Example of a short-faced bears that stood 12 feet tall and weighed nearly a ton.

Early humans, giant Patagonian beasts: Then they saw them, now we don’t

June 17, 2016

Some of the beasts living in Patagonia 13,000 years ago were an intimidating bunch: Fierce saber-toothed cats, elephant-sized sloths, ancient jaguars as big as today’s tigers and short-faced bears that stood 12 feet tall and weighed nearly a ton. But by 12,000 years ago, they had disappeared. What happened?

Ethane tanks

On the rise: ethane concentrations climbing again

June 14, 2016

Global emissions of ethane, an air pollutant and greenhouse gas, are on the uptick again. A team led by CU-Boulder found that a steady decline of global ethane emissions following a peak in about 1970 ended between 2005 and 2010 in most of the Northern Hemisphere and has since reversed. Between 2009 and 2014, ethane emissions in the Northern Hemisphere increased by about 400,000 tons annually, the bulk of it from North American oil and gas activity.

a man's arm in a sling

Empathy for others’ pain rooted in cognition rather than sensation, CU-Boulder study finds

June 14, 2016

The ability to understand and empathize with others’ pain is grounded in cognitive neural processes rather than sensory ones, according to the results of a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers.

Building collapse after The Gorkha earthquake

Mounting tension in the Himalaya

June 13, 2016

New findings examine the aftermath of the Gorkha earthquake, which struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.

 Image of earth from space

Milky Way now hidden from one-third of humanity

June 10, 2016

The Milky Way, the brilliant river of stars that has dominated the night sky and human imaginations since time immemorial, is but a faded memory to one third of humanity and 80 percent of Americans, according to a new global atlas of light pollution produced by Italian and American scientists.

illustration of ice-covered lakes in Antarctica

Antarctic lakes provide glimpse of ancient forest fires and modern human impacts, CU-Boulder study finds

June 8, 2016

The perpetually ice-covered lakes in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys preserve the dissolved remnants of black carbon from thousand-year-old wildfires as well as modern day fossil fuel use, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

a spiral galaxy surrounded by the circumgalactic medium

‘Wasteful’ galaxies launch heavy elements into surrounding halos and deep space, CU-Boulder study finds

June 6, 2016

Galaxies “waste” large amounts of heavy elements generated by star formation by ejecting them up to a million light years away into their surrounding halos and deep space, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Some comets are like couples: They break up, then make up

June 1, 2016

For some comets, breaking up is not that hard to do. A new study led by Purdue University and CU-Boulder indicates the bodies of some periodic comets – objects that orbit the sun in less than 200 years – may regularly split in two, then reunite down the road.

A vial of morphine

Narcotic painkillers prolong pain in rats, says CU-Boulder study

May 31, 2016

Brace for another shot across the bow: Opioids like morphine have now been shown to paradoxically cause an increase in chronic pain in lab rats, findings that could have far-reaching implications for humans, says a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Cutting the ribbon at the formal dedication ceremony of Geometry Point

Playing with math at Geometry Point in Lafayette

May 26, 2016

After five years and the hard work of nearly 200 students, faculty and community members, Geometry Point at Romero Park in Lafayette is now open. Filled with colorful geometric shapes, math equations and artful displays of arithmetic, the park was designed to make math fun.

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