The mask mandate in healthcare settings ends in April. Learn more here.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon healthcare settings, including hospitals and doctors’ offices, will no longer impose mask requirements for workers, patients or visitors starting next month.

In a release on Friday, the Oregon Health Authority announced the mask mandate, which has been in place since August 2021, will end on April 3.

OSU archaeologists find oldest known projectile points in Idaho. Learn more here.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon State University archaeologists have uncovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any previously found in the Americas, helping to fill in the history of how early humans crafted and used stone weapons.

The 13 full and fragmentary projectile points, razor sharp and ranging from about half an inch to 2 inches long, are from roughly 15,700 years ago, according to carbon-14 dating. That’s about 3,000 years older than the Clovis fluted points found throughout North America, and 2,300 years older than the points previously found at the same Cooper’s Ferry site along the Salmon River in present-day…

A Portland couple welcomes IVF twins from embryos frozen in 1992. Learn more here.

By Jen Christensen and Nadia Kounang, CNN

In April 1992, Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” topped the Billboard 100, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was running for the White House, “Who’s the Boss?” aired its final episode, and the babies born to Rachel and Philip Ridgeway a couple of weeks ago were frozen as embryos.

Born on October 31, Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born from what may be the longest-frozen embryos to ever result in a live birth, according to the National Embryo Donation Center.

The previous known record holder was Molly Gibson, born in 2020 from an…

A lithium mining project in the Alvord Desert has been called quits. Learn more here.

An Australian company is calling it quits on a lithium project in southeast Oregon’s Alvord Desert.

The Reedy Lagoon Corporation, a mineral explorer based outside Melbourne, announced Friday that it would stop work on its project near the town of Fields, Oregon, after finding out the land was off limits to new mining.

It’s the second lithium project to flop in Harney County this summer as companies look to cash in on the United States’ hunger for the mineral known as “white gold.” Lithium is the main ingredient in batteries for…

Engineers at Stanford have discovered how to generate electricity from solar at night. Learn more here.

A team of engineers at Stanford University have developed a solar cell that can generate some electricity at night.

The research comes at a moment when the number of solar jobs and residential installations are rising.

While standard solar panels can provide electricity during the day, this device can serve as a “continuous renewable power source for both day- and nighttime,” according to the study published this week in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

The device incorporates a thermoelectric generator, which can pull electricity from the small difference in temperature between the ambient air and the solar cell itself.

“Our approach can…

mRNA technology will be used for pathogens and diseases other than Covid. Learn more here.

By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News

(KHN) The billions of dollars invested in covid vaccines and covid-19 research so far are expected to yield medical and scientific dividends for decades, helping doctors battle influenza, cancer, cystic fibrosis, and far more diseases.

Studies show we are in the worst drought in 1,200 years. Learn more here.

By Nathan Rott, NPR

Shrunk reservoirs. Depleted aquifers. Low rivers. Raging wildfires. It’s no secret that the Western U.S. is in a severe drought. New research published Monday shows just how extreme the situation has become.

The Western U.S. and northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to the new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The last comparable — though not as severe — multidecade megadrought occurred in the 1500s, when the West was still largely inhabited by Native American tribes.

Today, the region is home to tens of millions of people, massive agricultural…

Enjoy this article about the new research out of University of Oregon on skylights and their benefits for passive house heating.

Heating houses is a major energy suck. Behind passenger cars and trucking, it’s the largest energy draw in the United States.

But it turns out homeowners looking to stay warm don’t need to rely just on a pile of electrons or a pipeful of methane.

Research out of the University of Oregon shows that, even on the cloudy western sides of Oregon and Washington, a large chunk of our heating needs could be met with a few well-positioned (and well-managed) skylights.

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Here’s some fantastic news about the humpback whale population in the Salish Sea! Enjoy this quick, positive read. Happy Monday!

SEATTLE – More humpback whale calves have been born this season in the Salish Sea than ever recorded.

The Pacific Whale Watch Association reported Friday its researchers have counted 21 calves this season throughout inland Washington and British Columbia.

There were just 11 reported in 2020.

“2021 has been a banner year for female humpbacks coming into the Salish Sea with new calves,” says Wendi Robinson, naturalist with Puget Sound Express. “Calves only travel with mom for a year or so and then they’re on their own. Once they’re familiar with our waters, they will often return year after year…