Science and Innovation

It’s been one year since the coronavirus disease first appeared in China. More than eleven million people have been infected with COVID-19 in the United States alone, and confirmed cases continue to rise in almost every state, including Arizona. Public health experts say this winter will be a challenging time for controlling the pandemic, as cold weather drives activities indoors, and upcoming holidays tempt people to travel and gather in groups. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with infectious disease expert Dr. Paul Keim about how to handle a holiday season with COVID-19 as an uninvited guest.

At the end of the last Ice Age roughly ten thousand years ago, hunting was a group sport. That’s because hunters in North and South America had to tackle big prey like mammoths and giant camels. Archeologists often assume ancient hunters were men, but a new archeological study questions that idea. It argues at least some of those early indigenous hunters were female. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny speaks with anthropologist Jim Watson of the University of Arizona about upending the “man the hunter” myth.

Lees Ferry on the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam is a world-famous rainbow trout fishery. But in recent years a different nonnative fish, the brown trout, has started to grow in numbers. The brown trout is a predatory fish that gobbles up not only the rainbows but also endangered native species in the Grand Canyon. Now, state and federal wildlife agencies have come up with a plan to reduce their numbers. They’re paying people to go fishing. Starting today, anglers can earn 25 dollars a head for catching and harvesting brown trout. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Ken Hyde, chief of science at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, about the new incentive program.

Researchers at Northern Arizona University have been keeping a close eye on sewage for clues to the spread of COVID-19. They say wastewater monitoring can be a powerful tool for altering authorities to possible coronavirus outbreaks, especially in crowded living conditions like university dorms. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with NAU’s Dr. Crystal Hepp about how the research is part of a “search and destroy” strategy to help university administrators focus coronavirus testing where it’s needed the most.

In autumn swarms of flying insects cloud the skies on the lower Colorado River near Bullhead City. Caddisflies are a nuisance to recreationists who want to boat, swim or fish on the river. So city officials have started an unprecedented experiment to get rid of them. They recently tweaked the operation of Davis Dam to lower the river’s level and try to kill off the bugs. But just three hundred miles upriver another first-of-its-kind experiment is happening at Glen Canyon Dam, with the goal of SAVING caddisflies, not killing them. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports on how the Southwest’s largest river ended up in a tug-of-war over a tiny bug.