TerraPower began construction last month on its first power plant of this kind in southwest Wyoming as a $4 billion demonstration project cofunded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Now it is interested in building one in Kansas.

Kansas could get a second nuclear power plant. This one would be advanced nuclear power -- built by a company cofounded by Bill Gates. Deets here. Plus the reasons why KS clean energy advocates have some concerns: www.kcur.org/environment-... #cleanenergy

For the first time, NPR's Student Podcast Challenge has a returning champion: a California fifth grader who explored a dark chapter in U.S. history during World War II.

Happy autumn equinox! ✨🍁🦇🍄‍🟫🍃🦔 Here’s a little autumn critter parade to wish you an invigorating and beautiful fresh season ahead 🧡🦝🍂🎃 I painted this a little while back using gouache paints, which I don’t use very often, hoping to experiment with them more soon! 🎨

Despite video evidence of an attack clearly showing Philip March fighting for control with a man in the driver's seat of his car, Hazelwood's police and prosecuting attorney focused their attention on March. (@stlpublicradio.bsky.social)

The US Army Corps of Engineers is doing a test run of an underwater dredging method right now in Kansas. This method hasn't been used on a lake before, so it's unclear whether it will work: www.kcur.org/news/2025-09...

Industrial waste processing & recycling plant could get a vote tonight in KCK without the expected public meetings. Neighbors in the low-income, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood are worried about the facility. www.kcur.org/news/2025-09...

Lead exposure is a common issue in southeast Kansas and nearby parts of Missouri and Oklahoma. Health experts say there are few accessible resources for high-risk communities. https://loom.ly/0qlxmW0

The Senate voted by a razor-thin margin late Tuesday to advance debate on a package of funding cuts requested by President Trump that would claw back $1.1 billion previously allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (@npr.org) https://loom.ly/XzCPOQs

208 counties in the U.S. are now considered news deserts without a single source of local news. More than half of the nation’s 3,000+ counties have little to no local news left. Public radio is countering this, providing local, quality content. Tell Congress to protect it. protectmypublicmedia.org

New episode of Up From Dust! An adventure on the Kansas River with people who love it and are making it a better place: www.kcur.org/2025-07-02/k...

How to pick the right fixtures and bulbs for wildlife-friendly outdoor lighting at home | www.kcur.org/news/2025-07...

"The House just passed a bill to take back $1.1 billion in public media broadcasting funding that has already been approved by Congress." www.kcur.org/inside-kcur/...

This might be the absolute greatest reply we have ever received. Thank you, Cookie Monster 📕🍪💙

President Trump is asking lawmakers to claw back the $1.1 billion in federal subsidies for public broadcasting that Congress approved earlier this year. www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

New ep of Up From Dust! Light pollution feels out of our control, right? Come visit the 12th urban night sky spot in the world. And hear how we actually can rein in light pollution -- with payoffs for ourselves, for wildlife and more: www.kcur.org/2025-06-03/s... #darkskies

The first prairie I planted in Kansas is only a decade old. Truly a blip in time.

Scientists found that since 2003 the quantity of groundwater depleted in the Colorado River Basin is comparable to the total capacity of Lake Mead. Much of the depletion is occurring in Arizona, where the bulk of the water is pumped to irrigate farmland in the desert. www.latimes.com/environment/...

NEWS: NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sue Trump White House over effort to ban federal funding for NPR & PBS The lawsuit calls Trump's executive order "textbook retaliation" for protected free speech - threatening public radio My story: www.npr.org/2025/05/27/n...

So excited and honored to win an Edward R. Murrow Award today for my work covering southern Utah with @kuer.org 📻🥹🎉 Big thanks to my editors and to all the folks who trusted me to share their stories in my reporting this past year. Full list of winning entries: www.rtdna.org/2025-regiona...

Humans are killing helpful insects in hundreds of ways − simple steps can reduce the harm | theconversation.com/humans-are-k...

President Trump signed an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease direct and indirect funding for @npr.org and its member stations, which include KCUR and Classical KC. Here's what we know right now — including how you can help.

How Herbicide Drift from Farms Is Harming Trees in Midwest | e360.yale.edu/features/her...

A thing I’ve gotten from studying lawn alternatives for 4 years is: Nativeness is not the only valid metric of success. You have to consider cost, labor, & scale when it comes to lawn alternatives Otherwise, outside of native plant ppl, only rich people w/ landscaping crews will have native lawns

Every episode is a banger. This one is about how to get rid of your lawn and they teased the next one about dark skies! I can’t wait. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u... @kcur.org @celialj.bsky.social

A ton of research has ground to a halt in the US. Including this -- a US Dept of Energy initiative that aimed to dramatically cut fertilizer-related pollution: The Trump administration pauses a moonshot push to grow biofuel crops with less fertilizer www.kcur.org/news/2025-05...

More severe heat and wildfires are leading to worsening pollution across much of the U.S., a new report finds.

I include @prairieecologist.bsky.social's blog in my enviro news RSS because I need the eye candy! Perfect example: prairieecologist.com/2025/04/03/c...

NEW - A 3-person team working to expand wastewater testing and monitor disease spread in Jackson County was eliminated after HHS abruptly canceled grants in late March On the fallout of funding cuts to KC-area health agencies ——> w/ @kacen.bsky.social www.kansascity.com/news/politic...

Known variously as dogtooth violet and trout/fawn lily, Erythronium albidum is beginning to bloom in native woodland soils, with the flower/bud pointed toward the ground for protection from the spring showers. Latest @kvalmanac.bsky.social: lawrenceks.news/43D97OH

JUST IN: Federal health agencies have to slash their spending by more than a third, on top of the 10,000-person staffing cuts.

New episode of Up From Dust! Soil health is all the rage. It's also big $$$. But what if the products you're buying aren't worth the dough? Come learn about a kind of microbe everyone wants in their soil -- and the billion-dollar industry that sells it. www.kcur.org/2025-04-01/t...

🚨 Climate data isn't disappearing - just the government websites that share it 📊 The administration is removing "climate change" from federal sites, but you can find the data 1️⃣ archive.org's Wayback Machine 2️⃣ FedEnviroData.org for preserved datasets 3️⃣ OSF.io for researcher-uploaded gov data

This week on the Incidental Comics newsletter: Five Ways To Slow Down Time incidentalcomics.substack.com/p/creative-r...

Hundreds of students abroad are caught up in USAID cuts to K-State food security programs | Additionally, feds have not reimbursed K-State for about $1m in unpaid bills related to its global food security work. And the payment portal is now closed. #ksleg www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

The canceled USDA programs help schools include fresh and local produce in their cafeterias: www.kcur.org/news/2025-03...

The questions that kids ask. :)

Andrew Farnsworth, a visiting scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said solving bird collisions is less daunting than other environmental calamities. “This one is a pretty easy one,” he said, “in the sense that there are very specific kinds of actions that lead to conservation successes.”

Cities in the middle of the continent, such as Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas, take a heavy toll on migrating birds. For birds, these population centers pose endless hazards right along one of the most important migration corridors on the planet. But scientists know how to make buildings safer.

An ornithologist spent four decades tracking 40,000 bird deaths at a single building. His records paved the way to better scientific and public understanding. @celialj.bsky.social

Excited to get a prairie planted Monday with support from @lizkoziol.bsky.social My first mycorrhizal inoculant experimental planting.

Up From Dust is back! This episode: The young scientist who 'brazenly trespassed' in 1978 and unwittingly started upon a 40-year journey to understand why one place was killing so many birds. Hear him tell his story: www.kcur.org/2025-03-04/c... #ecology #birds #birding

“How are clouds’ shapes made?” asks Amanda, age 5, from Chile. In our latest Curious Kids column, University of Albany environmental sciences professor Ross Lazear answers this fascinating question. #curiouskids #weather

Funding freeze leaves Kansas farmers unpaid for work they already completed | “Now the USDA is telling me I may not get paid and I don't understand how that's possible.” www.hppr.org/hppr-news/20...

People mad at the Trump administration shouted down Republican Sen. Roger Marshall at a town hall meeting today in rural Kansas. Kansas News Service reporter Calen Moore was there. #ksleg www.kcur.org/2025-03-01/k...

Mass firings hit critical National Weather Service and NOAA offices. Via @byscottdance.com wapo.st/4hX87ZQ

Bonus points if you use this word in your next 'Out Of Office' reply.

If you’re a federal scientist who has been fired, and are willing to talk about your work and its importance, please email me at [email protected]. Joe Spring, online science editor, Smithsonian magazine. (If you aren’t, can you repost this so more fired scientists can see it?)

Most years, opossums, bobcats, raccoons, cottontails, muskrats and coyotes are beginning to mate now, while foxes, squirrels and beavers are most likely already pregnant. Latest @kvalmanac.bsky.social: lawrenceks.news/3XhGpib

More than 200 FEMA employees fired, raising concerns among disaster experts | www.npr.org/2025/02/21/n...