If the thought Principles of Economics makes you cringe, then “SuperFreakonomics” is a book for you. This book takes the dismal science, economics, and applies it to case studies of the weird, exciting, and intriguing. What may have been boring in the context of oil exploration and profitability becomes interesting in the context of prostitutes, monkeys, and even monkey prostitution.
For the past year and a half, much of the population of Syria has been protesting the government of Bashar al-Assad. In the past few months, this protest, which rose out of the Arab Spring in early 2011, has escalated from isolated events of violence to widespread civil war, with the military forces under al-Assad combatting rebel forces.
Graphene is often regarded as a “miracle material” by physicists. Composed of a layer of carbon exactly one atom thick, it has a plethora of potential applications. In the less than ten years, publications numbering in the ten thousands have been released about graphene. Against this background, the Colorado School of Mines’ own Dr. Zhigang Wu recently presented new research on “Band Gap Opening of Graphene with Periodic Structural Modifications.”
The second-worst Atlantic storm of known history, Hurricane Sandy, made landfall in New Jersey on the Atlantic coast on October 29. The hurricane began as a tropical storm in the Western Caribbean Sea, then gained strength as it moved North and became a hurricane. As Sandy moved through the Caribbean Sea, across Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic, it caused an estimated $3 billion in damages and claimed over 110 lives in the United States alone.
The technology that makes the XBox Kinect or other motion sensing games is a complex field in computer science. Professor Bill Hoff, along with five graduate students, is heavily involved with research in this field, specifically in the areas of computer vision and pattern recognition.
Rochester, New York – Hydrogen-powered cars have been a goal for scientists and engineers for years, but limitations in catalyst technology have prevented any significant advancements until now. Researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered a catalyst that generates hydrogen molecules at a very high rate, and does so for weeks on end with no decrease in production. By coating cadmium selenide nanoparticles with organic compounds, known as DHLA, they were able to achieve the goal of a robust, fast-acting catalyst. This discovery addresses the main difficulties in hydrogen generation technology, finding catalysts that are inexpensive, easily generated, and robust.
Syrian opposition groups from the entire Middle East region have plans to gather this week in an effort to unify the opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s government. UN agencies, aid workers, Arab League members, and the Friends of Syria movement all gathered to reach an agreement on how to deal with Syria, where humanitarian aid organizations say that some 35,000 people have been killed since the fighting began.
The No. 12 Colorado School of Mines volleyball team entered the week needing just two wins to claim the outright RMAC title for the first time in school history. With games against Colorado Christian University and UC-Colorado Springs, the Orediggers were looking to make their mark on the record books.
November 9
Volleyball – #12 CSM 3, UCCS 0 – Junior Melanie Wannamaker led all players with 14 kills, and Sarah Pekarek added 14 digs as the No. 12 Orediggers cruised past UCCS in the regular season finale. Mines improved to 17-2 in RMAC play, good enough to earn their first conference title in school history. Mines has now won seven straight and looks to extend that streak as they host the quarterfinal round of the RMAC Tournament.
The Colorado School of Mines Football team travelled to Nebraska to take on No. 21 Chadron State in the snow in the final matchup of the season. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, the final result was 20-14 in Chadron’s favor, but in a year plagued with injuries, Mines ended up with a respectable 6-5 record.