Brian DeDecker

New ‘magic beans’ produce ingredients for cancer treatments, vaccines and more

March 1, 2023

Tens of thousands of sharks are killed each year to harvest a key ingredient for vaccines, while old growth trees are slashed to obtain chemotherapy ingredients. Soybean farmer-turned molecular biologist Brian DeDecker has a better idea.

Microscope view of many small worms swimming in a well of liquid

New ‘gym-on-a-chip’ for worms may lead to new Parkinson’s treatments

Feb. 28, 2023

The Acoustic Gym, designed by a team of biologists and engineers at ²ÊÃñ±¦µä, is about the size of a quarter and uses sound waves to generate small whirlpools—the perfect place for tiny worms to get in their laps.

Elephant bird egg

Ancient eggshells unlock discovery of extinct elephant bird lineage

Feb. 28, 2023

1,200 years ago on the isolated island of Madagascar, giant flightless elephant birds roamed the landscape. Research using ancient eggshell fragments reveals new clues about their genetic diversity.

students wearing masks while playing brass and wind instruments

Majority of students masked up amid early COVID days

Feb. 24, 2023

A study finds that those on the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä and Colorado State University campuses showed high levels of mask use and positive attitudes about masks during pandemic.

Bathroom scale and tape measurer

Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

Feb. 23, 2023

New ²ÊÃñ±¦µä research finds that overweight populations have a 22% higher mortality risk than those of healthy weight, while obese populations have as much as double the risk. The study found that about 1 in 6 adult deaths in the U.S. are related to excess weight or obesity.

Marina Nieto-Caballero assesses the infectious potential of airborne murine coronavirus using computer aided microscopy

Tend to get sick when the air is dry? NewÌýresearch helps explain why

Feb. 23, 2023

²ÊÃñ±¦µä researchers have found that airborne coronavirus remains infectious for twice as long in drier air—in part because saliva serves as a protective barrier around the virus, especially at low humidity levels.

James Wilson and Rodger Kram carry a log from their heads using tumplines with the Boulder Foothills in the background

Scientists may have solved a Chaco Canyon mystery by hauling logs with their heads

Feb. 22, 2023

Roughly 1,000 years ago, ancient peoples carried more than 200,000 heavy timbers entirely on foot to a site in the modern-day Four Corners region called Chaco Canyon. ²ÊÃñ±¦µä researchers think they know how such a feat of human endurance may have been possible.

Artist's depiction of James Webb Space Telescope

Webb telescope spots super old, massive galaxies that shouldn’t exist

Feb. 22, 2023

In a new study, ²ÊÃñ±¦µä astrophysicist Erica Nelson and her colleagues spotted six "fuzzy dots" of light in images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The candidate galaxies may have existed just 500 to 700 million years after the Big Bang and contain almost as many stars as the Milky Way.

Robot with the letters "CUU" on its chest on the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä campus

5 burning questions about ChatGPT, answered by humans

Feb. 20, 2023

Artificial intelligence has reached an "inflection point," according to technology experts from ²ÊÃñ±¦µä. New tools like ChatGPT, which rolled out late last year, are poised to transform offices, high school classrooms and more—in potentially good and bad ways.

Industrial Workers of the World demonstration, New York City, 1914.

Under the iron heel: Author discusses ‘Wobblies’ and the capitalist war on radical workers

Feb. 20, 2023

Enjoy a Q&A with Professor Ahmed White, whose new book gives a dramatic, deeply researched account of how legal repression and vigilantism brought down the Wobblies, and how the destruction of their union haunts us to this day.

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