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<p>The gradual fall cooling on Colorado’s Front Range this September is helping to set up what could well be a prime-time show of gold, yellow and red leaves in the region’s aspen forests, according to a ������ý���� plant ecologist.</p>

<p>Pioneering genomics researcher J. Craig Venter—best known for leading the privately funded team that sequenced the first human genome—will give a keynote talk at the ������ý���� on Sept. 29 about the scientific potential of and future products derived from “synthetic life.” </p>

<p>A NASA mission to Mars led by the ������ý���� is set to slide into orbit around the red planet Sept. 21 to investigate how its climate has changed over the eons, completing a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles.</p>
<p>The orbit-insertion maneuver will begin with six thruster engines firing to shed some of the velocity from the spacecraft, known as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN mission. The thruster engines will ignite and burn for 33 minutes to slow the spacecraft, allowing it to be captured into an elliptical orbit around Mars.</p>

<p>Most homeowners are willing to take part in cost-sharing that helps pay for wildfire risk mitigation on their properties, but some of those with the highest wildfire risk are the least likely to participate in those programs, according to a collaborative study by the ������ý���� and partnering institutions.</p>

<p>The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, or <a href="http://enrichment.colorado.edu/urop/">UROP</a>, is one unique program that offers CU-������ý���� students an opportunity to follow academic curiosities in every field. Designed to provide grant-writing experience, connect students to faculty and explore interests beyond the classroom, the program is open to all CU-������ý���� undergraduates.</p>

<p>The public is invited to attend a watch party at the ������ý���� on Sunday, Sept. 21, when NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, designed to understand past climate change on Mars, inserts itself into orbit after a 10-month journey to the planet.</p>

<p>Continuing its commitment to improving America’s drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 9 announced more than $8 million in grants to create two national centers for research and innovation in small- to medium-sized drinking water systems.</p>

<p>After spending nearly six months on the International Space Station, ������ý���� astronaut-alumnus Steve Swanson is slated to drift back to Earth in a Russian space capsule Sept. 10 before banging down on the steppe of Kazakhstan.</p>

<p>Two ������ý���� student aerospace engineering science teams have won prestigious international and national awards for the design of real-world space missions to Mars and the moon.</p>

<p>Tweets sent during last year’s massive flooding on Colorado’s Front Range were able to detail the scope of damage to the area’s infrastructure, according to a study by the ������ý����.</p>
<p>The findings can help geotechnical and structural engineers more effectively direct their reconnaissance efforts after future natural disasters—including earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes—as well as provide them data that might otherwise be lost due to rapid cleanup efforts.</p>