Science & Tech

Last Thursday, Alaska’s state epidemiologist said in a release that state health officials had “convincing evidence of community transmission” in Ketchikan, Anchorage and Fairbanks. But officials in Ketchikan disagreed.

A new University of Alaska Anchorage study of the coronavirus’s likely impacts on the state is clear: To prevent thousands of deaths, strict interventions will be necessary for months.

But at least two small businesses in Alaska are retooling their operations from making things like custom car or gun parts, to producing face shields for protecting healthcare providers and printing the long swabs needed to test for the virus.

“The latest two releases of the ‘Call of Duty’ video game have put more demand on our network than recent events, and our network continues to operate flawlessly,” says Alaska Communications’ external affairs director.

Along with the coronavirus, students and staff at the University of Alaska Anchorage are also facing budget uncertainty and the possibility that their degree programs may cease to exist.

While many North Slope fields are on the decline, production at Hilcorp’s Milne Point has actually increased by huge amounts. Now the company is acquiring the massive Prudhoe Bay field, raising hopes of a similar revival there.

In 2008, Cook Inlet beluga whales were listed as endangered. Their numbers still continue to drop: There are fewer than 300 today, and they’re steadily declining.

Project managers say the challenge encourages rocket designs that are flexible, upgradeable and ready to go in a short period of time.

The first “Blob” decimated fisheries, caused a mass seabird die-off and spurred toxic algal blooms up and down the coast. As Alaska braced for the second heat wave, it disappeared — at least for now.

One researcher says now is a key time for studies on Arctic Ocean conditions, before hotter temperatures from climate change become the new normal.