Get smart fast: Your top research stories from April
Here鈥檚 some CU news you can use: Junk food and thru-hiking,听how many听Coloradans must get a COVID vaccine听before the state can听return to 鈥渘ormal,鈥 expert Q&A regarding the Derek Chauvin verdict and more.
To safely return to 鈥榥ormal,鈥 70% of Coloradans must get COVID vaccine
What we learned:
- At least 70% of Colorado residents will need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the state can safely roll back all public health restrictions.
- The study simulates how the coronavirus might spread in Colorado in the months ahead, balancing how people could potentially relax their precautions while keeping others out of the hospital.
- It also finds that if some Colorado counties eliminate restrictions entirely, they could potentially generate a wave of infections around the state.
After Chauvin鈥檚 guilty verdict: What will change?
What we learned鈥撯搕hree CU 抖阴传媒在线 experts鈥櫶齮akes on:
- What makes this verdict so听historic?
- What may have made the outcome of this case different than that of similar ones?
- What could potentially change as a result?
A house run on the sun: How a team of CU students SPARC-ed advances for modern mountain housing
What we learned:
- CU 抖阴传媒在线 won first place in the 2021 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, the third time CU has placed first in the highly competitive event.
- The听鈥淪PARC鈥 (Sustainability, Performance, Attainability, Resilience and Community) home, located in Fraser, Colorado, demonstrates advances in sustainability and affordability for modern mountain housing in the state.
- The home听was the result of three years鈥櫶齱ork鈥攖hrough everything from extreme heat and wildfires to construction complications due to COVID-19鈥攁nd the final product is a stunning achievement.
What鈥檚 in a word: New track explores the role of language in social life
What we learned:
- How does linguistics show up in our everyday lives?
- Has the pandemic changed how we communicate?听How can we connect better with each other, even with social distancing and masks?
- After all that has happened this past year, why do we keep asking, 鈥淗ow are you?鈥澨
Junk food and big miles may not add up how 鈥榯hru-hikers鈥 hope
What we learned:
- While thru-hikers may look the picture of health, a new study听suggests听the combination of extreme exercise and poor diet may lead to negative changes in health markers.
- The subject听fueled his hike with a typical thru-hiker diet: ramen noodles, instant mashed potatoes, peanut butter, tortillas, energy bars, jerky and nuts on the trail,听and indulged in ice cream, burgers and pizza when in town to resupply.
- It is unknown how persistent the effects are because the researchers did not take further measurements to see if the subject's vascular condition bounced back听a month or more after the hike.
- The researchers recommend thru-hikers eat a diet听high in fiber, fruits and vegetables.
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