Science and Technology

Fracking documentaries square off in Boulder tonight

Filmmakers Josh Fox and Phelim McAleer are having quite an argument, but mostly on film and not in the same room. Both men will be in Boulder tonight at the same time to present documentaries that claim to expose the truth about using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in natural gas drilling. But t ... More >>

Team Titan

A bizarre episode of father-son bonding in the 21st century

Cinemania

Lost in Space

Fracking moratorium in Boulder County extended to June, residents placated -- for now

With the public speaking out overwhelmingly against hydraulic fracturing in Boulder County, the board of commissioners voted unanimously to temporarily extend the existing moratorium on processing drill permits until June 10, 2013. And while the decision didn't please everyone, many saw it as a step ... More >>

Fracking opponents' horror stories exaggerated, says FrackNation director in town tonight

The hydraulic fracturing process involves pumping chemicals into the ground to free oil and gas reserves trapped in tight shale formations. The debate over fracking's environmental risks isn't all that different; it's become a battle to squeeze a few facts out of stubbornly entrenched forces, amid a ... More >>

Quicksand

Tuesday, January 15, Bluebird Theater, 888-929-7849.

The conversion story in Promised Land is sometimes a hard sell

Fracking the North Fork: Protests pour in over BLM lease plan

When Colorado native son Ken Salazar became Barack Obama's Secretary of the Interior four years ago, it was widely expected that he would steer a more "balanced" course through the energy wars across the West, pulling back on the drill-baby-drill mantra of the Bush years. It hasn't worked out that w ... More >>

Meet the 2012 Denver #WebAwards winners

Abound Solar: Ex-NREL exec defends bankrupt firm, government investments in renewables

In March, when news broke about layoffs at Abound Solar, a Colorado business with government support, the chief financial officer told us he was aware his company could be used as a political football in the presidential race. In June, Abound went bankrupt and has recently been the source of more ne ... More >>

What has the National Renewable Energy Lab done for the public good?

See also: Top fifteen inventions and innovations of the National Renewable Energy Lab

Photos: Top fifteen inventions and innovations of the National Renewable Energy Lab

In this week's feature, "Sun Burn," we go inside the National Renewable Energy Lab -- the federal facility in Golden that has for 35 years been dedicated to innovations in energy efficiency. In print, we take an in-depth look at NREL's important role in solar energy and other industries over the pas ... More >>

Fracking-regulations battle on federal lands heats up

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is on record as saying that hydraulic fracturing methods to extract oil and gas "can be done safely," but he's not overly impressed with varying state rules overseeing the drilling process. He's been pushing in recent months for his department to tighten its req ... More >>

The Bookery Nook, an independent bookstore and ice cream parlor, is closing

After more than three years of selling books, local goods and ice cream, the Bookery Nook is closing its doors August 31. "Three factors played into that," says Bookery Nook owner Shannon Piserchio. "The economy -- definitely; book sales have dropped significantly because of e-books; and then the co ... More >>

Fracking: Website tries to show oil and drilling are great for Colorado

Oil and drilling do wonderful things for Colorado, and government better stay out of the industry's way. This seems to be an underlying message behind a new web portal launched this week by the Western Energy Alliance, a Colorado-based group that represents hundreds of oil and gas companies in th ... More >>

Fracking: Aurora votes to "lease" water to Anadarko Petroleum

Gaylord Entertainment dumped its plans for a giant hotel/convention center/resort in Aurora, and GE has postponed its big new plant in Aurora -- if not ditched it entirely. But at least Aurora had control over one business deal: It had no problem selling its water to an oil and gas company.

Abound Solar bankruptcy: Does it raise concerns about Colorado's energy industry?

News broke yesterday that Abound Solar, a Colorado-based solar panel maker that has struggled for months -- notably with a major round of layoffs in February -- has officially filed for bankruptcy.

ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson rejects "fear factor" in climate change research

Give Rex Tillerson some credit. At least the ExxonMobil CEO has avoided claiming that global warming isn't real, the way tobacco executives used to pretend lung cancer was just some weird, wacky, luck-of-the-draw disease that had no linkage to massive consumption of their product. Tillerson just h ... More >>

National Renewable Energy Lab is building homes of the future that are smarter than you

In the future, your home and its appliances might talk to you, make decisions for you, and, if the National Renewable Energy Lab is successful, help you save money. And, you know, make Planet Earth a greener place. Get more details and see photos of our domestic future below.

Photos: Diana DeGette's clean-energy tour to Coolerado, RavenBrick

Tucked inside a small room in an industrial building just south of I-70 and west of Holly Street, three leaders from a clean tech company called Coolerado explained to Congresswoman Diana DeGette how they are turning the traditional air conditioning process upside down.

Boulder inventor begins grassroots campaign to launch new photography invention

Necessity is the mother of invention, and when Cindy Lichfield needed a way to photograph her jewelry without getting the usual hot spots, strange reflections and strong shadows that often show up in pictures of metal and stone, she invented the Cloud Dome -- a plastic translucent dome that diffuses ... More >>

Smart meters can be stupid: Share your story and win $50

The 500-space, three-month parking pilot project that's installed sensors under many of the meters downtown may enable Denver to teach its Smart meters new tricks -- including zeroing out any time left on a meter when a car pulls out. But those sensors weren't smart enough to fix two dumb situations ... More >>

Smart meters in downtown Denver could outwit scofflaws in pilot project

Like colorful spring flowers, red-bagged meters are popping up all over downtown. They're part of a pilot program testing just how smart Denver's Smart meters really are. Are they smart enough to know when you attempt to plug a meter? Are they smart enough to rat you out?

Fracking the North Fork Valley: Opponents exult as BLM defers drilling

Yesterday the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced that it would remove 22 proposed oil and gas parcels in the scenic North Fork Valley from a summer lease sale, opting instead to "conduct additional analysis...based on public input." And the public that's been deluging the BLM with input -- obj ... More >>

Photos of Angie, documentary about the life and death of Angie Zapata, on Hulu

Photos of Angie, a documentary about the murder of transgender Greeley teen Angie Zapata, can now be viewed for free on the website Hulu. Made by local filmmaker Alan Dominguez of Loco Lane Films, the film features interviews with Angie's family and friends, gay-rights activists involved in the case ... More >>

Cory Gardner talks energy prices, takes lobbyist cash

This past Saturday, Colorado Representative Cory Gardner, a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, was tapped to offer the Weekly Republican Address on skyrocketing energy costs. But at the same time, a CBS report showed that he's been expending lots of gas on another topic.

Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention: Inside the World of Wank-Craft

The main virtual hall​ Most conventions are pants-mandatory kinds of affairs -- even those of the adult nature. For the world's first virtual porn convention, however, I'm not wearing any (relax...I'm in my PJs). This past weekend, XBiz and Red Light Center hosted the Adult Entertainment Virt ... More >>

The international FameLab competition is like "American Idol meets Bill Nye the Science Guy"

Wikimedia Commons​"Think of it as American Idol meets Bill Nye the Science Guy," says David Grinspoon, astrobiology curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is his best description of FameLab, an international competition for young scientists that has made its way across the p ... More >>

Are you smarter than a Cherry Creek High school student?

Why do photovoltaic cells have p-type and n-type layers? * What causes stars to twinkle?* If you know the answers to these questions, you might qualify for the winning team of the Colorado Science Bowl. You might even be smarter than a Cherry Creek High school student!

What the Frack?!: Grassroots group pushes for fracking moratorium in Arapahoe County

The first time Sonia Skakich-Scrima learned about fracking, she was reading the Denver Business Journal almost a year ago to date. What she read alarmed her, but what she Googled afterward tripled that. "I tried to understand why we didn't care about the environment or the aftermath," she says. "I ... More >>

Fracking is booming, but a friendlier name couldn't hurt. Drill, baby, drill!

The word of the year? Our money (and yours) is on "fracking," the shortened term for "hydraulic fracturing," a practice that shook neighborhoods (in some cases literally) around the country this year, and has fueled the oil and gas boom in northeastern Colorado. But if energy execs really want to dr ... More >>

Encana blasts EPA report linking fracking to Wyoming water pollution

Encana WY drill rig. ​In a telephone conference with journalists this morning, officials of the Canadian energy giant Encana sharply disputed an EPA draft report that linked the company's gas drilling operations in Wyoming to contamination of residents' drinking water, calling the report badly ... More >>

Fracking the North Fork: Paonia residents rally against drilling assault

​Thanks to the increasing push for more oil and gas drilling, communities once considered out of the fray are being drawn into the controversies over hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" -- even folks in the stunning North Fork Valley, an area better known for its organic farms, ranches operate ... More >>

Fracking lovefest blooms from John Hickenlooper's gas play

​Yesterday, amid an unusually genial gathering of environmental and energy leaders, Governor John Hickenlooper unveiled new state rules requiring detailed disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") methods of drilling for oil and gas -- a major step toward transpa ... More >>

Fracking: Polluted water in Wyoming could spell trouble in Colorado

Colorado oil pads.​The release of an EPA report detailing suspected groundwater contamination from gas drilling operations in Wyoming comes just as Colorado is weighing tougher restrictions and wider disclosures about the hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" process -- and may serve as Exhibit A ... More >>

CDOT is looking for help with an I-70 phone app

2011 Denver #WebAwards winners announced!

Photos: 2011 Denver #WebAwards party

Fracking: Congress needs to drill into the issue, says Diana DeGette

Diana DeGette.​As reported in this space on Friday, a new study from Common Cause tracks how oil and gas interests spent $747 million on lobbying and campaign donations since 2001 to win congressional support for "fracking," hydraulic fracturing drilling methods that involve using toxic chemic ... More >>

Medical marijuana seed-to-sale tracking system already worrying advocates -- but should it?

​In August, the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division awarded a $1.5 million contract to Franwell Inc. to institute a seed-to-sale marijuana tracking method for Colorado MMJ enterprises using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. And while the system isn't expected to be in place ... More >>

Google further monetizes YouTube, which means enduring ads on every music video

​After a four year legal battle with over 3,000 independent music publishers, YouTube has agreed to pay licensing fees to the National Music Publishers Association. While this doesn't affect YouTube's preexisting contracts with the four major labels, it does change the way YouTube and its pare ... More >>

We talk with the DMNS Curator of Health Sciences about Gattaca

​Tomorrow evening brings the final entry in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's Sci-Fi Film Series at the Phipps Theater, with Gattaca closing the sequence out with a biological bang. As we have been doing lately, we caught up with the DMNS' Curator and Department Chair of Health Science ... More >>

Fracking contamination "inconceivable," says John Hickenlooper -- but EPA disagrees

​Governor John Hickenlooper has walked a taut tightrope on energy issues since taking office, pushing for more natural gas drilling in a state already leading the region in drilling starts, while at the same time nudging the industry toward greater disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic ... More >>

Spotify finally launches in the U.S. What is it?

​It might not have been on purpose, but Spotify's constant delays in coming stateside have somehow managed to create an organic buzz for the streaming music service unlike anything that could have been done intentionally.

The Bookery Nook adds an ice cream parlor -- featuring Liks!

Pick up a scoop of your favorite flavor with your new book.​Shannon Piserchio, who co-owns The Bookery Nook with her husband, Gary, used to write posts on Facebook asking someone, anyone, to open an ice cream shop near their place at 4280 Tennyson Street. She didn't know she was talking to her ... More >>

Modmarket needs your help to step up its social media game

​While Facebook pages and Twitter handles have become a staple on most restaurants' business cards, Boulder-based Modmarket wants to stand out. Sure, it will continue to use Facebook and Twitter accounts, but they'd be seamlessly integrated into the official website. "The idea is that we'd l ... More >>

When NASA's space shuttle program dies tomorrow, a little of the American dream dies with it

Take one last look.​It was former President George W. Bush who enacted the end of NASA's space shuttle program, set for this year, but he did so in order to make way for a new program, which he promised would usher in new technology, bring humans to Mars and give new breath to the dying space ... More >>

Denver International Airport snow can be caused by planes inadvertently seeding clouds?

Heymsfield.​Why is snow so common at Denver International Airport? A new study led by Andrew Heymsfield, a cloud physicist at Boulder's National Center for Atmospheric Research, and published in the journal Science suggests that planes can inadvertently seed clouds under the right conditions, ... More >>

Have you ever typed a letter... on a computer?

Hey Kim. You've got something on your face.​Holy crap, have we forgotten how much the computer has made our lives easier. We're not talking about the non-stop stream of free porn -- we're talking about word processing. What's word processing? Well, if you've forgotten (or weren't born yet), wo ... More >>