Science & Technology
<p>Researchers at the ñ have developed a quantitative framework for predicting compassionate behavior, a significant step forward in the quest to identify the key psychological processes underlying human compassion.</p>
<p>Rising levels of atmospheric nitrogen pollution threaten plant diversity at nearly one-quarter of sites across a widespread portion of the U.S., according a new study led by ñ researchers.</p>
<p>New research may cause parents to think twice before letting their kids drink energy drinks or grande lattes. <span>A ñ study </span><span>suggests that consumption of caffeine puts adolescents at risk of suffering anxiety-related jitters long after they stop ingesting it.</span></p>
<p>While many students are enjoying some downtime over spring break, 21 undergraduate researchers at CU-Boulder are building robots, creating data visualization tools and advancing X-ray technology. The students are doing this as part of <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/bold/spring-break-research">Spring Break for Research</a>, an initiative, now in its second year, that pairs high achieving undergraduate students with graduate student mentors for a week of hands-on research.</p>
<p>A CU-Boulder student team is shooting for the moon and beyond with a tiny satellite under development that has just taken another step closer to launch. As one of the top five teams selected by NASA, the team of 10 graduate students will continue developing a small CubeSat satellite about the size of a shoebox called the CU Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3) with a $30,000 award from NASA.</p>
<p>Students at CU-Boulder, who built a dust counter for the New Horizons mission to Pluto, have been eyeing the data for decade now. And the results are showing the solar system really is pretty barren if you put aside the planets, rings, moons, comets and asteroids.</p>
<p>For some Paralympic sprinters, having the inside track is not always a good thing. A new CU-Boulder study shows lower left-leg amputee athletes sprinting in the inside lane of an indoor track ran about 4 percent slower than athletes with right-leg amputations.</p>
<p>“Upside-down rivers” of warm ocean water threaten the stability of floating ice shelves in Antarctica, according to a new study led by researchers at the ñ’s National Snow and Ice Data Center. The study highlights how parts of Antarctica’s ice sheet may be weakening due to contact with warm ocean water.</p>
<p>NASA has selected CU-Boulder researcher Raina Gough to join the Mars Curiosity rover mission as a participating scientist; she hopes to expand the science team’s search for evidence of liquid water.</p>- <p>What are the odds of filling out a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket, picking all 63 games correctly? According to ñ Professor Mark Ablowitz, former chair of the Department of Applied Mathematics, they are breathtaking: Try about one in 9.22 quintillion.</p>