Woman sitting at a computer

Prolonged sitting can sabotage health, even if you’re young and active

Oct. 31, 2024

Young adults sit 60-plus hours per week, boosting their heart disease risk and accelerating signs of aging, according to new research. Vigorous exercise works best to counteract it, but sitting less is ideal.

Thousands of people run across a bridge

CUriosity: What causes the runner’s high?

Oct. 23, 2024

Psychologist Angela Bryan, like many other avid runners, is no stranger to what many call the “runner’s high.” The scientist breaks down what happens in the body to make you feel so good during a long jog.

Cooper Thome in the lab

New device could deliver bedside blood test results in an hour

Oct. 16, 2024

CU Boulder researchers have developed a new sound-based, handheld device that can swiftly and accurately detect signs of disease in a pin-prick of blood. Their findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

Two children kneel in the grass, scooping piles of dirt into plastic pots

CUriosity: Why does playing in the dirt feel so good?

Oct. 9, 2024

From his home garden, CU Boulder’s Chris Lowry explains why humans get so much enjoyment out of sinking their hands into dirt—it may have something to do with the friendly microbes that live in the soil.

Mitochondria

You get your energy from your mom. A new study explains why

Oct. 8, 2024

Scientists have long wondered why animals get the DNA inside their mitochondria, the cell’s energy center, only from their mothers. New research explains why and offers hope for treating mitochondrial disorders.

Photo of a smartphone with the screen displaying the Reddit app in a store

After a suicide, more loved ones are seeking support online. Does it help or harm?

Sept. 24, 2024

New CU Boulder research suggests that while bereavement support spaces like Reddit can be therapeutic, they can potentially traumatize users.

The game changers hugging

Denver youth help struggling peers—without involving law enforcement

Sept. 18, 2024

The CU Boulder-based Youth Violence Prevention Center has launched a new app, the Power of One, to help Northeast Denver youth connect struggling friends and loved ones with the support they need. The app grew out of concerns that some marginalized communities may be hesitant to use Safe2Tell.

Smoke over the san diego skyline

Wildfire smoke exposure boosts risk of mental illness in youth

Sept. 11, 2024

A new study of 10,000 youth ages 9 to 11 found that the more days youth are exposed to high levels of particulate air pollution, the more likely they are to experience depression, anxiety and other symptoms of mental illness acutely and up to a year later.

Five babies sitting

Have more babies! Some say it's necessary, but this demographer isn't convinced

Sept. 9, 2024

As birth rates fall in the U.S. and beyond, a growing ‘pronatalist’ movement contends that people should be having more babies to prevent economic and cultural decline. Leslie Root, a social demographer who studies fertility trends, offers her take.

A protest after the Dobbs decision

Study: COVID skewed maternal death statistics, fueling false claims about abortion

Aug. 28, 2024

Abortion opponents have pointed to “marked declines” in maternal deaths since the Dobbs decision. A new CU Boulder paper seeks to set the record straight.

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