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Warm summer nights are perfect for gazing into the sky in search of the occasional shooting star. Summer sky watchers are in for a special treat early next week when the Perseid meteor shower makes its annual appearance in the northeastern sky. People in rural areas will have the best view of the celestial event in which shooting stars seem to rain from the night sky.

The University of Colorado at Boulder received more than $174 million in sponsored research awards for the 1996-97 fiscal year, the highest total ever for the campus and a 24 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ 90 percent of the money was awarded directly or indirectly by federal agencies, said Jerry Peterson, assistant vice chancellor for research. The rest came from foundations, corporations, private and non-profit agencies, institutes, other universities and the state of Colorado.

Wallace Loh, vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has resigned to take a cabinet position with the governorÂ’s office in the state of Washington. LohÂ’s resignation is effective Sept. 30. He will serve as director of policy for Washington Gov. Gary Locke. An interim vice chancellor will be named as soon as possible, said Chancellor Richard L. Byyny. A national search will be conducted for a permanent replacement.

Nearly 200 high school students representing 82 Colorado high schools will be exposed to the marvels of engineering during the 30th Annual High School Honors Institute at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Participants, age 17 and 18, will learn about ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ engineering programs, facilities, research projects and faculty. They also will discuss career options during the seminar, which runs from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6.

* The Colorado Space Grant Consortium is one of 50 such programs founded in 1989 by NASA to help maintain the nationÂ’s preeminence in space science and technology. * The Consortium is based at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a joint effort by 16 colleges and universities throughout Colorado.

A payload designed and built by more than 100 University of Colorado at Boulder students to peer at the sun from orbit is slated to blast into space aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery at 8:40 a.m. MDT Aug. 7 from Cape Kennedy, Fla.

A charged-particle ring encircling Jupiter that glows with a power greater than all the electricity generated on Earth seems to be fueled both by its volcanically active moon, Io, and an unknown source further out in JupiterÂ’s environment.

A rogue planet three times as massive as Mars probably sideswiped Earth 4.5 million years ago, vaporizing enough material from EarthÂ’s upper layers to form the moon, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder study.

A University of Colorado at Boulder planetary scientist has developed a new model to explain the structure of an odd ring around Neptune resembling a string of beads that was discovered by NASA's Voyager 2 fly-by of Neptune in 1989. According to Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the ring, known as the Adams ring, was formed when a comet collided with a tiny moon. The impact of the crash dispersed matter from the two bodies into a ring of particles orbiting Neptune.

Twenty-five K-12 school teachers, counselors and administrators from Denver area K-12 schools will participate in a ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ-Boulder workshop July 29 through July 31 designed to help them “discover engineering” using hands-on learning.