Geothermal plant warms up

Ormat Technologies, owner of the Puna Geothermal Venture plant, has said operations at the facility, closed since Hawaii island’s devastating eruption last year, could resume by year’s end. That’s because its major permits are still good and that the lesser ones won’t require a public hearing — no new opportunity for critics to weigh in.

Also, surely there’s pressure to get things rolling again. Geothermal has been producing 25-30 percent of the county’s energy. That’s hard to give up, once you’ve had it.

Big discoveries by students

Doctoral students suffer through so much for their Ph.Ds that it’s nice when one of them gets some glory. Ashley Chontos was the University of Hawaii graduate student at the Institute for Astronomy who discovered a now-confirmed exoplanet — a planet beyond our solar system.

Believe it or not, she’s not alone. A search for “discoveries made by students” turns up numerous cases, including the paleontology student who found bones from the oldest Jurassic dinosaur.

A thrill in itself — and a career boost.