A Charlotte nonprofit builds a truck that helps turn glass into concrete. Raleigh researchers predict more extreme weather. A rescue operation targets an endangered salamander near Asheville. If you live in North Carolina, there’s a good chance a reporter from the PBS science documentary show SciNC has turned up near your backyard looking for a story.
“We really are taking our viewers across the state, bringing groundbreaking research to people's homes,” said Laura Smith, reporter and host of SciNC.
The show’s reporters travel the state — even rappelled into the depths of Hickory Nut Gorge — to bring us stories about the science happening all around us. One of those stories took reporter Michelle Lotker to Charlotte’s Innovation Barn, where she interviewed members of Envision Charlotte about their Crush Truck.
“It seems like kind of an unexpected climate solution,” Smith said. She described how the nonprofit’s glass-crushing truck breaks down glass from places like the Spectrum Center and turn it into a low-carbon ingredient for concrete, replacing some of the required cement. Globally, cement manufacturing accounts for as much as 8% of carbon dioxide pollution.
The new season of SciNC is available to stream online at PBS’ website.
