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A solar-powered iPod charger and a backpack containing inflatable pouches that could help a backcountry skier "float" to the top of an avalanche are among approximately 50 engineering student inventions that will be demonstrated at the University of Colorado at Boulder's ITL Fall Design Expo Dec. 9. The Expo is free and open to the public from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held at the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, located on Regent Drive south of Colorado Avenue.

Colorado's late fall snowstorms could disappear by mid-December due to the influence of an El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, said Klaus Wolter, a University of Colorado at Boulder and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist. "Sometime in December I would expect to see the classic El Niño winter doldrums where the storm track shifts so far south that we might run dry for a very long stretch, maybe several weeks where nothing happens," said Wolter.

Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado at Boulder is the winner of the 2007 Oersted Medal, the highest honor given by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award, which recognizes "notable contributions to the teaching of physics," has been given since 1936. Previous recipients include Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Hans Bethe and Freeman Dyson.

Hundreds of elementary and middle school students from across Colorado's Front Range region will descend on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus next month for the FIRST Lego League science and technology state tournament. The annual competitive event will take place Dec. 9 at the Balch Fieldhouse, with some 72 teams made up of students ages 9 to 14 expected to attend. Competition will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a lunch break at noon. The event is free and open to the public, with an awards ceremony at 4 p.m.