Published Nov 3, 2023 by Alaska Native News

Alaskans and visitors may be able to see an artificial airglow in the sky created by the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program during a four-day research campaign that starts Saturday.

Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Cornell University, University of Colorado Denver, University of Florida and Georgia Institute of Technology will conduct a variety of experiments at the UAF-operated research site.

The experiments will focus on the ionosphere, the region of the atmosphere between about 30 and 350 miles above the Earth’s surface. 

Scientists will investigate ionosphere mechanisms that cause optical emissions. They’ll also try to understand whether certain plasma waves — gas so hot that electrons get knocked off atoms — amplify other very low frequency waves. And they’ll investigate how satellites can use plasma waves in the ionosphere for collision detection and avoidance.

Each day, the airglow could be visible up to 300 hundred miles from the HAARP facility in Gakona. The site lies about 200 miles northeast of Anchorage and 230 miles southeast of Fairbanks, or about 300 to 350 kilometers.

HAARP creates airglow by exciting electrons in Earth’s ionosphere, similar to how solar energy creates natural aurora, with on and off pulses of high-frequency radio transmissions. HAARP’s Ionospheric Research Instrument, a phased array of 180 high-frequency antennas spread across 33 acres, can radiate 3.6 megawatts into the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. 

The airglow, if visible, will appear as a faint red or possibly green patch. Because of the way the human eye operates, the airglow might be easier to see when looking just to the side.

Published Nov 3, 2023 by Jack Barnwell

An update from an organization conducting an ongoing study of the air quality in the Fairbanks North Star Borough nonattainment area may indicate that emission sources from power plants contribute less sulfur dioxide than previously thought.

Bill Simpson, a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute researcher, presented the latest details from the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis team to the borough’s Air Pollution Control Commission Wednesday night.

ALPACA involves more than 100 researchers and scientists from 20 organizations who have been studying the air quality in Fairbanks and North Pole. More than 40 people were in Fairbanks in February 2022 to conduct surveys and monitoring.

Published Nov 3, 2023 by Chris Bieri

STEM Day

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, UAA ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building, Science Circle

This free, family-friendly event promotes careers and education opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There will be tours of UAA’s engineering research labs plus special demonstrations from the chemistry and physics departments. Students can tackle any one of the more than 30 hands-on activities related to science experiments, robotics, anatomy and electronic design.

Published Nov 3, 2023

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a lecture on the 1869 bombardment of Ḵaachx̱haan.áak’w in honor of Native American Heritage Month. Presented by Zachary Jones, Ph.D., the lecture will be given at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Walter Soboleff Building and live streamed on SHI’s YouTube channel. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Jones’ lecture, titled “The U.S. Army’s 1869 Bombardment and Terrorization of the Tlingit Village of Ḵaachx̱haan.áak’w,” overviews the U.S. Army’s 1869 terrorization and attack of individuals from the Alaska Native community of Ḵaachx̱haan.áak’w, part of present-day Wrangell.

Jones, a historian and archivist based in Alaska, holds a Ph.D. in ethnohistory from University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research focuses on Northwest Coast art history and Tlingit history. Jones has published in history, anthropology, art history, museum, and archival science journals. He currently works for the National Park Service’s Museum Program in Anchorage.



Published Nov 3, 2023 by Gavin Struve

With a chance to climb back to .500, the University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team suffered a second consecutive loss on the tails of their four-game win streak.

With the defeat, the ‘Nooks’ hopes of climbing into the top-four of the GNAC standings, and perhaps reaching the NCAA DII volleyball tournament, are all but gone.

The Nanooks (13-15 overall, 6-8 GNAC) were competitive in all three sets but never felt like they had control despite a couple of small early leads. Head coach Brian Scott attributed the defeat — which was UAF’s second sweep at the hands of the Saints (15-8, 8-5) in as many matchups this season — to a variety of little things.

Despite being outscored by 15 points between the three sets, the Nanooks finished with just one fewer kill than the Saints. However, UAF accumulated nine more errors, largely attack errors.

“It’s not like it was a horrible number [of errors] but it just was worse than what their number was,” Scott said postgame. “[Saint Martin’s] played a really clean game tonight. They played really really well. It’s not like we played bad, they just played better.”

Published Nov 3, 2023

Three projects to evaluate the feasibility of extracting rare earth elements (REEs) and platinum group metals (PGMs) from macroalgae have been awarded $5 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The University of Fairbanks will investigate whether seaweed farms could be developed with the harvest of rare earth elements in mind 

1. University of Alaska Fairbanks will investigate the accumulation potential of REEs in hyper-accumulating native seaweed species growing around the coast of the Bokan Mountain rare earth element deposit in Southeast Alaska. The project will conduct a comprehensive environmental survey to understand how natural erosion transports rare earth elements from ridge to ocean. The team will then collect native seaweed species and conduct biomass tissue chemical composition and polymer analysis to create maps of coastal sites rich in REEs bound to biological materials, along with cultivation guidelines to harvest optimal mineral concentrations. This has the potential to guide the selection of seaweed species and farm designs for large-scale cultivation and inform the maximum scalability of seaweed farming operations designed to harvest REEs without the use of traditional mining operations. (Award amount: $1,878,116)

Published Nov 3, 2023 by By Anemona Hartocollis

For years, economists and more than a few concerned parents have argued about whether a liberal arts degree is worth the price. The debate now appears to be over and the answer is “no”.

Not only are officials like Mr. White questioning state support for the humanities, but a growing number of universities, often aided by outside consultants, are now putting many esteemed departments — art history, American studies — on the chopping block. They say they’re facing headwinds, including students fleeing to programs more focused on employment.

According to The Hechinger Report, an education publication, several other public institutions have announced or proposed cuts to programs, particularly in the humanities, including the University of Alaska, Eastern Kentucky University, North Dakota State University, Iowa State University and University of Kansas.

The change takes place over decades. According to federal statistics, in 1970, education and combined degrees in social sciences and history were the most popular majors.

The most popular degree today is business, accounting for 19 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, while social sciences are far behind with just 8 percent of degrees.

Many courses on the endangered list also conflict with a growing conservative political agenda. And many public universities refuse to invite further scrutiny of their already stagnant state subsidies.

Humanities professors are trying to defend themselves using arguments tailored to an economy that is rapidly changing — while appealing to a loftier vision of life’s possibilities.

In a recent YouTube video bluntly titled “Is a Humanities Degree Worth It?” — Jeffrey Cohen, dean of humanities at Arizona State University, defends his field as a path not just to a job but to lifelong professional reinvention.

“Our students live in a time where the career they learned is probably not the career they will pursue 10 years later,” says Mr. Cohen. Studying the humanities, he argues, will teach them to be nimble.

[https://ustoday.news/can-the-humanities-survive-budget-cuts/ - no firewall]

Published Nov 2, 2023 by Marla Lowder

Did you know that 4-H is 121 years old? 4-H recently celebrated National 4-H Week, Oct. 1-7, which marks the start of a new 4-H year. The 4-H year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

Have you ever wondered what 4-H is all about? It is a youth organization for 5- to 18-year-olds led by volunteers in clubs. Some of you may have heard the name 4-H while others ask, “What is 4-H?”

As most people see it, 4-H is a youth organization devoted to helping youth learn about animals and agriculture. That is not entirely accurate. I would like to dispel some myths about 4-H.

The first myth is that 4-H is just for youth who have animals. Did you know that there are more than 300 different projects in 4-H? Less than a quarter of these projects deal with animals. 

Published Nov 2, 2023 by Tori Tragis

Hundreds of singers will be in full vocal glory for the production of Choir! Choir! Choir! It’s by far the biggest cast of the season for the Fairbanks Concert Association.

The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Davis Concert Hall on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yeddha’ Campus.

Chances are, you’ll know many of the night’s performers. One of them might even be you. That’s because Choir! Choir! Choir! isn’t performed by professional singers. That task is undertaken by the audience in what is surely the ultimate sing-along. The effect is glorious.

“It’s almost like a nonreligious religious experience, all these people coming together to celebrate,” said Daveed Goldman, one of the two men who developed the concept in 2011. “Music is such a universal language, the way it makes people connect. Their vulnerabilities are out there, but their voices weave together.”

Group singing is hardly new, but the DIY format takes a bit of explanation. There are no auditions, no solo parts. You just show up, and Goldman and Nobu Adilman, both musicians from Toronto, help everyone take it from there, together.

They start by breaking a familiar song into distinct parts. One group in the audience takes one part, another group takes a second part, and so on. With Goldman as musical accompanist and Adilman as director, the audience-choir then assembles their parts into a reconstituted harmonic whole.

“People love to share,” Adilman said in an interview with the CBC. “I think it’s just in their DNA. It’s about hearing the harmonies creep in slowly, and realizing that you can be part of something like that. It can be overwhelming at times, just how much joy we can collectively feel together.”

Published Nov 2, 2023 by Gavin Struve

It may not be hyperbolic to suggest the University of Alaska Fairbanks women’s cross country team has a program-defining race ahead in Monmouth, Oregon, on Saturday.

The Nanooks likely have as much elite talent as they’ve possessed in any season in program history, returning three top-100 runners from last season’s NCAA Cross Country Championships who each should be well within that range this fall. However, the only time the UAF sent a whole team to the NCAA Cross Country Championships was in 2011.

And with improved back-end scoring from last season’s team, the Nanooks have a chance to get back to the national meet for the first time in over a decade, and perhaps improve upon that 2011 17th place finish if they get there.

But first, UAF will need all of its key scorers racing on the same day. That’s yet to happen this season, as Naomi Bailey, Rosie Fordham and Tabitha Williams have each missed at least one race this fall. With a small roster, UAF has a sizable drop off in scoring potency after its top five runners in addition to the considerable gap after its top three.

Published Nov 2, 2023 by Staff report

The University of Alaska Museum of the North is focusing on Arctic life during family programs in November.

Families with children ages 5 and younger are invited to drop in at Early Explorers from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 10 to create and discover with hands-on activities in the Creativity Lab and explore the galleries.

Junior Curators, designed for children 6 and older with an adult, is 2-4 p.m. Nov. 11. Drop in anytime to create polar bear marbled prints, see museum specimens and objects, and explore the galleries with a scavenger hunt.

At Family Day: Arctic Life, from noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 18, visitors can meet Arctic researchers; investigate how people, animals, and plants adapt to life in the north; go on a scavenger hunt; and create Arctic landscape art in addition to other activities. There is no admission fee for children 14 and under at Family Days, thanks to support from TOTE.

Published Nov 2, 2023 by Caleb Jones

The University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team is hosting their last two home games of the season on Thursday and Saturday. The first is against Saint Martin’s at 7 p.m. The latter will be against Western Oregon at 2 p.m. and also serve as their ‘Senior Day’.

UAF were defeated by the conference leading Seattle Pacific University Falcons last time out, the loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Nanooks. They’ll have an opportunity to get back on track against Saint Martin’s.

With no conference tournament in the GNAC, the only hope for postseason play would be an at-large bid. Historically, the top three teams in the conference have a strong shot of making the national tournament. Just five games remain for the Nanooks as they attempt to climb up the rankings.