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Ganymede, courtesy of NASA

NASA awards CU-Boulder-led team $7 million to study origins, evolution of life in universe

Oct. 7, 2014

NASA has awarded a team led by the University of Colorado Boulder more than $7 million to study aspects of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

A view of the Fourmile Canyon Fire

Colorado’s Front Range fire severity today not much different than in past, says CU-Boulder study

Sept. 24, 2014

The perception that Colorado’s Front Range wildfires are becoming increasingly severe does not hold much water scientifically, according to a massive new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder and Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif.

State policies are effective in reducing power plant emissions, CU-Boulder-led analysis finds

Sept. 23, 2014

A new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder found that different strategies used by states to reduce power plant emissions -- direct ones such as emission caps and indirect ones like encouraging renewable energy -- are both effective. The study is the first analysis of its kind.

Fall aspen tree colors setting up for prime time, says CU-Boulder prof

Sept. 19, 2014

The gradual fall cooling on Colorado’s Front Range this September is helping to set up what could well be a prime-time show of gold, yellow and red leaves in the region’s aspen forests, according to a University of Colorado Boulder plant ecologist.

MAVEN at Mars

CU-Boulder-led Mars mission set for orbit insertion Sept. 21

Sept. 17, 2014

A NASA mission to Mars led by the University of Colorado Boulder is set to slide into orbit around the red planet Sept. 21 to investigate how its climate has changed over the eons, completing a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles. The orbit-insertion maneuver will begin with six thruster engines firing to shed some of the velocity from the spacecraft, known as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN mission. The thruster engines will ignite and burn for 33 minutes to slow the spacecraft, allowing it to be captured into an elliptical orbit around Mars.

AGU Fellows

CU-Boulder tied for first in number of American Geophysical Union Fellows elected in 2014

July 31, 2014

Three of the 62 scientists from around the world elected this week as American Geophysical Union Fellows are from the University of Colorado Boulder, tying the university for the most fellows elected in 2014 with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and Oregon State University in Corvallis. The CU-Boulder honorees include Professor Anne Sheehan of the Department of Geological Sciences, Professor Shijie Zhong of the Department of Physics and Senior Research Associate Tom Woods of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

AUAU

CU-Boulder, Old Dominion team finds sea level rise in western tropical Pacific a result of human activity

July 21, 2014

A new study led by Old Dominion University and the University of Colorado Boulder indicates sea levels likely will continue to rise in the tropical Pacific Ocean off the coasts of the Philippines and northeastern Australia as humans continue to alter the climate.

Tapir-Hedgehog

CU-Boulder-led team identifies fossils of tiny, unknown hedgehog

July 8, 2014

Meet perhaps the tiniest hedgehog species ever: Silvacola acares. Its roughly 52-million-year-old fossil remains were recently identified by a University of Colorado Boulder-led team working in British Columbia. The hedgehog’s scientific name means “tiny forest dweller,” said CU-Boulder Associate Professor Jaelyn Eberle of the geological sciences department, lead author on the study. The creature -- a new genus and species to science -- was only about 2 inches long, roughly the length of an adult thumb.

Oklahoma earthquake swarm linked to wastewater injection wells, says study involving CU-Boulder

July 2, 2014

The massive increase in earthquakes in central Oklahoma is likely being caused by the injection of vast amounts of wastewater from oil and gas operations into underground layers of rock, according to a new study led by Cornell University and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

planet Earth

Colorado research universities to lead U.S. contribution to global environmental initiative

July 2, 2014

The United States has been selected as one of five international hubs for Future Earth, an ambitious 10-year research initiative to address global environmental change solutions and actions. The U.S. hub will be headquartered in Colorado and managed jointly by Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Boulder.

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