NASA selects Mines team during new round of student-led aviation research awards

The project “Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan” will work on a scaled-down prototype for an electric turbofan for supersonic aircraft. The Mines team includes lead Mahzad Gholamian as well as Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, and Mirali Seyedrezaei, with faculty mentor Omid Beik, assistant professor of Electrical Engineering.
February 19, 2025

Trump’s oil ambitions face harsh economic and geologic realities

Shifts in the industry have already been driving change in the board rooms of oil and gas companies, said Jennifer Miskimins, department head for Petroleum Engineering at Mines and the incoming President for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. “A lot of the mergers of companies have been because they’re buying inventory, so they have places to go outside of what they currently have,” Miskimins said.
February 18, 2025

Neutrinos' quantum size likely thousands of times larger than atomic nuclei

“By precisely measuring the behavior of lithium atoms produced in the decay of beryllium, we gain direct access to quantum properties of neutrinos—particles that are notoriously difficult to detect,” said Kyle Leach, associate professor in Physics. Leach and Joseph Smolsky, a postdoctoral researcher, published their findings in the Feb. 13 issue of Nature.
February 17, 2025

Now ore never: Critical case for US mining

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Mines and one of the world's top experts on critical mineral supply chains, explained to members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources that minerals are the ....
February 10, 2025

The US-Canada trade war is on pause, but if that changes, what could it mean for Colorado?

Ian Lange, associate professor, economics and business, is interviewed about the impact of tariffs on Canadian oil imported to the U.S. The Trump administration has put a 30-day pause on such tariffs, but Colorado could still see impacts if the administration eventually decides to press play.
February 4, 2025

NASA image captures ice pile up on Lake Michigan

Eric Anderson, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, is quoted in this Newsweek article focusing on a recent satellite image that revealed the aftermath of a brutal cold snap that gripped Chicago between January 19 and 24, leaving Lake Michigan covered with ice. Anderson said improved ice measurements could enhance weather forecasting and provide valuable insights into changes in Earth's surface freshwater systems.
January 29, 2025

Springy poles and forehead straps: How to carry more than your own bodyweight

Jeffrey Ackerman, associate teaching professor in mechanical engineering who studies load carrying, is quoted in this BBC piece. "Our bodies are adapted to carrying our own body mass, then when you add a lot of weight, you really need to be doing strength training in a consistent way to grow your bigger load-carrying muscles," Ackerman said.
January 27, 2025

A path to US Tribal energy sovereignty

In this Letter in the journal Science, a number of Payne Institute associates discuss how energy resources on tribal lands should be utilized to the benefit of the tribes that own the land. Payne Institute authors include Richard Luarkie, director, Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty Initiative (NAMES); Richard Tallman, program manager, NAMES; Brooke Bowser, communications associate; and Morgan Bazilian, Payne director.
January 23, 2025

Interlune plans to gather scarce lunar Helium-3 for quantum computing on Earth

Chris Dreyer, director of engineering at Mines' Center for Space Resources, is quoted in this article about Helium-3. The gas is needed to achieve the cold temperatures required by quantum computers. The article discusses mining the moon to obtain additional quantities of the precious and expensive substance.
January 23, 2025

The coldest place in the known universe is at Colorado School of Mines

A first of its kind dilution refrigerator is being built in Mines' Labriola Innovation Hub. When operating, the The Big Fridge can achieve a temperature as cold as any place in the known universe.
January 23, 2025

One of the coldest places in the universe is inside a quantum fridge at Colorado School of Mines

The first of its kind Big Fridge being built by Maybell Quantum in Mines' Labriola Innovation Hub is designed to house a quantum computer and provide the machine with the extremely cold environment it needs to operate.
January 22, 2025

Study finds winter days on the Great Lakes growing shorter due to climate change

Eric Anderson, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, discusses the findings of his new study, recently published in Environmental Research Letters.
January 21, 2025