Thawing permafrost 50 million years ago led to warm global events, says new study

April 5, 2012

A new study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and involving the University of Colorado Boulder proposes a simple new mechanism to explain the source of carbon that fed a series of extreme warming events on Earth about 50 million years ago called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, as well as a sequence of similar, smaller warming events afterward.

NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting mission controlled by Ƶ-Boulder students is extended for 4 years

April 5, 2012

University of Colorado Boulder students will have another four years at the controls of NASA’s Kepler mission, launched in 2009 to hunt down Earth-like rocky planets in other solar systems and which has succeeded in spectacular fashion.

Web-based science program designed by Ƶ and UCAR now in six school districts

April 4, 2012

A web-based science instruction program designed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research that provides teachers with cutting-edge digital content is being tested in six school districts, thanks to a new $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

JILA team demonstrates ‘a new way of lasing,’ a ‘superradiant’ laser

April 4, 2012

NIST news release Physicists at JILA have demonstrated a novel “superradiant” laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible lasers. This type of laser could boost the performance of the most advanced atomic clocks and related technologies, such as communications and navigation systems as well as space-based astronomical instruments.

Colorado business leaders remain optimistic going into second quarter, says Ƶ Leeds School index

April 3, 2012

Colorado business leaders remain optimistic going into the second quarter of 2012 suggesting a recovery is taking hold, according to the most recent quarterly Leeds Business Confidence Index, or LBCI, released today by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

New Ƶ findings have implications for increasing morphine effectiveness, decreasing drug abuse

April 2, 2012

A University of Colorado Boulder-led research team has discovered that two protein receptors in the central nervous system team up to respond to morphine and cause unwanted neuroinflammation, a finding with implications for improving the efficacy of the widely used painkiller while decreasing its abuse potential.

Ƶ Energy Club conference to explore ‘energy frontiers’ with government, industry

April 2, 2012

University of Colorado Boulder students, along with experts from government and industry, will focus on student research and the natural gas boom during the third annual Energy Frontiers conference April 5. The event, organized by the Ƶ Energy Club, is free and open to the public and will be held from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the University Memorial Center. The conference includes a poster session, panel discussion, catered lunch and a career fair.

Ƶ-Boulder to test campus text-messaging system on April 3

March 29, 2012

The University of Colorado Boulder will test the Campus Alerts text-messaging system on Tuesday, April 3, at noon in coordination with the annual flood siren testing, which begins Monday, April 2. “We’re raising awareness that the city of Boulder has the highest risk of flash flooding in Colorado because of its location at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, the number of people who live and work within the Boulder Creek floodplain, and the numerous other drainage basins running through the city,” said Lacey Croco, Ƶ-Boulder emergency manager.

Ƶ law professor takes high school students to Washington for moot court competition

March 27, 2012

Ten high school students from Denver, Thornton and Lyons are likely in for an experience of a lifetime when a University of Colorado Boulder law professor takes them to Washington, D.C., for a moot court competition March 29-April 1. While there, they also will meet with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and tour the Supreme Court, meet with U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado and tour the Capitol, in addition to visiting several national monuments and museums.

Warm winters mean more pine beetles, tree damage

March 27, 2012

Some populations of mountain pine beetles now produce two generations of tree-killing offspring annually, dramatically increasing the potential for bugs to kill lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees, Ƶ-Boulder researchers have found. Because of the extra annual generation of beetles, there could be up to 60 times as many beetles attacking trees in any given year, the study found. And in response to warmer temperatures at high elevations, pine beetles also are better able to survive and attack trees that haven't previously developed defenses.

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