Natural Sciences

High-altitude research at CU-Boulder demands dedication, athleticism

A special kind of high-altitude athleticism is needed to work in Colorado's most extreme environments. For CU-Boulder scientists like ecology & evolutionary biology (EBIO) graduate student Courtney Naff, it's an inspiring place to push the boundaries of body and mind. This is an extended version of the story first broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

Nobel Prize-winner David Wineland praised as mentor to CU-Boulder graduate students

David J. Wineland, a lecturer in the University of Colorado Boulder physics department who today won the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics, was described as both “brilliant and humble” by one of his former graduate students.

Simulations uncover “flashy” secrets of merging black holes

According to Einstein, whenever massive objects interact, they produce gravitational waves -- distortions in the very fabric of space and time -- that ripple outward across the universe at the speed of light.

While astronomers have found indirect evidence of these disturbances, the waves have so far eluded direct detection. Ground-based observatories designed to find them are on the verge of achieving greater sensitivities, and many scientists think that this discovery is just a few years away.

STEM: Strengthening education, and the power of a nation

STEM education at CU-Boulder is having a ripple effect, transforming undergraduate and graduate-level classrooms; boosting the number of STEM majors pursuing teaching careers; and fanning out to improve STEM learning at K-12 levels. CU gathers to celebrate STEM scholarship and education projects this Oct. 1 at the 4th Annual Symposium on STEM Education.

The Condor Conundrum

A human induced problem for the California condor begets the need for ongoing human intervention to prevent extinction, according to a new study led by the University of California, Santa Cruz, and involving the University of Colorado Boulder. 

Inside the Greenhouse

Clara Boland didn’t fully appreciate coal’s role in her life until she did some digging. That meant going to Paonia, a small town in Western Colorado, which has mined coal for more than a century.

Boland’s aim was to create a short documentary film for a course on conveying climate science through film. Her journey began in Boulder, where young people called coal “yesterday’s fuel,” dirty and toxic.

New ‘Map of Life’ project aims to show distribution of all plants, animals on planet

A research team involving Yale University and the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a first public demonstration version of its “Map of Life,” an ambitious Web-based endeavor designed to show the distribution of all living plants and animals on the planet.

Learning and living sustainability

SEEDS and Sustainable by Design, CU’s two newest Residential Academic Programs, feature an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability and innovative problem-solving.   

NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting mission controlled by CU-Boulder students is extended for 4 years

University of Colorado Boulder students will have another four years at the controls of NASA’s Kepler mission, launched in 2009 to hunt down Earth-like rocky planets in other solar systems and which has succeeded in spectacular fashion.

Aftershock: Japan one year after the Tohoku earthquake

At 2:46 p.m. local time on March 11, 2011, the east coast of Japan was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

Pages

Give FeedbackSee More Photos View Photo