idaho

Research on nuclear energy and hydrogen has yielded what backers say is a technology that could replace U.S. oil imports with biofuels made from agricultural by-products.

Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory have been working for the past year and a half on a process to convert biomass, such straw or crop residue, into liquid fuels at a far higher efficiency than existing cellulosic ethanol technologies.

Rather than one single development, the technology--named bio-syntrolysis--ties together multiple processes, but it has electrolysis, or splitting water to make hydrogen, at is starting point. When combined with a carbon-free electricity source, the approach … Read more

After more than five weeks and 5,765 miles of driving through Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and very, very small parts of Arizona and Nevada, Road Trip 2009 is over.

This was the fourth year I've done this project, and I've now covered a fourth major region of the United States. In 2006, it was the Pacific Northwest; in 2007, the Southwest; in 2008, the deep South; and this year, it was the Rocky Mountain region. All told, my CNET Road Trips have taken me through 21 states and have covered 18,618 miles. And while there … Read more

COLUMBIA FALLS, Montana--For the past three-plus weeks, I've been driving around states like Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and now the Big Sky state, writing stories and producing photo galleries and videos as part of my Road Trip 2009 package. Almost everything I've done was pre-scheduled and coordinated long before the trip started.

But for some reason, a few things on the agenda seem to have fallen through in the last few days, and I find myself, among other things, looking for a perfect Road Trip story to do in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

And this is where you come in. … Read more

MISSOULA, Mont.--There were two points Sunday when I had absolutely no idea what time it was. It wasn't that I didn't have any timepieces. Rather, I had several, and they were all telling me different things.

The first time it happened, I was on my way up to the top of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in western Idaho at 7,400 feet above sea level, as part of Road Trip 2009. From high up there, it is possible to see four states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Down below, in Riggins, Idaho, where I'd … Read more

RIGGINS, Idaho--For many years, I've been taking road trips around the United States. Many have been in the West, and I've covered a whole lot of ground.

In 2006, I did my first CNET Road Trip, a two-week-plus journey around the Pacific Northwest writing stories and posting photo galleries of the most interesting things I found along the way. Afterward, the project became an annual thing, and I'm now well into Road Trip 2009.

And I've finally completed a personal mission I set long ago.

In 2005, just before I joined the CNET News staff, I … Read more

BOISE, Idaho--Imagine you're on a camping trip with your family, and your kids are bored. They want to watch a movie, but you forgot your laptop at home. Hopeless? Not at all.

You pull out your fifth-generation iPhone--yes, this is a story about future technology--power it up, aim it at the wall of the tent, and start projecting their favorite film there.

This is one of the many potential promises of a new microdisplay technology from Displaytech, a recently acquired division of Boise-based Micron. Known as FLCOS, or fast liquid crystal on silicon, the technology is designed to make … Read more

Update at 9:22 a.m. PDT: We have a winner. It's a BOMARC B--Boeing/Marc CIM-10B surface-to-air missile housed at the Hill Air Force Museum, near Ogden, Utah.

BOISE, Idaho--Out here on the highways of Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, I've seen a lot. I'm on Road Trip 2009 and making daily stops at military installations, national parks, small towns, big cities, energy research institutions, and more.

That means I take a lot of pictures, and every day from here until the end of Road Trip 2009, I'll be presenting you with one picture--and a challenge. … Read more

ARCO, Idaho--On July 17, 1955, this tiny town, which might otherwise have forever escaped notoriety of any kind, was put on the map for a very historic reason: It became the first place in the "free world" to be powered by "electrical energy developed from the atom."

The power was generated by an experimental reactor run by the nearby National Reactor Testing Station, and the flipping of the switch seemed to usher in a new era for the United States and the world: the nuclear era.

Over time, the U.S. and other countries grew more … Read more

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho--What should I do in Boise?

I'm on my Road Trip 2009 project, and am headed toward the Idaho capital. But the plan I had in place for Boise this Thursday looks like it's falling through, and I'm hoping you can help me figure out an alternative.

So far on Road Trip 2009, I've written stories and put together photo galleries about a wide variety of topics, including green building; preparing for a post peak-oil world; starting out at the Air Force Academy; the current state of Cheyenne Mountain; the incredible canyons, arches, and … Read more