Stacked photo of fireflies flashing in a forest.

In the Smoky Mountains, thousands of fireflies flash in unison; researchers want to know how

Sept. 23, 2020

Ever wonder why some fireflies flash in harmony? New research sheds light on this beautiful phenomenon and strives to understand how relatively simple insects manage to coordinate such feats of synchronization.

The Slink Fire burning east of Modesto, California, in September 2020. (Photo: U.S. Forest Service)

Humans behind almost all fires threatening homes

Sept. 15, 2020

People are starting almost all the wildfires that threaten U.S. homes, according to an innovative new analysis combining housing and wildfire data.

Person taking a saliva test at CU Boulder

Dorm sewage, vials of saliva and a state-of-the-art new lab: Inside CU’s COVID-19 testing plan

Sept. 11, 2020

With millions of students returning in the fall, college and university administrators across the country faced an unprecedented challenge this summer: Devise a plan for controlling an airborne virus, easily spread by people with no symptoms, in an environment where thousands of socially active young adults live in close quarters.

Ash covers rooftops in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.

Volcanic ash may have a bigger impact on the climate than we thought

Sept. 10, 2020

Volcanic ash shuts down air traffic and can sicken people. But a new study suggests it may also be more important for Earth's climate than once thought.

Artist's depiction of the twin Janus spacecraft flying in formation through space.

Where no spacecraft has gone before: A close encounter with binary asteroids

Sept. 10, 2020

In a moment for twos, the Janus mission will launch two identical spacecraft to rendezvous with two asteroid pairs millions of miles from Earth.

Image of the asteroid Bennu with small bits of material jumping off into space.

How small particles could reshape Bennu and other asteroids

Sept. 9, 2020

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft observed tiny bits of material jumping off the surface of the asteroid Bennu. A new study tracks where those particles went.

Dust sticks to the boots of Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell in 1971.

Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon

Aug. 31, 2020

Future moon astronauts may one day be able to step into an electric-beam shower to clean sticky dust off of their spacesuits and equipment.

Graduate student Megan Caruso monitors data from an eye-tracking program that can follow a subject's attention as they learn or

New $20 million center to bring artificial intelligence into the classroom

Aug. 26, 2020

A new effort will explore the role that artificial intelligence may play in the future of education and workforce development.

Norlin Library

Researching communication and social justice with the University Libraries

Aug. 17, 2020

In a recent CU Boulder Where You Are discussion, Lawrence Frey addressed how scholars can strive to make a difference—not just hope others will use their research to make a difference—in how we talk about social justice initiatives.

An abnormally bright spot in the nightglow just above Mars' equator.

A new look at Mars’ eerie, ultraviolet nighttime glow

Aug. 6, 2020

See the announcement from NASA Every night on Mars, when the sun sets and temperatures fall to minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit and below, an eerie phenomenon spreads across much of the planet’s sky: a soft glow created by chemical reactions occurring tens of miles above the surface. An astronaut standing...

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