Couple cuddling

In sex, happiness is partly relative, CU finds

March 1, 2013

Sex is apparently like income: People are generally happy when they keep pace with the Joneses. They’re even happier if they get a bit more than their peers.

Smoke over mountains

With others, you can protect homes from wildfire

March 1, 2013

The fight against fires begins before the first spark—when homeowners in the wildland-urban interface choose whether to remove trees and bushes near their homes.

Articles about Margaret Mead

Mead’s good name, redeemed

March 1, 2013

Time magazine dubbed Margaret Mead one of the 20th century’s 100 most influential scientists and thinkers. It also depicted Mead as a sloppy researcher. A University of Colorado Boulder professor has now debunked the source of that slander.

Adam Bradley in the classroom

From Mozart to Mos Def (and Dr. Seuss)

Dec. 1, 2012

Not just anyone can vividly trace a thread weaving through a zebra’s stripes, a partly crumbling brick wall, a Jackson Pollock painting, a Mozart piano sonata, Dr. Seuss’ “Fox in Socks,” Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool,” and even a rap duet by Mos Def and Slick Rick.

Richard Laver as a young man

A life well lived

Dec. 1, 2012

While descending Cathedral Spire in Yosemite Valley, Richard Laver lost his route. But after a night stranded on a ledge in darkness, he found an answer that had eluded mathematicians for two decades.

Friends standing together

Friends by fortune, not fate

Dec. 1, 2012

“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends,” wrote Shakespeare. In humans, nature may be less than half of the story, a team led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers has found.

Bullseye with races on it

Hierarchy of bias seen in decision to shoot

Oct. 1, 2012

In a United States still haunted by the legacies of race and slavery, even asking questions pertaining to race is disquieting to some. Even so, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have been exploring racial bias in police shootings for more than a decade.

Cartoon elephant and donkey

Feeling blue, seeing red

Oct. 1, 2012

During a general election year, the political divide in America is frequently on display in living color in the form of those ubiquitous “Red vs. Blue state” maps. No surprise, then, that many Americans believe that political polarization is on the rise.

A bird’s-eye view of slurry about to be dropped on the High Park Fire near Fort Collins this summer. Photo by Staff Sgt. Tate Petersen, Company C, 2nd-135th General Support Aviation Support, National Gaurd

Verdict’s out on beetle-kill fire effects

Oct. 1, 2012

It’s hard not to notice the widespread patches of dead trees along the I-70 corridor. For many, there is a next logical thought: All those dead trees are going to provide fuel for a wildfire. But that conventional wisdom might be wrong.

Woman with dog

Sociologist does about-face on homeless people with pets

Oct. 1, 2012

Ten years ago, Leslie Irvine was on her high horse when it came to homeless people keeping companion animals. But Irvine began to think differently while working at an animal shelter.

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