Discoveries & Achievements

Discovery of pine beetles breeding twice in a year helps explain increasing damage, CU researchers say

Long thought to produce only one generation of tree-killing offspring annually, some populations of mountain pine beetles now produce two generations per year, dramatically increasing the potential for the bugs to kill lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have found.

CU and NIST scientists reveal inner workings of magnets, a finding that could lead to faster computers

Using the world’s fastest light source -- specialized X-ray lasers -- scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have revealed the secret inner life of magnets, a finding that could lead to faster and “smarter” computers.

CU and NREL get 10 more Toyota hybrids to plug into smart grid study

Ten plug-in hybrid vehicles, or PHVs, have been added to a University of Colorado Boulder study that has been examining user experiences and system interactions since September 2010 in the local smart-grid environment.

CU-Boulder professor elected to National Academy of Engineering

Diane McKnight, professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering and a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

McKnight is among 66 new members and 10 foreign associates of the academy announced today. She joins 16 other faculty from the campus who have been elected since the academy’s formation in 1962.

To perform with less effort, practice beyond perfection, says new CU study

Whether you are an athlete, a musician or a stroke patient learning to walk again, practice can make perfect, but more practice may make you more efficient, according to a surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study.

CU-Boulder study shows global glaciers, ice caps shedding billions of tons of mass annually

Earth’s glaciers and ice caps outside of the regions of Greenland and Antarctica are shedding roughly 150 billion tons of ice annually, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Americans overestimate political polarization, according to new CU-Boulder research

Many Americans overestimate the degree of polarization between Democrats and Republicans, and this misconception is associated with citizens’ voting behavior and their involvement in political activities, according to new findings from the University of Colorado Boulder.

“It is clear that Americans see themselves as very sharply polarized,” said Professor Leaf Van Boven, who led the research efforts. “And that the extent of perceived polarization dramatically overstates the actual degree of polarization.”

New CU-led study may answer long-standing questions about enigmatic Little Ice Age

A new University of Colorado Boulder-led study appears to answer contentious questions about the onset and cause of Earth’s Little Ice Age, a period of cooling temperatures that began after the Middle Ages and lasted into the late 19th century.

CU-Boulder-led team to assess decline of Arctic sea ice in Alaska's Beaufort Sea

A national research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder is embarking on a two-year, multi-pronged effort to better understand the impacts of environmental factors associated with the continuing decline of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Nutrition labels can lead even the most health-conscious consumers astray, study finds

People who made New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier or lose weight might also want to brush up on their math skills, according to Professor Donald Lichtenstein of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

In a study appearing in this month’s edition of the Journal of Marketing, Lichtenstein and his colleagues found that nutrition labels on packaged food products in the United States can lead even the most health-conscious consumers astray, if they don’t “do the math.”

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