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University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ alumnus-astronaut Jim Voss has become the second astronaut to join Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder's aerospace engineering sciences department following his NASA career, which for Voss included five spaceflights, 202 days in space and four spacewalks.

A $70 million instrument designed by the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder to probe the evolution of galaxies, stars and intergalactic matter from its perch on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is on schedule for its slated May 11 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard NASA's space shuttle Atlantis.

Nobel laureate Tom Cech is returning to the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ full time this month after a 10-year stint as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., and one of the nation's largest philanthropies.

University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder students will be at the controls of one of NASA's most intriguing missions in recent years following the scheduled March 6 launch of the Kepler spacecraft to hunt down Earth-like planets in other solar systems.

Across the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder campus students are sharing answers, checking their responses to questions against those of their neighbors and making adjustments to those answers in hopes of earning a better grade.

In the largest research contract ever awarded to the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics has been selected by NASA to lead a $485 million orbiting space mission slated to launch in 2013 to probe the past climate of Mars, including its potential for harboring life over the ages.

The University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder is teaming up with a Boulder biotechnology company to use pythons, which dramatically increase their heart size for a short time after swallowing prey, as models for new therapeutics to treat cardiac diseases.

Assistant Professor Hang (Hubert) Yin of the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder's chemistry and biochemistry department has been selected to receive a prestigious Kimmel Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research in Baltimore, the first such award received by a Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder scientist.

The University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder has received a grant of up to $2.4 million to improve teacher education in math and science following a nationwide competition that included submissions from more than 50 universities. Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder's grant is one of 12 being awarded by the National Math and Science Initiative to implement programs modeled after UTeach, a highly successful math and science teacher preparation program at the University of Texas at Austin.

A growing program at the University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder is working to combat what many experts call a looming crisis brought on by a shrinking pool of new K-12 science teachers. Known as the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Learning Assistant project, its goal is to improve introductory math and science classes at Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder and to recruit and train future K-12 science teachers, according to Valerie Otero, director of the program and an assistant professor in Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder's School of Education.