Tag Archives: university of colorado boulder

JILA researchers discover atomic clock can simulate quantum magnetism

By Guest PostAugust 11, 2013Scienceana maria rey, atomic clock, brad baxley, complex quantum system, configuration of electrons, discover, electricity without resistance, electron configuration, exotic material, high temperature superconductors, jila researcher, jila theorist, jun ye, magnetic material, magnetic spin interactions, modeling, neutral strontium atoms, nist, quantum computers, quantum mechanical behavior, quantum simulator, simulate quantum magnetism, spin down state, superposition, university of colorado boulder

Researchers at JILA have for the first time used an atomic clock as a quantum simulator, mimicking the behavior of a different, more complex quantum system.

Atomic clocks now join a growing list of physical systems that can be used for modeling and perhaps eventually explaining the quantum mechanical behavior of exotic materials such as high-temperature superconductors, which conduct electricity without resistance. All but the smallest, most trivial quantum systems are too complicated to simulate on classical computers, hence the interest in quantum simulators. Sharing some of the features of experimental quantum computers—a hot research topic—quantum simulators are “special purpose” devices designed to provide insight into specific challenging problems. (more…)

Some Dating Websites Do Not Remove GPS Data From Photos, CU-Boulder Students Find

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2012Culture, Technologyage of facebook, canadian company, catholicsingles, chips, dating websites, global positioning system, gps, gps coordinates, information, interactions, kai larsen, location data, match, metadata, pictures, plentyoffish, privacy, relationship, research project, successfulmatch, university of colorado boulder, users

While the majority of dating websites do a good job of managing the privacy of their users, a class research project at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business found that 21 of 90 dating websites the class examined did not properly remove location data from pictures uploaded by their users.

As a result of people taking more photographs with cameras and cell phones containing Global Positioning System chips, some dating website profile pictures contain GPS coordinates showing where a picture was taken, said Associate Professor Kai Larsen, who taught the class on Privacy in the Age of Facebook. When such information is not removed by the dating website, commonly available tools can be used to detect the location of a person’s residence or other locations frequented by the user. (more…)

Some Earthquakes Expected Along Rio Grande Rift in Colorado And New Mexico, New Study Says

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2012Environmentactive, anne sheehan, anthony lowry, colorado plateau, earth, earthquake hazards, earthquakes, fault bounded basins, fort collins, frederick blume, garden city, geologically alive, geologists, global positioning system, gps, magnitude, mark murray, Mexico, molten rock, nanostrain, new mexico tech, rates of deformation, rio grande rift, rise of magma, spreading motion, steven nerem, surface coloradom rocky mountains, unavco, university of colorado boulder, university of new mexico, western great plains

The Rio Grande Rift, a thinning and stretching of Earth’s surface that extends from Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains to Mexico, is not dead but geologically alive and active, according to a new study involving scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

“We don’t expect to see a lot of earthquakes, or big ones, but we will have some earthquakes,” said CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Anne Sheehan, also a fellow at CIRES. The study also involved collaborators from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, Utah State University and the Boulder-headquartered UNAVCO. The Rio Grande Rift follows the path of the Rio Grande River from central Colorado roughly to El Paso before turning southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico. (more…)

CU-Boulder Python Study May Have Implications for Human Heart Health

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Health, Sciencebeneficial growth of heart cells, blood of burmese pythons, blood plasma, bloodstreams, brooke harrison, cardiac health, cardio protective enzyme, cecilia riquelme, cyclist, fatty acids, fed python blood plasma, genetic heart diseases, healthy heart growth, heart disease conditions in humans, hiberna corp, human heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, jason magida, key enzyme, lance armstrong, leslie leinwand, main constituent of natural fats and oils, metabolism, michael phelps, mini pumps, olympic swimmer, plasma, pythons, sudden death in young athletes, tom cech, triglycerides, university of colorado boulder

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides — the main constituent of natural fats and oils — in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fiftyfold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage. (more…)

When It Comes To Charitable Giving, People Respond To Their Immediate Emotions, Cu Study Says

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2011Culture, General2010 earthquake in haiti, diseases, doctors without borders, dresden university of technology, famine and genocide in africa, Germany, giving money to humanitarian crises, haitian earthquake, immediate emotions, laura johnson graham, leaf van boven, malnutrition, michaela huber, peter mcgraw, red cross, tragic events, tuberculosis, united states, university of colorado boulder

When considering giving money to humanitarian crises people often donate in response to events that grab their immediate emotions, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Dresden University of Technology in Germany.

“The question we wanted to answer with our study is what is the impact of people’s emotions on their decisions to make charitable donations,” said CU-Boulder psychology Professor Leaf Van Boven, who co-authored the study. “We demonstrated that people act on what is immediately emotionally arousing to them. In other words, they respond to what makes them upset in the here and now.” (more…)

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Minimum 2011 Extent, the Second Lowest in the Satellite Record

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2011EnvironmentArctic, arctic ocean, Arctic sea ice, arctic sea ice extent, atmosphere, california, floating ice chunks, goddard space flight center, greenbelt, greenhouse gases, mark serreze, NASA, national snow and ice data center, sea ice, texas, university of colorado boulder, walt meier, warming temperatures

The blanket of sea ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its lowest extent for 2011, the second lowest recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Arctic sea ice extent fell to 1.67 million square miles, or 4.33 million square kilometers on Sept. 9, 2011. This year’s minimum of 1.67 million square miles is more than 1 million square miles below the 1979-2000 monthly average extent for September — an area larger than Texas and California combined. (more…)

Strongest Evidence yet indicates Icy Saturn Moon hiding Saltwater Ocean

By Guest PostJune 24, 2011Science12 science instruments, cassini spacecraft, cassini-huygens mission to saturn, collaboration of nasa, enceladus, european space agency, frank postberg, icy spray shooting, mission spacecraft, ocean-like, plumes shooting water vapor, salt-rich, saturn system, saturn's moon enceladus, squeezed out, subterranean saltwater ocean, surface of saturn's largest moon, the strongest evidence yet for the existence of a large-scale, tiger stripe, tiny grains of ice, university of colorado boulder, university of germany, university of heidelberg, university of potsdam, vapor clouds

Samples of icy spray shooting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus collected during Cassini spacecraft flybys show the strongest evidence yet for the existence of a large-scale, subterranean saltwater ocean, says a new international study led by the University of Heidelberg and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

The new discovery was made during the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Launched in 1997, the mission spacecraft arrived at the Saturn system in 2004 and has been touring the giant ringed planet and its vast moon system ever since. (more…)

‘America’s Deadliest War Also is Most Memorialized’

By Guest PostJune 23, 2011Culture, Politics150th anniversary, america, battlefields, boulder county courthouse, civil war, civil war sites, fort sumter, gettysburg, kenneth foote, ku klux klan, nathan bedford forrest, north and south, northern forces, pearl street, salem, slavery, south carolina militiamen, united states, university of colorado boulder, vicksburg

As the nation recognizes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s start, public interest has been rekindled in the war and the numerous memorials and monuments marking historic figures, sites and battlegrounds in states around the country.

South Carolina militiamen fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and over the next four years more than 10,000 military engagements between the North and South took place. In the end more than 600,000 soldiers died. (more…)