at losing weight than participants who followed a reduced-calorie diet every day....

Recycled wooden barrels. Used steel beams. Reclaimed railroad ties.  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 Lafeyette location is one of six across the cou...

A growing number of home gardeners are turning to drought-tolerant plantings – think native plants like yucca, milkweed, or yarrow.  For years, many homeowners’ associations in Colorado didn’t make it easy to install xeric landscaping or water-saving tools like rain barrels.    But homeowners, state law is on your side.    In recent years, Colorado legislators passed a handful of laws that make it...

Mountain Plovers are a celebrated bird species in parts of Colorado. But if you’ve never seen one, you’re in the majority.   Mountain Plovers nest on Colorado’s eastern plains and are sometimes referred to as the “prairie ghost” because their sandy-colored plumage makes them hard to spot.   The annual Mountain Plover Festival in Karval – which begins this Friday – celebrates this bird.    The fest...

Colorado health officials are watching with concern as measles cases increase around the country.   Outbreaks of the highly contagious disease are on the rise in two dozen states. Most of the country’s 800 cases so far are in Texas.   But the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed three cases in our state so far – and officials there are warning about the potential for...

Housing costs in Colorado’s mountain resort towns are so high that many workers can’t afford an apartment or room in the towns where they do their jobs.   In Summit County, dozens of workers opt for an unusual solution. They pay $75 a month for a pass that lets them sleep in their car in a parking lot in Frisco.    The nonprofit Unsheltered In Summit runs the Summit Safe Parking Program. The progr...

Leaders in Colorado are grappling with how to respond to the Trump administration's immigration policies that might affect students.  State lawmakers last week gave initial approval to a bill that would limit cooperation between federal immigration officials and public schools.  And for months now, education leaders have been gathering advice on how to respond if immigration raids affect students...

Friendships are an essential part of our well-being. Mental health experts say that loneliness is an epidemic that harms mental health and even physical health.    So, if you want to build better friendships – and strengthen the ones you already have – you might be wondering how to go about it.  Fortunately, there’s a bona fide “friendship expert” at Colorado State University.   Natalie Pennington...