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Environment and Science

US clears updated COVID boosters for kids as young as 5

The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5, seeking to expand protection ahead of an expected winter wave. Tweaked boosters rolled out for Americans 12 and older last month, doses modified to target today's most common and contagious omicron relative. While there wasn't a big rush, federal health officials are urging that people seek the extra protection ahead of holiday gatherings. Now the Food and Drug Administration has given a green light for elementary school-age kids to get the updated booster doses, too -- one made by Pfizer for 5- to ...

Utilities Commission says CO2 pipeline fee could be $400,000

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota's Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday authorized its staff to begin reviewing an application for a pipeline designed to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol refineries to an underground site in Illinois, assessing a filing fee of up to $400,000. The pipeline is the second proposed in the state. Both projects would pump carbon dioxide to sequestration sites where it would be buried thousands of feet underground. The one before the Public Utilities Commission — proposed by Navigator CO2 — would connect ethanol refineries across the Great ...

Learn how to prep pollinator gardens for spring

Local gardeners will host a work session Oct. 15 from 10 a.m-noon at Pollinator Park at 2250 N. Broadway. Hosts will discuss why native plants are so important, and how to plant and maintain a pollinator garden. The event will also include tips on how to prepare gardens for next spring, collecting seeds at the pollinator park for your own use and how to replace poor-quality landscape fabric. If there is time and volunteers, the event will also include removal of wood vegetation from the park

Weather chief: Ukraine war may be ‘blessing’ for climate

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. weather agency says the war in Ukraine "may be seen as a blessing" from a climate perspective because it is accelerating the development of and investment in green energies over the longer term — even though fossil fuels are being used at a time of high demand now. The comments from Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, came as the world is facing a shortfall in energy needs — prompted in part by economic sanctions against key oil and natural gas producer Russia — and prices for fossil fuels have ...

Carbon monoxide leak at day care center sickens kids, staff

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A malfunctioning heater sent a dangerously high level of carbon monoxide into a Pennsylvania day care center early Tuesday, sickening dozens of children — some of whom were unconscious as they were rushed to the hospital — and several adults. More than 30 people were hospitalized. All were listed in stable condition. Emergency responders went to the Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on reports of an unconscious child, and evacuated the building after a firefighter's CO monitor was triggered. The leak was caused by a malfunctioning ...

American invests in firm aiming to supply hydrogen to planes

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines said Monday that it invested in a company that hopes to deliver hydrogen for use in planes, one prong of the airline industry's approach to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. American did not say how much it invested or its ownership stake in Universal Hydrogen Co., whose other backers include the venture arm of JetBlue, the venture arm of aircraft maker Airbus and GE Aviation, which makes aircraft engines. Universal Hydrogen, based in Los Angeles, says it will build a distribution network to deliver hydrogen capsules in way that avoids the ...