a person meditating

-Boulder researchers examine compassionate behavior’s ‘active ingredients’

March 29, 2016

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a quantitative framework for predicting compassionate behavior, a significant step forward in the quest to identify the key psychological processes underlying human compassion.

a subalpine meadow with wildflowers

Atmospheric nitrogen leads to loss of plant diversity in sites across U.S., -Boulder study finds

March 28, 2016

Rising levels of atmospheric nitrogen pollution threaten plant diversity at nearly one-quarter of sites across a widespread portion of the U.S., according a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers.

Many types of energy drinks stacked in cans

Adolescent caffeine use may heighten anxiety risk, -Boulder study finds

March 23, 2016

New research may cause parents to think twice before letting their kids drink energy drinks or grande lattes. A University of Colorado Boulder study suggests that consumption of caffeine puts adolescents at risk of suffering anxiety-related jitters long after they stop ingesting it.

Mentor working with student

Undergrads hit labs this spring break

March 22, 2016

While many students are enjoying some downtime over spring break, 21 undergraduate researchers at -Boulder are building robots, creating data visualization tools and advancing X-ray technology. The students are doing this as part of Spring Break for Research , an initiative, now in its second year, that pairs high achieving undergraduate students with graduate student mentors for a week of hands-on research.

-E3 satellite graduate student team members

Aerospace engineering students shoot for the moon and past it

March 21, 2016

A -Boulder student team is shooting for the moon and beyond with a tiny satellite under development that has just taken another step closer to launch. As one of the top five teams selected by NASA, the team of 10 graduate students will continue developing a small CubeSat satellite about the size of a shoebox called the Earth Escape Explorer (-E3) with a $30,000 award from NASA.

New Horizons

More surprises in store for the New Horizons spacecraft?

March 17, 2016

Students at -Boulder, who built a dust counter for the New Horizons mission to Pluto, have been eyeing the data for decade now. And the results are showing the solar system really is pretty barren if you put aside the planets, rings, moons, comets and asteroids.

Paralympic sprinter

Paralympic sprinters beware: Track curves can be tricky

March 16, 2016

For some Paralympic sprinters, having the inside track is not always a good thing. A new -Boulder study shows lower left-leg amputee athletes sprinting in the inside lane of an indoor track ran about 4 percent slower than athletes with right-leg amputations.

Antarctica sketch

Warming ocean water undercuts Antarctic ice shelves

March 14, 2016

“Upside-down rivers” of warm ocean water threaten the stability of floating ice shelves in Antarctica, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center. The study highlights how parts of Antarctica’s ice sheet may be weakening due to contact with warm ocean water.

Raina Gough

-Boulder’s Raina Gough joins NASA’s Mars rover science team

March 11, 2016

NASA has selected -Boulder researcher Raina Gough to join the Mars Curiosity rover mission as a participating scientist; she hopes to expand the science team’s search for evidence of liquid water.

Feeling lucky? The odds behind picking a perfect NCAA bracket

March 11, 2016

What are the odds of filling out a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket, picking all 63 games correctly? According to University of Colorado Boulder Professor Mark Ablowitz, former chair of the Department of Applied Mathematics, they are breathtaking: Try about one in 9.22 quintillion.

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