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An ancient, bipedal hominid sporting a set of powerful jaws and huge molars that earned it the nickname "Nutcracker Man" likely didn't crack nuts at all, preferring instead to slurp up vast quantities of grasses and sedges, says a new study.

Harvey Segur, a professor of applied mathematics at the Â鶹ӰԺ, has been selected to receive the 2011 Hazel Barnes Prize, the highest faculty recognition for teaching and research awarded by the university.

While wind turbines primarily are a source of renewable energy, they also produce wakes of invisible ripples that can affect the atmosphere and influence wind turbines downstream -- an issue being researched in a newly launched study led by the Â鶹ӰԺ's Julie Lundquist, assistant professor in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences department.

The Â鶹ӰԺ has been named one of two finalists to host the headquarters for the National Solar Observatory, the nation's top ground-based scientific research program studying solar physics and space weather.

Thousands of K-12 students will be paying close attention when NASA's space shuttle Endeavour rumbles off the launch pad April 29 from Florida on its final flight, which will be toting a payload containing spiders, flies and seeds as part of a national educational effort spearheaded by the Â鶹ӰԺ.

DENVER – Four of the University of Colorado's faculty leaders in math, aerospace, psychiatry and internal medicine have been designated as President's Teaching Scholars for 2011, including two at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ.

Shane Baldauf, a sophomore in architecture and planning at the Â鶹ӰԺ who is dedicated to ‘green' and affordable housing, has been awarded a prestigious Udall Scholarship.

Faculty and students at the Â鶹ӰԺ will continue to play a significant role in the development of the Dream Chaser, a commercial spacecraft that will be used to carry astronauts to low Earth orbit, thanks to a new $80 million grant from NASA to Sierra Nevada Corp.

Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees -- not ancestral apes -- for at least some of the answers, according to a Â鶹ӰԺ archaeologist.

Two students at the Â鶹ӰԺ have been awarded major teaching fellowships by the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, or KSTF, for 2011. CU-Â鶹ӰԺ undergraduates Julia Ratcliff and Cacia Steensen were among 37 new fellowships awarded nationwide for teachers of biology, mathematics and physical science.