Massive spruce beetle outbreak in Colorado tied to drought, according to new CU study

Oct. 10, 2013

A new University of Colorado Boulder study indicates drought high in the northern Colorado mountains is the primary trigger of a massive spruce beetle outbreak that is tied to long-term changes in sea-surface temperatures from the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a trend that is expected to continue for decades.

Dead Dinosaurs and Nuclear Wars: 105th Distinguished Research Lecture

Oct. 9, 2013

The 105th Distinguished Research Lecture will be presented on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. in the Cristol Chemistry 140 auditorium. The Distinguished Research Lectureship is the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member by the Graduate School. Its purpose is to honor and recognize an entire body of creative work and research. This year’s recipient of the award, Dr. Owen Brian Toon, will present “Dead Dinosaurs and Nuclear Wars.” Dr. Toon was awarded the American Physical Society’s 1985 Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest for his work on nuclear winter. He studies radiative transfer, aerosol and cloud physics, atmospheric chemistry and parallels between the Earth and planets.

Lightning above Boulder

CU-Boulder researchers use climate model to better understand electricity in the air

Oct. 3, 2013

Electrical currents born from thunderstorms are able to flow through the atmosphere and around the globe, causing a detectable electrification of the air even in places with no thunderstorm activity.

Experienced entrepreneurs better cope with stress by knowing value of time away, says CU study

Oct. 1, 2013

Taking breaks from the stress of a startup improves experienced entrepreneurs’ mental well-being, but not inexperienced entrepreneurs’ well-being, says a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

CU-Boulder student-built satellite launched into Earth orbit Sept. 29

Sept. 30, 2013

A small satellite designed and built by a team of University of Colorado Boulder students to better understand how atmospheric drag can affect satellite orbits was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Sunday morning. The satellite, known as the Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer satellite, or DANDE, will investigate how a layer of Earth’s atmosphere known as the thermosphere varies in density at altitudes from about 200 to 300 miles above Earth. The commercial Falcon-9 SpaceX rocket lifted off the launch pad at about 10 a.m. MDT carrying DANDE, a small beach ball-sized satellite developed over a period of about six years by roughly 150 students, primarily undergraduates, as part of the Colorado Space Grant Consortium, or COSGS.

Nature or nurture? It’s more like nature and nurture

Sept. 30, 2013

It’s popular to frame issues of variation in human health, intelligence and other traits as a question of “nature vs. nurture.” But, armed with new research methods and a burgeoning body of knowledge, leading scholars in the social sciences increasingly find that such dichotomous discussions fail to convey the nuance they observe in their research. In a post-conference discussion on Oct. 12, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Wisconsin will give the public a closer and deeper look at their state of understanding.

CU, MIT breakthrough in photonics could allow for faster and faster electronics

Sept. 30, 2013

A pair of breakthroughs in the field of silicon photonics by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Micron Technology Inc. could allow for the trajectory of exponential improvement in microprocessors that began nearly half a century ago—known as Moore’s Law—to continue well into the future, allowing for increasingly faster electronics, from supercomputers to laptops to smartphones.

Climate change, through the language of the arts

Sept. 27, 2013

When the conversation turns to global warming, many Americans are inclined to turn away. And why not? After all, it’s a vast and complicated subject. Truly understanding it seems to require specialized knowledge most people don’t possess. And perhaps most notably, it’s become such a hot-button political issue that it easily inflames passions. The trick is figuring out how to reach people without turning them off. Using the arts to inspire an emotional connection to and a deeper understanding of a difficult subject is the idea behind a series of events at CU-Boulder Oct. 1-6.

CU-Boulder to hold international conference on slavery Sept. 27-28

Sept. 25, 2013

The University of Colorado Boulder will host a conference that explores the phenomenon of slavery from a global, historical perspective on Sept. 27-28. The event will include scholars specializing in the study of slavery in ancient, medieval and modern contexts and in global regions that include Western, pre-Columbian, African, Asian and Muslim. Titled “What is a Slave Society: an International Conference on the Nature of Slavery as a Global Historical Phenomenon,” the event will be held in the British and Irish Studies room of Norlin Library.

CU-Boulder/NIST physicist Ana Maria Rey wins 2013 MacArthur Fellowship

Sept. 25, 2013

Ana Maria Rey, a theoretical physicist and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, today was named a winner of a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “genius grant.” Rey also is an assistant research professor in the CU-Boulder Department of Physics. She teaches undergraduate and graduate classes.

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