A solar panel that collects energy from the sun – while also helping farmers grow bigger, tastier tomatoes and other crops.

A team of scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden (NREL) say that’s exactly what they’ve developed. And this new type of solar panel could lead to better produce and more widespread solar power generation.

Some farmers already place solar panels on their land and grow crops alongside them. It’s a practice called agrivoltaics.

But the new panels designed by NREL are translucent – meaning they allow certain frequencies of light to pass through and reach crops planted beneath the panels. In fact, NREL scientists used the solar panels as the roof and walls of a greenhouse during their experiments.

Bryon Larson is NREL’s principal researcher on this study. He talked with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole about the solar panels and how they might be used in the future.

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Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Like a lot of people nowadays, Colorado artist Rick Dallago is very invested in selfies. But Rick, who’s a painter, thinks about selfies differently than someone who just snaps a quick self-portrait with their phone.

Rick paints key moments in history and then paints a cell phone into the image. In one painting, a man takes a selfie in front of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. In another, a man uses a selfie stick to capture the moment when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. And other paintings show iconic images, like Michelangelo’s sculpture David, reduced to a snapshot on a tiny cell phone screen.

Rick’s work is on display in a new show called “Thirst Traps.” It’s on display in Denver at The Lab on Santa Fe through July 19.

Rick Dallago joined In the NoCo’s Brad Turner to talk about the ideas behind his paintings.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A few weeks back, Colorado saw three moose attacks on people in just three days. The incidents were reported in the Coloradoan.

The attacks left three people injured. One of the incidents led to a cow moose being shot in self-defense, and her calf being euthanized.

So, as more people head out to hike in the state’s moose territory this summer, we wondered: What are you supposed to do if you encounter an aggressive moose? And how do you avoid a moose attack in the first place?

Bridget O’Rourke who is a Public Information Officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. She spoke with host Erin O’Toole about how to be safe around moose – and what makes them such dangerous animals.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Back in April, a commercial flight carrying 159 people had a major scare as it took off from Denver International Airport: The United Airlines flight struck an animal, which crippled one of the plane’s engines and forced the crew to make an emergency landing.

As it turns out, the threat to aircraft from birds, rabbits and other animals is something DIA officials work hard to manage. Scott Franz, who’s an investigative reporter here at KUNC, recently got his hands on documents that show just how widespread the problem is.

Scott found that last year 878 planes had reported animal strikes while taking off or landing at DIA. And the airport killed or relocated tens of thousands of birds and other animals to limit the potential damage to aircraft.

So: How vulnerable are planes at DIA, and is there a better solution? Scott talked about his story with In The NoCo's Brad Turner.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

The vast space around earth is getting a little crowded.

There are nearly 10,000 satellites in Earth’s low orbit, the space just outside our planet’s atmosphere. And space companies plan to launch tens of thousands more in coming years.

That could led to problems like interruptions to communications from satellites that monitor the weather. Or we could see satellites crashing into one another.

So how do we make rules to prevent those kinds of accidents? And how much regulation of space is too much?

A unique gathering at the University of Colorado Law School this week is confronting those questions. The Space and Spectrum Policy Conference began Tuesday.

Keith Gremban is a professor and co-director of the Spectrum Policy Initiative at CU Boulder and he helped organize this conference. He spoke with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner about why one of the main goals for the conference is simply to raise awareness of these issues.

For more on the dark sky preservation programs Keith mentioned, check out this In The NoCo interview on dark sky programs across Colorado.

Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Last year, Colorado lawmakers passed an unusual law.

It directed every county in the state to set up in-person voting for incarcerated people in jails, many of whom are awaiting trial and haven’t been convicted of a crime.

The new law is the first of its kind in the nation. It's an effort to support voting rights for a population that is often considered out of sight, out of mind.

Alex Burness writes for Bolts, a publication that covers issues of criminal justice and elections. He said that while some cities like Denver have supported voting in jails, Colorado’s statewide initiative was groundbreaking: Turnout in the state’s jails increased roughly by a factor of 10.

Alex spoke in March with host Erin O’Toole about the impact of the new law. We’re listening back to the conversation today.

Read Alex’s article on voting in Colorado jails.

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner

Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.