Artist's depiction of spacecraft about to slam into an asteroid

NASA intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid. This engineer watched it happen

Sept. 22, 2022

On Monday, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test slammed into an asteroid called Dimorphos at speeds of more than 14,000 miles per hour. CU Boulder aerospace engineer Jay McMahon breaks down how this test could one day help to protect life on Earth.

Engineer inspects SUDA instrument in a clean room

New Colorado space instrument part of flagship mission to Europa

Sept. 21, 2022

In two years, a dust analyzer designed and built at CU Boulder will launch aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, aiding in its mission to determine if Jupiter's icy moon Europa has conditions that could support life.

Students sit in a circle in the grass

A handful of universities may control flow of ideas, people in academia

Sept. 21, 2022

In the United States, 80% of university faculty were trained at just 20% of the nation’s schools, according to new research from computer scientists at CU Boulder.

Engineer wearing a mask and cap working in cleanroom at COSINC

As US ramps up semiconductor production, engineers are probing new tiny electronics

Aug. 30, 2022

This month, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The bill is putting new focus on semiconductors—the tiny devices that are in everything from smartphones to laptops and even thermostats.

Tobias Niederwieser and Luis Zea pose by two cases on a table in a lab

Yeast bound for moon will provide clues on how radiation impacts astronauts

Aug. 29, 2022

NASA's Artemis 1 mission could launch for the moon as early as Saturday, Sept. 3. Aboard will be an experiment designed by engineers at CU Boulder studying how radiation in space could impact human astronauts.

Books on bookshelves

As book bans rise, former teacher argues for letting kids read

Aug. 25, 2022

As book bans rise across the country, Wendy Glenn, a CU Boulder professor and former English teacher, argues that reading books––even ones that make adults uncomfortable––is critical for the education of young people.

Joe Biden and Olivia Rodrigo removing sunglasses in the Oval Office

Politicians are getting older, but do voters care? Sort of

Aug. 17, 2022

President Joe Biden will turn 80 in November, making him the oldest U.S. president in history. A new study from a team of political scientists explores just how much everyday voters care about the age of their politicians.

Sister Mary Nelle Gage reads to a crowd of people outdoors

62 nuns were buried in a historic Denver cemetery. This archaeologist is helping to move them

Aug. 10, 2022

Between 1898 and 1969, 62 nuns were buried in a historic cemetery in southwest Denver. This summer, Lauren Hosek is helping to move the remains to a new resting place.

Noreen Naseem Rodriguez stands in front of a mural

As schools become political battlegrounds, one educator sees room for hope

Aug. 2, 2022

States around the country are moving to limit how teachers can talk about issues like race and racism in the classroom. Noreen Naseem Rodríguez urges educators not to shrink away from having these “difficult conversations.”

A filament of ultra-hot, ionized gas, or "plasma," leaps off the surface of the sun.

These scientists watch the sun to better understand Earth

July 26, 2022

For decades, a community of "data stewards" has toiled behind the scenes to build records showing that humans, and not the sun, are responsible for driving the planet's climate into dangerous territory.

Pages