Oregon State University Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

An enhanced database helps predict wildfires

By Johanna Bejarano August 1, 2024

Boise State University's interactive wildfires visualization map.

Researchers from Idaho and Oregon participated in research to improve the Fire Program Analysis Fire Occurrence Database, or FPA-FOD, which contains historical data on more than two million wildfires in the United States. These improvements might be the key to better predicting wildfires in the Northwest.Read More

Study shows short pesticide exposure harms fish

By Courtney Flatt March 11, 2024

Researcher Sara Hutton, a doctoral graduate of OSU, extracts RNA for qPCR to test gene expression of genes effected by pyrethroid exposure in the different generations of inland silverside fish. […]Read More

WSU alumni, students worry about the future of athletics after Pac-12 news

By Courtney Flatt August 11, 2023

The Ol' Crimson flag waves during an ESPN College GameDay. (Courtesy Of Ol' Crimson Booster Club)

The Ol’ Crimson flag waves during an ESPN College GameDay. (Courtesy: Ol’ Crimson Booster Club) Listen (Runtime 0:50) Read Every ESPN College GameDay, somewhere in the crowd you can see […]Read More

Earliest stone point artifacts found in Idaho, tribes say deep knowledge could help Americans’ survival

By Anna King January 6, 2023

Stone projectile points discovered buried inside and outside of pit features at the Cooper’s Ferry site.

Researchers with Oregon State University in coordination with the Nez Perce tribe have found stone artifacts that date back about 3,000 years earlier than other finds in the Americas. Fourteen projectile points found along Idaho’s Salmon River - some just fragments - are delicately flaked, razor sharp and made of various stones.Read More

Want To Know Whether You’ve Been Exposed To COVID-19? This App Could Help

By Tom Banse November 25, 2020

Contact tracers may call you if you have been exposed to COVID-19, but with this upcoming app, your smartphone might be able to do it faster.

University students and staff in the Pacific Northwest are giving a trial run to a smartphone app that tells you if you were recently near someone who just tested positive for COVID-19. State health departments are rolling out similar apps across the country to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Read More

Not Logging Some Northwest Forests Could Offset Climate Change, Study Finds

By Cassandra Profita December 24, 2019

Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay, Ore. CREDIT: Ore. Dept. of State Lands

Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California-Berkeley looked at which forests in the Western United States should be prioritized for preservation under climate change scenarios.Read More

Take A Fresh Look At Frozen Seafood And Prepare To Be Surprised

By Tom Banse November 6, 2019

If you ask American consumers whether fresh seafood or previously frozen tastes better, you are bound to get "fresh" as the answer. But blind taste tests conducted by Oregon State University found that fish caught and quickly frozen at sea rated as good or better than supposedly "fresh" fish bought at the supermarket.Read More

Don’t Want Plastic With Your Seafood? Neither Do Otters And Orcas In Northwest Waters

By Tom Banse October 2, 2019

OSU masters student Katherine Lasdin separates the innards of a donated rockfish at the Port of Newport, Oregon, for later analysis to see if it ingested microplastics. CREDIT: TOM BANSE/N3

Plastics in the ocean food chain has become a hot topic for local scientists, for similar reasons city and state policy makers and activists are debating plastic bag bans and how to reduce plastic straw and bottled water usage. All are concerned that the world's oceans are awash in plastic trash and fibers.Read More

Scientists Look To The Shaky Future By Probing Lakes To Learn From Great Quakes Of The Past

By Tom Banse September 19, 2019

On Leland Lake near Quilcene, Washington, the researchers pulled cores by hand from the lake bottom working from an improvised raft rig. CREDIT: CHRIS GOLDFINGER / OSU

Multiple teams of earthquake researchers are looking in what may seem like an unlikely place to figure out how strongly the Northwest shook during great quakes in the past.They're poking around the bottom of lakes in Western Washington and Oregon. It turns out lakes preserve a nifty earthquake record that can shed light on the next "Really Big One."Read More

Plastic’s New Threat: Indestructible Rafts For Ocean-Crossing Invasive Species

By NWPB News August 2, 2019

Marine organisms like these gooseneck barnacles are crossing the Pacific Ocean to North America by hitching rides on floating debris composed of man-made materials — mostly plastic. Courtesy of Russ Lewis

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Fukushima, Japan, also triggered tsunami warnings for our coastlines here in the Pacific Northwest. And while the resulting waves did not turn out to be catastrophic when they reached our local shores, those same forces delivered a wake-up call.Read More

Whatever Happened To The Sensational Seaweed That Supposedly Tastes Like Bacon?

By Tom Banse July 24, 2019

Dulse is the common name for a seaweed that has hints of bacon taste when cooked. CREDIT: TOM BANSE/N3

Oregon State University created something of a sensation back in 2015 when researchers announced they discovered and patented "seaweed that tastes like bacon." Four years later, the hard work of commercialization continues, but guilt-free bacon from the sea remains elusive.Read More

Oregon State University Gets Hemp Research Center Amid Surge In Farmer Interest

By Tom Banse June 14, 2019

Industrial hemp seedlings grow at an Oregon State University research plot near Aurora, Oregon. CREDIT: OSU

Oregon State University has established what it considers to be the nation's largest hemp research center. This comes amid a surge of farmer interest in the Northwest to grow the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana.Read More

Scent Research Could Help More Salmon Find Their Way Home

By Jes Burns December 6, 2018

OSU's Maryam Kamran is conducting research on salmon olfactory homing in an effort to prevent hatchery fish on the Elk River from straying. CREDIT: JES BURNS/OPB

Apparently, salmon don’t like the smell of watercress. The aroma of shrimp doesn’t pique their interest either. And the fragrance, eu de steelhead? A definite no-go.Read More

Old Growth Could Be Key For Native Songbird Species To Beat Climate-Change Heat

By Jes Burns October 1, 2018

OSU PhD student Hankyu Kim set a decoy designed to trigger the territorial instinct of hermit warblers. The small songbirds will be caught, tagged and released so their movements can be tracked. CREDIT: GREG DAVIS

Increasingly hot and dry summers in Oregon and Washington have started to affect some of our most impressive travelers – the songbirds that migrate thousands of miles to breed here each spring.Read More

Bubble Hunters: Ocean Scientists Count 1,000 Methane Seeps Off Pacific Northwest Coast

By Tom Banse August 31, 2018

Oregon-based researchers deployed an ROV to sample methane vents off the Pacific Northwest coast this summer. CREDIT: OCEAN EXPLORATION TRUST

Ocean researchers have found nearly 1,000 methane seep sites along the continental shelf of the Pacific Northwest. The bubble streams could be a sign of offshore energy potential, represent a greenhouse gas threat — or be neither of those things at all.Read More

Scientists Sunk A Rare Blue Whale Skeleton. Now They Need Money To Bring It Back Up

By Tom Banse August 20, 2018

An OSU team salvaged the bones from this blue whale in late 2015. CREDIT: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

There’s a set of massive whale bones resting on the bottom of the bay in Newport, Oregon. Scientists from Oregon State University put them there with a plan for a future display on shore. But they’re having trouble finding the money to retrieve the rare blue whale skeleton from beneath the waves.Read More

OSU Scientists Say They’ve Created A New Sunscreen Out Of Plant Waste

By Kristian Foden-Vencil May 14, 2018

A field of sun-soaked meadowfoam. Scientists at OSU think the plant can be used to make sunscreen. CREDIT: Radcliffe_photos/Flickr

Whilst looking at the waste product of the meadowfoam plant, scientists at Oregon State University think they’ve found a potential new ingredient for sunscreen.Read More

Tracking Whales In Puget Sound Is As Easy As Following Genetic ‘Bread Crumbs’ Left Behind

By Jes Burns April 22, 2018

Members of Puget Sound's south resident orca population. CREDIT: NOAA

Researchers at Oregon State University have worked out a way to detect and identify whales long after they move on — just by sampling the water.Read More