Science & Technology

<p>A chemical reaction between iron-containing minerals and water may produce enough hydrogen “food” to sustain microbial communities living in pores and cracks within the enormous volume of rock below the ocean floor and parts of the continents, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.</p>
<p>The findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, also hint at the possibility that hydrogen-dependent life could have existed where iron-rich igneous rocks on Mars were once in contact with water.</p>

<p>Five University of Colorado Boulder students have partnered with a researcher at the University of Colorado Cancer Center to file a patent for a medical device that lets researchers quickly, easily and inexpensively isolate a patient’s cancer cells for genetic tests that allow doctors to target the disease. </p>

<p>A state application organized by the University of Colorado Boulder has been submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration for the development of one of <a href="http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=13393">six unmanned aircraft systems test sites slated to be established across the United States</a>.<br /><br /></p>

<p>University of Colorado Boulder faculty member Ivan Smalyukh is among 61 scientists to receive a 2013 <a href="http://science.energy.gov/early-career/">Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy</a>.<br /><br />
Smalyukh, an assistant professor of physics and a founding fellow of the <a href="http://rasei.colorado.edu/">Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute</a>, or RASEI, has been awarded $750,000 over five years. RASEI is a joint venture between CU-Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.<br /></p>

<p>Inside the natural history museums of the world are billions of animal and plant specimens from birds, fish and beetles to flowers, mushrooms and grasses, all stacked, stored and preserved in jars and collection drawers.<br /><br />
The rich and diverse collections could be critical to understanding how the Earth’s biodiversity is changing in the face of a growing human footprint — if only the information were easily accessible.<br /><br /></p>

<p>Last July, something unprecedented in the 34-year satellite record happened: 98 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet’s surface melted, compared to roughly 50 percent during an average summer. Snow that usually stays frozen and dry turned wet with melt water. Research led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences now shows last summer’s extreme melt could soon be the new normal.</p>

<p>Google Inc. and the University of Colorado Boulder computer science department are partnering to inspire high school and middle school teachers looking for motivating, engaging and fun ways to prepare students for college and career success during an activities-packed workshop July 10-12.</p>

<p><object height="502" width="673"><embed allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fgsfc%2Fsets%2F
72157633503915602%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fgsfc%2Fsets%2F72
157633503915602%2F&set_id=72157633503915602&jump_to=" height="502" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=124984" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="673"></embed></object></p>

<p>The 56th annual season of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival will feature a classic lineup — a comedy, a tragedy, a history — alongside a hilarious Shakespeare sendup and a return engagement of an Off-Broadway hit.</p>
<p>But if anything, expect the unexpected, as two veterans and two of CSF’s favorite comic actors take the helm and offer their own visions, from the exotic to the traditional.</p>

<p>Twelve University of Colorado Boulder students have been offered Fulbright grants to pursue teaching, research and graduate studies abroad during the 2013-14 academic year, an all-time record for CU-Boulder.</p>