Science & Technology

An ancient, bipedal hominid sporting a set of powerful jaws and huge molars that earned it the nickname "Nutcracker Man" likely didn't crack nuts at all, preferring instead to slurp up vast quantities of grasses and sedges, says a new study.

Harvey Segur, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been selected to receive the 2011 Hazel Barnes Prize, the highest faculty recognition for teaching and research awarded by the university.

While wind turbines primarily are a source of renewable energy, they also produce wakes of invisible ripples that can affect the atmosphere and influence wind turbines downstream -- an issue being researched in a newly launched study led by the University of Colorado Boulder's Julie Lundquist, assistant professor in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences department.

Thousands of K-12 students will be paying close attention when NASA's space shuttle Endeavour rumbles off the launch pad April 29 from Florida on its final flight, which will be toting a payload containing spiders, flies and seeds as part of a national educational effort spearheaded by the University of Colorado Boulder.

DENVER – Four of the University of Colorado's faculty leaders in math, aerospace, psychiatry and internal medicine have been designated as President's Teaching Scholars for 2011, including two at CU-Boulder.

Faculty and students at the University of Colorado Boulder will continue to play a significant role in the development of the Dream Chaser, a commercial spacecraft that will be used to carry astronauts to low Earth orbit, thanks to a new $80 million grant from NASA to Sierra Nevada Corp.

Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees -- not ancestral apes -- for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist.

Two students at the University of Colorado Boulder have been awarded major teaching fellowships by the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, or KSTF, for 2011. CU-Boulder undergraduates Julia Ratcliff and Cacia Steensen were among 37 new fellowships awarded nationwide for teachers of biology, mathematics and physical science.

Karl Linden, professor of environmental engineering and a water treatment expert, has been leading a yearlong study of the environmental fate of the oil dispersants used in the Gulf of Mexico cleanup. His research team has traveled to the Gulf area to collect samples and is investigating the chemical constituents in the dispersant, as well as its sunlight-based decay in the laboratory. Linden can be reached at 303-492-4798 or karl.linden@colorado.edu .

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused social disruption and psychological stress among Gulf residents that is similar to the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez spill and the impacts are likely to persist for years, a new study finds.