Michigan
Michigan profs push ‘pee for peonies’ urine diversion plan
ANN ARBOR – A pair of College of Michigan researchers are placing the “pee” in peony.
Moderately, they’re placing pee ON peonies.
Environmental engineering professors Nancy Love and Krista Wigginton are common guests to the Ann Arbor college’s Nichols Arboretum, the place they’ve been making use of urine-based fertilizer to the heirloom peony beds forward of the flowers’ annual spring bloom.
It’s all a part of an effort to teach the general public about their analysis displaying that making use of fertilizer derived from nutrient-rich urine might have environmental and financial advantages.
“At first, we thought folks may be hesitant. , this may be bizarre. However we’ve actually skilled little or no of that perspective,” Wigginton mentioned. “Normally, folks suppose it’s humorous at first, however then they perceive why we’re doing it and so they help it.”
Love is co-author of a examine printed within the Environmental Science & Know-how journal that discovered urine diversion and recycling led to vital reductions in greenhouse gasoline emissions and vitality.
Advert
Urine accommodates important vitamins reminiscent of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus and has been used as a crop fertilizer for hundreds of years.
Love mentioned amassing human urine and utilizing it to create renewable fertilizers — as a part of what she calls the “round economic system of vitamins” — will result in larger environmental sustainability.
Consider it not a lot as recycling, however “pee-cycling,” Wigginton mentioned.
“We have been on the lookout for phrases that might catch on however get the thought throughout, and ‘pee-cycling’ appears to be one which caught,” she mentioned.
As a part of a $3 million grant from the Nationwide Science Basis awarded in 2016, Love and Wigginton haven’t solely been testing superior urine-treatment strategies, but in addition investigating folks’s attitudes about using urine-derived fertilizers.
That’s what introduced them to the much-loved campus Peony Backyard, which accommodates greater than 270 historic cultivated varieties from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries representing American, Canadian and European peonies of the period. The backyard holds almost 800 peonies when crammed and as much as 10,000 flowers at peak bloom.
Advert
Love and Wigginton plan to spend weekends in Could and June chatting up guests. One necessary lesson they discovered is concerning the precision of language.
“We’ve got used the time period, ‘pee on the peonies.’ After which it grabs folks’s consideration after which we will speak to them about nutrient flows and nutrient effectivity in our communities and the best way to be extra sustainable,” Love mentioned. “It seems some folks thought that that was permission to drop their drawers and pee on the peonies.
“So, this 12 months, we’re going to make use of ‘pee for the peonies’ and hope that we don’t have that confusion.”
The urine-derived fertilizer the researchers are utilizing lately originated in Vermont. But when all goes in line with plan, they’ll be doling out some domestically sourced fertilizer subsequent 12 months.
A split-bowl rest room in a campus engineering constructing is designed to ship strong waste to a therapy plant whereas routing urine to a holding tank downstairs. Urine diverted from the bathroom and urinal have been to be handled and finally used to create fertilizers, however the COVID-19 pandemic pressured the varsity to close down the gathering efforts.
Advert
Within the meantime, the power is present process an improve to its freeze concentrator and including a brand new, extra energy-efficient pasteurizer, each developed by the Vermont-based Wealthy Earth Institute.
“The entire thought is biking inside a group, so transferring towards that we wish to take urine from this group and apply it inside this group,” Wigginton mentioned.
Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Michigan
Michigan's Newest Lakeside Inn Is Giving Gilmore Girls Traditional, But in the Midwest
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.
From dreamy decor to top-notch amenities, Domino’s “Wish You Were Here” series is your first-class ticket to the most design-driven getaways around the world. Whether you’re looking to steal away for a few days or just steal a few ideas for back home (we encourage both, for the record), check out where we’re checking in.
I was born and raised in the Midwest (specifically outside of Chicago), which means I spent summers exploring Lake Michigan’s shores for family vacations. So when I pulled up to the newly renovated Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck, Michigan, why did I feel like I was suddenly starring as an extra in an episode of Gilmore Girls?
That magic is partly due to the charming town but also thanks to Martin Horner and Shea Soucie of Soucie Horner, their Chicago-based design firm, who bought the 1937 home two years ago and turned it into a modern inn befitting of Stars Hollow.
Before the pair could make any cosmetic changes, they first had to consider the building’s history: Since the ’90s, the colonial structure was already a beloved inn run by adored cook Julee Rosso, author of The Silver Palate Cookbook. “When we bought the inn, we were very conscious of [Rosso’s popularity and returning guests], but we also had to make it our own,” Horner says. So instead of taking down walls and turning the 11-room property into a sleek Scandi hotel, they paid homage to the legendary former owner by working in details that were already there, like the art and furniture, which they reupholstered or repurposed. (The bathrooms however? Those were gutted and replaced with new tile and marble.)
The rest of the inn’s “jewelry,” as Horner calls it—like the bamboo bed frame in the room I stayed in—came from epic vintage shopping trips, Facebook Marketplace hauls, and even Horner and Soucie’s own homes. In fact, no two guest rooms are exactly the same other than the lighting, bedding, and Waterworks faucets. To further keep consistency, they went with a soothing, neutral Benjamin Moore paint palette. (Fan favorite White Dove was their go-to in most areas.) New Vispring mattresses appear in each guest room, too.
In the lobby and dining room, a fireplace and wood-paneled walls adorned with one of Rosso’s original tapestries, create cozy spaces in which to convene before a day spent exploring the area’s wineries and art galleries (prioritize Ox-Bow, trust me). Plus the backyard and screened-in gazebo are the perfect places to sip cocktails or indulge in the lobby’s complimentary chocolate chip cookies.
The result almost feels delightfully non-Midwest, and certainly not beachy, even though the inn is just steps from the Kalamazoo River, where you can rent a candy-colored retro boat for an afternoon (highly recommend). Instead, the quiet luxury vibe paired with former Oprah Winfrey chef Rose Duong’s refined menu and the warm welcome from general manager Susan Michele make the whole experience decidedly Midwest. The only thing missing is Luke’s Diner.
Michigan
Ferndale man receives first beating-heart transplant in Michigan
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Michigan’s first two beating-heart transplants took place at Henry Ford Health in Detroit recently.
On his 58th birthday, Ken Miller of Ferndale was given the news that he would be undergoing the first-ever beating-heart transplant in the state.
Now, he is in the process of recovering.
“I didn’t expect to be feeling this well,” Miller said. “I’m feeling great and blessed.”
Miller had been in heart failure for more than a decade. He spent 25 days in a hospital bed, on a machine, prior to receiving his new heart –and a kidney– on May 31.
“I’m really excited about this outcome and excited about how well this heart worked,” said cardiac transplant surgeon at Henry Ford Health, Dr. Kyle Miletic.
Ken Miller of Ferndale underwent Michigan’s first ever beating-heart transplant on May 31, 2024. (Provided by Henry Ford Health)
Heart transplantation has come a long way.
Generally, a donor heart is good for about four hours, which limits how far away a donor heart can come from. However, the “heart in a box” technology has been a breakthrough – which is a mini heart lung machine that keeps the heart beating.
But still, the heart has to be stopped, twice, before being transplanted.
“We are always very concerned every time we have to stop the heart. Now, it’s inevitable. It’s going to have to be stopped once at the donor hospital to put it on this box, but the problem is we have to stop it a second time,” Miletic said.
That can be problematic. But with the beating heart transplant technique, the donor heart does not have to be stopped a second time; it keeps beating.
“We hooked the donor heart up to his own blood stream. Once it came from the box, his blood was providing that blood and the nutrients to his new heart, and we sewed it in again as it was beating,” Miletic said.
Henry Ford surgeons performed a second beating-heart transplant just last week. That heart came from about 2,000 miles away.
“Despite being the furthest distance we’ve ever traveled – really woke up right away with no issues, and that patient is doing extremely well and has excellent cardiac function,” the doctor said.
The new technique is not only revolutionary for heart transplant patients, but liver and lung patients as well.
As for Miller, he’s ready to get back on his feet and back to his family.
“I look forward to just being able to move, walk, go upstairs,” he said. “All the things we take for granted.”
Michigan
Storms close Michigan’s Adventure for the day
FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Storms Tuesday morning forced Michigan’s Adventure to close for the day.
The park closed “due to a power outage and inclement weather,” it announced on its Facebook page. It said most tickets for Tuesday will be honored through Labor Day.
“Thank you for understanding,” it wrote.
A line of strong storms swept through West Michigan Tuesday morning, leaving tens of thousands without power. Damage from the storms included downed trees and broken windows at a Grand Rapids post office.
Consumers Energy crews will be working throughout the day to restore power. Some may not have power back until Wednesday, a Consumers Energy spokesperson told News 8.
Michigan’s Adventure isn’t the only West Michigan closure. Some local schools and churches, including many in Kent County, have canceled summer activities for the day.
-
News1 week ago
It's easy to believe young voters could back Trump at young conservative conference
-
World1 week ago
Swiss summit demands 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine
-
World1 week ago
Protesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
News1 week ago
A fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
-
World1 week ago
Al-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Short Film Review: Willow and Wu (2024) by Kathy Meng
-
News1 week ago
Mass shooting at Rochester Hills splash pad: Everything we know
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie Review: Top 5 Movies to Watch This Father's Day June 16, 2024 –