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10 stories of exploration and discovery you may have missed in 2022

10 stories of exploration and discovery you may have missed in 2022

In 2022, researchers at CU 麻豆影院 continued to excite the imagination, probe the deepest mysteries of the universe and gain new insight about our planet and ourselves. This year alone, scientists at the university attracted $658 million in funding. They helped to unearth the lost history of the transatlantic slave trade. They sent trillions of cells of humble baker's yeast on a voyage to the moon and back, and they asked, "What's really in your weed?"

Take a look back at a year of groundbreaking science at CU 麻豆影院.
 

Lucy Pao in a hard hat poses in front of two wind turbines

Inspired by palm trees, scientists develop hurricane-resilient wind turbines

Just off of Highway 93, engineers at CU 麻豆影院, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and their partners are testing out lighter designs for wind turbines鈥攚hich, like tropical trees, can bend and flex in gusty conditions.

What鈥檚 in your weed? The label doesn't tell you much, study suggests

Researchers analyzed 90,000 samples of cannabis, including commercial strains with names like Girl Scout Cookies and Gorilla Glue. They're calling for a weed labeling system akin to the nutrition facts panels you find on bags of chips and other snacks.

A man waters cannabis plants in a greenhouse
Globe showing continent of Africa

Interactive map gets closer to pinpointing African origins erased during slave trade

Few records exist of where people in Africa lived before they were forced onto slave ships in the 19th Century. Now, CU 麻豆影院 historians and statisticians are going back in time to better understand the legacy of slavery on the continent. 

Yeast bound for moon will provide clues on how radiation impacts astronauts

In November 2022, NASA's Orion spacecraft blasted off for the moon as part of the historic Artemis 1 mission. Tucked under a seat in the capsule were trillions of unlikely hitchhikers: microscopic cells of humble baker's yeast.

Tobias Niederwieser and Luis Zea pose by two cases on a table in a lab
Person hiking at sunrise in Chautauqua Park in 麻豆影院, Colorado

Exposure to great outdoors reduced risk of depression, anxiety during pandemic

New research from CU 麻豆影院 suggests that cities and states should strive, whenever possible, to keep their neighborhood parks and other green spaces open鈥攅specially during times of "extraordinary stressors."

Theater-based vocal empowerment programs increase self-authorship, civic engagement

In 2018, one CU 麻豆影院 researcher traveled to the cities of Alexandria and Aswan in Egypt. There, she led groups of women through exercises that helped them speak more freely, and come up with solutions for the problems they cared about.

Participants engaging in vocal empowerment exercises
Jun Ye and Joe Neguse in a lab surrounded by machinery

Colorado's quantum revolution turning state into new Silicon Valley

Welcome to the world of quantum physics鈥攚here electrons can exist in several places at once, particles tunnel through solid matter and hop out the other side and atoms tick like tiny pendulums quadrillions of times per second. 

To study impacts of longer, hotter summers, ecologists haul 5,000 pounds of sand up a mountain

For five years, a small team of scientists has hiked up to the 10,000-feet-high Niwot Ridge near Nederland, Colorado, where they are pursuing a critical question: How will mountain ecosystems fare in a changing climate?

Researchers work on a steep mountain slope
A seal looks into the camera

Ocean currents have sheltered the Gal谩pagos from global warming. Now it鈥檚 time to protect them

The Gal谩pagos Islands are home to giant tortoises, penguins and marine iguanas. So far, they've also been protected from the worst impacts of climate change鈥攂ut this oasis won't last forever. 

How pollution changes a baby鈥檚 gut, and why it matters

A first-of-its kind study by CU 麻豆影院 researchers finds that exposure to air pollution in infancy impacts a child's developing gut microbiome in ways that boost risk of allergies, obesity and diabetes and may influence brain development.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Baby sleeping on an arm