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The Conversation: Friday, May 6th, 2016

Flickr - Robin Hughes

The Cost of Building Renewable Electricity; Parade of Farms; New Recommendation for Treating Youth ADHD; A Discovery at the Edge of the Solar System

What a Difference a Rate Makes, UHERO blog: Michael Roberts

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Michael Roberts

Credit Wikipeia
Construction on the Scout Moor wind farm in England circa 2007

  If you're in business, you know that you have to figure in all of your costs before setting your prices for services or goods. And while most consumers expect that businesses will look to make a profit, how much comes from their wallets can be a source of irritation. For consumers in Hawaii, that’s often especially true about their utility. As talk continues to swirl around variable pricing,  one economist says a detail worth considering is the interest rate used to finanace capital investment by Hawaii Electric Industries in its latest Power Supply Improvement Plan. This week, Michael Roberts wrote in the U H Economic Research Organization blog that the 7% interest rate looks a little high...and that could help translate into what the rest of us could pay for electricity.

Intro Music: Broken Arrows by Avicii

Outro Music: Electric Avenue by The Jamaican Reggae Band

Business of Farming today, Kunia Parade of Farms: Lisa Z. Rhoden

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Lisa Rhoden

Credit Lisa Rhoden
Hawaiian turfgrass growing at an agricultural complex in Kunia

  Boomers and Gen Xers growing up here remember Central Oahu covered with miles and miles of pineapple and sugar cane. Well, those crops're long gone, but the land remains agriculturally very active. Over ten thousand acres in the Kunia Corridor now serve aquaponics, biotech and conventional farming. Crops now even include oils and rum--though many people don’t often know know it, despite the buy local campaigns of the past.  The  Hawaii Agricultural Foundation is endeavoring to change that. Lisa Z. Rhoden is the Land Manager for the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation's Ag Park at Kunia and she joins us this morning. Aloha Lisa! I suppose it’s okay for me to say “What's Growin’?

Intro Music: Huli Huli Chicken by The Barefoot Natives

Outro Music: May Sky by Keisuke Yoshiura

CDC Press Release RE: Using Behavior Therapy to Treat ADHD: Dr. Ryan Lee

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Ryan Lee

Credit Wikipedia

  According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 2 million of the more than 6 million children with  attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were diagnosed before age 6. 75% of them are on medication. The rationale has been that young kids with ADHD tend to have the most severe symptoms and can benefit from early treatment. This week a CDC issued a report saying that before resorting to drugs, families shoudl try behavior therapy first. One CDC researcher put it plainly: behavior therapy is as effective as medicine, but without the risk of side effects.  We reached out to Shiner’s Hospital neurodevelopmental pediatrician Dr. Ryan Lee, who joins us now.

Intro Music: A Lifetime by Ziggy Marley

Outro Music: Let the Kids Dance by The Frights

Recent Discovery of Inner Solar System Material: Karen Meech

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Karen Meech

European Southern Observatory/L. Calcada
Depiction of our solar system, the Oort Cloud and the likely orbital path of C/2014 S3

  The cloud has rocks in it-- And ice-- Sometimes it throws rocks at us-- And sometimes, rocks get thrown at it-- And then sometimes, those rocks come back towards us-- And they’re quite different from those other ordinary rocks in the cloud-- And that gets scientists really interested-- That cloud, by the way, is the Oort Cloud-- And one of the scientists who’s really interested in those unusual rocks, Astronomer Karen Meech, joins us this morning

Intro Music: The Stars In Spring by Epic45

Outro Music: Cold Outer Space by Eraserlad

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