In The NOCO

KUNC's In The NOCO is a daily look at the stories, news, people and issues important to you. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show explores the big stories of the day, bringing context and insight to issues that matter. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we explore the lighter side of news, highlighting what makes this state such an incredible place to live.

Can new technology reconnect us with a dead loved one? Meet CU’s ‘generative ghosts’ expert

In 2024, chatbots are part of ordinary life. They pop up on your screen while you’re checking your bank account or making an online purchase.  But a few years from now it may be just as easy to have a conversation with a chatbot who recreates a dead loved one.  That’s the idea behind a kind of technology called a generative ghost. Jed Brubaker is associate professor at the University of Colorado and one of the people leading the development of generative ghosts. Jed is part of a team that recently received $75,000 from Google to study how generative ghosts could become part of our lives.  In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Jed about what a visit with the generative ghost of a dead loved one would feel like. By the way, Jed also leads the Digital Legacy Clinic – a free clinic at CU to help people who want to get a deceased loved one’s digital affairs in order. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-22
08:58

Colorado winters are hard on your trees. Here’s a survival guide to help them through

It may not feel like it right now, but winter is coming. And before it arrives...  it’s time to think about extra care and nurturing for your trees. Because on Colorado’s Front Range, the coldest season can be especially tough on the trees in our yards. Damage can take many forms: Sun scald, dry roots, or cracks in the bark from extreme temperature swings.  Fortunately, there’s hope. The tree specialists at Colorado State University Extension say they get lots of calls about cold-weather care for your trees so they’re ready to shine when spring returns.  CSU horticulture specialist John Murgel spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole to share some helpful tips for helping your trees make it through the winter.   You can learn more about wrapping your trees here. And find helpful tips for winter watering and using mulch to help insulate your trees here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-21
08:58

How we treat concussions in kids has changed. This doctor wants to make sure parents are getting the message

Millions of kids in the US will suffer a concussion during childhood, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Concussions are brain injuries that cause headaches and dizziness and nausea. And it can take weeks to fully recover.    In recent years doctors have changed the way they treat them. Instead of avoiding activity, doctors now recommend light physical activity while a child recovers from a concussion.  Julie Wilson is a pediatric sports medicine physician at the Sports Medicine Center, and co-director of the Concussion Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She says doctors and school nurses in Colorado have kept up with the new guidance   –  and the state Department of Education formally adopted those guidelines recently. But Wilson says some parents and caregivers haven’t gotten the message.  Host Erin O’Toole talked with Wilson about why she’s made it her mission to educate the public to think differently about kids and concussions. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-20
08:58

Two slightly different chickadee birdsongs show how humans are reshaping Colorado’s ecosystems

If you’ve spent even a little time outdoors in Colorado, you’ve most likely heard the song of the mountain chickadee. These adorable, chubby little birds are commonly found in higher-elevation forests in the Rocky Mountains. And they have a close relative – the black-capped chickadee, which tends to live at lower elevations. But in areas like Boulder County, the habitats of these two types of chickadees overlap.  Historically, the two types of chickadees had identical birdsongs. Which could create a problem. When birds from these two distinct species want to find a mate, it’s important that they can identify a bird of their own kind, and avoid getting mixed up with their close cousins.  But researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder say the birds found a clever solution. The mountain chickadee has changed its tune so it’s not the same as the song of the black-capped chickadee.  And new findings from the CU study suggest that the changed birdsong is a small example of how human activity and urban development can impact wildlife’s evolution.   Olivia Taylor is one of several researchers at the University of Colorado who have been studying this adaptation. She and fellow CU researcher, associate professor Scott Taylor (no relation) joined ITN’s Erin O’Toole to talk about their findings, which were recently published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.  You can learn more about Scott Taylor’s work with the Boulder Chickadee Study here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-19
08:58

How an ancient Greek play being staged in Greeley taps into some intense post-election vibes

Of all the responses to the results of last week’s presidential election, one of the most unusual involves something called the 4B movement.   It calls for women to cut off or limit their contact with men. That includes dating, marriage, childbirth – and physical affections.   The 4B movement started a few years ago in South Korea, but gained attention on social media in the U.S. after Election Day. Some women equated president-elect Donald Trump's victory to a low point for women's rights — and said they’re cutting off relationships with men. But women withholding physical contact from men is not a new idea. It's the subject of the Greek comedy Lysistrata by the playwright Aristophanes, which was first staged more than 2,400 years ago. The female characters in the play withhold their affections to protest a war, and it ultimately leads to peace and harmony.  Lysistrata is being performed through Sunday at the Ed Beaty Hall Theater on the Aims Community College campus in Greeley. The show's director, Benjamin Kessler, spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about why this production is a conversation starter that taps into the current political mood in potent ways. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-15
08:58

How creating dorm-style housing units out of unused office space could ease Denver’s housing crisis

Researchers have proposed a plan to transform high rise office spaces into living spaces to reduce the housing shortage in the Denver metro area. Denver is one of many American cities with a tight housing market and a glut of unused office space. A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the architecture firm Gensler calls for converting high rise offices to shared residential spaces similar to a college dorm.  Tenants would share kitchens, bathrooms and workspaces with people in neighboring units. Alex Horowitz is the Project Director of Housing and Project Initiatives at Pew Charitable Trusts and he oversaw the study.  In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Horowitz about why he thinks these low- cost, dorm-style units in skyscrapers could help cities where attainable housing is hard to find and even dramatically reduce the rate of homelessness in the U.S. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-14
08:58

Could this bold new strategy for replanting trees after a wildfire help save Colorado’s forests?

The Hayman Fire burned through a huge swath of forest southwest of Denver in 2002. It left behind a massive burn scar. Workers quickly replanted thousands of trees to reestablish the forest.  But more than two decades later, large areas of the Hayman burn scar still resemble a moonscape, with some scraggly young trees here and there.  Burn scars that take decades to heal are becoming a fact of life throughout the West. It’s partly due to climate change, which is shifting which types of trees will grow naturally in mountain forests.  Camille Stevens-Rumann – assistant director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Insitute at Colorado State University – studies reforestation efforts after a wildfire. In a recent Scripps News story, Stevens-Rumann argues it’s time for a new approach to how we replant forests after wildfires.  Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Stevens-Rumann about what she thinks Colorado’s forests should look like in the future and why trees that have historically thrived in Colorado’s mountains don’t grow back quickly after a wildfire. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-13
08:58

‘Junk fees’ from landlords can add hundreds of dollars to monthly housing costs. Here’s how tenants can fight back

A $20 boiler maintenance fee. A $60 fee to drive your garbage to the dump. A $1 monthly pest maintenance fee.  And a $6 fee to add up those other fees. These are actual charges billed to renters by landlords in Denver, according to a recent article by the Denver Post. The fees are tacked onto a tenant’s monthly bill on top of their rent.   Critics call them junk fees – and say they usually aren’t clearly outlined in rent agreements or even mentioned to a renter before the first monthly bill arrives. Junk fees can sometimes add hundreds of dollars to what a tenant pays each month. But the Colorado Attorney General’s office has taken note, resulting in lawsuits against some landlords and management companies who charge these fees. So what effect will those lawsuits have for the renters who fall victim to this? In the NoCo’s Brad Turner spoke with Denver Post reporter Elizabeth Hernandez who’s been covering the issue. She’s spoken with dozens of renters who have horror stories about junk fees. If you believe your landlord has charged you junk fees, you can reach out to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office for help. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-12
08:57

This unique program lets military veterans become filmmakers – and learn how to process trauma

The Patton Veterans Project is a traveling film workshop designed to give veterans who may be suffering from PTSD or depression a communal space to process their trauma.  Vets who participate learn a “narrative therapy” approach to dealing with emotional trauma. Over three days, the vets create a short film about their personal story.  The Patton Veterans Project was created by Benjamin Patton, grandson of the famous World War II General George S. Patton. Earlier this year, Patton and Mike Leeman, the program’s veteran coordinator and former participant, joined ITN's Erin O’Toole to talk about the program.  A selection of films created by participants will be screened from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Lory Student Center on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-08
08:59

How Coloradans voted on big cat hunting, ranked-choice voting, and a firearms tax

Tired of hearing about the election? And thinking about the election? We get it.  But before we move on, let’s walk through a few notable decisions that Colorado voters considered this week. Like whether we should ban the hunting of mountain lions and other big cats. And whether sales of guns and ammunition should help pay for mental health services. And a measure that would have transformed how Coloradans vote for candidates. ITN’s Erin O’Toole spoke with Lucas Brady Woods, KUNC’s politics and elections reporter, to analyze what passed, what failed, and how Colorado voted this election. Just a reminder that ballots in some contests are still being tabulated. KUNC will continue to provide updates as more election results are announced.   * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado. 

11-07
08:58

Colorado election roundup: Abortion, same-sex marriage, Lauren Boebert and that slaughterhouse ban

All eyes were on the Presidential election Tuesday night: Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris. But there were plenty of important Colorado issues on the ballot, too. Like what the state constitution says about same sex marriage, who should review judges in ethics cases and whether the right to an abortion should be protected. KUNC’s politics and elections reporter Lucas Brady Woods spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole to discuss some of the most noteworthy issues decided by Colorado voters. Votes in some ballot measures and races – including the 8th Congressional District race between Democrat Yadira Caraveo and Republican Gabe Evans – were still being tallied late Tuesday when we recorded this episode. It may be a few days before we know the outcomes in some contests. KUNC will continue to provide updates as more results are announced. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-06
08:58

It's Election Day. Here’s how Colorado election officials make voting secure

It's Election Day in Colorado. And along with who wins or loses, something that a lot of people are thinking about today is election security.  After all, elections are complicated: Millions of Colorado voters will fill out and turn in their ballots. And county election officials will gather and tally them – quickly.   On top of that, some recent headlines have called Colorado’s election systems into question. Mesa County officials reported recently that someone stole 12 mail ballots and returned them. And news broke last week that the Colorado Secretary of State’s office accidentally posted some security passwords on their website. State officials say they’ve fixed that problem, and election systems around the state have not been compromised.   Even so, we wanted to look at the steps that make sure your ballot is collected and counted securely. Two county clerks – people whose job is to keep ballots secure – walked us through some of Colorado’s election safeguards.  ITN’s Erin O’Toole spoke with Molly Fitzpatrick, a Democrat from Boulder County, and Carly Koppes, a Republican from Weld County. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

11-05
08:58

Workers at Rocky Flats helped build America’s nuclear arsenal. A new film digs into memories of the controversial plant

If you visit the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge northwest of Denver, you see different types of wildlife, miles of hiking and biking trails and acres of rolling prairie.  But you don’t see any trace of the astonishing history of what happened there during the Cold War: The Rocky Flats plant made plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons until it was shuttered in the early 1990s.  The buildings used in processing the plutonium were destroyed and the area was cleaned up under a Superfund site designation. And after a series of sometimes contentious public hearings, the wildlife refuge opened to the public in September 2018. Filmmaker Jeff Gipe explores that history in a new documentary, Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory. Gipe grew up in nearby Arvada. His father worked at the plant in the 1980s.  Gipe says he made the film to remind people of the hazards buried beneath the wide-open spaces of the wildlife refuge, and to share the voices of workers whose lives were affected by the dangerous materials processed at Rocky Flats. He spoke about the documentary with ITN’s Erin O’Toole. The film premieres Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Denver Film Festival. Find the complete lineup and schedule for the festival here. You can watch the film’s trailer here. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado. 

11-01
08:58

During a natural disaster, not everyone can evacuate. A CU researcher wants to understand why

Evacuating thousands of people during a natural disaster is a lot more complicated than simply telling everyone to move to safety.    A wildfire or tornado in Colorado, or the hurricanes that recently struck the southeast U.S., often hit vulnerable populations especially hard. Elderly folks, people with disabilities, or people who can’t afford to quickly pick up and leave have a more difficult time getting out of harm’s way.    Carson MacPherson-Krutsky is a researcher with the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. In a new study, Carson laid out what she’s learned about how communication during natural disasters helps save lives – or, in some cases, fails to help. She conducted the study in part because officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wondered why more people didn’t take advantage of shelters it set up during hurricanes.  Carson spoke with ITN’s Erin O’Toole about how she thinks emergency managers should rethink how they warn the public about natural disasters. * * * * *Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-31
08:58

Hospitals in Colorado can charge wildly different fees for the same procedure. A new tool offers patients some clarity

Paying for a hospital visit often ends in a guessing game. For example, if you hurt your ankle and need an X-ray, you could pay a few hundred dollars – or nothing at all – depending on  which hospital you go to and the deal they’ve negotiated with your insurance company.  That fluctuation in pricing from hospital to hospital is true for many procedures in Colorado. But some new websites might help consumers find answers. One of them – ColoradoHospitalPrices.com – was developed by a nonprofit to let patients look up price estimates for various procedures and find the best value. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was so impressed he promoted the site in a press conference last week. He said it’s a first step to creating market pressure that will level out price differentiation. John Ingold is a health reporter for The Colorado Sun who has been covering this story. He spoke with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about the these websites and how they could help Coloradans.  Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-30
08:58

Some Colorado schools use facial recognition software to make students safer. Is it also a civil rights violation?

A handful of Colorado schools monitor their students with cameras that use facial recognition software. It’s a security measure: An administrator with access to the technology can upload a student’s photo and then the system can use cameras around the school to pinpoint a student’s location.  More school districts across the state are exploring whether to adopt this technology, according to a recent story in the Denver Post. And it's highlighting a conflict between supporters who say it helps make schools safer and opponents who call it a violation of students’ civil rights.  In the NoCo’s Brad Turner talked with Denver Post education reporter Elizabeth Hernadez, who has been covering the subject and spoken with people on all sides of the issue. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-29
08:58

An underground fire near Boulder has burned for more than a century. Here’s the plan to finally extinguish it

Crews recently began work to extinguish a blaze that has burned underground for more than a century.  It's happening on Marshall Mesa, south of Boulder in an area popular for hiking. A fire in a coal seam there has been smoldering beneath the surface for years. It's a remnant of a time when coal mining thrived in the area. Because heat from underground blazes can sometimes set fire to grass and other brush nearby, residents of nearby Superior and Louisville have been more concerned about potential dangers since the Marshall Fire.  So in the weeks ahead, crews from Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program will prepare to dig up the combustible material at Marshall Mesa and bring it to the surface. They’ll mix it with cooler dirt to prevent future fires.  Jeff Graves, Director of Colorado’s Inactive Mine Reclamation Program will manage the job. He spoke with In the NoCo’s Brad Turner about how crews will snuff out the blaze.  Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-25
08:58

How to save yourself – or your employees – from overwhelming ‘technostress’ at work, according to a CU researcher

Endless work emails. Slack messages from coworkers. Virtual meetings on Zoom.  If these things boost your anxiety, you're experiencing something called technostress. Technostress can also include anxiety about keeping up with new technologies – or being replaced by them.   It makes employees miserable. And easing technostress at work is an ongoing struggle for employers, especially since technology seems to blur the boundaries between work time and personal time. Jason Thatcher is a University of Colorado researcher who studies how people do their jobs and use technology in the workplace. He teaches at CU’s Leeds School of Business. In a recent paper, he argues that the key to reducing tech-related stress is to understand that individual employees will react to different technologies in different ways.  Jason spoke with ITN’s Brad Turner about how you, and your boss, can lower the technostress you encounter at work.  Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-24
08:58

Studying how pythons devour enormous meals may help doctors treat people with heart disease, a CU scientist says

Heart disease causes one out of every five deaths in the United States. Now, a University of Colorado researcher says she’s found promising clues that could help treat it, but the source of her discoveries might make your skin crawl.    Dr. Leslie Leinwand is a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at CU Boulder. Her insights come from research conducted on a rather unwieldy animal to keep in your laboratory – pythons. Leinwand and her team observe Burmese pythons – snakes that go weeks or months between meals without eating. She has studied pythons for decades and she recently published a new paper on her research.    Erin O’Toole spoke with Lienwand about her research and learned that, while humans and snakes have very different physiologies, the way snakes eat in the wild may inspire new treatments for heart disease and other metabolic conditions in people.   Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-23
08:58

There’s a shortage of veterinary care in Colorado, and it’s affecting pets. A possible solution is on the ballot

Colorado and its pets are suffering from a shortage of veterinarians.  It's leading to long wait times at some clinics. And the Colorado Sun reports that many animal hospitals are so swamped they’re forced to turn away dogs and cats who need care. On Election Day, Colorado voters will be asked to weigh in on a possible solution. Proposition 129  would create a new class of veterinary workers called a veterinary professional associate, or VPA.  VPAs would require less training than traditional veterinarians to become certified. If voters approve the plan, it could mean Colorado would see more professionals able to treat pets.  To help us understand the proposal, and the arguments for and against, ITN's Brad Turner talked with Jon Geller. He's a retired, Fort Collins-based emergency veterinarian, and a graduate of the school of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University. (He’s also the founder of the Street Dog Coalition, a nonprofit that helps provide pet care for people experiencing homelessness.) Jon has studied the issue but has not taken a stance on Prop 129. Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.orgQuestions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.orgLike what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!Host and Producer: Erin O'TooleProducer: Ariel LaveryExecutive Producer: Brad TurnerTheme music by Robbie ReverbAdditional music by Blue Dot SessionsIn The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

10-22
08:58

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