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Terrified about global warming? Finally, here’s some good news

Advances in science are making green energy cheaper, which could make it more efficient and mainstream.

Here’s some moderately good news in the era of climate change. Wind, solar and other “clean” energy sources are now as cheap or cheaper than dirty fossil fuels at the industrial level, even without taxpayer assistance. And the gap is getting wider.

Costs of cadmium telluride, a key component in solar paneling, could plunge, thanks to a new breakthrough just unveiled at Washington State University’s Center for Materials Research.

“We can have a 45% cost reduction in producing the raw material,” says Santosh Swain, a researcher at the center who co-authored the study in Journal of Crystal Growth with Kelvin Lynn, late professor of physics, and others.

That could get solar power costs below the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2030 cost targets for renewable energy way ahead of schedule, Swain says.

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Morningstar
WSU Insider

Combating rising incarceration in rural areas

While big cities across the U.S. make progress toward reducing the number of people entering local jails, smaller cities and rural counties are experiencing an alarming rise in incarcerations.

Understanding the factors behind this shift and helping rural Washington communities overcome their justice system challenges is the goal of new, grant-funded research by sociologists at Washington State University.

Jennifer Schwartz.
Schwartz
Clayton Mosher.
Mosher
Jennifer Sherman.
Sherman

The Vera Institute of Justice awarded sociology professor Jennifer Schwartz and associate professor Jennifer Sherman, both at WSU Pullman, and professor Clayton Mosher at WSU Vancouver, a $200,000 grant to examine how state-level reforms, driven by the more urbanized western side of the state, interact with local dynamics in the more rural eastern side.

The researchers will pay particular attention to the region’s distinct populations, including agricultural and ranching communities, college-town communities, Native Americans and migrant farmworkers.

“Rising incarceration in rural county jails is an often-overlooked problem—it must be understood and addressed both nationally and locally,” Sherman said. “We’re thrilled to work with Vera at the forefront of this reform and look forward to continuing this much-needed work.”

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WSU Insider

Inlander

Washington State University fine arts professor is taking on the issue of plastic waste

“Willow of the Waste” is an interactive mechanical tree installation, that “breathes” with mechanical movements. It opens its branches inviting you to go inside.

Sena Clara Creston.The art piece is made of used plastic grocery bags and water bottles that Washington State University’s professor of Fine Arts and Digital Media, Sena Clara Creston saved for the past three years.

Creston, a New York City native, said she did not grow up with a whole lot of wild life and nature. Instead, she said she grew up seeing plastic bags floating around the city. She wants to recycle that trash into something with a better meaning.

“I am thinking about this as things that are really helpful and people need and want,” Professor Creston said. “But they are destroying our planet and covering it with plastic. So we think about it as a sweet and supportive environment that maybe is trying to consume us and take over.”

The grand opening for WSU Fine Art Faculty Exhibition will start January 31, 2020, at five p.m. at WSU Art Center. It will feature art by Creston and 15 other fine arts faculty and staff from three WSU campuses.

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KNDO / KNDU

Daily Evergreen

Microscopic partners could help plants survive stressful environments

Tiny, symbiotic fungi play an outsized role in helping plants survive stresses like drought and extreme temperatures, which could help feed a planet experiencing climate change, report scientists at Washington State University.

Stephanie Porter.
Porter

Recently published in the journal Functional Ecology, the discovery by plant-microbe biologist Stephanie Porter and plant pathologist Maren Friesen sheds light on how microbe partners can help sustainably grow a wide variety of crops.

While some microscopic fungi and bacteria cause disease, others live in harmony with plants, collecting water and nutrients in exchange for carbohydrates, or changing plants’ internal and external environment in ways that help plants grow.

These benefits help plants tolerate stresses that come from their environment. Dubbed abiotic stresses, challenges such as drought, extreme temperatures, and poor, toxic, or saline soils are among the leading causes of crop loss and decreasing farm productivity.

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Phys.org

WSU, Washington well represented in online architecture database

A raft of local buildings has joined the Society of Architectural Historians’ Archipedia database as part of a statewide effort to showcase 100 sites that represent the social, economic and historic impact of Washington’s built environment.

Coordinators of the information for Washington said a fixation on narrative as a way to interpret the state’s built environment allowed them to include some seemingly humble structures, including Pullman’s Dumas Seed Warehouse, the city proper’s only contribution to the site.

Now a Frontier Communications retail location, the structure was once a storage warehouse for dry peas, garbanzo beans and lentils harvested on the Palouse. While the building is no beauty to behold, it was once owned by Edwin Dumas, who is credited with helping to establish a toehold for Washington agricultural products in markets in Japan and East Asia.

Robert Franklin.
Franklin

“He was instrumental in helping build that relationship which is now a big chunk of the market for Palouse products in East Asia,” said history instructor Robert Franklin, who is one of the state’s two coordinators and assistant director of the Hanford History Project at WSU Tri-Cities. “So that little warehouse … it’s emblematic of that not only agricultural history but the connections between eastern Washington and East Asia.”

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News

WSU Insider