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Rocket launches, sunspot viewing and hands-on telescope lessons are among the highlights of Astronomy Day, a family-oriented celebration being held on the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ campus on Saturday, April 16. Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory will offer activities and educational talks from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the planetarium and observatory. All daytime activities and evening telescope viewing are free and open to the public.

MEDIA ADVISORY Nobel laureate Eric Cornell, a senior scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and adjoint professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ, will be available to meet with the media on April 12 to discuss his recovery from necrotizing fasciitis. Cornell and his wife, Celeste Landry, will be in room 4 of the Coors/Events Conference Center on the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ campus at 10 a.m. Cornell will start with brief remarks and will then take questions from the media. The event is not open to the public.

A team of three CU-Â鶹ӰԺ undergraduate students won a place among the "Outstanding Winners" in the prestigious Mathematical Contest in Modeling by devising a solution to a real-world problem in congested cities -- how many tollbooths does it take to minimize lines and avoid traffic jams? University of Colorado applied mathematics majors Brad Klingenberg and Pascal Getreuer, with math and physics major Brian Camley, comprised the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ team. The team has won the contest two years in a row, making the win CU-Â鶹ӰԺ's sixth outstanding paper for the contest in six years.

Note to Editors: For advance interviews with Bart Plantenga contact Sam Fuqua at (303) 449-4885 or sam@kgnu.org . Two yodeling musicians and the author of a comprehensive book on yodeling will perform and discuss the centuries-old Alpine tradition in a free public event at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ on Monday, April 18.

Note to Editors: Contents embargoed until 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 7. A new University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ study indicates Earth in its infancy probably had substantial quantities of hydrogen in its atmosphere, a surprising finding that may alter the way many scientists think about how life began on the planet.

Curveballs and spinning physicists are two of the highlights of the CU Wizards show on "The Physics of Sports With a Spin" to be presented Saturday, April 16, on the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ campus. Physics professors Deborah Jin and John Bohn will present their show at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30. It is free and open to the public. CU Wizards is an annual series during the school year that introduces topics in astronomy, chemistry and physics and is intended primarily for students in grades five through nine.

A University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ professor and his colleagues have taken a page from the writings of an ancient Roman architect and built an underwater concrete pier in the manner of those set in the Mediterranean Sea 2,000 years ago.

Editors: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend. A complete schedule of events is available by calling (303) 492-4007 or e-mailing caughey@colorado.edu . The hotel is located near U.S. 36 and 104th Avenue at 10600 Westminster Blvd. in Westminster. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and prominent experts on school violence and school safety will gather in Westminster April 11-12 for the fourth annual Safe Communities-Safe Schools Conference sponsored by the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

The proposed Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ has awarded $50,000 in grants to support 10 projects focused on promoting responsible citizenship in CU-Â鶹ӰԺ students. This is the first time the campus-wide initiative has provided grants for faculty to carry out new and existing projects in ethical inquiry and civic engagement. All funding was raised from external sources.

The appearance and perception of comets through the ages and across cultures will be explored at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ's Fiske Planetarium April 14 and 15. John Weiss, a CU-Â鶹ӰԺ doctoral candidate in astrophysics, will present "Comets: More Than You Think" at 7:30 p.m. on both days. While comets are celebrated today, they mostly were feared in the past as portents of disasters, doom and the death of kings, according to Weiss.