The aftermath of the 2010 Fourmile Fire, the costliest in terms of private-property loss in Colorado to that date, opened the door for CU-Boulder scientists, including graduate students and undergraduates, to study the microbial response to wildfire over time. Photo by Jeff Mitton.

A burgeoning world in a few grains of sand

March 1, 2013

Diana Nemergut designed the course to teach technical skills in environmental microbiology. The course did much more; it also generated field research and a scholarly publication involving graduate students and even undergraduates.

Andrew Martin, a professor in the CU-Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, directs the university鈥檚 Teaching Evolution Outreach Program. Photo courtesy of Hillary Rosner

CU program aims to improve teaching of evolution

March 1, 2013

Andrew Martin, a professor in the CU-Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, directs the university鈥檚 Teaching Evolution Outreach Program. Photo courtesy of Hillary Rosner Evolution is a fundamental building block of biology that underpins our understanding of the diversity of life today and how we, as humans, came to...

Protester gather at an anti-Qaddafi demonstration in Cairo, Egypt.

Arab Spring spawns some hope, progress, prof says

March 1, 2013

A quarter of a century ago, most of the world鈥檚 鈥渦nderachievers鈥 in terms of human development鈥攎easured by such things as life expectancy, education, guaranteed human rights and political freedom鈥攚ere Muslim countries. Human development might be considered a way to gauge how 鈥渞ich鈥 or 鈥減oor鈥 a country is beyond traditional measures...

Arielle Silverman, graduate student in social psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Photo by Noah Larsen.

Unless it鈥檚 coerced, self-affirmation actually works

March 1, 2013

In the 1990s, comedian鈥攏ow U.S. Sen.鈥擜l Franken made the line, 鈥淚鈥檓 good enough, I鈥檓 smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!鈥 part of the national lexicon with the creation of the fictional 鈥淒aily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley鈥 on Saturday Night Live. Easy to mock, to be sure, in Stuart鈥檚...

Exercise may protect drinkers鈥 cognitive abilities

March 1, 2013

Aerobic exercise may help prevent and perhaps even reverse some of the brain damage associated with heavy alcohol consumption, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study. The study results indicated that regular aerobic exercise like walking, running or bicycling is associated with less damage to the brain鈥檚 鈥渨hite...

Omid Safi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Progressive Muslim scholar challenges stereotypes

Dec. 1, 2012

Faced with a sharp question from a critic following a talk about progressive Islam at the University of Colorado Boulder in early November, Omid Safi was ready. The professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill nodded as the speaker read from the Koran鈥檚 Surah 95,...

Jeffrey Zax

Lawmakers eye CU students for economic analyses

Dec. 1, 2012

The men and women elected to the Colorado General Assembly (the state Legislature) may have a wealth of life experience as lawyers, ranchers or business owners. But when it comes to economics, most of them could use a little help鈥攆rom undergraduate University of Colorado Boulder economics students. That鈥檚 the idea...

At the  75th Street Wastewater Treatment Facility are, from left to right: Chris Douville, the city of Boulder鈥檚 coordinator of wastewatertTreatment; Cole Sigmon, process optimization specialist; David Bortz, assistant professor of applied mathematics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Photo by Noah Larsen.

For cleaner water, NSF taps CU applied mathematician

Dec. 1, 2012

At the 75th Street Wastewater Treatment Facility are, from left to right: Chris Douville, the city of Boulder鈥檚 coordinator of wastewatertTreatment; Cole Sigmon, process optimization specialist; David Bortz, assistant professor of applied mathematics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Photo by Noah Larsen. Wastewater-treatment plants might be able to send...

A 1981 Osborne I computer. Photo by Noah Larsen.

Where old computers don鈥檛 go to die

Dec. 1, 2012

A palpable air of digital decrepitude pervades Lori Emerson鈥檚 time-warped laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder. Geriatric relics of the computer revolution with names like Vectrex, Kaypro and Commodore Amiga exude the strange pungency of aged electronics, vaguely musty with tart plastic undertones.

Desert

Hazard might blow with dust

Dec. 1, 2012

Some of the smallest airborne particulate matter poses large risks to human health, but bigger blobs aren鈥檛 necessarily benign. That鈥檚 one conclusion of Jason Neff, associate professor of geological sciences and environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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