Echo
Play Invasion!! to learn about asian carp. Photo: Bridges

Stop the carp with the Invasion!! video game

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This video game by the Entertainment Technology Center and The Field Museum of Chicago, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, lets you take over the Great Lakes, protect them, and learn about invasive species. In round one, you are the carp. Fight native perch for food (and watch them float up to the surface with X’s in their eyes) and get your carp friends to jump out of the water and knock boaters out of their boats. In the next round, you are the Carp Czar appointed to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. You have to find the carp and build barriers to stop them from getting to the lake, all while keeping up public approval.

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Nice try, Wisconsin – Michigan is still the mitten

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Residents of Wisconsin believe their home state is shaped like a mitten. Since when? If you’re going to use another state’s trademark, at least choose a state on the other side of the country, not one right next to you. Or be shaped more like a mitten. Those of us who live in Michigan have a hard time accepting Wisconsin as the place where you use your hand to point out where you are from.

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Research to examine possibility of powering Great Lakes ships with natural gas

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Great Lakes ships may be getting natural gas makeovers. Researchers with the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute will soon study converting steam-powered ships to natural gas, using either compressed or liquid natural gas as primary fuel sources. The team is also working with the Lake Michigan Carferry Service to determine the possibility of converting the controversial S.S. Badger to natural gas. From mid-May through mid-October, the S.S. Badger travels between Manitowoc, Wisc., and Ludington, Mich., every day. The monster vessel is the only coal-fired steamship operating in the U.S. and has come under fire from environmentalists because, as Echo reported, it emits nearly four tons of toxic coal ash into Lake Michigan with every trip and has been under an Environmental Protection Agency order since 2008 to fix its pollution problem by 2012.

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VIDEO: Urban farmers face water issues

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Urban farmers in Flint, Mich., have run into a problem – finding water for their crops. The challenge stems from zoning laws, unwilling neighbors and chemicals.  

Filmed and produced by Michigan State University’s  School of Journalism and by the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media. Featured image: Velo Steve (Flickr)

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Invasive but tasty: Great Lakes fish dine on bloody-red cocktails

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Scientists are still unsure about what impact bloody-red shrimp have on Great Lakes ecosystems, but the tiny invaders seem to be a popular snack for some hungry fish. New research suggests bloody-red shrimp may become a new food source for Great Lakes fish, easing concerns that the invader would negatively impact food webs. Researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario looked in some fish bellies to see what they’re eating. They also measured the carbon and nitrogen in their muscle tissue to see if it matches the carbon and nitrogen in areas with a lot of bloody-red shrimp. And several species — the round goby, yellow perch and alewife — are dining on bloody red cocktails.