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Republic of Palau

Alum takes ‘skylarking’ advice to nation’s high court

March 1, 2013

The remote Republic of Palau in the Pacific Ocean can thank the late Kurt Vonnegut for the newest member of its supreme court. But give the lion’s share of credit along the way to a couple of professors at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Person running on treadmill

‘Rebranding’ exercise with an app

March 1, 2013

People who focus on the oft-cited and indisputable physical and physiological benefits of exercise are less likely to continue an exercise regime than people who simply feel good after sweating a bit and value those effects on their quality of life.

Protester gather at an anti-Qaddafi demonstration in Cairo, Egypt.

Arab Spring spawns some hope, progress, prof says

March 1, 2013

A quarter of a century ago, most of the world’s “underachievers” in terms of human development—measured by such things as life expectancy, education, guaranteed human rights and political freedom—were Muslim countries. Human development might be considered a way to gauge how “rich” or “poor” a country is beyond traditional measures...

Arielle Silverman, graduate student in social psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Photo by Noah Larsen.

Unless it’s coerced, self-affirmation actually works

March 1, 2013

In the 1990s, comedian—now U.S. Sen.—Al Franken made the line, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!” part of the national lexicon with the creation of the fictional “Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley” on Saturday Night Live. Easy to mock, to be sure, in Stuart’s...

A 1981 Osborne I computer. Photo by Noah Larsen.

Where old computers don’t go to die

Dec. 1, 2012

A palpable air of digital decrepitude pervades Lori Emerson’s time-warped laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder. Geriatric relics of the computer revolution with names like Vectrex, Kaypro and Commodore Amiga exude the strange pungency of aged electronics, vaguely musty with tart plastic undertones.

Hana Dansky, who graduated from CU-Boulder with a degree in philosophy and environmental biology in May 2011, is the co-founder of Boulder Food Rescue. Photo By Noah Larsen.

Rescuing food and people as efficiently as possible

Dec. 1, 2012

Boulder Food Rescue sounds like the name of an organization dedicated to providing food to people who need it. And that’s what it is.

Omid Safi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Progressive Muslim scholar challenges stereotypes

Dec. 1, 2012

Faced with a sharp question from a critic following a talk about progressive Islam at the University of Colorado Boulder in early November, Omid Safi was ready. The professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill nodded as the speaker read from the Koran’s Surah 95,...

Jeffrey Zax

Lawmakers eye CU students for economic analyses

Dec. 1, 2012

The men and women elected to the Colorado General Assembly (the state Legislature) may have a wealth of life experience as lawyers, ranchers or business owners. But when it comes to economics, most of them could use a little help—from undergraduate University of Colorado Boulder economics students. That’s the idea...

Ben Hale, assistant professor of philosophy and environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder

Philosopher turns video lens toward ‘lab’ of climate

Dec. 1, 2012

Ben Hale doesn’t do “air quotes” when he uses the word “laboratory” to describe his Committee on Environmental Thought, or ComET, but he does laugh a little. Ben Hale, assistant professor of philosophy and environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder “Obviously we don’t have an actual lab,” says...

Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Tor Wager, director of CU Boulder’s Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab. Photo: Stephen Collector/The New York Times/Redux

Expecting less pain can lead to less pain

Oct. 1, 2012

What you don’t know won’t hurt you, goes the old canard, but what you believe can make a difference when it comes to pain relief, and not just in a subjective way. When you expect that a drug or placebo will relieve pain, and it does, it’s not simply a matter of fooling your brain.

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