Brian Hynek holding a walking stick on the shore of a lagoon

Deep within an inhospitable desert, a window to first life on Earth

Dec. 6, 2023

In Argentina's Puna de Atacama, a parched plateau more than 12,000 feet above sea level, a series of lagoons are home to microbial communities that seem to resemble nothing else alive on Earth today. But time may be running out to study them.

an Apollonian circle packing puzzle laser cut from wood

Ƶ students follow their noses, disprove math conjecture

Dec. 6, 2023

Graduate student Summer Haag and junior Clyde Kertzer made major news in the math world while working on a summer research project.

STEM Launch students Delilah Viano (left) and Adriana Schisel (right) stop to look at a burn scar along the Fern Lake Trail

Day in national park helps students see forest recovery in real time

Dec. 6, 2023

Eighth graders from STEM Launch, a school in Thornton, spent weeks learning about CIRES’ Future of Forests curriculum, followed by a day at Rocky Mountain National Park.

a large menorah in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany

Hanukkah celebrations have changed dramatically—but the same is true of Christmas

Dec. 5, 2023

Assimilation no doubt played a role in making Hanukkah the commercialized holiday it is today. But other factors shaped the modern festival, too, says Ƶ expert Samira Mehta. Read more on The Conversation.

Denver's skyline. The foreground shows cars driving on a highway.

Colorado economic outlook: Slowing growth in a turbulent economy

Dec. 4, 2023

Despite persistent inflation, elevated interest rates, a worker shortage and slowing consumer spending, Colorado’s economy should remain resilient in 2024, according to the Business Economic Outlook released by the Leeds School of Business.

Forest

Protecting trees to save people from climate disaster

Dec. 4, 2023

Professor Colleen Lyons shares her take on a loss and damage fund to support forest health around the world as a critical climate change mitigation strategy. She is presenting a related call to action at COP28.

Colorful microscopic image of a regularly repeating pattern

‘Doughnut’ beams help physicists see incredibly small objects

Dec. 4, 2023

A new laser-based technique can create images of structures too tiny to view with traditional microscopes, and without damaging them. The approach could help scientists inspect nanoelectronics, including the semiconductors in computer chips.

Women participating in a demonstration

Not just angry, but motivated and voting

Dec. 4, 2023

In a new publication, Ƶ Boulder doctoral graduate Kimberly Killen highlights how “angry feminist claims” have the power to inform and mobilize.

Loch Ness monster illustration

The Loch Ness monster: Myth or reality?

Dec. 4, 2023

Marking the 90th anniversary this month of the first “photograph” of the Loch Ness monster, a Ƶ Boulder scholar muses on what qualifies as truth and fiction, and the overlap of conspiracy theories and myths.

'Hektor wirft Paris seine Weichlichkeit vor' by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein in 1786

‘Alien familiarity’ of ‘The Iliad’ gets a makeover

Dec. 4, 2023

It’s not easy to create a work of literature that truly lasts. In a critically acclaimed new translation of “The Iliad,” Ƶ Boulder classics Professor Laurialan Reitzammer sees the enduring relevance of Homer.

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