ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISPATCH

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) has released a draft elk feedgrounds management plan for public review. The plan is designed to guide the department's overall, long-term approach to elk management as it pertains to the 22 Game and Fish-operated elk feedgrounds in western Wyoming. The plan has three main goals: Reduce elk's reliance on feedgrounds: The plan aims to reduce the number of elk that rely on feedgrounds by increasing the availability of natural winter forage. This will help to reduce the spread of disease and improve the overall health of the elk herd. Increase opportunities for elk to winter away from feedgrounds: The plan also aims to increase the number of elk that winter away from feedgrounds by providing more winter range habitat. This will help to reduce conflict between elk and livestock, as well as the risk of elk-vehicle collisions. Maintain current elk population objectives and associated hunting opportunity: The plan is designed to e...

The Pueblo Chieftain, Colorado's oldest continuously published newspaper, announced that it will be shutting down its printing facility in August. The decision will result in the layoff of 51 employees, who are responsible for printing the Chieftain and other Gannett properties currently printed in Pueblo. The closure of the printing facility is part of a larger cost-cutting effort by Gannett, the parent company of the Chieftain. Gannett has been facing declining revenue in recent years, as more and more people have shifted to reading news online. The company has said that it needs to make changes in order to remain profitable. The decision to close the Pueblo printing facility has been met with mixed reactions. Some people have expressed concern about the loss of jobs, while others have said that it is a necessary step in the newspaper's transition to a digital future. The Chieftain's printing operation has been in operation since 1902. The facility is located ...

Image: Gustav Graeber and Carlos D. Díaz-Marín In a new study published in the journal Nature Materials, engineers at MIT have developed a superabsorbent hydrogel that can absorb an unprecedented amount of moisture from the air, even in desert-like conditions. The material, which is infused with lithium chloride, can hold up to 200 times its weight in water, and it can do so even when the relative humidity is as low as 30%. This makes the hydrogel a potential game-changer for water harvesting in arid regions. Currently, the most common way to harvest water from the air is through the use of atmospheric water generators (AWGs). AWGs work by cooling air below its dew point, causing the water vapor to condense and form liquid water. However, AWGs are expensive and require a significant amount of energy to operate. The MIT hydrogel, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive and easy to produce. It can also be used in a passive manner, meaning that it does not require any ext...

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has released its first image of Saturn, and it is simply stunning. The image, taken in the near-infrared spectrum, shows the planet in unprecedented detail, revealing its delicate rings and cloud bands in all their glory. The image was taken using JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which is one of the telescope's four main instruments. NIRCam is designed to image objects in the near-infrared spectrum, which allows it to see through dust and gas that would otherwise obscure our view of objects in the visible spectrum. This makes it ideal for studying objects like Saturn, which are surrounded by thick atmospheres and rings. In the new image, Saturn's rings appear as a delicate filigree of light, surrounding the planet's bright yellow disk. The rings are made up of billions of small ice particles, which are held in orbit around the planet by its gravity. The particles in the rings range in size from dust grains to small ...